Letters From Iwo Jima

[dave jenkins]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117954022.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

[Sanjuro]

Somehow I thought "Letters from Iwo Jima" would open this month. Now I have to wait for one more month. How is "Flags of Our Fathers" accepted in Japan?

[Kurugen]

Well if you guys havent heard its coming out in December because of early Oscar buzz.

[Sanjuro]

Well if you guys havent heard its coming out in December because of early Oscar buzz.

I guess you missed this thread Kurugen.

http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=4446.0

[Kurugen]

yeah i have whoops 

[Beebs]

Yes! I can't wait. I thought it would be next year.

[dave jenkins]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6168125.stm

[Sanjuro]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6168125.stm

Thanks for the good news, Dave. I'm excited to know "Letters from Iwo-Jima" has been welcomed by many critics already. Although "Flags of Our Fathers" is so good, I'm a bit anxious to see this one since it's told from the POV of Japanese. 

[dave jenkins]

Saw this today and was disappointed. Another pedestrian exercise foisted upon us by Mr. Eastwood. Absolutely no surprises in this one, from the canned moral to the small charges exploding in the sand in perfect "strafing run" patterns. They even worked in my "favorite" routine, de rigueur for war films since the 80s: the man on fire!

I am glad that so many Japanese-speakers got to work in an international production, however. Between Eastwood's and Gibson's films, American audiences may just decide they can bear subtitling after all.....

[Beebs]

I disagree. I saw it today and thought it was very good. Not as good as Flags in my opinion but still a great movie. I thought the special effects were better than you made them out to be. Though I'm not that big on special effects, (how could I be, i love old movies)

[dave jenkins]

To each his own. I won't be buying this on DVD. However, I do look forward to the release of Fires On The Plain (Nobi, 1959), (coming from Criterion to disc in a few weeks), a very good J-perspective film dealing with retreat in the Philippines.

[Sanjuro]

However, I do look forward to the release of Fires On The Plain (Nobi, 1959), (coming from Criterion to disc in a few weeks), a very good J-perspective film dealing with retreat in the Philippines.

That's a powerful film. A bit dragging toward the ending but it's undoubtedly a classic. You should check out Fukasaku's "Under the Flag of the Rising Sun" as well. A similar subject but told in a very different style. Not just powerful but daring film. I highly recommend. 

[Aguirre]

Eastwood is pretty old, and really has no flair. He is pretty much incapable of creating a masterpiece. Okay...Unforgiven is pretty damn cool, with beautiful photography and locations, but still..... When you get down to it, it's just another anti-violence film.

Something amazing to be an American Icon through Italian Cinema, it's cos of Sergio's balls and daring that he was able to even get infront of the camera again after Rawhide.

Well, there's my 2 cents on Eastwood, and  Flags of Our Fathers, which could have been the best film of the century, but it chose to go through cliches and focuses on war being hell....God...those were some dull battles.

[titoli]

which could have been the best film of the century

This is a hell of a mortgage on the 93 years to come!

[Aguirre]

...So far in the new century is what I meant.

Just the idea of going after "The World's Greatest Generation" takes some daring, but you gotta have more, much more to tackle it as a film.