Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[dave jenkins]

Equinox Flower (1958) - Because it's in glorious Agfacolor, has an amusing plot, and was, I've come to learn, released in Japan on the day I was born, Equinox Flower is now one of my favorite Ozus. Apart from everything else, the film is known for a red teapot that makes several appearances in the living room of the featured family. It's been said (by me, anyway) that that pot is another character in the film. And like any good character, it's unpredictable. Each time we visit the family we're never quite sure where it will pop up. Will we find it sitting on the tatami? Beside the kotatsu? On the other side of the room? It is a game Ozu plays with his viewers, moving it about between scenes, but in the end he pulls a fast one, directing the pot to purposely miss its final cue. (The gag works because in addition to the pot a red cushion has also been present throughout; because of the teapot, however, the cushion goes unnoticed until the final scene: the absence of the pot renders the cushion suddenly conspicuous).

The point is, the red pot is just a red pot. Its symbolic function, or its potential to function symbolically, has been emptied out. We are free to enjoy it (or not enjoy it) for exactly what it is rather than for what it means.

There's also a story about a father who disapproves of his daughter's choice of fiance, but that's less interesting.

The most interesting human character in EF is the mother, played by the great Kinuyo Tanaka. She is essentially passive, doing little more than registering her anxiety over the conflict between her husband and her daughter. By the end of the film, she is worry-free, as calm as the red teapot.

[dave jenkins]

The Munekata Sisters (1950) - 5/10. Lesser Ozu. With Kinuyo Tanaka and Hideko Takamine, but even so.

Kiga kaikyo / A Fugitive from the Past / Straits of Hunger (1965) - 6/10. According to Kinema Junpo (in 1999), this is the third greatest Japanese film ever made, making it the greatest crime film in Japanese cinema. And yet, it is a tedious three-hour sit. A fugitive escapes to Tokyo from Hokkaido; the police take ten years to catch him. The confession scene, with its attendant flashbacks, goes on for thirty minutes. Filmed in 16mm b&w and blown up to Cinemascope proportions, this is one very grainy movie. A film by Tomu Uchida.

[dave jenkins]

Ten to sen / Points and Lines (1958) - 7/10. Great color police procedural with a very clever murder plot (involving train timetables). Also with a pre-Scorsese use of multiple voice-overs. Those Japs sure love those double suicides, eh?  http://rarefilmm.com/2018/09/ten-to-sen-1958/

[dave jenkins]

Ten to sen / Points and Lines (1958) - 7/10. Great color police procedural with a very clever murder plot (involving train timetables). Also with a pre-Scorsese use of multiple voice-overs. Those Japs sure love those double suicides, eh?  http://rarefilmm.com/2018/09/ten-to-sen-1958/

2nd viewing. I'm raising my rating to an "8."

[dave jenkins]

What Did the Lady Forget? (1937) - 6/10. Amusing in places. Not as good as the remake.

Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (1941) - 7/10. Japanese family dynamics, nicely observed. Mieko Takamine was once incredibly beautiful.

Kill!/ Kiru (1968) - 5/10. Kihachi Okamoto tries his hand at a remake of Sanjuro, but, despite great photography and editing, it doesn't come off. Too many characters, no one to root for. Nakadai plays the lead, but it's impossible to know if he has a plan or if he's just making things up as he goes along. After a while, I just stopped caring.

[Novecento]

Kill!/ Kiru (1968) - 5/10. Kihachi Okamoto tries his hand at a remake of Sanjuro, but, despite great photography and editing, it doesn't come off. Too many characters, no one to root for. Nakadai plays the lead, but it's impossible to know if he has a plan or if he's just making things up as he goes along. After a while, I just stopped caring.

Is the title a pun? Means ?cut? but sounds like ?kill? when pronounced with a Japanese accent.

[dave jenkins]

I believe that is correct. As I understand it, though, "kiru" can also carry a nuance meaning something like "kill via a cut" or "cut to kill." Similarly, when an evil daimyo (or whoever) makes a chopping motion with his arm, he is communicating something like "put this guy to the sword."

[noodles_leone]

Triangle of Sadness (Ostl?nd, 2022) - part I 9/10, part II 8/10, part III 6/10
Athena (Romain Gavras, 2022) - 4/10 - brilliant music video, bad movie, 1 good scene (that one tracking shot where the music finally shuts up)

[Cusser]

The Great O'Malley is on Turner Classic at about midnight, always liked that film.  Bogart, Pat O'Brien.  I'm going to DVR it and see if it still holds up.

Another sleeper with Bogart, Wm Demarist, Phil Silvers, and Conrad Veidt  is "All Through the Night".

[noodles_leone]

April's Daughter (Michel Franco, 2017) - 8/10
This one isn't for everybody, Franco like it very cold. It's a pure framing MasterClass though. The first shot is one of the best opening shots I have ever seen.
Also it's weird that the English title forgets the plural.

[dave jenkins]

The Fallen Sparrow (1943) - 6/10. The plot is incoherent, and important characters disappear without explanation late in the proceedings. But Garfield is always watchable, and he's in every scene, so this kinda works.

Peter Gunn (1967) - 6/10.  Very TV. Some funny dialog, though, courtesy of Blake Edwards and William Peter Blatty. Also a bit of commentary on the dangers of transgenderism. Worth seeing to catch glimpses of Sherry Jackson's naked back. Carol Wayne has a cameo at the end.

[PowerRR]

Hocus Pocus 2 - 3/10

[dave jenkins]

Crepusculo / Twilight (1945) - 7/10. Mr. Mustache rides again! This time he's a brain surgeon with shaky hands--a month ago during an operation on his best friend his hand slipped and the man died. Mustache has a bad conscience: he was banging the guy's wife (Gloria Marin). Worse, on the night the cuckold got hit by a falling tree, Mustache knows the man was planning to kill him and maybe his cheating wife as well. The thing is, since he knew this at the time of the operation, Mustache can't dismiss the idea that the knowledge caused him to botch the operation. Holy Hippocratic Oath, Batman! Cue flashback. We see how matters played out during the months leading up to the operation. See, there was this sculpture, and Mustache discovered that the model for it was an old flame . . . and when he came back from Europe he had to have the statue installed in his home. Holy deja vu, Batman! Don't these Mexicans have more than one plot? Anyway, this is straight-up melodrama, it's about as noir as my left nut.

Found it with Eng subs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNF5_mP5Kp8

[noodles_leone]

Hocus Pocus 2 - 3/10

What are you doing?

[PowerRR]

What are you doing?

We're losing our mind.