“I shall accomplish your request… with magnificence.”
I shall accomplish your request… with magnificence.”
-Shinzaemon Shimada on accepting the task of killing the evil Lord Naritsugu from Takashi Miike’s remake of 13 Assassins
Also, Dude, ‘Chinaman’ is not the preferred nomenclature… ‘Asian American’ please.”
-Walter Sobchak from one of my favorite movies, The Big Lebowski
As she left, I heard the sound of something important to me disappearing…”
-Shuya Watanabe/Student “A” from the highly acclaimed Japanese film, Confessions
A Trip to the Tangiers
For any one of you who has yet to see the glory and pure unadulterated brilliance of Casino, then you need to go see it now. Run, don’t walk, to your Netflix or your favorite torrent site, or whatever, and watch this gravely underrated masterpiece for that it is a film that deserves to be seen and appreciated. Like really, if you don’t fall in love with it from the first twenty minutes then you sir, or madam, have no soul whatsoever. Sure, that last sentence was a bit exaggerated and all, but those twenty minutes alone would be enough to carry you to cinematic bliss as it did for me when I first saw the movie two years ago, and again when I watched it last week. And don’t let the seemingly daunting almost three hour length discourage you because once you start, believe me, you just can’t help but keep on watching to the point where you’re just entranced as if the movie took you by the hand and tightly wrapped this uncompromising world around you. It’s really one of those films that can put a spell on your eyes.
Hype aside, Martin Scorsese’s Casino is one marvelously shot, gruesomely bloody, and unrelentingly violent and sprawling Las Vegas gangster epic that chronicles the rise to power and presence of the mafia back in a time where sin city literally really lived up to its name. Based on a true story, the movie follows the drama between Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a high level handicapper that the mob had put in charge of their prized casino, his best friend Nicky Santoro, a sociopathic enforcer who wants to take over the city, and Ginger, a slick hustler and Sam’s delusional and greedy wife. At their highest peak, they had the city at the palm of their hands, “But in the end…” as Nicky himself remarks, “we fucked it all up.” And just from hearing that blunt but perfect line, right there and then you’ll know that once the dominoes started toppling over around their lives and anyone that’s involved, they’re gonna fall god damn fucking hard. It’s such a treat, and the film really carves out one sinful fantasy we all want to live and die in.
When you love someone, you’ve gotta trust them. There’s no other way. You’ve got to give them the key to everything that’s yours. Otherwise, what’s the point? And for a while, I believed, that’s the kind of love I had.”
-Sam “Ace” Rothstein, from Martin Scorsese’s Casino
It’s Raining Assassins Everywhere
Black Death wasn’t the only movie I watched and treated myself to last week while trudging through schoolwork though. I popped in Reign of Assassins right after it, and god damn that movie was awesome! Seriously, looking back on it I can’t find any sort of major flaw that was enough to hinder and negatively affect it aside from some twists coming out of nowhere and me craving and wanting some more action and a little bit of brutality from it. This wuxia and martial arts flick was really fantastic in how it delivered and succeeded in merging a competent story and engaging action in a pretty refreshing way. You’d be smiling from some of its silliness and your eyes would be glued to the screen from all the swords clashing about, it’s just really well put together. Co-directed and produced by John Woo, who’s arguably the father of all modern action movies, it comes to no surprise but I was definitely delighted in how it turned out.
The movie is about a former assassin starting a new life after quitting her guild when she took off with half of an ancient monk’s corpse, of which if reunited as a whole would grant full understanding of kung fu and power enough to dominate anyone in the art. Michelle Yeoh is the assassin and she’s really back in her Crouching Tiger form in this one. The trouble for her though is that even after changing her appearance, her former guild and assassin team is still relentlessly hunting her down, along with that, she also has to deal with maintaining her cover now that she’s a married normal person. Of course, things turn for the worst and everyone breaks out their fists and swords with intent to kill; which is always awesome. I highly recommend this one, much more so than Black Death even. It’s really entertaining and enjoyable while also holding much meaning in relation to themes of life and identity.
Medieval Bleakness
I just remembered, I watched Black Death in parts last week while studying and doing homework, and it was actually pretty decent. Seeing Sean Bean do his whole “gritty-and-tired-of-the-world’s-shit-knight-act” again is always cool, and in a way it was a bit refreshing too. The movie is about an expedition and investigation by a few knights and a monk in the medieval times about a secret village that’s managed to avoid the bubonic plague, the titular pestilence and main catalyst for everything in the story. The catch here is that this village’s supposed immunity is because of a necromancing evil witch. And while it’s categorized as horror, it’s really more like a drama and a men-on-a-mission movie with a few horror elements mixed in. And by few, I mean that you won’t be seeing any sort of scares or fear-inducing scenes in this flick. It’s really more about the atmosphere and the state and strain of the characters, which I like.
The movie was pretty brutal too in some parts with the seasoned knights being always ready to break out a sword and slice some faces open, so the gore is a plus. Don’t expect any kind of Saw or Hostel here though, the gore may be awesome but it serves a purpose and doesn’t come off as exploitative. What I liked more were the characters and how well rounded they all were in how they relate to their messed up and ravaged world. Especially the monk, of whom is actually the main character and his progression to disillusionment and madness is the hidden focus of the film where you can’t help but show a little sympathy for what he went through after the denouement and aftermath. I’m not going to spoil anything though, but I do recommend on checking this out if you find yourself bored with nothing to do or watch on a lame Sunday evening. You might just find yourself thinking about how black and misleading religion can be.
I’ve always loved this scene, and after just watching it I can’t believe that this movie has now been ten years old since it still remarkably holds up, and it might probably continue to do so for another few years. Looking back on this scene though from a more objective point of view, I just love how it was edited. It’s really tightly put together with Eisenstein’s Soviet montage theory being heavily in mind, of which I’ve only realized now after learning and reading about it from class. Really, just the amount of detail and care put into constructing and editing this scene is just marvelous along with how rhythmic and tonal it is in successfully eliciting an emotional response, of which I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling one. I seriously recommend this movie to anyone who hasn’t seen it. Don’t let its musical and theatrical elements detract you though because it really is quite an enjoyable experience with lots of beautiful moments. It was quite lovely when I watched it last year with my ex, and I’m sure you and your significant other would like it too.
“But please, believe me when I say ‘I love you’…”
-Christian singing El Tango de Roxanne from the award winning film, Moulin Rouge!
A man can change anything: his face, his home, his family, his girlfriend, his god. But there’s one thing he can’t change. He can’t change his passion…”
-Pablo Sandoval from the Academy Award winning film, El Secreto de Sus Ojos
Never ask for what ought to be offered.”
-Ree Dolly from the film, Winter’s Bone
Holy fucking shit, I’ve been waiting on finally getting the chance to see how this movie would look and damn I’m excited! I’m pretty impressed on how it looks so far too despite what I’ve read about how it has a pretty tight, and limited schedule through it’s still continuing post-production. But with the talent tagged onto this as well as the man sitting on the director’s chair, I have some high hopes that this would turn out pretty awesome even though the last two X-Men movies sucked ass. Say what you will about Origins: Wolverine and The Last Stand, but they were really crap and they wasted and squandered much of the potential of expanding the X-Men mythos into more epic proportions on the big screen. And besides some pretty good action, their stories were mediocre, lacking and disappointing compared to the second movie’s perfect balance. So I’m really hoping that this prequel would bring about a retcon and disregard Origins and Last Stand in the film continuity like how Aronofsky’s upcoming The Wolverine would.
What I find most promising about this prequel though is that it follows the young Professor X and Magneto back when they were best friends and worked together in forming a group for fighting for mutant rights and saving humanity in the Cold War. I’ve also read that their roles will parallel those of historic civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, respectively, in relation to the mutant cause, so I would love to see how they would play up that angle. And with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender stepping into these characters’ shoes, we’re definitely up for a treat! God damn this movie’s gonna be epic, and I think I’m going to love the time period too with the whole bottled up tensions of the Cold War mixing in with the emergence of mutants. I mean, just getting a glimpse of the team flying into Cuba and literally flipping shit (or submarines in this case) has me hoping that it really lives up to the premise. Matthew Vaughn is directing too, you know, that guy who directed Kick-Ass.
“Also, Dude, ‘Chinaman’ is not the preferred nomenclature… ‘Asian American’ please.”
“As she left, I heard the sound of something important to me disappearing…”
A Trip to the Tangiers
Apathy is Knocking on the Door
“When you love someone, you’ve gotta trust them. There’s no other way. You’ve got to give them the key to everything that’s yours. Otherwise, what’s the point? And for a while, I believed, that’s the kind of love I had.”
It’s Raining Assassins Everywhere
Medieval Bleakness
I’ve always loved this scene, and after just watching it I can’t believe that this movie has now been ten years old since it still remarkably holds up, and it might probably continue to do so for another few years. Looking back on this scene though from a more objective point of view, I just love how it was edited. It’s really tightly put together with Eisenstein’s Soviet montage theory being heavily in mind, of which I’ve only realized now after learning and reading about it from class. Really, just the amount of detail and care put into constructing and editing this scene is just marvelous along with how rhythmic and tonal it is in successfully eliciting an emotional response, of which I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling one. I seriously recommend this movie to anyone who hasn’t seen it. Don’t let its musical and theatrical elements detract you though because it really is quite an enjoyable experience with lots of beautiful moments. It was quite lovely when I watched it last year with my ex, and I’m sure you and your significant other would like it too.
“But please, believe me when I say ‘I love you’…”
-Christian singing El Tango de Roxanne from the award winning film, Moulin Rouge!
“A man can change anything: his face, his home, his family, his girlfriend, his god. But there’s one thing he can’t change. He can’t change his passion…”
“Never ask for what ought to be offered.”
Holy fucking shit, I’ve been waiting on finally getting the chance to see how this movie would look and damn I’m excited! I’m pretty impressed on how it looks so far too despite what I’ve read about how it has a pretty tight, and limited schedule through it’s still continuing post-production. But with the talent tagged onto this as well as the man sitting on the director’s chair, I have some high hopes that this would turn out pretty awesome even though the last two X-Men movies sucked ass. Say what you will about Origins: Wolverine and The Last Stand, but they were really crap and they wasted and squandered much of the potential of expanding the X-Men mythos into more epic proportions on the big screen. And besides some pretty good action, their stories were mediocre, lacking and disappointing compared to the second movie’s perfect balance. So I’m really hoping that this prequel would bring about a retcon and disregard Origins and Last Stand in the film continuity like how Aronofsky’s upcoming The Wolverine would.
What I find most promising about this prequel though is that it follows the young Professor X and Magneto back when they were best friends and worked together in forming a group for fighting for mutant rights and saving humanity in the Cold War. I’ve also read that their roles will parallel those of historic civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, respectively, in relation to the mutant cause, so I would love to see how they would play up that angle. And with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender stepping into these characters’ shoes, we’re definitely up for a treat! God damn this movie’s gonna be epic, and I think I’m going to love the time period too with the whole bottled up tensions of the Cold War mixing in with the emergence of mutants. I mean, just getting a glimpse of the team flying into Cuba and literally flipping shit (or submarines in this case) has me hoping that it really lives up to the premise. Matthew Vaughn is directing too, you know, that guy who directed Kick-Ass.
