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Netflix and other shows you are watching

Watched Kurosawa's Ran over the weekend What an epic film. It's Kurosawa's take on Shakespeare's King Lear set during the Sengoku period. The movie tells the tale of Hidetora Ichimonji who, after having a vision during a hunting trip, decides to step down and split his kingdom among his three sons. From there, the movie descends into chaos while Hidetora loses his mind. Kurosawa rarely filmed in color, even when the rest of the industry had transitioned to the medium. Not only is it filmed it in color, but expertly so. Kurosawa not only uses colors to accent scenes but also in battles to the point where you are never confused as to which side is gaining or losing in a battle. Sound also plays a major role in this film. One of the key points is during the battle half way through the film. All sound is muted except for the ominous soundtrack. The music plays as you witness the brutal scenes of war play out. The music finally fades away and all you are left with is the single shot from a gun hitting it's primary target.

If you get a chance to watch this movie, don't skip out on it. A true classic in every sense of the word.
 
Watched Kurosawa's Ran over the weekend What an epic film. It's Kurosawa's take on Shakespeare's King Lear set during the Sengoku period. The movie tells the tale of Hidetora Ichimonji who, after having a vision during a hunting trip, decides to step down and split his kingdom among his three sons. From there, the movie descends into chaos while Hidetora loses his mind. Kurosawa rarely filmed in color, even when the rest of the industry had transitioned to the medium. Not only is it filmed it in color, but expertly so. Kurosawa not only uses colors to accent scenes but also in battles to the point where you are never confused as to which side is gaining or losing in a battle. Sound also plays a major role in this film. One of the key points is during the battle half way through the film. All sound is muted except for the ominous soundtrack. The music plays as you witness the brutal scenes of war play out. The music finally fades away and all you are left with is the single shot from a gun hitting it's primary target.

If you get a chance to watch this movie, don't skip out on it. A true classic in every sense of the word.
I don't make films, but if I did they'd have a samurai.
 
Watched Speed Racer over the weekend. This movie got slammed by critics and did poorly at the box office. Honestly, both were wrong. This movie was fun and really well casted. Matthew Fox and John Goodman both shined as Racer X and Pops, respectfully. I will admit it does take a few minutes to get use to the style of the movie. The Wachowski's went out of their way to make a live action cartoon and once you realize that, things like vibrant colors, speed lines, and overall styling make sense. Also if you are fan of the cartoon, there are tons of easter eggs and references.
 
Watched Speed Racer over the weekend. This movie got slammed by critics and did poorly at the box office. Honestly, both were wrong. This movie was fun and really well casted. Matthew Fox and John Goodman both shined as Racer X and Pops, respectfully. I will admit it does take a few minutes to get use to the style of the movie. The Wachowski's went out of their way to make a live action cartoon and once you realize that, things like vibrant colors, speed lines, and overall styling make sense. Also if you are fan of the cartoon, there are tons of easter eggs and references.
Agreed; I always enjoy watching the Speed Racer movie. It is simply just a fun movie. I always thought it did a good job of capturing the spirit of the cartoon, without trying to add unnecessary filler or fluff; just to make it seem more than what it is.
 
Since our cable has been out from the last storm I’ve had to find new things to watch. Well at least when my phone could get a connection. Your Honor, Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King and 1883 have all been very entertaining. Tulsa King and most of Mayor were watched pre storm. Working my way through the other 2 now.
 
We went and saw Scream VI last night. It wasn't terrible, but I had a hard time reconciling the plot holes and suspension of belief. I think I finally figured out how to describe it: This is the Fast & Furious franchise of horror/slasher films. Reality does not exist within the 2 hour running time, and you go into it willingly knowing what you are going to get.

Also, I think the most disturbing part of the whole movie was Hayden Panattiere's BOTOX face.
 
Finished watching all six of the Lone Wolf and Cub movies. They were fun and it was cool seeing how they took parts of the manga, and did almost a direct translation to film.

Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo. This movie was fantastic, to put it simply. It has all pedigree you'd want in a film with Kurosawa behind the camera and Toshiro Mifune playing a lone Ronin. In the film Sanjuro (Mifune) comes across a small town that is controlled by two rival gangs. He then decides to work for each gang at different times or money and to topple the powers they have. If this sounds a lot like Fistful of Dollars, then you are correct. Sergio Leone used Yojimbo as a major influence for Fistful.
 
Pepsi, where’s my jet?
I watched that in December. It was interesting and was some nice 90s nostalgia! I was hoping for a different ending!



Finished watching all six of the Lone Wolf and Cub movies. They were fun and it was cool seeing how they took parts of the manga, and did almost a direct translation to film.

Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo. This movie was fantastic, to put it simply. It has all pedigree you'd want in a film with Kurosawa behind the camera and Toshiro Mifune playing a lone Ronin. In the film Sanjuro (Mifune) comes across a small town that is controlled by two rival gangs. He then decides to work for each gang at different times or money and to topple the powers they have. If this sounds a lot like Fistful of Dollars, then you are correct. Sergio Leone used Yojimbo as a major influence for Fistful.
I barrowed the Criterion version of Sanjuro and Youjimbo from my buddy and watched them for the first time last year. Both were very good movies; nothing unnecessary or unneeded in the plot, story, or action. Which led to a very enjoyable experience; a lot of modern movies suffer from adding unnecessary drama, just for the sake of drama. That was also the first I heard of the Criterion Collection. My buddy is a big film buff and was telling me about Criterion and how not every movie added is actually "good" per se, but does something different or pushes the industry forward.
 
I watched that in December. It was interesting and was some nice 90s nostalgia! I was hoping for a different ending!




I barrowed the Criterion version of Sanjuro and Youjimbo from my buddy and watched them for the first time last year. Both were very good movies; nothing unnecessary or unneeded in the plot, story, or action. Which led to a very enjoyable experience; a lot of modern movies suffer from adding unnecessary drama, just for the sake of drama. That was also the first I heard of the Criterion Collection. My buddy is a big film buff and was telling me about Criterion and how not every movie added is actually "good" per se, but does something different or pushes the industry forward.

That's one thing I love about Kurosawa, he can do a 90 minute movie or a 3 hour epic and they tight with no fat. Just tight storytelling that constantly moves forward. If you haven't see any of his other movies I highly recommend checking them out. Criterion also works very closely with Janus films. The main difference is Janus, tends to focus on foreign films.

Not to go on a huge rant, but storytelling does seem to falter with modern movies. It seems even more so with Marvel movies. I was huge Marvel fan as a kid, so maybe that's why I'm more critical of them, but it feels like every movie they have been doing recently is all about hitting a 3 hour mark and throwing in connections to other movies. While, I don't hate the shared universe, and admire the forward thinking that is required to pull off such a thing, a lot of times it feels like it's more important that the actual story trying to be told.
 
That's one thing I love about Kurosawa, he can do a 90 minute movie or a 3 hour epic and they tight with no fat. Just tight storytelling that constantly moves forward. If you haven't see any of his other movies I highly recommend checking them out. Criterion also works very closely with Janus films. The main difference is Janus, tends to focus on foreign films.

Not to go on a huge rant, but storytelling does seem to falter with modern movies. It seems even more so with Marvel movies. I was huge Marvel fan as a kid, so maybe that's why I'm more critical of them, but it feels like every movie they have been doing recently is all about hitting a 3 hour mark and throwing in connections to other movies. While, I don't hate the shared universe, and admire the forward thinking that is required to pull off such a thing, a lot of times it feels like it's more important that the actual story trying to be told.
I was done with Marvel after Iron Man 3 and Captain America 2. Those two and everything after have been dog turds in my eyes. Well everything Disney touches are dog turds now a days; simply not the Disney from years past.
 
I started this yesterday thinking that we were already on Ep.3. Man, what an ending!


I believe it was ScreenCrush who pointed it out, but it is interesting how the show is shifting tones. Seasons 1 and 2 had the tone of a lone cowboy/ronin whereas season 3 is starting to feel like a biblical epic, especially with baptism playing a big part in the first two episodes.
 
I believe it was ScreenCrush who pointed it out, but it is interesting how the show is shifting tones. Seasons 1 and 2 had the tone of a lone cowboy/ronin whereas season 3 is starting to feel like a biblical epic, especially with baptism playing a big part in the first two episodes.
Aye, I meant to bring that up with you. S1 was definitely a space western. S2 was post-Sekigahara ronin stuff. I can definitely see the biblical themes in this season, for sure.
 
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