Day 6 of Kurosawa: Seven Samurai Brief synopsis: A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves. Review: Absolutely breathtaking film by Kurosawa. This is when he was at the height of his powers, making his longest film ever. But after watching this film I was hardly tired, but exhilarated. This picture is a testament to Kurosawa's brilliance. It has it all. His direction is complimented by the calming influence of Takashi Shimura, the raw intensity of Toshiro Mifune, the desperation of the farmers, along with humour, pathos, anger, and epic battle scenes. It is a very violent and dark film at times but Kurosawa never uses bloodshed to please his audience. Every second is simply captivating because of just the sheer magnificence of the screenplay, the wonderful direction, delightful acting, and the awe inspiring seven samurai. The slow motion sequences work very well in setting the mood and drawing attention. The camaraderie of the entire village and the samurai on screen illustrated a great chemistry between actors. Although not the sole protagonist or the focus of the film, Toshiro Mifune's performance as a feisty and aggressive samurai is a huge highlight. A lot of memorable scenes, which are very very funny involve him bullying the villager Yohei. Tatsuya Nakadai, who worked with Kurosawa on his later film, appeared in this film for about 5 seconds as a samurai in the town. Nakadai said that Kurosawa kept his principle actors and many extras waiting that day when he shot the scene working on getting Nakadai to walk like a samurai. In Nakadai's own words "we started at 9 a.m. and he gave me the thumbs up at 3 p.m." That goes to show how intense Kurosawa was and how much he cared about this simply flawless film. Rating: 10/10
Fantastic film... 10/10 Absolutly spot on quill.... For me, so much better than the cowboy movie .....
I love The Magnificent Seven, it's one of the best remakes ever, but I definitely prefer Seven Samurai.
Van Zandt is great in Lilyhammer, just been cancelled but a funny show for the most part, he is in Norway hiding from the Mob
I've got it recorded, I notice Juno Temple is in it so thats enough reason for me to watch, OLM wrote some anecdote about her father on here once I seem to remember Julien Temple, all that stuff is before my time but she's pretty fit it has to be said
Just watched the first two hours. Looks promising but hard to find any character to like. Have to see how it developes. Inevitably has a great soundtrack but I hope it doesn't turn into a Fake Festival. They would do better to stick to canned music rather than trying to replicate the bands. Although the David Johansen look alike in the New York Dolls clip had me wondering if they had done some clever editing with original film. Just need to find a way to give a **** about these awful people now to stay with it. I also notice Scorsese has only directed the pilot with a promise to return for more.
Also watched The Double last night. Based on Dostoevsky short story. As with Stonehearst Asylum I found the first half far better than the second. In setting up the bleak dysfunctional, bureaucratic nightmare, the humour added to the absurdity. But when the story developed into the accelerating psychological trauma James was going through, the more slapstick elements broke the spell for me. Worth watching though and at least a director trying to achieve more than just satisfying the simplistic demands of the pop-corn crunching hoards. I haven't read the original but if I hadn't known who wrote it I would have guessed at Kafka before Dostoevsky. I don't know if that comes from the original or from Ayoade's interpretation. The setting and mood is quite reminiscent of The Trial.
Watched Grimsby tonight at Cineworld Kingswood. I liked it, made me laugh out loud a few times which is rare for me at the Cinema. Loved the elephant scene. 8.5/10 for me.
Watched `Sicario` last night and highly recommend it..my 2nd fave film seen this year just behind Revenant
Day 7 of Kurosawa: Throne of Blood Brief synopsis: A war-hardened general, egged on by his ambitious wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become lord of Spider's Web Castle. Review: Another one of Kurosawa's brilliant masterpieces. An example of how good of a story teller he is by adapting Shakespeare's Macbeth into a story taking place in feudalistic Japan. Kurosawa removes Shakespeare's language, making it more accessible and adding elements from Noh Theatre to retell this great story. Toshiro Mifune plays the lead giving a great performance as very intense and extremely fierce warrior. This has got to be my favorite performance of Toshiro Mifune. His acting is much more mature and his raw intensity, displayed in past films like Rashomon and Seven Samurai, was much more channeled and refined. His amazing performance and Kurosawa's great execution make this my favorite film of his as well. The ominous mood of the film is set well by Kurosawa using ample fog and various sounds including screeching of crows and Noh music. A true classic and perhaps the best Shakespeare adaptation of all time. Rating: 10/10 (again!)
I don't know why but I'm not 100% sure abut this film, Josh duhamel who plays the lead roll I'm not a fan of, But I would honestly eat malin akerman's **** so I could **** her.....and I wouldn't chuck Alice eve outa the bed.. They play Emily and Charlotte in the film.....
Watched The Road, thanks. Grim going and no promise of a bright future. Pretty realistic I suppose. Strange how the smallest things among such an epic event can be the most important. I think it was actually about fathers trusting their sons to live their own lives. The whole apocalypse just being window dressing. Had to cheer myself up after that so watched Olympus Has Fallen. A comedy about an ultimately failed attack on the evil empire. It was good while the baddies where getting their buts kicked (as they might say) but as with the Road, in the end, it's all just carried on just the same. Not recommended unless you enjoy jingoistic bullshit. Next... The Survivalist.
