I think they are trying to generate demand by doing a limited release and getting it an Oscar. It is exactly the kind of movie The Academy loves and it really deserves one. Then they will rerelease it nationwide. It’s a distribution strategy that has been used for a long time, usually for lower budget sleeper hits. They did it with My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Which was one of or the top grossing movies the year it was released.
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True Stories (1986) starring David Byrne, a very young John Goodman, Jo Harvey Allen, and Spalding Gray.
A nostalgic and evocative ride to early to mid-80’s. If you’re a fan of Stranger Things, you should love it. The acting isn’t great, and it tends to be a little campy (especially the fashion show), but the soundtrack is equally great to listen to.
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Love this one, and I’ll defend the acting. A lot of the acting is not the most nuanced, but it mostly perfectly suits the arche/stereotypes Byrne is going for.
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it’s a great one. I saw it in the theater with my mom!
and the fashion show is dope. all those suits like Greek collumns? it’s dope, man.
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So while perusing the DVD selection at the library I found a 5 disc set from Criterion for all the Lone Wolf And Cub films. 6 if you count Shogun Assassin which is the first two films edited together for North American release.
So far I have only seen the first Sword Of Vengeance. It is fun, bloody, and upsetting in the right ways. The script was by the author of the manga series and at least the origin part of the story pretty much used the comic for a storyboard.
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Listen out for Sandra Bernhardt on Shogun Assassin!
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I have yet to see that for some crazy reason. It even has one of my favorite bands (who played for David Byrne’s wedding) in a scene .
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I would like to recommend a little movie called “the Lady from Shanghai,” an Orson Welles film noir from 1947. Apparently he adapted it, directed it, and it was briefly an interesting movie, but it was soon torn apart and re-made into a different film by the studio because the boss, Harry Cohn, didn’t get it.
The plot starts off very simply: An ordinary sailor gets drawn in to a circle of three very nasty people. After that, it starts to get complicated. To summarize it simply, each of the three nasty people want the other two dead and Orson is to be the fall-guy. There’s a grand explanation right at the end, but it’s really not important.
What is important is watching the four primary actors (Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane and Glenn Anders) play their parts. They’re all good. Rita gets to play a real charter. Everett Sloan cuts through ever scene he’s in like a pneumatic metal shear. I especially want to point out the somewhat obscure Glenn Anders — he is excellent at creating a character who is simultaneously annoying, laughably absurd and quite intimidating.
Now I think I’ll go have a little t-a-a-a-r-r-r-get practice.
As I mentioned earlier, the movie was made and then remade. The effects of this reworking are quite obvious in the editing and the cinematography.
Mashing the original and reshot footage together results in choppy editing and uneven pacing. Frequently there are scenes that play-out in confusing, abrupt bursts. And then there are other ruminacular scenes that just seem to go on longer than they need to. This editing, in its own way, helps establish an appropriate mood because it gives the movie an unsettled, hallucinatory feel. Just watching it makes you feel like you’ve been drugged and you’re… why, you’re wandering around a deserted mad house!
Some of this movie’s cinematography is quite bad. I’m going to assume this is the re-shot footage. And why shouldn’t I? It looks like it was shot on fogged 16mm film.
On the other hand, most of the movie has black and white photography so sharp it feels like it could cut you. Cut you like — like a sea full of sharks — just mad for each other’s blood. There’s ample use of raked lighting. The lighting is so carefully arranged that it creates whites on top of blacks on top of whites on top of blacks. It all builds up scenes with incredible unity and depth. The best parts of the film are shot this way, and it’s a joy to see.
There are a couple of distinct highlights I should mention. Orson’s escape from the courthouse is precipitated by a brief, but enormous fight in the judge’s office. The choreography of this fight is amazing in the efficient way it completely destroys the office. And then, of course, there is the famous closing scene in the deserted amusement park. It’s 10 minutes that look like it inspired the opening to the Twilight Zone.
Also, the yacht featured in this movie is Errol Flynn’s infamous personal love boat. Flynn himself apparently appears someplace in one of the Acapulco scenes, but I’ve never noticed him.
Is it a great movie? No. But what’s there is pretty good. And if you look at it right, you can see what it might have been.
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I love Rita Hayworth.
I watched Asphalt Jungle on tv a few nights ago, a movie of some renoun yet unknown to me. Unfortunately I fell asleep right at the end, so I won’t say too much but it was a damn fine picture. John Houston noir. One of the leads is the guy who later played Col. Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove, but here he’s much younger and playing a hood/strong-arm gorilla for the underworld, and very convincingly.
Also notable was that the other woman to a different lead character was a very young Marilyn Monroe.
All the shots’ composition is fantastic. Fantastic, I say!
The way the characters lives intertwine is masterful. I’m certain Tarantino has studied this film. But where he relies on flashbacks and out-of-sequence scenes to establish reasons for characters’ crossings, AJ is told chronologically, swiftly and concisely, yet never hurriedly. Very impressive filmmaking yet the story and telling suits a broad audience – doubly impressive.
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Ah, so you probably missed how Sam Jaffe met his fate? Well, he had it coming is all I can say. Dirty old man.
I also saw that movie recently for the first time. I was horribly disappointed — I thought it was going to be a heist movie! But the heist itself is just a brief scene almost exactly half way throught the film. How anti-climactic, I thought.
But then I re-watched it a few months later and I got it. It’s not a heist film at all, it’s a study of human behavior. It’s about watching a beautiful plan all fall to pieces and destroy everone involved. And with a cast that good it’s a pleasure to watch.
There is another great Sterling Heydon heist-noir called “The Killing.” Have you seen that? That story is however shown all out of order.
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nah, I’ll have to check for it.
agree with your analysis. I went into it completely blank, I just knew it was a noir because that was the time-slot on the Movies network for noir.
I love not knowing, it’s the best way to see a good film.
In the first few minutes there’s an extremely dynamic shot of a police car reacting to a call over the police radio; I was like oh boy, here we go.
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One misstep in the Asphalt Jungle is a scene at the end where John McIntire, playing the Police Commisioner, lectures reporters about what a tough job the police have.
I have a feeling the studio wanted that included to placate police departments across the country, because one character is a “dirty cop.” As we have seen recently, the police can be quite touchy when it comes to criticism.
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An oddity for the time. While going through old B movies and series film on youtube I saw this one.
A prequel of sorts. Instead of Boris Karloff in yellowface we have Key Luke as young Mr. Wong playing the lead and the villains are not evil Chinese. There are some cringe worthy Chinese secondary roles but still having Key Luke as the lead and young Chinese lady as a secret agent on the good guys side it was refreshing to see for film of 1940.
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Luke only got the lead because Monogram needed one more Mr. Wong picture and Karloff (the prior Wong) was no longer under contract. I’ve seen the first in the series which gave me no great desire to watch the rest.
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Well it wasn’t great. But journeyman competent in execution so watchable as a distraction/noise while doing other things. Definitely better than other things I have willingly seen as far what I watch.
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Well-mounted.
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Anna and the Apocalypse is now the weirdest thing I’ve ever watched. Gen Z musical with zombies. It’s utterly ridiculous and rather hilarious.
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I had the misfortune to spend the afternoon watching “The Servant.”
The movie was supposed to start at 1:10, but it was preceeded by noted film historian David Thompson who talked about nothing, and continued to do so for half an hour.
At one-hour in, the story was engrosing and looked like it was heading to some sort of conclusion. I couldn’t imagine how it was going to end, but surely it would be something interesting. After about one-and-a-half hours the film ended, and then, in Lord of the Rings fashion, it ended four or five more times over the next half hour.
I can’t blame the actors. The acting was supurb throughout, especially Dirk Bogarde. This might have been the best performance I’ve seen him deliver.
I was going to walk out on it, but I didn’t want to disturb the other woman sitting in my row. But, as Homer and Jethro so rightfully observed, “ain’t no use complainin’ cuz outside it’s a-rainin’.”
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My favorite Wonderland adaptation.
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