High Fidelity

I watched a movie and it is called High Fidelity, directed by Stephen Frears, released in 2000. It stars John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Joan Cusack, Jack Black and many others. It is based on the book of the same name by Nick Hornby. It is the story of Rob Gordon, played by Cusack, and how he has broken up with his girlfriend Laura, played by Iben Hjejle. He goes through an existential crisis by examining his past relationships with women and all the while tries to get Laura back, all while running a failing record store. That’s the story in a nutshell. The movie makes some changes from the book here and there to accommodate filming (Rob’s last name change, location setting change, putting two characters together, et al.) though this kind of streamlines the story and makes it more accessible. That’s not to say that the book is not without its merit or accessible, I read it long before seeing the movie and really I didn’t notice the difference until I read it again. To be honest, I understand how they can change it because the book is dense with references that would be hard to film and would be just excessive to put in the movie to make it interesting. I’m sure purists would disagree with me there but really, the movie would’ve been 3 hours long or more. Not that that would be bad but it would be tedious though that is moot point.
Cusack brings in a great performance as Rob. You feel for the guy and are somewhat repulsed by him. After watching this again after a few years, I see how dick-ish he really is and self-centered he is. However, he does have personality that is very much like a normal person so in that respect, it is very easy to identify with him. All the supporting cast was great as well, though a bit more out there in terms of character compared to Cusack’s Rob Gordon. The locations were great, Chicago, and you could really feel the cool breezes (cold?) and the smell the city. The soundtrack is awesome of course, since it is about a record store owner. Lots of obscure but lovely tunes that score the film really well and put you into the mood of just about every scene.
Overall, I think this is one of Cusack’s best films. His fourth wall narration to the audience is pitch perfect and you get the feeling he really was involved a lot on this project. I suggest watching it, if you haven’t seen it already. Then read the book. Or even better, READ THE BOOK then watch the movie.

Updates Updates!

Okay, So its been some time since I have posted and I havent forgotten about you, dear readers.
I just got through with a heavy semester (Ethics and policy) and I am on a 2 week break (!!! HUZZAH) and I thought you might like to read some reviews on some of the movies I watched to decompress during that time.
I hope you dont mind that I watched them earlier and didnt type them up for your enjoyment but rest easy, dear reader, I will soon.

Be on the look out for some new reviews, at least for a short period, before school begins a new.

I also hope that everyone is safe.

Be back soon!

Thank you!

:)

Leon Morin, Priest

I watched a movie called Leon Morin, Priest, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, released in 1961. It is based on the novel, The Passionate Heart. It stars Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Emmanuelle Riva. It is a story about a woman who lives in a small French town, which first gets occupied by Italian military and then the German military. During this time, the woman, played by Riva, who has a daughter, goes to the church to hurrang the priest about the hypocrisy of organized religion. She chooses the priest purely based on his name, Leon and goes to the confessional. She says her piece and is confronted with an intelligent discussion from the priest, Leon, played by Belmondo. Thus, it becomes a story of her friendship and life of that period with the priest. It is a simple story but it has many twists and turns. Since it is told from her perspective, there is a more nurturing aspect to the story that is interesting. The thing I like most about this kind of movie is that the woman will tell a little bit of the story, it will fade out and fade in, much like many French movies. I wouldn’t consider this French New Wave as it has a linear story that is pretty easy to understand. It has a lot of religious debate in it which was interesting since Riva’s character is an atheist. However, it is not beating the viewer over the head with theological concepts or trying to convert anyone. It is well thought out and well developed dialogue that should be part of any religious discussion (though I know that is not the case in real life). There was no mention of her husband, though I may have missed that part in the introduction as it was subtitled and the translation might’ve been off. It was interesting because it approached a subject that might be/is considered taboo in an adult manner. Riva is beautiful in this movie, an unconventional beauty as compared to some of her costars but that is what works for her character, she brings an inner strength and intelligent beauty that brings out her outer beauty and you fall in love with her as the movie progresses. Belmondo is very handsome indeed and it was strange seeing him as a priest though very believable.  It does end on kind of a blank, which is I suppose, a movie like this should end.
Overall, I thought it was very well written, the scenes were shot very well, and the dialogue was quite interesting to hear. I recommend this if you can find it.

Holy Mountain

I watched a movie and it is called Holy Mountain, directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, released in 1973. It is a surreal story about a man called "thief" who resembles Jesus, who comes in contact with an alchemist in a tower, who leads him on the path to immortality with seven others. That is only the half of it though.
Like I said, it is a surrealist movie and has a lot of religious imagery and Tarot card imagery. It is really hard to explain, one really has to experience it. Not just see it, experience it. I had no clear idea what this movie was going to be about, I had not even heard of the director. I was just looking through movies to watch late one night (as I tend to do) and this one struck me. The opening sequence alone was enough to reel me in. I don't mind surreal films. In fact, Un Chien Andalo, 1929, that Luis Buñuel and Salvadore Dali had worked on together is one of my favourite movies to watch on occasion because it is so strange but so very artistically enriching to watch because it takes you on a journey (albeit short) and you are left to wonder. This is what Holy Mountain is in so many words. I also don't have a problem with religious imagery that is featured in the movie because I am open minded that way. I will not discuss it here, though if you are offended by that, I would probably tell you to avoid this movie. However, by doing so, you are missing out on something very thought provoking and evocative of what and how religion is interpreted by different countries. At least that is how I felt about it by the end of the movie. A lot of people complain about the ending but I thought it was a nice touch by Jodorwsky because you get so emotionally invested into the characters and the actions that are happening on screen that it is hard to break away from that I think. The movie is based on some source material: Ascent of Mount Carmel by John of the Cross and Mount Analogue by René Daumal. I don't know by how much but I thought it was worth mentioning in this review. There are some psychedelic aspects to this movie too that can be slightly off putting, just so you know.
Overall, I thought this was an excellent movie and had a very strong story, interesting, provocative imagery and a pretty solid cast. I do want to warn that there is some nudity, some animal imagery that might be too much for some and some other questionable content however do not let this deter you from this movie experience.

Shadowlands

I watched a movie and it is called Shadowlands, directed by Richard Attenborough, released in 1993. It stars Anthony Hopkins, Debra Winger and Edward Hardwicke. It is the story of the later part of professor and author C.S. Lewis’s life with his wife, Joy and how her death challenges his faith. It is an interesting movie in that it portrays Lewis as a man of particular traits and habits until he gets a letter from a woman in America that challenges him at every turn when they meet. It treats their story as something organic and indeed it builds and ebbs and flows in such a way that doesn’t seem forced in a movie conventional way. I’m not sure how much of it is truly based on their lives (as with all “true stories” kinds of movies and generally how people remember things) but it seemed genuine enough to me. I am familiar with C. S. Lewis through his critical work rather than the Narnia books. In fact, I owe him a debt of gratitude as his book, Miracles, helped me write a paper about the subject and get a decent grade on it at one of the colleges that I was attending while attempting to get my Master in Philosophy.
Attenborough uses an economy of shots but still using long takes of faces and places that really convey the human spirit of this movie. The acting is superb all around, from Hopkin’s Lewis being so aloof and so intellectual, Winger being so humble, abrasive but so loving after having such a terrible previous marriage, their chemistry so believable. The score is light and not at all overbearing.
I had seen this movie a few years ago on cable and was captivated by it and spent a number of years trying to find it again (I suppose it is out of print or something) because I didn’t get to finish it. I finally did and I feel better for it.
Like I said before, it may or may not hold true facts here and there but it might be a nice little movie to watch, if you are interested in some love story, heavy drama and want to see a little of what C.S. Lewis might’ve been like. Get some tissues though, fair warning.

Les Mistons (The Mischief Makers)-A François Truffaut Birthday Tribute Review

I watched a movie and it is called Les Mistons, directed by François Truffaut, released in 1957. It stars Gérard Blain, Bernadette Lafont, Michel François to name a few. This is a significant movie because it is Truffaut’s “first short film of any consequence”, according to the director. The story is about these young boys who terrorize (in a boyish fashion, nothing nefarious…) a young woman and her boyfriend in their hometown. It is a simple little movie but it speaks volumes as to where Truffaut would go later in his more famous movie, The 400 Blows. This movie, shot in black and white and funded by Truffaut’s best friend, Robert Lachenay, is a beautiful masterpiece even if the director himself thought it amateurish. For me, you have to start somewhere and Truffaut really begins right on the right foot with this little movie. The children are annoying as hell and you can see how they would be mischief makers. Though I must tell you that it a movie that will explore the theme of being young and losing that youthfulness with harsh reality that makes you grow up. That is one of the themes that is a current in all of Truffuat’s films which markedly is how his life seemed to be as well. The actress Bernadette Lafont is perfectly cast as the young woman whom the mischief makers have an infatuation with because she is extremely beautiful, which is another theme in Truffaut’s films, beautiful leading ladies. There are at least two scenes that stand out to me as part of how this film exists outside the norms of reality but also still exists in the norms of reality.
The girl is riding her bike and she stops at a lake to swim and she leans the bike against a nearby tree. The boys followed her to the lake and they run to her bicycle. They smell the seat (she wasn’t wearing underwear) and the boy sniffing it is in slow motion, almost dream-like. I know that sounds a bit risqué but to see it on screen, it is truly innocent. The other scene is when she is playing tennis with her boyfriend. She isnt too good and her skirt flips up and she is so lively. What makes this scene is how Truffaut seems to making her laugh and have fun and it translates into the scene and takes you out of the movie for the moment and you feel connected to Lafont and how the film got made.

It is all beautiful shots and is a stepping stone to what Truffaut produced many times in his life. I have it on the Antoine Doinel Box set from Criterion. I suggest seeing it. To see where the great master director of French New Wave cinema got his start and how French New Wave got its beginnings as well.

Golgo 13: The Professional (English Dubbed Version)

I watched a movie and it is called Golgo 13: The Professional, directed by Osamu Dezaki, released in 1983. It stars Gregory Snegoff as Golgo 13. I watched the English dubbed version. It is a story about a professional assassin who is assigned a job to kill the son of a wealthy oil tycoon. Having completed the job, Golgo 13 travels to Italy to assassinate a powerful crime boss. Accomplishing that, he is attacked by the U.S. military and secret services and must find out who is after him. It is an interesting spy kind of thriller that is very well made. It is based on the manga series released in May 1983. Golgo 13 is the longest running manga series, starting in 1968 and has had 3 movie adaptations made and a series of episodes made. Golgo 13 is a cool character throughout and has no emotions through the entire movie, which one might say is off putting but he is a professional assassin. I’m not sure if this is the way he is in the manga books but for all intents and purposes, I’d like to think so. This is one of the earlier anime moves that have a distinct drawing style. It has both rich lines and a lot of reflections which give it a film noir style. All of the figures are drawn a little long/tall but it works for this kind of movie. There is a little bit of suspension of disbelief for some of the animatics but like I say, it works for the subject matter being presented. I was quite surprised at the nudity (for which there is a lot right in the first 20 minutes) and the sex. Golgo 13 is basically Bond with the women in this movie but it is covered tastefully and not off putting save for one sequence that involves one of the bad guys, Snake. There was a fair amount of bloody violence as well as dismemberment which was not all that surprising. The music is a kind of jazz/blues hybrid kind of music that fits well with the noir style of the action. The animation is superb. There are striking framing shots of action that look like panels from the manga and they are gloriously detailed, adding much to the action pieces in the movie. There is some early adopted CGI in the climax of the movie that looks cheesy by today’s standards (though, it depends on what movie you are talking about because cheap CGI is cheap CGI) but I admire the director and the studio for attempting something different that would be a technology used later. The CGI isnt all that bad really considering its 1983.
I came across this movie from a review I watched regarding a video game adaptation of Golgo 13 for NES and I thought I’d try to see if I could find it. I have watched many anime movies, Akira, Ninja Scroll, Grave of the Fireflies, Fist of the North Star and a few more so I thought this was a great entry as far as something different. I am always impressed by the creativity it takes to make these films and how they adapt from such great source material (for the most part). This particular movie I really didn’t know anything about apart from the game review and that was enough to get me to watch it. Golgo 13 did remind me of Diabolik, who is an Italian thief which was in graphic novel form later to be adapted into a movie directed by Mario Bava, released in 1968 (and famously riffed as the last episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 tv series). That doesn’t detract from this Golgo 13 movie at all, it was just something I noticed.
Overall, I thought it was a great story with great characters and very compelling to watch. I would suggest tracking it down. It is graphic both in violent imagery and sexual imagery so your mileage may vary.