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.

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.

Killing Zoe

I watched a movie and it was called Killing Zoe, directed by Roger Avary, released in 1993. It stars Eric Stoltz, Julie Delpy and Jean-Hughes Anglade. It is a story about Zed, played by Stoltz, who comes to France to assist his childhood friend, Eric, played by Anglade in what turns out to be a bank heist on Bastille Day and Zed is Eric’s safecracker. Will the heist go well?

This is another one of those films I spoke of before in my review of Four Rooms (http://movedbymovingimages.blogspot.com/2015/01/four-rooms.html), from the golden period of the 1990’s when independent films were making a comeback. This particular film, I feel, fell under the radar and got lost in the Pulp Fictions and Desperados and dare I say, Reservoir Dogs before that. This is a pretty simple bank heist movie, granted, but what makes it unique from other bank heist movies is that it takes place in France, and that the only professional is Zed. We really don’t know about any of his counterparts other than Eric, who is his friend and that becomes shady after the first 20 minutes he is on screen. He is a wild card of a person, played masterfully by Jean-Hughes Anglade and his character is quite morally ambiguous to say the least, compared to the more down to Earth Zed. Zed is calm and just there, not really joining in but still a part of the job, basically going along with it because it is a job; aloof, some might say.  Stoltz makes Zed likable from the moment he gets in the cab in the very first scene he is in. Julie Delpy plays Zoe, who is a prostitute escort that the French cab driver, Maurice, sets Zed up with. She is very pretty and plays her part well. For the record, this is the first time I saw her on screen, in a movie so any movie she has been in since, I always think of this movie. She has a heart and is very human in her acting style. All of the other players, the robbers, are played with vigor as well. You get a sense of how screwed up they are and how very nonprofessional this job is going to be right from the beginning. The music by TomandAndy is sparse but used in a great way to raise tension, though the most intense scenes have no music which works so well. Most of the movie takes place in the bank and though you might think that is boring, it makes for a nail biter for sure.
When I saw this originally, back in the 90’s, I thought it was gold. I still think it holds up because it is so different, very hard and not sentimental. It isnt nihilistic as the dvd cover would have you believe. It is dark in some ways because it is a bank heist movie. 
If you want to see a different kind of bank heist movie, don’t mind some French (with subtitles) and like that 90’s independent period, I think you will like this. Hell, just give it a look because it’s so underrated.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie

I watched a movie and it was called Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, directed by Jim Mallon, released in 1995. It stars Michael J. Nelson, Jim Mallon, Kevin Murphy and Trace Beaulieu. This is a movie based on the tv series of the same name, where a scientist (and his assistant) submits a man and the robots he built to terrible movies to see if they will crack, in a satellite in space. It’s a simple show that really needs no explanation. The thing that makes it funny is that these three “riff” aka make funny comments about how terrible the movies are. It’s basically like watching a movie with three wiseacres making comments throughout. It is an acquired taste and requires some knowledge of pop culture to be fully appreciated, at least I think so. This is the movie version of the show, like I said so there are some slight differences but not too much to stray away from the roots of the original show. In this incarnation, the human is Mike Nelson. He is joined by Crow T. Robot, Tom Servo and Gypsy, who pilots the Satellite of Love where they have the actual experiments. The scientist is Dr. Forrester and he is evil. Well, mad. He actually is the first person you see and does an introduction to what we are about to see and the concept of the movie so you can be up to speed, basically forgoing the explanation via theme song like in the show, which actually works. We then see the Satellite of Love float across the sky (looking suspiciously like a bone) and we see Mike inside running on a treadmill…more like hamster wheel complete with water bottle. This is the first sketch of the movie, which was something that tv show did as well before going to commercial, also known as host segments. Basically there would be an introduction and something crazy happening, in this case its Crow using a pick ax to “dig” out of the Satellite of Love to get to Earth, which will be the running theme of all the host segments for the movie. The movie they watch is the “terrible” Universal classic This Island Earth. One of the interesting aspects of these host segments is you get to see Servo’s room, which was not explored in the show. All I can say is underpants.
The production value of the show went up quite a bit because it is a movie, where the sets don’t look as cheap, which again, totally works. The hallway to the theater gets a special upgrade (and is not used again when the series resumes on Sci-Fi channel later) and even the bots get an upgrade, though that might be the lighting. The movie that is chosen has some quality riffs on it and is pretty consistent throughout. One of the best parts is the guys even riff on their own credits, which they didn’t ever do it the show.
This is a special part of the show and to me personally. This movie has the distinction of being one of the movies I have seen more than 100 times. Im not even exaggerating. I worked at  video store for 3 years and one of my co workers who was my manager in the first year I worked there, would watch it every time we closed, which was basically every night for that first year. He moved and I still kept the tradition, in his honor, for the remaining 2 years I worked there. I am still amazed that this movie even got made as I have read many articles and commentaries that say it had quite a bit of executive meddling so that made it quite difficult. So much in fact that Trace Beaulieu left after this film.
This is a great little movie and hilarious to boot. I may be biased because I’m a fan of the show and the movie but I think you might like too if you give it chance.