Ma Baker

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Movie Posters the I Love - Gun Crazy

Top Ten for 2002

A couple of my friends are doing top ten lists from random years. You can check out their ongoing lists here and here.

I chose to go with 2002 just because it seemed random enough.

1. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodovar)

2. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson)

3. City of God (Fernando Meirelles)
4. In America (Jim Sheridan)

5, Adaptation (Spike Jonze)

6. About Schmidt (Alexander Payne)

7. Signs (M. Night Shyamalan)

8. Road to Perdition (Sam Mendes)

9. Catch Me if you Can (Steven Spielberg)

10. The Pianist (Roman Polanski)

Batman: Year One by Frank Miller

I think I have heard about this comic book/graphic novel ever since I first got into comic books when I was, like , 8. This one, The Killing Joke, and The Dark Knight Returns were huge when I was little and I got around to The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight Returns when I was a kid but I just never got around to Batman: Year One for some reason. I just never found Batman's origin a must read since I had already seen the origin told a number of times already.

So, I finally decided to check it out the other day and, yeup, it was the Batman origin story once again as I had expected. True, it has some excellent writing (mostly told through voice over) and the use of a years calender to tell the story through one year is a pretty cool way to show Batman's first, and very rough, year as the caped crusader.

However, to my surprise what really made this an excellent read wasn't Batman's story at all but instead Lt. (soon to be Commissioner) Gordon's story. Miller decides to not only tell Bruce Wayne's first year as Batman but also Gordon's first year in Gotham City. The narrative is then split between both stories. On one side we get to see Batman training, building his costume, and his first night outs while on the other side we get to see Lt. Gordon begin to slowly clean up the streets of Gotham while getting in trouble for exposing the corrupt cop system that exists. Both stories are good but Lt. Gordon's is excellent in that is gives his character a history that truly enhances the bond that he will develop later on with Batman. The final moments when both stories meet are without a doubt the high points of the entire story.

However, I'm still not a fan of origin stories when I already know the origin. It's my own fault but I just cant seem to get into it so much. The only thing that truly kept me turning the pages in this case was Lt. Gordon's storyline and the eventual meet up between the two. It was also pretty cool seeing Miller throwing Harvey Dent and Catwoman into the mix without ever going "HEY! THIS IS GOING TO BE CATWOMAN!!!"

That is really all I have to say.

The Long Night (1947, Anatole Litvak)

Kino is a company that I trust. So, when they proudly proclaim on the cover of the dvd that this is a "rediscovered American classic" I was interested in checking it out since: A) That quote B) I love a good noir C) Henry Fonda and Vincnet Price in a noir movie sounds awesome.

The movie did not let me down at all.

As the film begins a blind kid is walking up the stairs of an apartment building. As he reaches the top he hears a a gunshot and a badly injured Vincent Price falls out of a room and down the stairs dead. Out of the room walks out Henry Fonda holding the smoking gun. He then walks into his room again where he locks the door and refuses to come out meanwhile the police and neighborhood gather outside. Through a moody voice over and flashbacks we begin to find out how he got to this position.

Everything you would want from a noir shows up here.

Voice Over? Check.
Flashbacks? Check.
A flashback within a flashback? Check.
Moody black and white photography? Check
A shady magician who likes virgins played by Vincent Price? Check

After that little checklist I don't know what else to write. It's not a perfect example of the genre but its a fun, wild, and pretty pulpy 90 minute film. All the trademarks of the noir genre do their thing while Henry Fonda delivers another slow burn performance and Vincent Price does his evil bastard with a cool moustache thing again.

It's worth your time if you are a fan of the genre even if it introduces nothing new.

B+

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World by Bryan Lee O'Malley

I'm actually surprised that Scott Pilgrim has stayed somewhat underground and is still considered a cult favorite. I fully expect that as the film adaptation comes closer that it will slowly emerge into the mainstream where it will then be adopted by the trendy crowd. I can see the shirts now. I also want to buy one of these shirts.

I like to describe Scott Pilgrim as "Video Games + The "indie" Movement + Wes Anderson + Anime" I'm sure I am missing one other word that belongs in that equation but to me all of those things summed up best describe the inspired insanity that is Scott Pilgrim .

Now, for those that don't know Scott Pilgrim and the 4 books that are out right now explore the issues of a socially awkward 23 year old named Scott Pilgrim who upon meeting and falling in love with the new girl in town named Romona flowers finds out that in order to date her he must defeat her 7 evil ex boyfriends in fights that are straight out of Street Fighter 2 . Characters defy gravity during fights, random objects are used as weapons, and when a character is defeated he leaves behind gold coins or an object.

It might sound stupid and it definitely has a whole "wtf" vibe to it all but Bryan Lee O'Malleys makes it work perfectly and creates one of the most entertaining, creative, and often times hilarious things that I have ever read. I hardly ever laugh while reading something and Scott Pilgrim is constantly able to bring out this emotion in me.

Really, just check it out if you can or check it out when its huge in about an year. I just want more people to check it out.

The movie is now my most anticipated thing at the moment. If its even able to capture only half of the greatness of these graphic novels then we are in story for something truly special.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972, Kenji Misumi)

The first of a 6 film series about a samurai turned assassin and his son that he pushes along in a cart as he hunts down the clan that framed him for treason and murdered his wife is a pretty solid first film in what promises to be an epic series.

Sword of Vengeance in a sense sets up the world that the following films will take place in. Given that this is the first film in the series most of the mandatory story has to be set up and told before the series and action really take off. It's because of this that the first half hour or so is about the betrayal of Ogami Itto (soon to be know as the assassin "Lone Wolf and Cub"), the murder of his wife, his decision to leave his samurai code of honor and work as an assassin, and his decision to travel with his child on this quest for vengeance. Once all of that is out of the way the film really begins to churn out the goods.

After everything is laid out the film follows Ogami Itto and his son on their first mission as assassins for hire. A chamberlain hires Itto to go and kill a rival and his henchmen who are a threat to the chamberlain's lord who are staying at a hot springs spa and as Itto accepts the job you just have to wait it out until the inevitable final fight scene takes place where you know things will get crazy...oh...and crazy it does get



The charm of Lone Wolf and Cub, and what really makes it so much fun, is that when the fight scenes come up (and they come up frequently) the film doesn't hold back with its "holy shit!" type of moments. Heads get decapitated, limbs fly off left and right, and when Itto delivers a fatal blow the blood sprays out his victims in an exaggerated anime kind of way (think Kill Bill). So, when you have heads, arms, legs, and blood flying everywhere mixed together with some very impressive fight choreography you are guaranteed to be into every single fight scene while saying "oh!" or "fuck!" every couple of seconds. So, basically, awesome samurai film has awesome samurai fight scenes. Shocking, right?

Although every fight is top notch stuff I am not the kind of person who is easily amused by a good fight scene that he decides to shrug off any of the films flaws. I wish I could turn a blind eye towards what bothered me in Sword of Vengeance and just decide to focus on how awesome the fight scenes were but really there is one plot development towards the end of the film that just left me scratching my head towards why it was included.

When Itto is staying at the hot springs spa and waiting for the right moment to kill everyone a prostitute is introduced into the mix that, in my opinion, only serves to make the film have an extra couple of minutes of exploitation "goodness"" but somehow the film tries to pull if off as another way for the film to show you how great Itto's moral code is. Itto is forced to have sex with her in front of group of people in order to save her life and Itto being the noble man that he is accepts the task and so begins one of the most unnecessary sex scenes I have seen in awhile. What is even more unnecessary is how she actually becomes a main character for the final act of the film while adding almost absolutely nothing to the film (except for nudity).

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance is a very solid and often times entertaining "set up film" that due to its obligation to set up everything for the first hour or so becomes a bit of an annoying task that you know you have to get through in order to fully enjoy the the greatness that lies ahead. When everything is out of the way the film delivers on what it promises and also delivers on what the first film of a series should, which is the hint of even bigger and better things in the following films

B