--- AUDITION spoilers ahead; if you want to see this film and haven't, skip this post ---

Traded in a bunch of my VHS tapes the other day, and wouldn't you know it -- they happened to have a region 1 Audition DVD. It was between that and the Criterion release of In the Mood for Love, but the latter was rather expensive and I'm not sure how much I'll like Kar-Wai. Anyhow, I only just watched it earlier this evening. I don't think I have anything really articulate to say about it at the moment -- still kind of digesting it -- other than that generally speaking, I think it was a worthy purchase. I'll definitely be checking out some more of Miike's work. I was a little leary of the rather cliche set-up -- aging man gets involved with younger woman who turns out to be a psychopath who'll try to kill him and his family and even his poor little puppy-dog -- but needless to say, Miike/Murakami's twist(s) on this were more than sufficient to elevate it into considerably more interesting territory.

And damn, the "man in the bag" ranks admirably in the arena of Lynchian feats of creepiness. I'm much too jaded a movie-goer to scare easily, but the first time that things stirs and makes noise -- yowza. Scared the shit out of me. And seeing the poor fucker emerge was horrifying in a whole different way.

I'm not sure I understand the late cut back to the hotel bedroom. Is which version of events is the real one supposed to be ambiguous? Or can I safely assume the torture route is what "really" happened? I was a little confused as to the purpose of that "it was just a dream" cut back, although I did enjoy the psychological effect ... showing the audience this same serene scene, and inviting speculation on the question of how to react and where to go narratively speaking if it was just a dream. In a way, it almost makes her more horrifying and tragic, that perhaps this was all just a nightmare he'd had about her, and we really still know nothing -- suddenly she seems twice as empty and eerie; and the possibility that she is just a normal, lonely human girl twists you in a strange way, emotionally. Maybe that was the purpose -- I dunno -- still digesting it, like I say, so forgive my rambling a bit.

On a different note, what was the deal with the kinda weird secretary who mentioned she was getting married? Was there an actual sexual relationship between her and the guy at some point, as implied in the dream sequence following his being poisoned? -- or was she just kind of thrown into the psychological mix for effect? The lines between what was and wasn't real in the film were definitely blurry (also reminding me of Lynch) ... it's a movie that probably warrants a few careful viewings.

Hmm ... oh yeah, and one other technical question. The R1 DVD ... I notice that for a 1999 release, the picture quality is kinda cruddy, rather dated looking. The sound was a bit muddy too. But it almost seemed like that might be intentional -- I couldn't quite tell. Anybody know if the R1 print is like the others?

Also, given the shitload of movies Miike's directed, any suggestions on where to wander next? I was thinking maybe Visitor Q ... The City of Lost Souls looked rather fascinating as well.


K

I personally don't recommend Visitor Q, unless you just like seeing outrageous things on screen with no logic or much plot attached to them. City of Lost Souls is OK, not great. Ichi the Killer is pretty good, though, if you can stand the gruesome parts. The main character (not Ichi, but the guy who appears in all the ads, his name escapes me right now) is truly a superstar - you can hardly take your eyes off him when he's on screen. And in Ichi he plays a really over-the-top character.

I'd also recommend Battle Royale too; if for no other reason than just to be able to talk about it at parties.

I'm slowly working my way through modern and classic Japanese film and am having a blast.

Tardy fellow that I am, I just saw "28 Days Later" last night. As an longtime fan of zombie films of every color and stripe, I will without hesitation give 28 Days my official 'Zombie Scholar Seal of Approval'. I just liked it a whole lot. I particularly enjoyed the *MILD SPOILERS* climactic sequences in the military house, where the film finally lunges into high gothic mode: spookily mellow children happily dancing down the halls of a rotting mansion as a storm rages and zombies, the military, and our heroes stalk around and shed blood... very satisfying. There's even some Fulci-esque eye violation and a great freeze-frame fakeout ending! And the film is not afraid to take some time out to soak in the atmosphere of the silent England, or spend time developing relationships among the protagonists.

Oh, sure, it's not perfect. Logic lapses do appear (Ex: If the Infected are vomiting up so much blood, why don't they just dehydrate to death? Why does everyone wait to find a fuel truck to gas up their car, when they could easily just syphon gas out of the trillions of abandoned cars that must be lying around? Why aren't there more abandoned cars along the road [ok... now I'm really nitpicking]?). Some of the soldiers are typical "assholes with guns" cliches (though I'm sure this is meant to draw comparisons with the Infected themselves). However, the Commanding Officer is VERY well acted and characterized... a LOT of what he does is quite logical and understandable, given what he precieves his situation to be.

All in all, a great entry to the Zombie Pantheon.

The trailers, however... well... the geeky side of me (or, perhaps, the geekIER side of me) is interested in "Freddy V. Jason", but boy it looks silly. And I'm sorry, but the scene in the "Underworld" trailer where the heroine shoots a hole around herself to break through the floor has to be the dumbest idea I've seen on the big screen in quite a while. Perhaps the film's villian will be dispatched by someone sawing out a circle from beneath him...

The only Miike I've seen is Bird People of China and I think it's one of my favorite films. It's a poetic film about a Japanese businessman and a Yakuza thrown into the rural backwater of western China. It plays on the familiar theme of 'corrupted modern world' vs. 'innocent and pure village life', but it does so in a way that is less idealized and contrived than most fiction treatments of the subject. Rural China is depicted as realistically as I've seen in a movie, except for the Bird people of coarse, but that doesn't take anything away from the seriousness of the subject. There are also some moments of pure hilarity where I found myself laughing out loud (which is quite rare for me). So that's my recommendation.... but now I'm looking for more Miike that's like this, so I need some recommendations :p

You know, it seems like every year there's a movie which I like a hell of a lot the first time through, only to ask myself what the hell I was thinking when I see it again a couple months later. It happened with Being John Malkovich, it happened with Unbreakable, and now it's happened with Hero. I can't believe I so highly lauded this intellectually tepid showcase of windblown hair, pretty pictures and sub-par, overdramatized wire choreography. And by God, the endless slow-motion. The film is so precious it hurts.

It does have a few fairly cool elements which hold up, but watching it again was really disenchanting.


K

K,

That's just how I felt about Pia Zadora's The Lonely Lady.

I just don't know what got into me!

Matthew

It's way past early spring but since this was the thread with the most CHARLIES ANGELS 2 reviews I decided to post here. (I'll bet that's pretty far from the intention of whoever began it, but what else is new?)

Based on mixed reviews (even from one reviewer who listed the first CA as one of his ten best for the year) I waited till no. 2 throttled its way to the dollar cinema. I find that Matthewwave's take on the film is closest to my own (even if I didn't find Justin Theroux all that winsome). Oddly, though I think Diaz got the best scenes in the first film, I felt she was just on autopilot here while Liu and Barrymore tried to convey some real emotion into roles that were pretty damn cartoony.

Speaking of cartoons, I knew that the characters had done various cartoonish stunts in the first film but when they can go careening off of a moving vehicle, crash through display windows and get up with a few bruises, I guess they've graduated to full Looney Toons status.

Oddly, though most of the action set-pieces were nothing special, one scene, the big warehouse-fight with the Angels taking on the Irish mob, was closer to the model of HK flicks, where the action is over-the-top but still seems just this side of possible (unlike the moving-vehicle scene). It's actually a better fight-scene than anything in the first film, actually.

Oh, and just 'cause no one mentioned it: wonder what was up with the Thorn Birds reference? I wouldn't have thought anyone in the film's intended demongraphic would've caught that one...