A few reviews

[Gaith]

Heroic Times (1984)

I'd been itching to see the 1984 Hungarian animated film Heroic Times, restored by Deaf Crocodile, since reading its review on Blu-ray.com last fall, but, though I came close several times, I wasn't quite willing to spring for a $20 blind buy - and the disc's price has risen since then. Happily, it can now be rented for $3, so I opted for that instead of a $10 digital purchase.

The movie is an episodic tale of battle, honor, politics, war, and jesters, told with the protagonist's narration, though apparently the director didn't even want that. There are no character names or dialogue, and almost no facial animation that I can recall; expressions are nearly entirely in still paintings, some of which the camera lingers on for long moments. That said, the movement that is animated - horseback riding, jousting, battles, and crowds (even when viewed from a far distance), as well as the static elements, are stunningly beautiful. One sequence of the protagonist running through a castle looks astoundingly modern.

It's hard to criticize the story and characters for being disjointed and unsympathetic when that's the film's clear theme, or to bemoan the lack of facial animation as keeping the audience at a remove when that's the equally clear intent, but my patience was sometimes tested despite the brief running time and excellence of the artistry (Nor was the movie warmly received in Hungary at the time, if TV Tropes is correct, though it's gradually grown in esteem since then.) And maybe Soviet censorship prevented director József Gémes from being more pointed in his critique of monarchs and wanton warfare; I can't say.

Heroic Times is absolutely worth a watch for the visuals alone, and the themes that are presented are weighty and timeless. I wouldn't dissuade anyone from calling it a masterpiece on all counts, but I'm not ready to do so myself. Repeat viewings, with one accustomed to the story's coldness, might be more rewarding.

Grade: B+

 

[bionicbob]

Better than expected.

Gyllenhaal's charisma is the glue that holds this movie together. He is completely endearing and sympathetic. Everyone else is a trope formula, one dimensional plot device. The narrative is unoriginal and obvious. But still the movie is determined to tell you repeatedly that this a modern western and Gyllenhaal's Dalton is the mysterious stranger come to town to save the day, since I guess the movie makers assume the average modern movie goer has never seen a Western... or any episode of the A-Team LOL.

Some good laughs and the action beats are fun with some decent CGI trickery at work. And like most big budget endeavors these days, it is left open ended for a sequel.

While I did not find this remake had the same memorable charms that made Swayze's 1989 version a cult favourite, it is still very much in the same lane, being a dumb, silly, fun popcorn watch.

 

[TM2YC]

Heroic Times (1984)

^ Never heard of that before. Thanks looks interesting.

---

Human Traffic (1999)
Such a big hit in the UK at the time on VHS and DVD, but it's only taken 25-years for it to be remastered in HD, thanks to what looks like a lovely 4K scan showing up on Netflix one day. I don't know if this long period of unavailability has something to do with the film's producer Allan Niblo, who allegedly didn't pay the young first-time director/writer Justin Kerrigan, released a bastardised/censored/redubbed version in the US market and edited together a 2002 "remixed" version without even telling Kerrigan. That history aside, 'Human Traffic' is a film fizzing with the ideas of a fresh new director, splashing vibrant colours all over the frame, breaking every 4th-wall in sight and cutting to the rhythm of the fantastic 90s Rave and Hip-Hop soundtrack. It's an anarchic, slyly political, anti-authoritarian, life-affirming, laugh riot. Welcome back 'Human Traffic'!

The US trailer with hilariously bad redubbed voices...

...although this vintage clip cutting the film to CJ Bolland's banger 'It Ain't Gonna Be Me' (from the soundtrack) is more representative of the energy within...

Love this record store scene, it's funny 'cause it's true...

 

[bionicbob]

Intimate. Poignant. Introspective.

This is John Wayne's UNFORGIVEN or RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY. Made even more powerful, as it is not only his last Western, but his last movie.
It is not an action or adventure movie. It is also not a revisionist Western. But neither is it a tribute or celebration.
It is a character piece, an exploration of a man's last days.
The performances by Wayne and Bacall are exceptional.
And despite seeing this film many times, I still break down into tears during the third act.

I rewatched this classic on Arrow Video's newest blu ray release.
A fantastic preservation with glorious grain. No DNR or modern colour timing here. It looks and feels authentic and true.
Lots of great bonus material too.

Highly Recommended.

 

[DirtyCop1036]

Heroic Times (1984)

 

[DirtyCop1036]

Intimate. Poignant. Introspective.

This is John Wayne's UNFORGIVEN or RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY. Made even more powerful, as it is not only his last Western, but his last movie.
It is not an action or adventure movie. It is also not a revisionist Western. But neither is it a tribute or celebration.
It is a character piece, an exploration of a man's last days.
The performances by Wayne and Bacall are exceptional.
And despite seeing this film many times, I still break down into tears during the third act.

I rewatched this classic on Arrow Video's newest blu ray release.
A fantastic preservation. No DNR or modern colour timing here. It looks and feels authentic and true.
Lots of great bonus material too.

Highly Recommended.

It's been a while since I haven't watched a good ol' John Wayne movie! This one's next that's for sure!


PS: Good to know the Road House remake is watchable, big fan of the original, especially Sam Eliott

 

[bionicbob]

THE ABYSS -- THE SPECIAL EDITION (ie The Director's Cut) 4K BLU RAY

Of all Cameron's works, The Abyss remains my favourite. It is incredible that it has never had an HD release until now.

After watching the VHS and DVD countless times over the decades, the first and most obvious thing you notice is the completely new colour grading. WOW!
It is very startling at first! I mean its been over 30 years since seeing this masterpiece in a theatre, so I now have zero memory what it originally looked like on the Big Screen--maybe this was it??? The steel blue grading that permeated the DVD is now mostly gone. There is a wider spectrum of colours, which brings out significantly more rich detail and textures in every scene. So while it took me a few minutes to adjust to the colour grading, it quickly won me over. It is also just fantastic to be finally able to see this classic in anamorphic format. The audio mix is excellent.

There has been a lot of controversy about the A.I. scan program used (is it just me, or is it bizarre that Cameron is a proponent of this technology since he made the most anti-AI movie in history?) and while I have not yet seen the other new Cameron releases, I can attest The Abyss overall looks exceptionally good. I do wish more grain had been retained, but it is not completely gone. None of the actors look waxy or uncanny valley. There is the odd close up shot here and there that looks a wee bit over processed. The Sharpening used is very evident in most of the greenscreen scenes... but those looked dodgy even in the original. This appears to be a straight across HD scan and clean up, no Lucas-style tweaking or changes. Even the pantsing is still in the movie!

In terms of entertainment, the Special Edition never fails to thrill. Cameron was at the top of his dictatorship game with this flick; crafting a taunt, action-packed, character rich, cold war sci-fi spectacle. Just don't ask Ed Harris to promote it. lol

Highly recommended!

 

[TM2YC]

The Last Emperor (1987)
I watched 'The Last Emperor' sometime in the early 90s with my parents. It's testament to it's visual impact on pre-teen me that I remembered so many scenes exactly in my mind. I don't think I've rewatched it since then, mainly because the whole ordeal about it not being available to watch in it's original cut, or in it's original full aspect-ratio, always put me off. Thankfully the recent Arrow Video blu-ray box set finally corrects both those issues. Apart from one of the final scenes (in which Ying Ruocheng's compassionate prison governor is inexplicably politically purged... with Christ carrying the cross symbolism), I can understand how the script got past the CCP censors, as it's very critical of Puyi's actions. Thank heavens it did so we could see the glorious, glowing reds and golds of the footage shot inside the Forbidden City. However, master Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro shooting all the communist interrogation scenes in a cold desaturated world of grey green drab makes the criticism implicit. John Lone as adult Puyi is great but the other three child actors playing the role are a bit wooden. Ryuichi Sakamoto's score is full of sadness and wonder.

The Arrow 4K trailer is stunning:

 

[TM2YC]

Rich and Famous (1987)
'Rich and Famous' is certainly improved by seeing it remastered on blu-ray with decent subtitles, rather than a VHS tape transfer. But I still can't get over this being a classic era 80s Hong Kong action film starring Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee, as mobsters and cops respectively, which features far too little of either of them. The action, when it happens, is good stuff though. I'm hoping this re-watch will give me some more "The Hong Kong Godfather" type fanedit ideas when I watch the second film 'Tragic Hero'.

Tragic Hero (1987)
'Tragic Hero' continues the gangster saga 9-years later, when Yung has grown more powerful and evil and Chai has a family and is starting to look vulnerable. Thankfully Chow Yun-fat is front and center in this second part but his honourable character spends most of the film trying to avoid the type of 80s Hong Kong violence we've paid our money to see! When he finally does start firing the grenade launchers and dual-wielding a machine gun and sawn-off, in the finale it's well worth the wait! Alex Man plays such a wonderfully nasty and insane villain. An all-round better film than the first one and there's even much more screen time for Danny Lee. If I was going to edit the two films together, I'd lean heavily on the sequel, focus on the action, focus on Chow and try and make his character appear a bit less ineffectual.

 

[TM2YC]

The Rocketeer (1991)
It's been a few years since I last watched this, I was prompted to see it again by being tempted to treat myself to the old 90s Screamin' model kit. The retro designs are phenomenal, the cast are delightful, it has all the best ingredients of Indiana Jones and Superman combined, it's perfect for film-fans who will get all the references to the Hollywood golden age and James Horner's main theme is so heroic that I get goosebumps every time he works it into his score. I love the way the film feels like it could've genuinely played to late 30s audiences as an anti-Nazi/yay-USA! propaganda film. With the incredibly authentic looking Nazi animated short, the Italian-American mobster defiantly saying "I may not make an honest buck, but I'm 100% America, and I don't work for no two-bit Nazi" and Cliff/The Rocketeer pictured taking off for his final battle with the forces of evil next to a giant Stars and Stripes... "Go get 'em kid!". On the downside, the pace sags in the middle for reasons I couldn't put my finger on and the stupid rubber-faced design for the brute Lothar takes me out of the movie every time. It's a thankfully isolated example of that weird 90s thing where Directors thought that to adapt a comic book movie, you literally had to make it look like a comic drawing (see 'Dick Tracy' from 1-year before 'The Rocketeer').

It's a shame the vintage trailers don't use James Horner's score but this 35mm scan is still cool:

Film music don't get no better than this:

---

Scoop (2024)
The 2019 BBC Newsnight/Emily Maitlis interview of Prince Andrew was dynamite TV. I know I watched the whole thing at least twice (metaphorical popcorn in hand) and particular lines became moments of hilarity to share with friends and family for months afterwards. But does it make a good Netflix drama? Well not really. Rufus Sewell does a decent job of impersonating Prince Andrew but he doesn't manage to be anywhere near as ridiculous and implausible as the real interview recording (no other human could). Gillian Anderson doesn't quite get Emily Maitlis' voice right, it's a bit like she thought "I'll just do my Thatcher voice from 'The Crown' again, it's close enough". Then again, I do listen to Maitlis most days, so I'm very familiar with her voice. I think the makers want to just play the interview again (about 30 minutes of this is) but know they can't, so have to think of desperate ways to fill up the rest of the runtime and introduce as much dramatic tension as possible. Even interspersing the interview with executives still fact checking the interview questions, as we are watching them already being asked, for no obvious logical reason. The rehearsal space looked like a silly attempt to set it up like a spy movie and the filming of the bike courier delivering the flash drive smacked of desperation. The decision to over mix the audio and hyper grade the footage in a way that would seem over-the-top in a John Wick movie doesn't help it feel authentic. 'Scoop' is a bit of forgettable glossy tabloid TV that passes the time well enough but your time is better spent slack-jawed in amazement watching the real "plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion level bad" interview again.

 

[Gaith]

The Rocketeer (1991)

On the downside, the pace sags in the middle for reasons I couldn't put my finger on

Oh, I can, and easily: the movie sabotages itself by making Cliff and Jenny an established couple from the start. The process of letting one's guard down and emotionally investing in a romantic partner is one of the most dramatic things humans do, and, in an adventure story like this, the winning over of a beautiful companion can be as thrilling as defeating a dastardly villain. (Imagine if Indy and Marion were in a relationship at the start of Raiders, or if Rick and Evy were going steady when The Mummy began!) Because Cliff is the protagonist, Jenny's annoyance with him also annoys the audience, and, as charmingly as carries herself, the character isn't dynamic enough to maintain audience interest. (I also think that, though she of looks spectacular, Connelly may have been miscast: her whole vibe is much more mature than Campbell's, so their pairing isn't entirely credible. A heroine with a lighter, more innocent persona might have worked better.)

I've only seen the movie once, back in '09, and while I wanted to love it, I could only like it, instead. I wondered at the time if a leaner edit might help, trimming the first half and cutting as many non-Cliff scenes as possible?

 

[mnkykungfu]

THE ABYSS -- THE SPECIAL EDITION (ie The Director's Cut) 4K BLU RAY

Of all Cameron's works, The Abyss remains my favourite. It is incredible that it has never had an HD release until now.

After watching the VHS and DVD countless times over the decades, the first and most obvious thing you notice is the completely new colour grading. WOW!
It is very startling at first! I mean its been over 30 years since seeing this masterpiece in a theatre, so I now have zero memory what it originally looked like on the Big Screen--maybe this was it??? The steel blue grading that permeated the DVD is now mostly gone. There is a wider spectrum of colours, which brings out significantly more rich detail and textures in every scene. So while it took me a few minutes to adjust to the colour grading, it quickly won me over. It is also just fantastic to be finally able to see this classic in anamorphic format. The audio mix is excellent.

There has been a lot of controversy about the A.I. scan program used (is it just me, or is it bizarre that Cameron is a proponent of this technology since he made the most anti-AI movie in history?) and while I have not yet seen the other new Cameron releases, I can attest The Abyss overall looks exceptionally good. I do wish more grain had been retained, but it is not completely gone. None of the actors look waxy or uncanny valley. There is the odd close up shot here and there that looks a wee bit over processed. The Sharpening used is very evident in most of the greenscreen scenes... but those looked dodgy even in the original. This appears to be a straight across HD scan and clean up, no Lucas-style tweaking or changes. Even the pantsing is still in the movie!

In terms of entertainment, the Special Edition never fails to thrill. Cameron was at the top of his dictatorship game with this flick; crafting a taunt, action-packed, character rich, cold war sci-fi spectacle. Just don't ask Ed Harris to promote it. lol

Highly recommended!

I've always really enjoyed The Abyss, but neither of the endings works for me nearly as well as the first 2/3s of the film. I wonder if a fanedit mix of these could accomplish the proper feeling (something like Close Encounters? Going for awe and triumph?)

Also, I'd argue that T2 is Cameron's counterpoint to the "anti-AI" feeling. It's him saying that the message isn't to be anti-AI, anti-machine, or anti-tech, it's to be a humanist. They are tools, and they are as horrible or wonderful as we make them. It's our responsibility to make them wonderful.

 

[Gaith]

I've always really enjoyed The Abyss, but neither of the endings works for me nearly as well as the first 2/3s of the film. I wonder if a fanedit mix of these could accomplish the proper feeling (something like Close Encounters? Going for awe and triumph?)

I think an abrupt, Hitchcockian ending would be best:

And, for the first two-thirds, I thought I was watching James Cameron's secret masterpiece and best film. Alas, the third act, while solid, isn't as great as what came before. Granted, the theatrical version is much better than the woo-woo extended version, which features downright silly shots of beachgoers and civilians running from sky-high waves that would have utterly broken the movie's tone. Still, even more should have been trimmed: some of the hokey descent dialogue is superfluous, and I'd have preferred a smash-cut to black and credits just after Bud and the NTIs first make eye contact.

Some movies benefit greatly from a gently paced coda, where all is explained and loose ends are tied up... but sometimes, it's best to hit the Eject button on the viewer's seat as quickly as possible.

The Conversation (1974)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola

[...] Gene Hackman plays top surveillance expert Harry Caul, a man who is intensely reserved, closed off and intolerant of people around him, yet has a job exposing the intimate private lives of other people. He is a tragic figure, preferring to lose the girlfriend he secretly loves passionately, rather than share any information about himself with her. Something he can only later confess to a floozy he has met at a surveillance conference, in the saddest scene when his work colleagues play a prank by secretly recording him, not realising he was baring his soul.

Maybe I'm hopelessly unsophisticated, but I found much of The Conversation punishingly dull, particularly when it came to Caul's character. I found the scene between him and his girlfriend preposterous, and didn't for a moment believe either of them would have ever been attracted to each other, much less become intimate. The corporate murder-ish plot, and his investigation of the same, was more interesting, but it doesn't amount to much. A ruthless fan editor could probably excise around half an hour of the 113-minute runtime to focus on the mystery story, the nuts and bolts of Caul's work, and keep the extraneous roles of his colleagues and lady friend to a minimum.

Grade: B-

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Maybe I'm hopelessly unsophisticated,

This.

 

[mnkykungfu]

Maybe I'm hopelessly unsophisticated, but I found much of The Conversation punishingly dull, particularly when it came to Caul's character. I found the scene between him and his girlfriend preposterous, and didn't for a moment believe either of them would have ever been attracted to each other, much less become intimate. The corporate murder-ish plot, and his investigation of the same, was more interesting, but it doesn't amount to much. A ruthless fan editor could probably excise around half an hour of the 113-minute runtime to focus on the mystery story, the nuts and bolts of Caul's work, and keep the extraneous roles of his colleagues and lady friend to a minimum.

Grade: B-

I think The Conversation is one of the great underappreciated films of all time, and perhaps Coppola's very best. That said, truly great films often aren't made for every audience member, and I could understand this one being hard to access. It is dull, intentionally so, though (for me) not "punishingly" so. It's an anti-thriller. It's not "a one-armed man killed my wife and set me up", which is preposterous. It's about the truly nefarious stuff happening quietly, by committee, out of sight. It's about most people turning a blind eye to people in high places deciding who lives or dies, whose lives are ruined, simply because the people higher up make it easy to. Most people would rather get drunk at a loft party or take things at face value.

Hackman's guy knows better. He's done his job enough to know how things really work. They're in the subtleties, the choice of this word over that. Each time the tape is gone over, when a little more is clarified, a little more revealed, it totally changes the context of what we've heard before. It's a master class in audio editing and mixing, and arguably a master class in slowly turning up the boiling point on a Thriller. It would be easy if this were a movie where the hero could just go confront the bad guy and punch him in the nose and then the cops come and say "we'll take it from here!" Or even if you regard the system as corrupt, if we indulged in the fantasy that one guy with a gun and balls of steel could make a difference in this rotten city, a la Bronson or Eastwood. But no, that's also preposterous.

The reality is that the more certain Harry Caul becomes, the more he knows that this is far too big for him or anyone else to truly change, or bring down. Despite knowing he shouldn't have, his morality and inability to just leave this alone has now put him on the radar for these people. He can't be included in the ignorant, unwashed masses anymore, and so he'll have to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, just trying to tread water in a morass of the oily unpleasantries of actual life. His blinders are fully off by the end of the film, and the knowledge is damning.

(And fwiw, my head canon is that it's his same character in Enemy Of The State, which is nowhere near as good as this, but makes it more fun to watch that film.)

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

And fwiw, my head canon is that it's his same character in Enemy Of The State, which is nowhere near as good as this, but makes it more fun to watch that film.

I do think what @Gaith is proposing for an edit would bring it tonally more in line with Enemy of the State. That movie is more of a strict thriller and has very little of the nuance and character study present in The Conversation.

 

[TM2YC]

proposing for an edit would bring it tonally more in line with Enemy of the State.

The Conversation: Restated

 

[TM2YC]

Mad Max (1979)
I watched this countless times on TV and VHS as a kid with my friends, then on the MGM US DVD, then on the import Scream Factory blu-ray, but this was my first chance to see it up on the big screen. At it's best, it's got some of the greatest vehicular mayhem action scenes ever put on film and is full of crazy-interesting performances and whacked out characters, but it's no-budget resources show through when the tyres stop squealing and the metal stops crashing. Although the down time spent with Max's family didn't seem to drag the pace in the middle as much I remember from my last viewing. It's never more than a few minutes from something crashing into something else, or somebody screaming eccentrically about "The Nightrider!". I've always hated the cheesy love theme music and the 'Licorice Road' nightclub song is so bad you feel embarrassed for the film but the rest of the score is mostly good, to totally iconic. All the police car designs are some of my all time favourite sci-fi movie vehicles.

I said most of what I wanted about the film 4-years ago here: https://letterboxd.com/tm2yc/film/mad-max/

^ A delight to hear two Aussie's give their humorous perspective on the film.

 

[Gaith]

The reality is that the more certain Harry Caul becomes, the more he knows that this is far too big for him or anyone else to truly change, or bring down. Despite knowing he shouldn't have, his morality and inability to just leave this alone has now put him on the radar for these people. He can't be included in the ignorant, unwashed masses anymore, and so he'll have to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, just trying to tread water in a morass of the oily unpleasantries of actual life. His blinders are fully off by the end of the film, and the knowledge is damning.

And this is where I feel the lack of a political/social angle hurts the film. If the mystery were about an idealistic politician or civil rights person or something being whacked, that would give Caul's curiosity purpose and moral weight. The vague corporate power play/trophy wife and her lover scenario, however, doesn't seem worth his trouble, particularly since he doesn't appear to care about people much anyhow. The hotel sequence, when it finally arrives, is nightmarish and masterfully done, but without a compelling and detailed mystery, it's a bravura set piece in search of an equally great story.

 

[mnkykungfu]

^I get what you're saying. I think it's a result of everything post-70s coming about in a less-principled time. Fresh off Watergate, Americans could still say "I object on principle alone!" because we thought we still, as a nation, as a people, had some. No need to have a leader of any sorts, or someone Harry personally knows. He may not have sought out this fight, but he got sucked into it and now it's his. 'You can't let the bastards win!' Only it's 1974, and you don't have a choice if they win. You only thought you did.