Hot Fuzz

Dir: Edgar Wright

Starring: Simon Pegg, Martin Freeman

Narry Borman loves British films, and wants to see them succeed. But this is no good.

Hot Fuzz is aimed at 8-10 year olds who can repeat the lines in the school playground, which is bizarre considering it's constant cultural references are to things 8-10 year olds wouldn't understand. Sure, it’s tongue in cheek, but it’s still not funny.

The supposedly hilarious gratuitous violence is just awful - I don't want to see that.

There is some top class in here, though, especially Timothy Dalton and Jim Broadbent. The whole thing should have been about Tim’s supermarket – that would have been funny. Everyone seems so eager to reel off the next British star, too… ooh look, there’s Dame Edna. How about some humour instead!

Average!

Tokyo Story

Dir: Ozu Yasujiro
Starring: Chishu Ryu, Setsuko Hara
Year: 1953

I recently reviewed Chinatown and called it 'bleak'. Some would argue that Tokyo Story is bleak, but I wholeheartedly disagree.

Narry Borman found Tokyo Story to be a very positive film. It shows in quite minute detail how people drift away from each other, even within families, but at the same time, Tokyo Story shows how people come together.

When an old couple visit their children in Tokyo, they are neglected and treated as a nuisance by their son and daughter. The contrast between these two generations is plainly evident: the younger generation are barely human, and have no understanding of what is important. The old couple, on the other hand, are hard-working, likable people, who accept their situation with a smile.

Fortunately, the wonderful Noriko (Setsuko Hara) shows them that not everyone has turned soulless in Tokyo. She's only their daughter-in-law but she looks after them and takes an interest in them unlike their children.

Tokyo Monogatari is positive because of two things:

1. The parents happily accepted the natural circle of life (even death)
2. Noriko showed that good people don't change despite generation gaps (her feelings were always genuine, and she was so much better than the other children, but still really humble)

Anyway, I hate it when people interpret films, so I'll stop there. But Narry found it touching. 'Nuff said.

Ozu's direction is masterful, as always. Every shot is set up like a carefully-studied photograph, and human characters are given the spotlight instead of story, script or settings.

Genius!

THX 1138

Dir: George Lucas
Starring: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasance, Assorted bald men and women
Year: 1971

I love sci-fi. Good sci-fi. Occasionally. This isn't your average 'Monkeys are running our planet' sci-fi, though. THX 1138 is a fairly believable look at the future that asks some pretty deep questions - the answers come from some bald people.

I couldn't believe this was made in 1971. It looks stunning. Which is probably why it has been so influential - mainly on Daft Punk, judging by their robot visages and the aesthetics of their film Electroma. Still, Lucas somehow messed it up by adding some ropey CGI in 2004's Director's Cut edition. Aside from that, it's a visual and aural feast.

Lalo's score is excellent. Understated, but powerful.

I like films that don't spoon feed you. THX doesn't answer every question, nor does it tell you why certain things are happening. But the ending leaves you feeling satisfied because it's a well made and interesting film.

Nice one, Lucas!

Rating: Top Work!

Chinatown

Dir: Roman Polanskia
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston

When the director is both Polish and French, you know the film is going to be on the serious side. Chinatown is just that. There's nothing light-hearted about it - only tragedy and a complicated story.

Some people thrive on this kind of bleak film. Not Narry Borman. He watches films for one of three reasons:

1. Entertainment
2. Art
3. Education

The bleak genre fits into none of those categories, so I don't like Chinatown too much.

It's very well made. The acting is top class. But it's all about people who are too serious and who are entangled in lies, sin and crime. Not my cup o' tea.

Rating: Average!

A Cheerful Gang Turns the Earth

Dir: Tetsu Maeda
Starring: Koichi Sato, Takao Osawa

Have you ever been really disappointed by a film? Most likely it was when the live action version of your favourite comic wasn't as good as you hoped, or when a sequel just didn't match the original (damn you, The Sting 2!), or possibly when you'd read such good things about a film and had such respect for the staff and stars of a film that you built yourself into a frenzish fever that the movie couldn't possibly live up to.

Well, A Cheerful Gang was none of those things for me. But I was left disappointed - it starts so well, and then falls flat on its face after having tied its own shoelaces together. The early part of the film introduces us to a cheerful gang of bank robbers - larger than life but human at the same time. An exciting and interesting bank robbery takes place followed by a dramatic twist - the robbers get robbed.

And then things get boring because they try to rob the robbers, and then they try to set up the robbers, and then they make a really convoluted plan using a criminal mastermind, but all the time someone's watching them, and the police are in on it too... throw in a few kidnappings and a truly dull romantic story and you have A Cheerful Gang. Plus the plot is more holey than St. Augustine.

Koichi Sato is always gonna be fun to watch (check out The Magic Hour for more Sato greatness), and the visual style of the film is quite entertaining. But the story... the story! It tries way too hard, when something simple would have been so much fun. Too bad.

Rating: Good!

The General

Dir: Clyde Buckerman
Starring: Buster Keaton
Year: 1926

A little man named Dark Mavis recommended this film to me a few years ago, but Narry Borman goes through phases with old comedies so he didn't get around to seeing The General until last night.

Yes, phases. I've been through them all: WC Fields, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, even Abbot and Costello. Harold Lloyd is my nominee for most underrated, but the Marx Brothers are probably my favourite comedy team.

Buster Keaton I have sadly overlooked. Silent films can be really difficult to watch these days, but The General is quite a pacy film. The score adds to the tension immeasurably - a very modern soundtrack that is reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Buster's comedy stylings are timeless. He does physical comedy, social observations (particularly like the love-hate relationship with the lead lady as they ride the General home), and more subtle stuff too.

The General has aged rather well, but even so it is somewhat outdated. I found my attention wavering after around 60 minutes, mainly because there are long periods without any dialog at all, and also because I have ADD and I needed the toilet.

A great little film - well-made, funny, and likable.

Good!

M-1 2005

I don't intend to review anything other than films on this blog, but I'm making an exception for this gem: M1. Manzai is Japan's premiere form of comedy. It's duo stand-up style, and links nonsense, sitcom and traditional stand-up in new ways. M1 is the massive competition held each year in Japan to find the best manzai partnership.

2005's competition is by far the funniest installment I have seen. The ludicrous Black Mayonnaise took the show by storm, but to Narry Borman's mind Waraimeshi were the funniest duo out there.

M1 is probably impossible to find outside of Japan, and even if you did find it then unless you speak Japanese and are familiar with Japanese culture then you'd struggle to follow what's going on. However, it's worth learning Japanese to watch this M1 alone.

Genius!