Five Weeks
Posted by: j_john
From my Flickr page:
Final meeting is tonight--I hope the judges like what I've grown.
Ozu and "Good Morning"
Posted by: j_john
Awhile ago I wrote about watching Yasujiro Ozu's "Tokyo Story", and how I had to overcome my initial lack of interest to discover the beauty of his realistic cinema. I recently watched my second Ozu film, Good Morning, which has further cemented my appreciation for the social and familial elements in his films. In some ways it reminds me of the work of my favorite director John Sayles--I'll never forget the transformation that occurred upon viewing "Lone Star" in the theater--"this is what it's like to actually think in a movie!"
Except Ozu is a bit more subtle than Sayles--he keeps things simple and there is a certain brilliance behind all of his characters. "Good Morning" is actually kind of a comedy, complete with fart jokes (I'll get back to that). The majority of the film is spent following a pair of brothers who go on a vow of silence in protest to not having a television set. It's the late 50s and the neighbor's TV is beckoning them to watch wrestling matches, which clashes with their parent's desire for them to study. (This premise is easy to relate to--I remember having to earn enough money doing chores to buy my first Nintendo--but I suppose it was that much sweeter.) The small suburban community plays a big role in the film, complete with dirty rumors and false smiles. In the end I was a bit disappointed when the kids get their TV only because their parents wanted to do a favor for the man who landed a new job, not because they showed they deserved it by being responsible.
Oh yeah, and the fart jokes--the kids eat pumice stones which makes them emit the kindest farts ever heard on film.
The Grindhouse Returns!
Posted by: j_john
It's time again for another weekend of films that define the genre of "kick-ass cinema"--the Grindhouse Film Festival starts this Friday at the historic Hollywood Theatre!
Last year we showed Portland a rare print of the massively influential classic "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin" and a number of other greats like "Shogun Assassin" and "Lady Snowblood" that Tarantino pulled from to make "Kill Bill." This time things are a bit more diverse, representing KUNG FU, BLAXPLOITATION, SAMURAI VENGEANCE, SPAGHETTI WESTERNS & ZOMBIE genres.
Titles include:
Coffy, Pam Grier's most famous role in a beautifully restored print. I've never seen it so I'm highly anticipating checking it out for the first time on our big screen.
Zombie, Lucio Fulci's legendary take on the zombie genre, where a zombie fights a shark!
Executioners From Shaolin, another Shaw Brothers classic where we see the character of Pai Mei (seen recently as Uma Thurman's martial arts teacher in Kill Bill) defeat foes with his legendary Tiger Style. His crotch grab move is unbelievably awesome.
For A Few Dollars More, Sergio Leone's classic spaghetti western with Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef in a restored print.
Fist Of The White Lotus, which I've been instructed to promote as "an old-school ass-kick-a-thon"--featuring Shaw Brothers legends, Gordon Liu and Lo Lieh. I haven't seen this one, but with those headliners I am super-pumped to check it out.
Shogun Assassin. A fan favorite from last year, Shogun Assassin returns as a blood-soaked samurai revenge tale with amazingly haunting dubbed narration. The blood squirting in this one is insane.
Five Masters Of Death. A lost Shaw Brothers classic directed by Chang Cheh, "the Godfather of Hong Kong cinema." This guy directed over 100 films!
Chinese Boxer. A super-fun/bad-ass hybrid with Jimmy Wang Yu from last year's Master of The Flying Guillotine. For some reason he puts on a surgical mask and oven mitts and goes to work getting revenge for the death of his martial arts master.
