Terms of endearment (1983) gets an 8/10. It was funny, frustrating and sad.

It won five academy awards including Best picture, Best Direction, Best adapted screenplay, Best actress for Shirley MacLaine and Best Supporting Actor for Jack Nicholson.

First, the funny. This mother and daughter movie has great moments for each character, their love interests included. There are scenes here that I burst out laughing. The humour is mostly witty with some situational type stuff including a certain funny/shocking accident involving an inebriated Jack Nicholson and a car on the beach. Nicholson is especially vulgar but has a special charm that makes him the perfect match in casting to Maclaine’s powerfully played Aurora. Though the two above received the prestigious accolades, Debra Winger and Jeff Daniels (Harry off of dumb and dumber) turn a great performance here as well.

The frustrating is that amidst all the fun, the characters have these despicable flaws (some more than others). That’s where the drama comes in – that and well, life’s cruel twists. While you may hate some of the personages because of their actions, it’s difficult to remain completely angry with them because of their endearing qualities. Now, I’m not a huge fan of those kinds of real life traits in a movie as I generally prefer a little less grey, but this flick does it in such a way that though it’s frustrating (especially Winger’s and Daniels’ characters), it’s believable and doesn’t necessarily feel like it’s trying to be difficult on purpose.

Finally, the sad. The opening scene has a worried and somewhat eccentric mother pinching her baby, short of crawling into the crib with her to make sure that she is still breathing (the mom likely having checked only moments before). From its delightfully quirky beginning on through to the tragic but all too realistic end, we are able to peek in on the lives of the mother and daughter pair. Though never as physically close in the later years due to circumstance as they were in the earlier years, they still kept close contact via phone. There’s longing, betrayal, heart ache and loss all here.

One thing though. It was that I thought the swell of sentimental music is a little much at times. That aside, it’s an excellent movie if ever you’re in the mood for a romantic comedy-drama. Not necessarily a date movie, it’s more of a mother-daughter thing, but it is sure to have some appeal for everyone.

Gamepro posted an awesome “What if” gallery of legendary Snes games turned criterion collection. Not only does it include artsy criterion style cover art but also imagines what each entry would include as supplements. I’ve included three pictures from their site below. Take a gander.

The complete line up includes:

Super Star Wars Trilogy
Super Mario Kart
Sim City
Street fighter II
Actraiser
Donkey Kong Country
Star Fox
Desert strike
Chrono Trigger

I’d readily shell out way more then I can afford for these. Lovin the Chrono trigger, but this collection needs a little more squaresoft. What about Final Fantasy IV (2) and VI (3)? Secret of evermore or secret of mana? It’s not square, but wouldn’t zombies ate my neighbours be awesome too?

What other games might be sweet to see done up as criterion? Does anyone else feel like some old school gaming about now?

Follow the links below to the Gamepro site that includes the other cover art and all the supplements!

The Super NES Criterion Collection: The Remastered Editions of Our Dreams, Part I
http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/222274/the-super-nes-criterion-collection-the-remastered-editions-of-our-dreams-part-1/

The Super NES Criterion Collection: The Remastered Editions of Our Dreams, Part II
http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/222374/the-super-nes-criterion-collection-the-remastered-editions-of-our-dreams-part-2/

I have been waiting to see this for some time now. For those who don't know, this piece is "from the mind of Hunter S. thompson". see also "fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".

So, my first thought when I watched this trailer was that "this looks familiar", but then, when that feeling washed out, I was pleasantly surprised with how funny this thing looks to be. Take a look for yourself.

It has got some Aaron Eckhart (dark knight) too, who I think is a pretty good actor.

FYI - according to Wiki, Hunter S Thompson is credited for as the creator of Gonzo Journalism. pretty wild stuff. Check out Wiki for more on that.
 
-Josh

So here's a little redband trailer to help you decide wether or not you'll go see it this week end.

Of course, because this is a redband trailer, you can expect some f bombs. As well, there is some nakedness.

I'm not busting a gut or anything on this trailer but it still looks like it could be ok. Really, the stuff that Paul Rudd has starred in is ok stuff, with the excetion of "I love you, man" which I thought was very good.

 Check out the trailer for Our Idiot Brother below and see what you think.

If you go see it this week end, leave us a little comment about what you thought!

-Josh

Here is what looks like a charming romance movie. It's directed by french director Michel Hazanavicius but all can enjoy this because it's a silent movie!! And, as you can see, it's in black and white.

It has also got some John Goodman and James Cromwell. I've included the french youtube trailer below.

If you want to see it in english, follow the link below to apple's itunes.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/theartist/

Shock Corridor gets a 6.5/10.

I picked this movie up in passing while I was purchasing other DVDs. I remembered seeing it on the list of “1001 movies you must see before you die” and also, it was a “criterion collection” movie, so I thought, “This has got to be good”. FYI - the copy I picked up is an older version of the criterion DVD release with the image above.

It’s entertaining and might well be shocking to some given some of the over the top performances but mostly, the movie is dangerous and likely to perpetuate completely inaccurate depictions of the psychiatry ward and therapies therein.

Here’s how it’s dangerous: It begins with the regard of this movie. It got a 93% at rottentomatoes.com, as mentioned, it got listed in the “1001 movies you must see before you die” book, and it is part of the “criterion collection” catalogue.

While the 1001 movies article offers up early that the flick’s director: Samuel Fuller worked in the world of exploitation films and B movies, the DVD insert piece by Tim Hunter opens up with, “Here is an honest, visionary, pulp film, stripped of all romanticism , with characterisation and themes more real and relevant today than ever. To watch shock corridor now is to experience the complex, wacky, full-blown masterpiece of one of Hollywood’s great originals, Samuel fuller”.

I think what many critics including the ones above are referring to is the commentary on society (racism, anti-communism, the bomb, the media) that this work supposedly has. Trouble is, is that that commentary mostly isn’t obvious and to some point may be people making connections that really aren’t there. Both articles throw around terms like “madmen”, and “nuts” which are inappropriate terms.

Shock Corridor as a psychiatric setting isn’t at all relevant today, with the move from deinstitutionalisation and the advancements in fields of medications and therapy (By the way ECT or Electro Convulsive Therapy is nothing like you see in the movies). The setting today is also different in that there is increased effort to decrease the stigma associated with mental illness (perpetuated in this film) and raise public awareness of what mental health is exactly.

Psychiatric wards aren’t these scary places where you can expect to be attacked by a group of woman whom deal with “Nymphomania”, or get attacked by other clients for that matter. You don’t just willy nilly receive ECT or have a co-client breathe down your neck each night. Psychiatry is for acute phase mental illness, but it’s a place to get better. Being in or around psychiatry doesn’t mean you stand to be afflicted with a mental illness as though it were contagious. It’s not.

(Spoiler)At the end of the movie, after the main character discovers the identity of the killer and writes his potential Pulitzer Prize winning article, he becomes catatonic. In the scene, his love interest is pleading with the doctor, “...Don’t you stand there and tell me that there is nothing you can do for him. Why? Why is he like that?”

The doc answers, “Well a man can’t tamper with a mind and live in a mental hospital and subject himself to all kinds of tests and expect to come out sane. John is a catatonic schizophrenic. What a tragedy. An insane mute will win the Pulitzer prise”

Please. If this movie was more serious about mental illness it would portray those with mental illness as people, not some collection of symptoms.  It was suggested that John experienced some kind of psychotic break because of his experience at the hospital. If this movie was more serious about mental illness we might have been given more on his character and behaviour prior to his hospitalisation. We might have been given clues to some predisposition to mental illness. But of course the movie doesn’t because it wants to get to the main event: the shock corridor, where an easily excitable John gets dragged out left and right (quite convincingly) and where he inexplicably develops delusions, auditory and visual hallucinations (Everybody doesn’t just develop those in extremely stressful or traumatic situations), leaving the viewer to connect the dots ( a very powerful associating mechanism and is the dangerous element in this movie).

That being said, Fuller does offer up what I might more readily be able to agree is an interesting creative commentary on racism (probably a controversial one). I might also add that this movie was made in 1963 when psychiatry was different. I don’t by any means believe all what I see about the psychiatry scene and of the therapies depicted as that time however and you shouldn’t either.

Those large amounts of inaccuracies aside, it can make for an entertaining watch. It’s just not responsible enough. I'm hoping something was added for the blu ray release to speak to the representation of psychiatry. Hec, at the closer it says this:

“Whom god wishes to destroy he first makes mad”

Euripides, 425 B.C.

Symptoms of mental illness can be controlled by various means while some symptoms may present an ongoing challenge, in some ways as diabetes management presents an ongoing challenge for those with diabetes. If anything “destroys” it is how society is misinformed or don’t know enough about mental illness. It is the effects of those two things in someone’s social circles, employment, relationships, community interactions, support systems, and related self image that “destroy”.

-Josh

 Below are random movie quotes from easy to hard. Identify the movie it came from and you get the points attached to each quote. Internet searches are prohibited. See how many points you can rack up on your own. 

        “I’m the king of the world!” (Difficulty: Easy 1 point)

        “GET TO THE CHOPPA!” (Difficulty: Easy 1 point)

        “Remember, with great power, comes great responsibility” (Difficulty: Easy  1 point)

        “Say hello to my little friend” (Difficulty: Easy 1 point)


Ok, now that you’re warmed up, let’s get to the moderate difficulty

        “I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart.” (Difficulty: Easy – Moderate 2 
        points)

        “60% of the time, it works every time” (Difficulty: Easy – Moderate 2 points)

        “I don’t know what the hell that is... but I’ll lick it anyway.” (Difficulty: Moderate 2 
        points)

        “Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do 
        something like this... and totally redeem yourself!” (Difficulty: Moderate 2 points)


So that may or may not have been of moderate difficulty for you. Don’t worry; see if you can name these ones.

        [Singing] “Damn it. Janet. I love you.” (Difficulty Moderate to Hard 3 points)

        “The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and 
        it would not be a wasted life” (Difficulty Hard 3 points)

        “Ray, if someone asks you if you are a god, you say YES” (Difficulty Hard 3 points)

        “Look at me, I’m burning” (Difficulty Hard 3 Points)

That’s a possible 24 points. How many did you get?

Apparently, if anyone is looking for production and remake rights to a number of Akira Kurosawa’s films, they can visit splendentmedia.com for more information.

I first caught wind of this from iwatchstuff.com and decided to check splendent media out myself. It’s not a robust site by any means and seems to be only beginning to really blossom. At its home page, there is mention of that Los-Angeles-based film and television Production Company having been founded as recently as 2010. Good on them for having secured what they call a “multi-year deal to serve as worldwide representatives outside of Japan for rights to 69 titles written by master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa”. You can take a look at the site for the catalogue, they’ve got all the fixins.

As for any imminent Kurosawa remakes, we should keep a watch out for another remake of seven samurai and a remake of high and low. The seven samurai remake may come by way of Scott Mann, while the high and low remake may come by way of Chris Rock who spoke about his plans to Black Voices as per slashfilm.com. Chris Rock is apparently writing the screenplay for Mike Nichols.

This news is bound to make some feel uneasy as all too often we see remakes butcher the original. There are of course some exceptions. Though not exactly the same, many of Shakespeare’s plays have been remade or reimagined using cinema and some of those ventures have been success (depending on who you talk to). Hec, Even Kurosawa did it. Take a look at throne of blood (based on Macbeth) or Ran (based in part on king Lear).

Though I think we might be in for some lame remakes, I personally will hope for some brilliant reimagining that will bring back interests to the master’s work as remakes of Shakespeare’s works have brought back some new interests into his.

-Josh  


P.S. If you don't know who Akira Kurosawa is or have yet to see his work, do yourself a favor and pick some of his stuff up. Below are links to his movies on the amazon site. High and Low was just released by Criterion in an amazing looking blu ray format. I also included some of his movies that I can vouch for!

The number 23 starring Jim Carrey (dumb and dumber, liar liar) and directed by Joel Schumacher (the lost boys, phantom of the opera) gets a 6.8/10.

Thing is, that it was good, but only good and somewhat misleading.  First off, the number 23 is of less real importance then one might think given the build up and focus early on in the movie, not to mention that the DVD jacket has the number 23 inscribed all over Carrey’s face.

That number really doesn’t have a whole lot to do with paranoia associated with the 23 enigma, (as implied in the early parts of the movie, and as well even in the opening credits as dates in history flash across the screen suggesting an unsettling connection with the number 23).

(SPOILER ALERT) No, in this story, the number 23 is a mere trigger in facilitating uncovering psychological repression. In that sense, it’s more of a gift then a curse (given the clean conscience ending). That’s the part I feel misled about. If you want to see a movie or story where a number or figure has a profound and disturbing effect on the main character(s), watch pi (directed by: Darren Aronofsky) or Uzumaki (written by: Junji Ito).

(SPOILER ALERT OVER) If you see this movie, keep in mind that it is more of a mystery movie where the number 23 serves as a mechanism to connect elements of the story. Focus on the tag line, “The truth will find you”. Now about the performances, they were good except for when some of the character behavior was impossible (Virginia Madsen playing Robin Sparrow in particular, but bad writing is likely to blame).

Overall, the movie is good enough to maybe catch if it ever comes on T.V. I wouldn’t recommend to go out and buy it however (like I did). If you can get away with renting it, do that.