Movie Review Sunday

Lady Snowblood – 1973 (NR)

Netflix says: Revenge is sweet for Yuki (Meiko Kaji), the main character in director Toshiya Fujita's violent ballet. Yuki is the daughter of a woman who supported her by working as a prostitute after she was raped by the men who murdered her husband. When Yuki grows up, she decides that those men aren't worthy of living full and enriching lives, so she hunts them down one by one on a quest for justice.

Matt says: The Netflix description for this misleading. In actuality, after the mother’s husband was murdered and she was raped, the mother gives herself to men to have a child. She does this for the sole purpose of the child getting revenge on the people who did the crime for her, as she is imprisoned for life and can’t get revenge herself. The baby, Yuki, is trained from birth to be a murdering revenge machine; she doesn’t “decide” anything, she’s trained for that purpose. The mother dies when Yuki is a child and a woman from the prison takes over and takes Yuki to get her training from a monk. I guess the person at Netflix who wrote the description just fast-forwarded through it and banged out the best they could without seeing the movie. Whatever. Anyway… for those who liked “Kill Bill Vol. 1”, this is one of the movies that inspired Tarantino. It has all the things that made “Kill Bill Vol. 1” great: snow scene samurai sword fights, jets of squirting blood, one woman’s quest to find the four people who did her wrong, training from a Japanese master, and pure, unbridled revenge. Every violent scene ends with the aforementioned jets of squirting blood. It’s a great movie for the budget and time. I can see why Tarantino based a lot of “Kill Bill” off of it. Look, it’s a 70s Japanese samurai sword slasher/revenge flick: you know what to expect… but this is one of the better ones. 4 stars.

Face/Off – 1997 (R)

Netflix says: John Woo directs this explosive cat-and-mouse pursuit starring John Travolta as Sean Archer, an antiterrorism agent who goes under the knife to acquire the likeness of a terrorist, Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage), to gather details on a bomb targeting Los Angeles. When Troy escapes from custody, he turns the tables and undergoes surgery to take on Archer's appearance -- allowing the criminal to get dangerously close to the agent's wife and daughter.

Matt says: Groan worthy actioner takes many liberties with the whole “suspension of disbelief” thing. When cop Travolta needs to find out where a bomb is hidden, he switches faces with terrorist Cage in order to get the info out of the terrorist’s brother. Wouldn’t you know, through an extraordinary series of events, they both start living each other’s lives. Nobody can do an action sequence like Woo. Guys jump sideways in slow motion with double pistols blazing, bodies fall from high like over ripe pears, glass shatters at a single touch, and bullets make everything spark and explode. It’s really quite thrilling. Woo also likes to give a little deeper meaning to his films. In this it’s about identity. There are moments where the characters are so involved in the other’s lives, they being to question their own self. Mirrors lie to them, only perpetuating the doubt and madness. Keep an eye out for some of Woo’s signature symbols; birds flying in slow motion, religious symbolism, gun standoffs, and the aforementioned double pistols. It’s too bad it’s all accented by such a lousy story. I’m sure, even with the weak plot, that this was a very attractive idea for both Cage and Travolta. It’s not often you get to play both the good guy and bad guy in a film. They show it too by chewing up the scenery every chance they get. As long as you let logic take a little break, “Face/Off” is a fun action flick with lots of violence and over the top performances. 3 stars.

True Grit – 2010 (PG-13)

Netflix says: After her father is murdered by drifter Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), hires Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), an alcoholic U.S. Marshal, to help her exact vengeance. The disreputable Rooster still has grit though, and mounts an epic search. The pair is joined on their quest by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), who is also hunting for Chaney, in this updated Western from Joel and Ethan Coen.

Matt says: Not having seen the original for over 20 years, I went into the Coen brothers’ remake with a fresh, opened mind. The movie itself is above average: it’s got some beautiful shots, the Coens’ unmistakable direction and dialog, and a solid story. What really shines, though, is the acting. Damon, Steinfeld, and Brolin are excellent in their roles, but Bridges steals the show as Cogburn. Each scene Bridges is in is completely absorbed by his presence. The only thing lacking is the Coens’ sense of depth. The film is played straight forward, with no symbolism or sense of subtlety. It almost feels like a Coen film, but as you watch it, something feels lacking. That didn’t effect my enjoyment at all, but don’t expect a “Barton Fink” or an “A Serious Man”. Still, if Bridges doesn’t get an Oscar nod for this, it will be a travesty. 4 solid stars.

Hard Candy – 2005 (R)

Netflix says: Ellen Page (Juno) stars in this suspenseful drama from director David Slade as Hayley, an intelligent teen who's got her own reasons for spending so much time with Geoff (Patrick Wilson), a much older man she met online. Even though Geoff is a charming, good-looking photographer, Hayley should know better than to go home with a guy in his early thirties -- especially since he might have ulterior motives.

Marc says: Fffffucked up revenge psycho-drama toys with the viewer’s emotions on several different levels, eliciting alternating feelings of disgust and sympathy for Patrick Wilson’s reprehensible character. Some see this as glorifying or championing an extreme punishment of pedophiles, but I read it as a strong condemnation of the idea of “private justice,” showing that personal revenge, even righteous, well-deserved revenge, is a path that leads into the abyss. Suspenseful, disturbing, and very capably acted, I must nonetheless subtract a star for several scenes and setups that just seem like bullshit and were clearly included simply to artificially heighten the tension. 3.5 stars

Four Brothers – 2005 (R)

Netflix says: John Singleton directs Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Garrett Hedlund and André "3000" Benjamin as Bobby, Angel, Jack and Jeremiah Mercer, four tight-knit brothers who look nothing alike but who know the true meaning of family. Returning home for their adoptive mother's funeral, the grieving siblings learn she may actually have been murdered. Resolving revenge, they band together to make sure the killer pays.

Marc says: Singleton turns out a tightly paced and exciting revenge thriller that expertly threads its way through the usual complications. Several well-done action scenes and energetic performances from the four leads help compensate for the re-tread plot. And, to be honest, it does provide an interesting twist at the end that is wholly supported by several scenes previous. Special props for Chiwetel Ejiofor, who does an awesome job with the villain role and easily steals the show in two hilarious scenes where he humiliates his incompetent hirelings. 4 stars.

Inglourious Basterds – 2009 (R)

Netflix says: A Jewish cinema owner (Mélanie Laurent) in occupied Paris is forced to host a Nazi movie premiere, where a radical group of American Jewish soldiers called the Basterds, led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), plans to roll out a score-settling scheme. The face-off is about to go down -- that's if Col. Hans Landa aka "The Jew Hunter" (Christoph Waltz, in an Oscar-winning role) doesn't get in the way. Quentin Tarantino directs this World War II-set spaghetti Western.

Marc says: It’s mostly all talk, but when the talk is this good, it hardly matters. Ingenious use of dialogue throughout, with long suspenseful takes that wind up in moments of explosive violence. The opening contains nearly twenty minutes of one of the most interesting monologues filmed this decade and sets the mold for every set piece discussion that follows. Tarantino plays masterfully with language, shifting back and forth between English, German, French, and Italian as the setting makes appropriate. I can’t quite go 5 stars on this, partly due to the lack of replay value, and partly due to the inappropriate soundtrack choices (which would have worked in any other Tarantino film, but here just felt jarring and out of place, if not self-indulgent). 4.5 stars.

Matt says: I went into this movie pumped up by my knowledge of Tarantino's previous films and what the trailers advertised: a bang up ultra-violent action flick. I expected some of Tarantio's lengthy dialogs, but not to the extent of this. The monologues bring the tensions of the scenes to a feverish level, but they stretched too long and the outcomes were usually anticlimactic. Who you would expect to be primary characters end up secondary and secondary primary. I felt duped. While I agree that the first scene is excellent, this movie still left a bad taste in my mouth, even after the glorious ending. If you've seen the trailer and are curious, don't expect much of the "Bastards", many scalpings, or even much of Brad Pitt. Do expect an overlong drama, a plethora of exposition, and an ending that will confuse but exhilarate you. 3.5 stars.

Breakdown – 1997 (R)

Netflix says: When his SUV breaks down on a remote Southwestern road, Jeff Taylor (Kurt Russell) lets his wife, Amy (Kathleen Quinlan), hitch a ride with a trucker (J.T. Walsh) to get help. When she doesn't return, Jeff fixes his SUV and tracks down the trucker -- who tells the police he's never seen Amy. Johnathan Mostow's tense thriller then follows Jeff's desperate search for his wife, which eventually uncovers a small town's murderous secret.

Marc says: Kurt Russell turns in a very nice performance, acting against type as a soft-bellied yuppie who gets put through the wringer by some not-very-nice locals. The first 30 minutes are especially good, as the suspense and uncertainty of the situation are played out to towards a natural conclusion. Thereafter, the proceedings move into a more conventional mode and the tension subsides. The screenplay had an opportunity to take some real chances towards the end, but chickened out with a more formulaic conclusion. Still, not too shabby overall. 3.5 stars.