In the early 70s, disaster movies started gaining popularity with the likes of Airport (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Towering Inferno (1974), and Earthquake (1974). These movies killed it at the domestic and international box offices. Toei, one of the Big Four Japanese film studios at the time, noticed and wanted to take advantage of the trend. Japan’s famous bullet train system’s first two rail lines, Tokaido and San'yō, were opened in 1964 and 1972, respectively. The mode of…
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Lone Wolf Isazo 1968
It seems director Kazuo Ichehiro and leading star Raizo Ichikawa paired up on many chanbarra films—this is my first. In the first 25 minutes, I was really trying to figure out what the heck was going on with all these subtle hints to characters and their relationships, but it all becomes very obvious when you keep watching; the best part about the is obviousness is that they don’t have to use much dialogue to tell the story, but rather facial…
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Winchester '73 1950
My last of the Mann/Stewart westerns, and how ironic is it that I finish with the first one made? The black and white cinematography is fantastic, the characters pop with personality, and the guns shoot straight! It really is the James Stewart and Dan Duryea show, but you’ll notice Winchester includes plenty of western regulars and a few other big names in the infancy of their careers. I still prefer my Mann westerns in color, but I’ll be revisiting this…
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Navajo Joe 1966
A spaghetti western starring Burt, and it's for Burt fans only. Corbucci is becoming more and more of an overrated filmmaker in basically my favorite genre. Yeah yeah, the Morricone score is standard gold and the cinematography is fine; however, it just doesnt work for me. The editing is lackluster and the voice dubbing is poor. The biggest issue I have is that I don't think the action was all that good and Burt doesn't work for me as a half-breed--Keoma or Chato's Land (from my distant memory) are the better, and preferred, alternatives when it comes to white dudes in Indian roles.
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Unorthodox 2020
This is a short miniseries that you can get through quite quickly, especially in this quarantine state. Unorthodox is beautifully shot, well directed, and compelling at times. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend it. I’ll explain.
I understand, from my perception, what the main message is: you should not have to live a life that’s out of your control. This is not a bad message. I enjoy stories that have someone successfully overcome a bad circumstance. However, the journey needs to be…
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Cry Macho 2021
Eastwood, 91, cranks out yet another one. Cry Macho is not a highbrow Hollywood treatise on race or politics or consumerism or whatever other bullshit they’re peddling. This is a story of a simple man and his search for meaning at the end of the line, and at the same time he’s passing his incomplete knowledge of life and lessons for being a man to a teenage kid—that is why it works. Clint knows he’s only got a few left,…
