Random Thoughts

This is very Sam Fuller.

I just read the liner notes on this DVD — this was Fuller’s final movie for B-movie producer Robert Lippert. It was a ten day shoot, and was such a hit that Fuller was snatched up by Fox and the big times.

Yeah, it’s a band of misfits.

This movie started off swell, but it’s hard to stay interested, because it feels so… schematic.

And sentimental. I don’t mind sentimental, but it doesn’t feel… earned?

I think… he means that as a compliment?

Renegade director Sam Fuller created this hard boiled Korean War classic which seems like a Sgt. Rock comic come to life.

This movie has a 100% tomatometer. But it’s not as awful as you’d think from that rating: I assume that the reviewers are reacting to Fuller’s reputation more than anything else.

What’s with the weird subplot about the bald guy getting his hair back?

It does look really good, though.

The Steel Helmet. Samuel Fuller. 1951.

This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.

Love those chairs.

Anyway, this is a Soviet movie made by an Ukrainian director. Unexpectedly current affairs relevant!

For once, I read the liner notes on the DVD before starting to watch it, and… perhaps I shouldn’t. Because they seemed to say that this was gonna be on par with a Tarkovski movie, and…

So far it really isn’t.

*reset expectations*

After resetting my expectations, this is a really intriguing movie. Very enjoyable actors, attractive cinematography, and I have absolutely no idea where the movie is going. At all.

Which is very unusual and refreshing.

Wings. Larisa Shepitko. 1966.

This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.

But not well!

Vincent Price!

I would never have guessed that this was a Sam Fuller movie. It’s so… staid? At least so far. We’ve got a cumbersome framing device where one of these guys is telling the story, and he also provides a voiceover.

Neither seems necessary?

Such subtle.

So passion.

I’m finding this movie to be a bit tedious? Price is fine, but the rest of the actors are playing it for laughs.

The heist plot (i.e., getting Arizona) should be so much more fun than this. It’s just … molasses.

This is pretty accurate:

A minor low-budget Sam Fuller (“I Shot Jesse James”) bizarre western, his second feature, tells a fabulous story loosely based on true events that are inefficiently worked out thereby making it seem unlikely. It’s at first appealing but soon becomes tiresome

It has no zip — it just trudges along for what seems like hours. I mean, this should be more fun:

During the course of the fraud, Reavis collected an estimated US$5.3 million in cash and promissory notes ($173 million in present-day terms) through the sale of quitclaims and proposed investment plans.

The Baron of Arizona. Samuel Fuller. 1950.

This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.

This is the final movie on the silent family comedy Ozu box set. And since it’s silent, I’m playing disco bangers while watching it.

“You know why your hand has five fingers? If it only had four, your glove would have one extra.”

There’s jokes here.

Anyway, this is a very amiable movie… it’s not quite clear what the movie is going to be about (but I bet there’s gonna be hi-jinx with that girl he picked up), and it has a very natural flow: One scene follows the next without too much overt plot.

Is that a recommended chopstick technique?

This is really good. I know, you’re all going “duh, it’s Ozu”, but it really is. It follows some melodrama conventions (like The Sick Child), but it’s otherwise amorphously strange, even if straightforward.

It’s really enjoyable to watch.

(Some of the scenes are very splotchy indeed.)

The Japanese have superior fever chilling techniques. I must get one of those hanging bag thingies.

… Oh! There’s a sountrack here! If I push `#’ I get somebody playing the pianner.

Oh well.

Passing Fancy. Yasujirô Ozu. 1933.

This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.