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wilmoth_houdini
Reviews
Natural World: The Bear Man of Kamchatka (2006)
Disturbing ?
This must have been a well made and fairly innocuous BBC documentary when it was filmed, but it's impossible to watch now without thinking of Timothy Treadwell. Watching Charlie Russell face down an aggressive grizzly at one point, armed only with his deep understanding of bear nature it is difficult not to see a "proto-treadwell", and a quixotic fool. The narrator points out that Russell facing down a bear, shows that bears are not actually dangerous to humans, if treated with respect, but later events would suggest otherwise. Russell was fortunate to meet bears which considered him a complete irrelevance, rather than an annoyance.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Intertextual onanism
The first time I saw this film, I couldn't quite work out if it was one of the best, or one of the worst films I'd seen in ages. I knew it had to be one extreme or the other, which does count in it's favour, as I'll take awful over mediocre any day. It seemed to be made up of really great, and really cringe worthy scenes, but lots of the greatest films ever are like this, "Brazil" and "The Man Who fell to Earth" spring to mind. Put "Apocalypse Now" in the flawed masterpiece category as well while you're at it. Weighing up the good and the bad in "ghost Dog" produces a different result though. Bad points include Jarmusch's insistence on studding the film with such toe curling moments as when the main protagonist is greeted respectfully by the gang of "Bloods" and you just have to wait for the other shoe to drop, for him to be greeted equally by, yes you guessed it the "Krips". You pray it won't happen, because it would just be too corny, and excuses involving irony won't help, but no, there it is,the money shot ...."S'up G-Dawg". Another shocker the "we's gonna shoot uz a big BLACK Bey-ah Ezeikiel" scene. Jesus what did they put that in for ? It bears no coherent or cohesive relevance to the film in any way, and is another "waiting for the other shoe to drop" moments. You're Jim Jarmusch for God's sake. Don't be predictable. That scene really annoyed me though, because it follows a lecture about the ways of Bushido, about how the samurai serves with honour, and cannot be distracted by a) personal emotion and b) superfluous tasks such as shooting cartoon hillbillies The other really bad point, was the films signposting of its cultural references, and assuming that the audience know nothing. ....Yes there's a girl on a sofa reading "Rashomon" we all know what it is, we've all seen the Kurosawa, some of us have read it, some of us have read "in the shady grove" etc. But they can't leave it at that. I really expected and wanted to like this film. It stars the mighty Forrest Whittaker, a true great. It's by Jim Jarmusch, another titan, and that alone made me enter the film with a feeling of goodwill that it was impossible to lose entirely however bad it might be. The other point was the bird landing on the gun sight, and the plug-hole sink assassination. OH how I loved them, how I hugged myself with smug glee knowing that they were a homage to "Koroshi No Rakuin" I even looked around, wondering who else recognised it, and trying to spot those who didn't..... ho-ho, the saps. I later realised though, that all the film was doing, was massaging film-nerdy egos, giving us a cheap thrill of semi-obscure film recognition, and I think I hate the film more for doing that. There was nothing original in the whole ghost dog film, it was just a hotch potch of direct lifts from other films,literally, stylistically and thematically.Lifting good scenes from a good film, and splicing them whole sale into a mediocre one is not really homage, nor does it make a bad film good. It just gives nerds something to get excited about, and possibly makes you think "Shouldn't I just watch "Koroshi No Rakuin" instead ? Like Mick Jagger so nobly said "what's the point of listening to us playing 'I'm a King Bee', when you can listen to Slim Harpo doing it ?" Exactly. Why watch pseudy references to other films, when you could be watching something with its own ideas. I give this film 1 star, not because it doesn't deserve more, but just to lower it's overall average
Da cheng xiao shi (2004)
Left me, Hating it
This review will contain no spoilers, as there actual events or incidents of any note or interest take place throughout the film. Instead, your senses are gradually numbed by cliché after cliché and a soundtrack that makes elevator muzak sound like Handel's Messiah. Leon Lai takes the lead role and proves his acting chops are even less credible than his non existent vocal "talents", and the remarkable lack of chemistry between himself and Faye Wong utterly tears the bottom out of this already rather unseaworthy love Boat. Good points about the film ? Leon's driver in the film steals every scene he is in by default, as he isn't quite as unforgivably wooden as the stars of the show. There is an old man with a kind face. Rather a pathetic attempt at finding the film's merits I must admit, but the best I can do. So there you have it. A romantic drama without romance or drama. Starring an singing actor who can neither act nor sing. Script ? Screenplay ? I'm not sure they thought of that before they finished shooting. I went to see this film at a special valentine's day showing, but it made me seriously consider leaving my girlfriend, and going to live a hermit's existence in a cave just on the implausible offchance that anything in my future affairs of the heart might remind me of this seemingly everlasting dullathon.