• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Great Cinema - Short Clips

Page 7 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
Back to Japan with "Zatoichi's Flashing Sword" (1964) by Kazuo Ikehiro.

Zatoichi is a character in 26 (??) films and a TV series. He is a blind, wandering masseuse/gambler whose walking stick is really a straight sword that Z. wields with virtuosic technique. Z. is a sort of Robin Hood character with both dark and comic life episodes. Shintaro Katsu is the original and most favored actor who plays Z in films from 1962 - 1989.

In this scene, Z. is gambling with some Yakuza gangsters and one Yakuza shows off his own swordsmanship ... only to be totally topped by Z.'s speed, strength and skill:

http://www.voobys.com/video/video.php?q_search=seisuke&id=0m09S48JSK4&backid=_wSoBE75WXY

Enjoy!
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
Staying in Japan with “Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengence” (1972) by Kenji Misumi.

The Lone Wolf is played by Tomisaburo Wakayama, the brother of Shintaro Katsu, who plays Zatoichi in the prior post. Lone Wolf is the Shogun’s #1 Samurai and executioner – an expert with any blade. Political foes attempt to kill him but only kill his wife. Lone Wolf now wanders the countryside with his young son, working as an assassin until can avenge his wife's death.

In this short scene, a rich man wants to hire Lone Wolf but is not sure if it is really the Wolf, or if the Wolf is THAT good. Two of the rich man’s samurai say they will attack the Wolf. If they kill the him, then it was either not the Wolf or the Wolf was not so good. If the Wolf kills the samurai, their deaths prove the Wolf’s skill. This is a short and awesome display of iaido – a slick series of movements: unsheathing the katana and striking the opponent in one move – two in this case – shaking the blood from the sword and re-sheathing it. The Wolf does this while sitting down … as the two samurai sneak through a door behind him. Lightning strikes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s0m2oM9R7s


And, since the clip here is so short … another one. “Public Enemy” (1931) by William A. Wellman, with James Cagney in the infamous grapefruit scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4R5wZs8cxI


Enjoy!
 
Wasn't sure where to discuss, but I saw the film Zero Dark Thirty this weekend. I can't say that I'd recommend it other than for deft craftsmanship. On a big budget, Hollywood production level it was impressive. But I found the storytelling uneven, and character development almost non existent. The underlying pro-CIA message and impression that torture works and is necessary I also felt bothersome.

Curious if anyone else saw it, before I give anything away.
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
ZD30 by Kathryn Bigelow. I have not seen it yet.

I have trouble with KB. ‘The Hurt Locker” I found tiresome and … well, I don’t really have a lasting impression of it. Best picture, director, writer …? This film seems forgotten already, in 5 years. The “realism” of the film – read shaky cam – is distracting. Pop culture and cinema.

Now, female directors: Ida Lupino, Lina Wertmuller, Leni Riefenstahl are 3 fine female directors. Lupino and Wertmuller are among my favorites and were pioneers. But KB is neither. In ZD30, she focuses on the single character Maya as THE star. KG was thrilled to have a woman be bumped up the ladder in a “docu-drama” that ignores others and ignores the SEAL team as the main protagonists. The “based-on” proponent means the script was re-worked to a fictional account forwarding a feminist agenda. Maya is an important portion of the search but not THE important one. Dramatic license is used for an agenda other than fact. What do we take home? Popcorn stuck our teeth.

Perhaps some of my problems with ZD30 stem from the fact the Osama was caught and killed prior to its release and the film was – reworked? Also, as a current–event film, it should have a stance and tell us something. Yes, entertain us but also inform us, beyond butter pop corn. And that shaky cam again, serving as a puppet-prop to "suggest" realism. OK.

The film starts … 10 years before 9/11/2001? W … WHAT THE … over 2.5 hours and only 30-35 minutes of SEAL climax?

KB reveals a talent, an eye, but not as an auteur. Like "Point Break" and "Strange Days," like "The Hurt Locker," ZD30 may well de destined to be an OK but forgettable pop flash-in-the-pan. I hope for better from KB in years to come.

BTW, KB is James Cameron's ex-wife.
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
Australia and "Breaker Morant" (1980) by Bruce Beresford and starring Edward Woodward. During the Boer War of the 20th century, 3 officers are scapegoated and court-marshaled for following orders to kill the Boer. It is an exceptional film - the story, the direction and the acting.

First, a courtroom scene and Rule 303 (referring to the calibre of the British rifles (7.7 mm)). Woodward is a juggernaut:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaAQsxAQYHg



The ending. SPOILER: The ending has the great line: "Shoot straight, you *******s. (Read "bast*tards".) Don't make a mess of it!" Sad but exhilarating - it makes me angry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI7KJnRlsS4

Enjoy! :-(
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
"The Terminator" saga (1984, 1991 2003) is to me a trilogy.

We know the story - future machines revolt and try to exterminate humanity. A human savior is targeted in the past - the machines build a time machine and send "terminators" (Arnold Schwarzenegger) - naked - to kill the mom, then the savior himself, etc. Once back in time, and naked, the first task ... get clothes.

Here are the three "clothes shopping" scenes of Arnold, the scenes in which he arrives naked and, with growing comedic content, seeks apparel:

Terminator (in French):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTYZek5RWnc

Terminator 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYOoWCv_PYE

Terminator 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf5U47LCcfc

Enjoy!
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
I'm not much into musical films, but a few of them are stunning. "Stormy Weather" (1943) by Andrew L. Stone is one such musical.

Aside from Lena Horne, Bill "Mr. Bojangles" Robinson and Cab Calloway, there is an "off-the -hook" tap dance performance by the Nicholas Brothers. Mikhail Baryshnikov called the Nicholas Brothers the most amazing dancers he had ever seen. Gregory Hines said if a Nicholas Brothers biopic were made, CGI would be needed because no one alive could do their moves.

Moves? MOVES?!? All I can say is watch and see the art and athleticism and wonder how, just how they can do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBb9hTyLjfM

Enjoy!
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
"Chinatown" (1974) by Roman Polanski is a detective story of corruption, adultery and murder. And a fine one at that!

In this short scene, the detective Jake (Jack Nicholson) is caught nosing around and taught a lesson by Roman Polanski in a cameo. OUCH:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SPakQ7hH6I


In this next scene, Faye Dunaway's character reveals the quandary of her life and a nasty plot twist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IBZocFkXGY

Enjoy!
 
Jul 10, 2010
2,906
1
0
Visit site
Ame Agaru: fight scenes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE8QNT_vmvI

Directed by Akira Kurosawa's assistant, after Kurosawa's death, and based on a screenplay written by Kurosawa - this is a superb examination of the Japanese culture of the period, the ideals of behavior, and how they might impact a real person. The "common man" is a star, as in 7 Samurai (dir Kurosawa, star Mifune)
 
May 7, 2009
1,282
0
0
Visit site
Alpe d'Huez said:
Wasn't sure where to discuss, but I saw the film Zero Dark Thirty this weekend. I can't say that I'd recommend it other than for deft craftsmanship. On a big budget, Hollywood production level it was impressive. But I found the storytelling uneven, and character development almost non existent. The underlying pro-CIA message and impression that torture works and is necessary I also felt bothersome.

Curious if anyone else saw it, before I give anything away.

saw this today on Zero dark Thirty..


http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/542919/12-12-19-sony-letter.pdf

I did see the movie, by the way..
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
A hidden gem is "The Naked Prey" (1966) by Cornel Wilde, staring Wilde as leader of an African safari that is captured by a tribe. The tribe has inventive means of torture and death and some are rather gruesome. But Wilde, as leader, is seen as brave and given the lion's chance - stripped naked and a 200 yard head start. He surprises his "captors" and a wild chase ensues.

The cinematography, the content is so real. The story is fine and seems to have been ... "borrowed in homage" by Mel Gibson in "Apocalypto" (2006). I find TNP more original and visceral:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bQc_rZumOw

Enjoy!
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
A classic comedy: "Some Like It Hot" (1959) by Billy Wider.

Two musicians (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) witness a mob massacre and now they themselves are on the hit list. To escape, the two take jobs in a female band heading to Florida; and the two dress as women.

In the following short clip, the two dragsters first see Marilyn Monroe boarding the train, which elicits the famous line about her movements - " ... just like Jell-O on springs.":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npJlqMdsAfM



The next clip is the ending, with Joe E. Brown's millionaire character seemingly not minding a little kink in his life: "Well, nobody's perfect.":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APgcSNVITTI

Enjoy!
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
Crazy visuals of blood and gore that is so surreal, it seems a dream. A nightmare.

"Suspiria" (1977) by Dario Argento, is a film not of great story or acting, but of great and stylized visuals. The colors, camera angles, the hypnotic eye candy tell the story of a young American ballerina at a german dance school who discovers the school is a cover for a coven of witches.

Here is the famous death scene of one of the other students - a SOMEWHAT GORY but creative explosion of light and darkness.

NOTE: the gore is surreal and not sickening ... but disturbing:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwRG2qpEwl4


Enjoy!
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
Gangsters. Real ones, well at least portrayed as real.

Old school:

"White Heat" (1949) by Raoul Walsh has James Cagney as Cody Jarret, a psychopath with a mother complex. Here, at the end of the film and of Cody's life, he makes it to the " ... top of the world ...":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjzKiEs_pHI


New school:

"Ichi the Killer" (2001) by Takashi Miike is about Ichi, a martial arts loner who has razors in his shoes and a vendetta against the yakuza - he slices and dices with great skill and over-the-top gore. GORE! Ichi is pursued by a Kakihara, a yakuza deep into S&M - his cheeks are sliced and his mouth his held shut by piercings.

The following is an edit of the film's brutality ... and brutal it is, as Kakihara enjoys his sadistic search. This is NOT FOR THE MEEK.

WARNING - EXTREME VIOLENCE - WARNING

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ydk218v05E

Enjoy?????
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site
A beautiful nugget of a film that needs more attention:

“The Ox-Bow Incident” (1943) by William A. Wellman is about a lynching that is so sadly wrong and so quickly proven wrong. Here’s the lynching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eezMiIuNNn8

I love that line “God better have mercy on you. You won't get any from me.”

And the power of one lynched man’s epitaph-letter to his wife – this is NOT the writing of a criminal mind and it makes his death all the more sad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lljIrAfBzYs


Enjoy!
 
Feb 23, 2012
240
0
0
Visit site

TRENDING THREADS