Red Sonja: Queen of Plagues (2016, dir. Brian Ward). First watch. A
"motion comic", a film comprised of voice acting, music, sound effects,
and comic panels with little paper-doll like animation. The visual style
and obviously low budget reminded me a bit of the '90s Berserk anime -
detailed images with limited animation sliding around on-screen. The story
(credited to Gail Simone) was engaging but the delivery left a lot to be
desired. The pacing in particular felt really off. I can't recall a single
image with no voiceover, like an establishing shot or a panel intended
solely to set mood. The whole thing felt rushed, as though compressed for
time. The voice acting was mixed - I liked Misty Lee as Red Sonja, and
some of the other performances were fine (in a tabletop D&D sort of way),
but some definitely took me out of the film. I'd never seen a
"motion comic" before; I think there's something here, that the
limitations of this form could yield something great. Red Sonja (2016)
unfortunately fell a little short for me today. Having said that I would
def. watch it again. And I should probably watch La Jetée again sometime
soon too.
One Missed Call (2003, dir. Takashi Miike). First watch. The easy thing to
say here is that this is of a piece with Ringu and Kairo (Pulse).
Technology, ghosts, curses, trauma. This seems to follow many of the beats
of Ringu in particular. It does go past that, though, and has something
unique to offer when it gets there. One Missed Call was much more
restrained than what I expect from Takashi Miike (whose films I've avoided
a long time on the assumption that he's nastier than I want to be around).
There's a weird juggling of tone going on, parts feel serious, others feel
schlocky (in a good scary-ghost monster-movie way). The middle segment of
the film, where a young woman's foretold death is televised for profit,
was a highlight for me & felt particularly ghoulish. Great setup, good
performances, liked the sound & look of it (camera movement! visual
distortion!), good movie. Watched a pretty low-quality copy with sketchy
english subtitling; would like to see the proper official release sometime.
Daughters of Darkness (1971, dir. Harry Kümel). First watch. "review"
forthcoming.
Payback (1999, dir. Brian Helgeland). Theatrical version. Rewatch, though
it's been many (many!) years since I last saw it. A homage to '30s / '40s
hardboiled crime fiction and '70s crime film. Also, I think, reads as a
parody of the same. Sometimes the music choices, the staging, and the
dialog felt like a joke to me, like winking. The whole thing felt kind of
disjointed to me as a result. One moment Porter (Parker) is being
uncomfortably sociopathic, the next there's a goofy action gag or one-liner
that reminds me of Hudsown Hawk or Bugs Bunny. I should read the book at
some point ("The Hunter" by Richard Stark AKA Donald Westlake). Should
also watch the director's cut of Payback too, see how different it is.
Overlord (1975, dir. Stuart Cooper). Rewatch, second time seeing this.
Wrote a little about the movie in this toot here.
February
Johnny Mnemonic (1995, dir. Robert Longo). Rewatch; first time seeing the
black & white version. Watched with a group; missed the first 20 minutes.
I'm pretty sure I first saw this in the theater when it was released in
'95. I have mixed feelings on it. I think the main problem with it I have
now is that it's just overstuffed. There's too much going on, nothing has
space to breathe. A more straightforward adaptation of the short story
would have been better in my opinion. I'd like to read the script at some
point, see how close the film is to it. It's better in black & white, more
textured, even reminds me of Tetsuo the Iron Man in a couple of places
with the locations and background set dressing. Not a movie I'm interested
in revisitng often but I'm glad to have caught a group viewing of it today.
