Deadwood & Fireworks

[ellen_datlow]

I watched the first four episodes of the third season and am starting to get worried about the coming withdrawal with only three discs to go (presumably 6 episodes). I'm delighted to see the wonderful Brian Cox enter the series for the most recent two episodes.

And I watched the Japanese crime movie Fireworks Directed by and starring Takeshi "Beat" Kitano. It's good, although it took me about halfway through the movie to figure out what was going on with some of the characters. Apparently it won a lot of international awards when it came out in 1998 and damned if I can figure out why. It just isn't that good, and in fact one major plot point really bugged me. It's not much of a spoiler to say that one of the main cops in the movie lost his young child (cancer I think) and that his wife is currently dying --what of? I haven't a clue. Physically she seems fine but throughout the movie she seems feeble minded--I'm not at all convinced it's intentional. So...cops are killed, gangsters are killed, more cops are killed or wounded, and more gangsters are killed. It's ok but I really don't feel it's anything special.

Comments

[upstart-crow.livejournal.com]

This is exactly how I felt about Jinh-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, the anime movie that came out in 2000/2001 (I don't remember which year). I didn't see what was so good about it. It was boring, confusing and rather melodramatic.

If you want some other recommendations for Japanese films, I recommend

Suicide Club (also known as Suicide Circle - very gory)
Battle Royal (warning - also very violent and gory and features kids killing kids, not that I think this would bother you, but just to be safe)
Paprika (anime: beautifully surreal and smart)
Tekonokinkreet (one of the best animated movies I have ever seen)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Oh I've seen Battle Royale and loved it! Paprika is pretty recent, right? I'll have to look up Tekonokinkreet. Suicide Club doesn't sound like it's for me.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Turns out Paprika is already in my queue and Tekonokinkreet isn't available on netflix.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Is that the right spelling? I googled it and there's nothing by that title on the web.

[upstart-crow.livejournal.com]

I think Paprika is 2007.

And eek! It would help if I spelled TeKONkinkreet correctly! Here's the trailer for it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWOCf1wNlk0 . It's really beautiful - wonderful story about friendship, and the animation is just fabulous.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

It's Tekkon Kinkreet! And they've got it.

[upstart-crow.livejournal.com]

Oops. Well, third time is the charm I guess ;).

I hope you like. :D

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I moved it up the queue, so I should get it in a few weeks.

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed it at the time. I took it to be all the Takeshi characters relationship with his wife, and the compartmentalisation of his life, the contrast between the man the world thinks he is and who he really is. I thought the scenes of wordless communication with his wife were very touching. But if didn't work for you, then it didn't work for you.

[(Anonymous)]

I can confirm that Paprika is really good. It is a bit too long, though.

~Tristan

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

The wordless communication was very good, but perhaps because SHE was given no life outside from her relationship with him she seemed rather fey, to put it mildly. I think even silently she could have been depicted to have a brain.

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

I went through a terrible Deadwood withdrawal.

[myaineko.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Deadwood - The Complete Series is coming out on DVD on December 9th (and will include new bonus material not available on the original sets, in case that's something you care for). Maybe that will you give you an excuse to revisit Deadwood all over again? :-) I've actually held off on watching it all, slowly and surely drawing up my plans for a Deadwood marathon when the complete set comes out...From this and your previous comments, it sounds like I'll enjoy it!! - Alvaro

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

thanks Alvaro. I'm not sure I'd want to see more bonus material (I watched the bonus stuff from season 2 and it was good, but disconcerting to see the characters speak in their normal voices: McShane with a British accent, Paula Malcomson (Trixie) with an Irish accent. Woo--in English, etc) I prefer to keep the flavor/context/gestalt intact. Watching the bonus material pulls it all apart and dissects it, something I may want to read about (in reviews and textual analysis) but not see.

Oh, I think you'll very much enjoy it.

[myaineko.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Yeah, I know what you mean about the bonus material "breaking the spell." There was another HBO series where I absolutely made myself watch the bonus material, just so that I would be less impacted by what I'd seen, precisely because of the dissecting quality (no pun intended) -- Six Feet Under (which imho is one of the best TV shows ever made).

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I checked up on some of the Buffy cast after watching the whole series and it's just way too ...strange to see how they're getting on, particularly those who aren't doing as well.

[myaineko.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

You mean, those people continued to exist once the series ended? :-) (Btw, I've never seen Buffy). When any news comes out about Peter Krause, I'm kinda relieved he's still ticking. And then of course there's Dexter (which I also have yet to watch).

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

THat's the problem. I don't WANT them to ;-)

I've got the second season in my queue.

[myaineko.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Do you recommend Dexter, then? I'll be forever blaming you if it's not up to snuff (groan) -- despite the vast amount of reviews and comments out there saying it's awesome :-P

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

It took a few episodes to get me hooked but yeah, it's good. (I forgive your pun)

[myaineko.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Thanks :-) Tit for tat: I recommend Californication.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Really? It sounds a little too close to his real life for comfort ;-)

[myaineko.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Below the belt (though, as others have mentioned, Mulder liked porn too lol)...In defense of the show, I refer you to the above comment about keeping the flava intact :-)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I admit that I didn't watch X-files--probably should do that some time, too. He did? tsk tsk.

[myaineko.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

All of this TV talk has reminded that the new HBO show True Blood may appeal to you -- happens to premiere today :-)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I've seen the ads all over. If it's any good, I'll rent it season by season.

[(Anonymous)]

Don't worry. After watching the last episode, you'll feel totally fucked over. Then you'll hope that the executives who cancelled the show were drawn and quartered.

[jeff-h.livejournal.com]

That was me above. For some reason LJ logged me out.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Thanks--oh great :-)

Fireworks

[(Anonymous)]

I think one reason Hana Bi got so much attention is that it marked Kitano at the peak of a certain point in his career...he has developed a (for lack of a better word) visual Zen for cinema, including the graphic presentation of imagery, of characters, of scene. The way he will set up a scene, in isolation, and let it float in the context of other scenes, few of them directly connected, but more like fragments in a mobile, some tranquil, some violent. He rarely provides the connective elements. Anyway, these techiques are very much on display in Fireworks, at the highest level of craft, even though for the story and characters I prefer Sonatine. The awards were probably a measure of respect for him at that time as a mature filmmaker. The Zen approach is displayed with even greater intensity and "purity" in Dolls, which I found really hard to get through in spite of some really striking moments. You might like Kikujuro, where he deploys his tricks in the service of bittersweet comedy...he has a sense of juxtaposition and timing to rival Chaplin. His last couple films (after his awesome entry into the Zatoichi genre) are really hard to recommend except for the completist. - MarcL

Deadwood

[(Anonymous)]

Don't except a satisfying resolution to Deadwood. It peaks early, and ends flat. Watching it as it was broadcast, they started thumping the drums in advertisements so that I was totally expecting some kind of spectacular finale. It was a let down. Still a great series overall. Just...sad that it had to end at all. Another thing I recall about watching it as it unfolded was hearing that Milch had said he wanted to do four seasons, but they cut him off--so there was a sense that they wrapped up quickly and there were threads left unresolved. Later Milch said (this is in the big making of Deadwood book, which I recommend for fans of the show) that he was lying through his teeth in interviews...that he wanted to sound like he had a plan and knew what he was doing. And whatever hopes we had for two two-hour movies to take the place of the fourth season, those are now officially dead. - MarcL

Re: Fireworks

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

thanks Marc...I've added Dolls, Kikujuro and Sonatine to my queue.

Re: Deadwood

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm expecting no joy.... (sniff)

Re: Fireworks

[(Anonymous)]

...I don't really recommend Dolls...but the others are great. (I am a completist, or try to be, so I with dutifully watch every Kitano movie I can find on DVD or via torrent.) For more straightforward thrillers, Violent Cop and Boiling Point are both good. And his first movie, A Scene by the Sea, is a great little film about a deaf surfer. As an added bonus, a lot of his movies are scored by Joe Hisaishi, who works with Miyazaki a lot. Kikujiro has an especially great score. Hope you like them. Brother is also very good, although it shows a slightly unsure hand in some of its American scenes.

Sons of Anarchy

[(Anonymous)]

Speaking of addictive TV shows...Sons of Anarchy is off to a very strong start. This is more like what I was hoping for when they announced Kem Nunn and David Milch were collaborating on surfer noir...but instead dropped John From Cincinnati on us. California motorcycle club...gun runners...Ron Perlman and Katie Sagal...saw the pilot and I'm totally hooked. - MarcL

Re: Sons of Anarchy

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard anything about this one.

The next Kitano

[(Anonymous)]

Following up on the rambling Beat Takeshi thread, here's a review of his latest, which sounds good, and the news that his next movie is going to be another samurai film, which sounds even better:

http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/tiff-review-achilles-and-the-tortoise#extended