Film review: '13 Assassins' best in show of summer blockbusters
Every summer moviegoers are treated to an array of fast, furious films to choose from. Ridiculously prolific Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike shows just what you can do with some ingenuity, and a fraction of the budget of the summer's "biggest" movies, in "13 Assassins," a no holds barred action powerhouse.
Despite the sweeping historical and political backdrop, the story is rather easy to digest. Lord Naritsugu (Gorô Inagaki), a sadistic maniac and brother of the Shogun, is rising to power during an era of "peace" in 19th century feudal Japan. Now in the waning years of their influence, a handful of samurai led by Shinzaemon Shimada (Kôji Yakusho) come together to stop him.
Naritsugu is a perfect villain. Though we don't get to spend as much time with all of the "assassins" as we might like, any gaps in motivation for their efforts are quickly filled by the atrocities committed by him. We see Naritsugu as he is, a monster with the supremacy of a king and the impulse control of an infant. Unlike the heroes, he is made powerful not by his skills but by his position.
The cinematography, accompanied with impressive use of sound, draws you into the atmosphere of feudal Japan. The sets and costumes are detailed and accurate, without obvious attempts to make things visually slicker. Even the final inevitable showdown, which takes place in a single location, has an intricacy and artistry not shared by many big budget action movies. Miike does this by simply not wasting time or film. The pacing towards the beginning is slower, but not plodding. And though the battle is fast and furious, it doesn't share the sickening, camera-spinning cinematography of its brethren. You can actually follow what's happening on the screen, similar to other popular Asian films like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" or "Hero," only with a gritty realism. This isn't ballet; it's war.
Anyone remotely familiar with Japanese cinema will draw parallels to Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "Seven Samurai." There is the immediate comparison of a small band of samurai up against seemingly insurmountable odds in the name of a good cause. The characters of the two films also bear resemblances to one another. Both are lead by a brilliant but burned out leader, joined by a less-skilled fighter unsure of his abilities.
Top 20 Scariest Movies - News
In a world increasingly reaching a supersaturation of branding, Spurlock returns to his mixture of high comedy and social commentary with a vengeance. The film will be playing on Monday, June 20 and Tuesday, June 21 at 7 pm at the Gold Town
But if anything the personal struggles, building the confidence to make a first feature film and not knowing what that's like, it's a little scary. With everything all the cool over-the-top elements in Hobo – a pedophile Santa, school busses with
In the final lap of competition at Cannes, which wraps tomorrow, the race just heated up between Drive and This Must be the Place—two movies shot in America by European filmmakers.
PG (cartoon mayhem, scary stuff, adult themes) — Steven Rea I AM 3 stars. Hollywood director Tom Shadyac sheds the trappings of wealth and makes a documentary on how people can make the world a better place. 1 hr. 20 No MPAA rating (sophisticated
By rotch on May 20, 2011 I wish I could read something about Woody Allen without having to hear about “a movie a year” and “his past decade not being as good” or whatever. It's like a legal obligation that every single review of his movies or article
Listmania: Top 20 Scariest Films (#10-1) | Popdose
In pop culture, lists are everything. They lend a sense of order to an otherwise orderless world. From film and literature to music, critics and readers alike love to put things in tidy rows. It is with this in mind that Popdose presents Listmania, a weekly series counting down the staff’s favorite things.
Be it zombies, vampires, ghosts, goblins or ghouls, everyone has specific fear triggers. For some of us it’s murderous dolls; others prefer the supernatural, either way most of us love a good scare. It was with this in mind that we asked the staff to list the twenty films that scared the living daylights out of them. We chopped, sliced and diced the results and came up with the twenty most terrifying moments in cinematic history, at least according to frightened masses at Popdose.
And if that isn’t scary enough, the good folks at Warner Bros. have a treat for one lucky reader: a free iTunes download of the Director’s Cut of The Exorcist , featuring never seen before behind the scenes footage and interviews with director William Friedkin, actress Linda Blair and author/screenwriter/producer William Peter Blatt. All you have to do to enter is send an e-mail to with the subject “My Best Recipe for Pea Soup!” All entries must be received before midnight, October 29. The winner will be selected randomly and notified by e-mail.
If you missed the first half of the list, you can catch up here: such a headtrip is not any particular part of the story, in truth a standard haunted house tale. Starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder as that terrorized Mr. and Mrs. Lutz, and Rod Steiger in typical shingle-munching fashion as the priest who comes to bless the bad spirits away, the thing that keeps nagging the viewer’s mind is the legend that the story was “based on true events.”
Based on the book by Jay Anson, the facts of the story have been whittled away over the years as so much “truthiness” and not so much verifiable fact of occurrence. While you’re watching, however, your powers of deduction and reason are thrown off-kilter, you find it hard not to suspend your disbelief, and all because the movie is telling you this stuff really happened Wes Craven, while being fixated on the horror genre, is no hack. He knows how to make everything work in order to scare you, and he knows which time-tested tricks have run their course. One such trick is the super-tight close-up of a potential victim, often creeping about in the dark, trying to find a light switch, lamp or flashlight. The camera creates the claustrophobia so that boogeymen can jump out from nowhere. This trick works on an immediate, visceral level, but when you analyze it, you reckon the entire cheat that it is. Sure, you can’t see the monster lying in wait, but there’s no way the hapless victim couldn’t have.
Top 20 Scariest Movies - Bookshelf
Jet
Top 20 Grossing Movies Of The Summer According To USA Today: 1. ... X-Men (20th Century Fox), $151.2 million 5* Scary Movie (Miramax), $148.5 million 6. ...TV guide
9:10PM - SCARIEST Hosted by Linda Blair Tonight: walk the halls of a ... (VHP 20 to 1— MUSIC 1:00 376507 31 Counting down the Top 20 tragic losses in music. ...Party Princess
Plus a lot of them have very scary parts, and scary movies have ... I think scary movies are responsible for half, if not more, of my neuroses. TOP ...All music guide to electronica, the definitive guide to electronic music
Lodger was supported with several innovative videos, as was 1980"s Scary ... While the album sold well, and produced the Top Ten hit "Blue Jean," it ...The Princess Diaries, Volume VII: Party Princess
I think scary movies are responsible for half, if not more, of my neuroses. TOP 20 WAYS SCARY MOVIES HAVE MESSED ME UP: 1) I can't see chairs pulled away ...Information Search Directory
Top 50 scariest horror movies of all time - Halloween movies ...
Boston.com's Halloween list of the top 50 scariest movies of all time.
20 Scariest Movies of All Time list
20 Scariest Movies of All Time per Entertainment Weekly
IMDb: Top 20 scariest/most disturbing Horror movies. - a list ...
Top 20 scariest/most disturbing Horror movies. by joelstix created 1 month ago | last updated - 1 month ago. These 20 movies are a must-see for true horror fans. ...
My Top 20 Scariest Movies - Associated Content from Yahoo! ...
It's Halloween and time for scary movie marathons. Each year many of us grab our stack of DVD's, our bowl of popcorn and our friends and begin our ...
My Top 20 Scariest Movies List - Lexington Vampire | Examiner.com
It's Halloween and time for scary movie marathons. Each year many of us grab our stack of DVD's, our bowl of popcorn and our friends and begin our travel into t