Week in Netflix: A Dalliance with Class Ends

Last week was probably my most varied, genre and era-wise. I felt I came off quite the cinematic Renaissance man. This week is a return to the status quo with lots of cheesy and offensive horror on the table.

No Direction Home: Part 2 -- Martin Scorsese
I already wrote about this, so I'll just say if you like Bob Dylan, you should definitely check Scorsese's documentary.

Piranha 3-D -- Alexandre Aja
None of Aja's other films really made me think he'd do a tongue-in-cheek, mostly comic horror movie very well, so I'm fairly impressed that Piranha 3-D is generally entertaining (though I technically just saw Piranha since there was no 3-D). If you like extended underwater nude ballets and lots of gore, this is for you. I was a little let down by the reliance on CG (having watched the awesome original the week before didn't help) and Piranha falls completely apart in the last 20-30 minutes to the extent that I was getting angry about how things were playing out. And if anyone has any theories on what happens to Paul Scheer's character, you have to top his own explanation: "OPTION #1: Andrew is a Piranha" (more thoughts here). Not unhappy I saw Piranha, but never have to revisit it (unless it gets a new ending).

Blade II-- Guillermo del Toro
I think I'm inclined to like del Toro more when he's not adapting a comic book. They're all serviceable, but he's so much better when creating his own world (at least to me). Probably my biggest issue with Blade on the whole is that it's so humorless. I just can't take a half-man, half-vampire vampire killer seriously to begin with, so why should the film? Because it's Wesley Snipes, who seems to have lost his sense of humor some time after White Men Can't Jump. I was struck by how similar the super-race of vampires are to the vampires in del Toro and Chuck Hogan's book The Strain (and its sequel(s)). I did have a tiny "holy shit!" moment when I realized that one of the cadre of Reaper-hunters is played by Donnie Yen (who is the star of Ip Man, which I watched last week), who also did the fight choreography. It's the little things.

House on the Edge of the Park -- Ruggero Deodato
I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this, but House on the Edge of the Park (which isn't really near a park at all) reminded me a lot of The Last House in the Woods. It's not just the similar titles, though. They both play around with who you should be rooting for. While the latter actually has a sympathetic character or two, the former is nothing but awful people. HotEotP isn't really pleasant to watch (unwanted sexual advances are the order of the day), but it definitely left me with a lot to think about. The payoff doesn't really work at all with any type of critical thought, but there's a lot of interesting structural and thematic elements (which may or may not be intentional) that I can't help but admire. But seriously, this film isn't for everyone, so watch with caution. It does have an DVD cover, though.

Eva -- Joseph Losey
Eva is probably a fine movie. I just didn't care about the story remotely. Anytime I watch a movie where one character falls hopelessly in love (read: lust) with someone who treats them like crap even though they are engaged/married to someone else who loves them seemingly no matter what they do (it's like a vicious circle!), I check out. Sure, it probably happens all the time, but it's so stupid and beyond reason that it's not worth investing my time in. Needless to say, I don't have much to say about Eva.

The Wrong Guy -- David Steinberg
The Wrong Guy should probably be a lot worse than it is. To be honest, I enjoyed it a lot. It's a trifle of a film, but wholly enjoyable. It's like The Wrong Man except the police know that the titular wrong man didn't do it leaving him the only person who believes that he's a suspect. David Foley is eminently likable (as always) and the cast is filled out by lots of recognizable bit players. It's co-written by Jay Kogen (writer for The Simpsons) and features tons of fun dialogue. An example? Sure thing.

Creepy Guy: Know how many assassins it took to kill JFK?
Nelson Hibbert: One?
Creepy Guy: Nope. There were no gunmen at all. His head just did that. I call it the "No Bullet theory."

A fun riff on Hitchcock. Definitely one to check out (even if it has a Barenaked Ladies cameo).

Sherlock (BBC Show) -- Disc 2
There's only three total episodes of Sherlock this was the last one, though I'm looking forward to the second series. I really like everything about this show. Well, almost. There's a portrayal of a character that only comes up in this episode that I found a little off-putting. I almost came around to it, but was pushed back. I don't want to spoil anything about it, though. Sherlock Holmes mysteries are interesting because I don't think the reader/viewer is ever supposed to be able to figure out, which makes my efforts feel particularly futile, but I've still got to try, dammit!

Samurai Princess -- Kengo Kaji
I think this might be the end of me watching this type of hyper-violent Japanese horror movie. I made it through Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl and one other (the name escapes me, but they're all essentially the same), but Samurai Princess' production quality is far below those (which are already fairly low). Maybe it's that I watched it on Instant View, but it looked bad (and was dubbed... seriously Netflix. If you're going to focus on streaming, at least supply options for how we want to stream). There's some crazy gore, but the movie is a complete mess. The best thing I can say about it is that it's less than an hour and a half.

Netflix Week Plus

I was at work pretty much all weekend then attempted to get into the Clash of the Titans Shanrock Trivia Championship (with my team Took a Page from Your Playboy) so it's been a little over a week since my last post of this nature. I don't think it was particularly missed, but I still feel compelled to offer an explanation for its absence.

Mimic -- Guillermo del Toro
Del Toro is on record as not being entirely happy with this film. The studio took some control and restricted him a bit, but it's hard to hate a movie that's willing to kill a couple of kids so freely even if the most annoying one gets a pass (and, apparently, a new family). I'm endlessly impressed with the set builders for del Toro's films. They do such a great job of creating a realistic fantasy realm, though Mimic's world is based far more in reality. Decent film with some cool scenes and creatures.

Sherlock (BBC TV Show)
I love Martin Freeman, so I'm predisposed to love this show. Plus, the man playing Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch, has a simply epic name. Maybe it's because I've been watching the full run of The X-Files, but Sherlock's depiction in this show (and other Holmes stories) is very similar to Mulder in that they both get struck by a notion and follow it at a whim without explanation, even to their respective partners. It's immensely enjoyable, though the mystery in the second episode (there are only three hour and a half episodes) wasn't the most involving for me. The first, however, is incredible and does a lot to defy expectation and treats texting in a very interesting way. I haven't seen the third episode yet, but it's coming this week. Very excited. Warning: there was a super long wait on Netflix to get the first disc.

Ip Man -- Wilson Yip
I watched this solely because my theater is currently showing the sequel. Normally, I don't go in for kung fu movies (or boxing or anything where fighting is the main attraction), but aside from some over-the-top acting, Ip Man is pretty awesome. Donnie Yen comes off as quite possibly the nicest man alive who just happens to be one of the greatest fighters, too. There's more substance to Ip Man than your typical fight tournament film and given the technicality of the styles of fighting, great care is taken in the filming of the fight scenes. Incidentally, Ip Man would eventually go on to train Bruce Lee.

Night of the Iguana -- John Huston
When this came in the mail, my girlfriend rolled her eyes upon hearing the title, thinking it was some kind of crazy horror movie (which, by this point, you know I watch a lot of). I took great glee in explaining that it's anything but that with a great director, great writer, and great actors involved. Still, that didn't necessarily mean I would like it. It is an intense personal drama after all and I don't much care for that genre. But Night of the Iguana rules! Richard Burton is totally charismatic as the alcoholic, defrocked priest. I definitely need to see more films of his. All of his female foils are just as good. (post-Lolita Sue Lyon [though still playing the seductress], Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner, and Grayson Hall). There is a lot of risque business that I'm pretty surprised the makers got away with. Highly recommended.

The Asphalt Jungle -- John Huston
Part two in my inadvertent John Huston double feature. One of the main problems with many heist films is that it can take a long time to get to the heist. The Asphalt Jungle falls into this category. I hesitate calling that a fault because it's all in sacrifice of character development, but it took me a while to engage with the characters. That said, once the film gets going, it's pretty great. Plus, and I didn't realize this could ever happen, Marilyn Monroe gives a darn good performance. It was also surprising how skinny she was. I didn't recognize her until the film was almost done. One bit of unintended comedy: watching the heisters slide themselves under the motion sensor eye in and out of the vault.

The Music Man -- Morton DaCosta
I don't care for musicals, but I try to check out the ones that might appeal to me. Since The Music Man is a direct influence on one of the greatest Simpsons episodes ever (Marge Vs. The Monorail, written by Conan O'Brien), I felt that it's a viable candidate for me.

And it is pretty good. Everyone loves a good con man. The problem with The Music Man is that it's bloated (a problem I have with many musicals). There's a lot of spectacle that pads out the run time. At least in The Music Man, it makes a bit of sense. The man is a showman and the nature of his con lend themselves to spectacle. I don't know if I'm ready to sit through again anytime soon, but it was an enjoyable (and relatively quick) 2.5 hours.

Let Me In -- Matt Reeves
I'd heard pretty good things about Let Me In, even about how it's different from the original. My hopes went up upon these reports. And then I saw Let Me In. It's not a bad movie by any means. It's just totally pointless. Nearly every story beat is exactly the same. There are no surprises. Even worse, Let Me In comes in at about the same run time as Let the Right One In, but contains significantly less nuance. The most disappointing thing for me is that there is so much more in the book that's not in the original film to use, but instead, Reeves added only the detective. He had a chance to set the film apart from the original but created something entirely unnecessary. At least the car crash was pretty cool.

The Hidden Fortress -- Akira Kurosawa
Best known as the inspiration for C-3PO and R2-D2 in Star Wars, The Hidden Fortress was much better than I'd ever thought it would be. I don't know why I had such a low opinion of it. Maybe it's that it was inspiration for George Lucas, but that just seems petty. I never new what it was about anyway. The film is beautifully shot and the peasants' bickering and scheming is always amusing. Even the plot contrivances are elegant. Toshiro Mifune has to be one of the most badass actors to appear in film. I think the extras are cowering in the face of his awesomeness, not because they are acting.

Vampire Circus -- Robert Young
I've seen a fair amount of Hammer Horror at this point and I tend to feel the same way about all of the films. They're decent. They all have the same look, the same pacing, the same actors, and the same plots. I think what keeps drawing me in is the amazing artwork. That and Hammer's special relationship with eroticism (linked in with the artwork). Vampire Circus is pretty fun, but most notable (for me, anyway) because David Prowse (the man who wore the Darth Vader costume... hey! we're back to Star Wars) plays the strong man. Incidently, Let Me In was the revival of the Hammer brand. It's fun to see the accidental connections between all these films!