Way of the Dragon

“A movie with objective problems that gets the subjective benefit of the doubt, like Shane describes, can rise higher than a B+, but the subjective part has to be blinding in the face of objective weakness.”

Kissel said this on Tuesday when talking about our favorite movies compared to our best movies. I think this is a perfect starting point for judging Way of the Dragon. Can a kung fu movie ever be better than a B+?

Before we get to that, I want to throw this out there: A proper kung fu movie does not rely on computer or other special effects. Green screen background is one thing, but adjusting the way in which a person moves is boring. Computer imaging of Cameron Diaz doing flips is garbage. Give me Tony Jaa jumping off an elephant any day. Kung fu demands a certain physicality. So that’s where I am with categorizing a kung fu movie.

So, this is Bruce Lee’s debut as a director and writer and I’ll bring up some of his choices here before discussing his presence as a character.

The pacing of this movie is pretty solid in the beginning. Things are happening. This is something that Hart Man has made me more aware of. Even when we’re just getting to know the characters, is something interesting or amusing going on? Lee eating soup is interesting because it’s telling us something: Here is a stranger in a strange land. We see Lee get picked up but the hot Italian chick. We’re now told Lee is pretty desirable. I also love that scene because it crushed my normal bias going in. I just didn’t expect a woman to be hitting on an Asian dude. Now I know better. So just between two scenes that happen pretty quickly and could have been throwaways, we’ve learned something. Not to mention that Lee has enough timing to make this scenes kind of funny. Unfortunately, while the first 60 minutes balanced things happening and the growth of characters, the final 30 minutes happened too fast. This flick could have used an extra 10-15 minutes. I’m still not sure what to think of the uncle’s betrayal. The last third of the film was just too forced even though the fight scenes were damn near perfect.

The choreography for the fight scenes is done pretty well I think. Of course, that first set of thugs looks pretty goofy. But with the actors who know what they’re doing… Those are amazing.  But reading interviews about Lee, he really hit the shit out of people. They tried minimizing it, but the guy was a beast. There’s also a lot that he had to dumb down. He was too dang fast for it to be believable. I’ve watched some of these scenes in slow-mo and when I think he’s whiffing on people, he’s actually hit them twice. But then again, that first set of thugs. Ouch. That was not impressive by normal movie standards. Additionally, I love how many empty cardboard boxes are just laying around Rome.

Lee also got a bit aggressive on the camera angles. Some were great, but some were just trying to be creative for creativity’s sake. I feel like he watched a few Spaghetti Westerns and attempted to recreate those scenes. Specifically, a scene at the Coliseum brought me directly back to The Good, The Bad, The Ugly. Kudos for going big, but still the execution failed in a few scenes.

Lee does a pretty good job here. He’s got great timing with the comedy and obviously the guy is physically out of this world. It’s hard to say how good his acting is overall because of the dubbing, however. I love Lee’s arrogance because he has the charisma and the skill to back it up.

The rest of the cast is likewise hard to judge. Were they good acting on a technical level? I have no idea. This ultimately can only hurt a movie, not help it.

We do have to talk about Chuck Norris because he’s Chuck Norris. His acting here is nearly as limited as his political analytical abilities. But he does OK here. RIP his chest hair. But at least with his fight, we finally get some stakes. Norris starts of as his equal before Lee just turns on the afterburners and kills him.

But let’s talk about the bad guy’s right-hand man. The presence of the actor playing it was pretty good. Is he 70’s pimp? Is he slick Chinese business man? Is he gay? I could say yes to all these things. The guy convinces me from a physical standpoint. The voice dubbing over him is hilarious and is what people copy now when they’re being racist. I love giving bonus points to movies that have made subtle cultural (low brow or high brow) additions. That guy’s voice is the same voice we’ve used or heard used during a racist joke about Asians.

“I want to call… AMERICA.” I died on that line. I don’t know if it was a joke or serious.

Kung fu is the real star of the movie. That’s the movie’s strength and weakness. The moves, to me, are mesmerizing. Bruce Lee is incredibly fast. Chuck Norris added the element of power to the stealth. Watching those two fight was a pleasure. BUT, it’s limited. Kung fu isn’t a character. We can’t explore its depth. It has no motivation. It just is. Because it’s the focus, we end up with goofy plotlines with serious holes because we have to have the fighting. Forcing something is never healthy for a movie. The dialogue becomes bookends to prop up what the movie is about, which is badass martial artists doing their thing. The dialogue can never really –add- to the kung fu.

But visuals can be added. We see it in Way of the Dragon with some stylistic choices. The cat playing with a toy as Lee crushed Norris was a nice touch, though a bit corny by today’s standards. In Ong Bak, we see tons of colors and outfits that add to the fight. And seriously, Tony Jaa uses an elephant’s tusks the way a gymnasts uses the uneven bars. Entertaining, of course but it can never be emotional.

So, can a true kung fu movie ever be above a B+? I say probably not.

Way of the Dragon: B+

Stray observations:

-He really likes soup

-The scene of him awkwardly figuring out if the girl looking for someone was the girl he was looking for. Great observational comedy.

-He abused those toilets.

-I like that it was dubbed into English, but he couldn’t read English.

-He scared that kid into dropping his ice cream. For no reason. AWESOME.

The Fisher King

Well, I chose The Fisher King because I was browsing the Netflix Robin Williams collection and noticed I hadn't ever watched it. Considering its favorable ratings and awards/nominations, I was pretty surprised I missed it. Glad we remedied that!

Robin Williams was brilliant and it's no wonder why he was nominated for an Academy Award here. This is the kind of role I think he was best at. While there's some seriousness to the film, he really delivers the comedy. That's not to take away from Jeff Bridges, who did fine in the supporting role and was spot on with his deliver. There were a few moments where we had a glimpse what was coming from his as Lebowski. Mercedes Ruehl won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. I thought she played the character great and compliment Bridges really well in their relationship.  I thought Michael Jeter and Tom Waits were outstanding in their minor parts... I didn't even know Waits was in it (apparently, it was uncredited)

Clocking in over 130 minutes, I was prepared for a long and stretched out movie.  It was a pleasant surprise that the movie kept a decent pace and had my attention throughout. It had a good beginning with Jack in the studio, setting up his character as a shock jock radio personality that wasn't just playing the part on the air. We knew something was up with that last caller, and I think the scene was set up really well with Jack being as high on himself as anybody could be. I really liked the practicing of the sitcom line he was slated to deliver, 'forgive me!' just before everything came down with the news.

Our introduction to Parry was even better. Forget a gradual lead in to his situation... we're given a full on attack with his mental issues at the forefront... gallantly doing his duty as a knight, saving Jack from the assault and himself.  I really liked the way Parry's mind was presented to us. The Red Knight made his fear a priority... it highlighted his issues from the tragedy and made them, along with his quest, as real to us as they were to him. There was a nice lead up to his big confrontation with the incident, and it was a bit of a shock to see the shooting... but I think it really made an impact to see him go through it leading us into the sad moment when he was brutally attacked by the same two guys from earlier, and more so repressed memories.

While we were served up a very convenient and happy ending... I liked it. I liked how Jack went about getting the Holy Grail (and that it was a simple trophy). I thought it was great that they included the line, "thank god nobody looks up in this town" answering any question from the audience of how nobody notices him. We have talked about multiple movies needing lines like thrown in... they're not absolutely necessary, but the add a little bit to the film.

One of the elements I like the most about The Fisher King is the call-backs. The most notable is Pinocchio... especially when Parry calls Jack out on the little lie about his girlfriend. (This also gave us a great, and fitting, joke... Where would King Arthur be without Guinevere?... Happily married, probably) Also, the continual clumsiness of Lydia... from the books, to the dumplings, to the movies and back to the dumplings with Parry. Even little lines such as when Jack sees the red knight on the stained glass window and says, "I'm hearing horses now, Parry would be so pleased..."  I just thought it was really well done, and the timing with each was handled nicely. Even the ending an bringing them back to Central Park... It felt complete and right.

I thought there were three scenes that really stood out... two of them really outstanding. One was the office scene with Michael Jeter singing to Lydia. While it wasn't an overly important scene to the movie, it was funny and entertaining and showed Jack's personality changing (smiling in the elevator, noticing himself that he's on on a first name basis with the homeless people) and how much he was looking to get Lydia to notice Parry.  Mostly, just a fun scene with the singing.  Now, the two best scenes for me were the waltz in Grand Central Station and the first scene in Central Park. The really gave us the best view of  Parry, away from his demons. Both scenes were also played perfectly by Williams.

With all that, it wasn't a perfect movie and I have a couple minor gripes.  I liked the use of 'Hit the Road Jack' and 'I've Got the Power,' but there were times when the score just didn't do it for me. That's probably more a product of it being out dated, and it wasn't so horrific that it ruined any scene for me... but once or twice I caught myself thinking 'eh' about the music.  The other minor problem for me was with the editing/cut choices.  A couple scene breaks seemed a little too sharp, but the thing that stuck out to me the most was the dinner scene. I think this was a good scene, that could have been great... even up there with the Central Park and Grand Central station parts. The problem I had was the use of the transition effect. I understand that it was used to show the passage of time, but it felt disconnect from the rest of the film... and it wasn't really the type of montage that called for the distinction. For me, at least, it would have been better with each cut showing us a wide view of the restaurant, more empty each time until we end on the final shot of the scene with the place looking bare other than the seemingly annoyed employees.

Overall, I think it's pretty clear, I absolutely enjoyed The Fisher King. I'm sure there's more I could talk about (including the story of the Fisher King and the portrayal/message of homelessness, perhaps), but I want to wrap this up for now.  With my minor complaints, I still loved the movie and it ends up slotting into, I think, the 2nd slot for Robin Williams movies for me, behind Dead Poet's Society and just a head of What Dreams May Come... pulling in a solid A grade. It also provides us with a strong Mediocre Best Actor candidate.

Manhunter

Remember the Fox SNL knock-off MadTV?  Remember the recurring skit "Lowered Expectations?" Maybe I should have watched a bunch of those before watching Manhunter.  I only actually remembered the soft voiced intro and outro to the skits and not that they were about losers dating.  I watched a few a minute ago to link onto this post but they were terrible so I won't link them as a courtesy to you all.

I'm skipping the plot summary- if you're reading you watched it.

Let's just bullet some complaints that all admittedly arrive directly from my expectations of the film based on my experience with the characters.

Hannibal Lecter, or Lecktor as its spelled in Manhunter is about my all-time favorite character and Manhunter gave him what seemed like 7 minutes or less of screen time.

Brian Cox comes in a distant 3rd for me in Hannibal performances although I'm not sure it was his fault.  I thought his greased back hair looked like a slack-jawed southerner instead of a regal gentleman like Hopkins.

Dennis Ferina is great as a tough recovering alcoholic NYC cop, unfortunately he doesn't work as Agent in Charge of the Behavioral Science Division of the FBI.  He's an actor who is always on point reacting but totally unbelievable in a thinking mans role which this should be.

I just don't like William Peterson I don't think he's a very good actor (CSI sucks) and I hated the way he portrayed Will Graham.  Fun fact about Peterson- turned down the role of Henry Hill in Goodfellas- thank Christ!  When he's introduced to us here he's apparently retired after a mental breakdown following the capture of Lecter and living in a million dollar beach house.  His wife (hire Glenn Close- too expensive- hire Glenn Close like- done) must make huge money because I can't imagine former profiler pays that well.  He doesn't play the part like someone on the verge of a breakdown- he shows no vulnerability, no fear, no signs that he is torn about re-entering the field other than saying that he doesn't want to go through it again.  His interactions with Lecter are confrontational, he's using Hannibal who correctly points out that Will thinks he's smarter than him.  Again, my expectations hurt the roles here because the give and take between Will and Hannibal on the NBC series is what makes the show so strong.  Will is vulnerable, frail, mentally unstable but undeniably gifted and shares a mutal respect and admiration with Hannibal despite the fact they are adversaries.

Tom Noonan was fantastic.  Totally believable, scary and creepy, all the good things.  A+ performance as the Tooth Fairy.

I think of the Hannibal series as Psychological Thriller- Manhunter I'd classify as more Intense Thriller which was probably due to some super 80s cocaine.  I especially felt that when Will went charging headfirst through the picture window right into a beating from the Tooth Fairy.  Made me smile thinking of (NBC series spolier alert) the exact opposite thing occurring when the guy who tried to be an animal charged into a shotgun blast from a waiting Will.

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

Based on my preconceived notions for everything I'd go C-, but I supposed it was an entertaining movie and had this been my introduction to the series it'd rate higher.  I'll settle on C+.

Boyz N the Hood

Where to begin?  So much to discuss with this film.  A good place to start is with the vetoes.

I really wanted everyone to watch the 30 for 30 on Bo Jackson because he is the greatest athlete of all time.  No one could play at that kind of elite level like Jackson and it probably would have been watched until Joe reared his head for the first time of the round to vindictively veto this good film because I vetoed his first choice.  Yeah, I still refuse to purchase Amazon Prime for a documentary about soccer - unless it's about Pele.  No ragrets!

I had a feeling Joe would do that so I had another 30 for 30 in mind over the 2003 Bartman game.  Since he couldn't veto again, I thought I was in the clear and then Bryan surprisingly appears to spend his veto.  His reasoning was that he's seen some good movies and wanted to keep that going.  Mind you, this comes from the guy who picked a movie worse than Drinking Buddies and said he would never veto.  I think it is because my second pick was over the Cubs.  That didn't bother me either but I thought it was great when he stated his displeasure of it (score!).  I almost picked Four Days in October so Phil could veto but I think everyone had enough of the veto power and I didn't want to read Bobby argue nonsense about Mark "I had one moment and a bunch of errors" Bellhorn. Frickin' Bellhorn.

Then I chose Boyz N the Hood.  I saw this awhile ago but needed a refresher and was thrilled Netflix had it.  I don't particularly pay attention to directors unless its Whedon, Spielberg, Bay, Bruckheimer, Burton, and Lucas.  Outside of them, it matters little to me.  "Can you make a good film?" is the only requirement directors have for me.  In John Singleton's case, he made a cult classic.

Three years ago NPR did a story on "Morning Edition" on Boyz N the Hood and John Ridley interviewed Singleton about the film.  Singleton stated that while he loved the films from the 80s, they did not look like him or his situation.  So what Singleton, who was taught directing by Francis Ford Coppola and was 22 years old, made was a film about a group of black friends growing up South Central Los Angeles. What came from it, well, not even Singleton could foretell.

The importance of Boyz N the Hood is opens up the eyes of suburbia, white America to life in of hoodlem, black America.  Gang violence, crack heads, single motherhood were all out of surburbia, white America's mainstream in 1991.  Watching the film nowadays, there is nothing shocking about it.  If a young teen watched Boyz N the Hood today, he/she would think he watched everyday life.  For me, on the other hand, growing up in Hicktown, Indiana, this was pretty surreal.  I remember watching it for the first time in 1996 and I couldn't believe what I saw.  High school students shooting each other because one felt disrespected?  For real?  For a 14 year old in Hicktown, Indiana, that question was on my mind.

Mostly, the movie had great acting.  This film put Cuba Gooding, Jr., on the map.  He was sensational.  He owned the scene when was confronted by the black cop and returned to Brandi's house.  His frustration with his inability to fight with the police glowed.  The viewer could sense his anger in that scene.  Another great part was when he felt compelled to lie to his father Furious about the girl he did not bang.  Viewer had no clue that it was a lie until the next scene when Ricky gets in the blue slugbug.

Next was Laurence Fishburne who absolutely nailed the part of Furious Styles.  He wanted to be the father apparently he never had and/or what Doughboy, Ricky, or Chris never had.  Was he a rough father?  Absolutely but it was necessary.  Furious knew what he had to do and he did it but did so in a positive way.  You know Tre wanted to please Furious and that was evident when Tre returns home after leaving the car.  He walks into the house, Furious sees him, Tre walks closer, Furious turns around into his room and slams the door.  No words in that scene, just emotion of disappointment.

Ice Cube playing Doughboy, or Darren, was pretty fantastic.  He nailed the hustler role probably because he came from Compton and rapped about it in the N.W.A. and his early recordings.  He understood that role and life but more importantly than all of that was his ability to capture it on screen.  This was Ice Cube's first acting role and there was no trace of it.  I was able to put myself in Doughboy's shoes when he shot those two other guys.  They took his brother away from him.  When that happens, you want to pull the trigger and in this case he did.  Good stuff from Ice Cube.

Angela Basset's role was minor.  She was Reva Styles, Tre's mother.  She wanted to play a role in his life but she ultimately chose her career over her son.  Yes, they had an agreement, which Tre violated, but she could have been there for him.  What we don't see is the role she played from 1984 - 1991.  We are led to believe, however, that she was absent from Tre's rearing.  Basset is a fantastic actress and her best role is when she played Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It?, which oddly enough Laurence Fishburne plays Ike.  Definitely worth a view.

The aspect that bugged me was what I call the go betweens - when someone talks at one location and then the viewer sees another person saying something else in a different location but apparently they are saying it at the same time.  For instance when Doughboy was talking to the crew about something I forget and Tre was talking to Brandi about their relationship, that sequence of go betweens was choppy and bad.  It made me squirm and I couldn't deal with that.  In its defense, it was 1989/1990 and that sequence can be fine tuned today but regardless, it annoyed me.

I also didn't appreciate the misogynistic nature of Doughboy.  Cube did fine playing it but it played up to the stereotype that black men are stupid sexists.  Doughboy had a different upbringing than his half brother Ricky and maybe he felt slighted by his mother for that but that is no reason to consistently tell a woman those things.

All in all, it was a raw story that opened up the eyes of white America.  This film came out before the O.J. trial, before the Rodney King incident, and before gangster rap emerged into mainstream radio.  Boyz N the Hood was really good.

Grade: A-

Frances Ha

I picked Frances Ha for three reasons.  First, after bad-on-accident and bad-on-purpose action movies, I very much needed what Phil described as a palate cleanser.  Second, this was one of the best-reviewed movies from 2013 and I'd been meaning to watch it for months.  Third, in looking over Best Actress candidates from our picked movies so far, in advance of year-end awards that we are obviously going to do, there were only four or five possibilities and one of them was Miranda July.  Ooph.  Got to add some more competition to the race, and Greta Gerwig is a great addition to a short list.

From director Noah Baumbach, Frances Ha is distinct from his previous movies, which based on the spreadsheet, no one else has seen.  In the three I'm familiar with (The Squid and the Whale, Greenberg, and Margot at the Wedding), they share a commonality of being about fundamentally unpleasant people wrecking their personal and professional lives with rampant assholery.  Frances Ha takes the opposite tack by having a protagonist I can immediately root for.  Frances's and Sophie's opening montage in New York does an excellent job of establishing the stakes of the movie.  This is a friendship that appears mutually beneficial, honest, and long-lasting, and therefore something valuable. 

Baumbach immediately puts it in jeopardy with Sophie's changing of apartments, and exposes the financial thread in the movie that I was a big fan of.  Sophie has a reliable job and is in a relationship with a finance douche, so she's set.  The two guys Frances moves in with come from rich families and can spend their time either sculpting and fucking and hat-wearing, or writing a script for Gremlins 3 that is 100% theoretical.  Frances is shown to be a modestly-talented dancer and out of her depth compared to Mischa Barton, ill-equipped to make a living at her chosen profession, and missing opportunities with her friends because she can't afford it.  Their shared proximity makes the disappointment that much more acute.  The easy wealth at the mid-movie dinner party throws this into the sharpest relief, as all anyone can talk about is what their money can do for them while Frances is only left with her narcissistic exposition about her friend group.  To be surrounded by money but have no access to it must be incredibly isolating and Baumbach ably communicated that to me here.

For a movie as short as this one, it packs in so much character detail about Frances.  Her messiness and the way she primps in every mirror she comes across says plenty already, but the fact that Gerwig actually eats on camera makes Frances immediately more human.  She pulls off a solid comedy fall, this happening after she struggles with the decision to accept the $3 ATM fee.  Following up cavity work with a big sundae, trying to subtly squeeze extra time out of squatting in Barton's apartment, it's all indicative of an immature person who hasn't reckoned with what she really wants out of life.  That I was always on her side, or at least sympathized with her meltdown, goes to Gerwig's performance.  She's a great presence throughout, when sloppy drunk or giddily running through the streets.  Her scenes in Paris were pathetically sad and her scenes in Sacramento were alive with the warmth of being back in the cocoon of your parents' home during the holidays, or whatever I assume that's like.

There's a theme running through the movie about the worth of sincerity that I enjoyed, based purely on how a movie like this could have gone.  Frances could have put in the work at the studio and become a great dancer, breaking into the A company and receiving a standing ovation with all her friends in the audience.  Instead, the movie acknowledges that that was never going to happen, and her talents laid elsewhere, behind the curtain.  In the intro, Frances reads an article out loud that is about how calling something sincere is basically equal to 'points for effort.'  You tried, and there's some value in trying, but without insight or talent, that value is miniscule.  This gets revisited, in the scene where Frances pats herself on the back after asking her boss for more teaching opportunities, and in Bowie's song Modern Love, which is about continuing on without any signs of progress.  Admirably, Frances Ha doesn't indulge the 'you can do anything' bullshit and admits that without parental patronage, people don't get to do anything they want.  Your effort might get you the next thing if you're willing to compromise, but it's not enough for the first thing.

On top of the performances and the writing, I loved how this movie looked.  The black and white was an interesting choice that I thought worked, and the blocking and lighting made every shot look like it could be a striking photograph.  Baumbach has a great eye, and his work with his cinematographer kept things continuously interesting. 

Overall, I'm a big fan.  This was like Girls with more likable characters.  There's even a few scenes that bear very close resemblances to some key Girls moments.  I know that's an unpopular show in this circle, but there's a place for movies like this between the frivolity of triangle-hunting and the existential questions found in arm piles.  It doesn't quite have the size or the depth to earn the full A, but I give this an A-, and earns a spot in my 2013 top 20.  Sorry, Captain Phillips, you're getting bumped.