Early Kurosawa

Drunken Angel: Mifune's well nigh unrecognizable as a consumptive gambler; he has the role Takashi Shimura would definitively portray years later in Ikiru, as the man unmoored by his own mortality, and desperate to find purchase in anything, anywhere (in Kurosawa's world, these are the men ready to take the next step).

What makes the film memorable is the sense of spreading malaise Kurosawa evokes from the swamp bubbling away in front of all the characters. It's an obvious metaphor, but Kurosawa presses it with such urgency you can't help but feel a tad itchy--you badly want to wash your hands the moment you leave the theater. That, and Mifune's finale--a bit of slapstick involving whitewash, then an operatic end. The interplay between Mifune and Shimura's very fine--warmer and more detailed than even what you'd see in the later, far longer Seven Samurai.

"CRITIC AFTER DARK" IN MANILA!

Lav Diaz has spotted copies on display at the Datelines Bookshop and Old Pop--two great arthouses at the Marikina Shoe Expo in Cubao, Quezon City.

Good news and bad news, re: "Critic After Dark"

Unfortunately, the Manila edition won't be pushing through.

 

But--I'm hoping to interest the publishers in another project.

 

And the book is still available for ordering here:

 

http://www.bigomagazine.com/theshop/books/NVcritic.html

 

Will "Revenge of the Sith" be any good?

From peoplesforum:

Do Not Resuscitate: You Can Get Your Hopes Up Very Slightly For Revenge of the Sith

Scott Von D: I could have seen it today, but didn't. Isn't that fascinating?

crabgrass: Seen what?

there are rumours that the saga will continue as a television series

Oh, let's not insult television...

crabgrass: Wasn't there supposed to be parts 7, 8 & 9 as well?

Oh, let's not--

Mark Holcomb on Gerardo de Leon

Village Voice's Mark Holcomb on Gerardo de Leon

He focuses on his exploitation films, of course (they're the only ones available).

But it's a good piece on those films, even if it does leave out Blood of the Vampires (Okay, correction--he calls it Creatures of Evil. But the film's original title is supposed to be Dugo ng Vampira (Blood of the Vampire), not Ibulong Mo Sa Hangin (Whisper it to the Wind), which is a different film. Unless imdb is wrong. Which wouldn't be the first time). And I thought the one most significant contribution De Leon makes to Moreau lore with Terror is a Man is the suggestion, however subtle, that the creature is capable of love, and of acts of kindness. That wasn't in Wells' book.

Jeepers Creepers

Looked at Jeepers Creepers again, and well, I think it's the best American horror picture I've seen recently--which may reflect more on the quality of recent American horror than on the movie's actual virtues. Salva's Powder was an unappealing mess, a sentimental plea for tolerance that you can't help but feel is self-serving (and if you feel that, you can't help but note that the lead is not just pale and beautiful and half-nude much of the time, but also possesses supernatural powers).

Jeepers Creepers works because Salva takes the premise of Powder and flips it around: this time you feel he's the monster, and this portrait of a super-powered serial killer as sexual predator pretty much fits what little you know of Salva (filmmaker (with attendant powers) as convicted sexual predator, reformed (or so they say)). That a director is so willing to take his image and push it as far as it can go is as disturbing as it is effective.

And Salva pushes it pretty far: the opening sequence, revolving around a huge pipe diving deep into the ground, with unspeakable smells emanating from it (Got it? Got it?) and unspeakable secrets lying at the other end of it; the use of beautiful young men to play the Creeper's victims; the occasionally breathtaking image (the shot of the Creeper carrying away his victim in the light of the full moon); the final scene (SPOILER), with its metaphor for anal rape pushed to an extreme (the rapist has literally gotten inside your skin, and done so with much screaming and agony).

Perhaps what makes Salva really unsettling is that he is not without some talent, and here he is, indulging them and his obsessions for your pleasure and entertainment.

Lucas on Star Wars Episode 3

From peoplesforum:

Lucas Forced Himself To Write 'Episode III'

Hollywood mogul George Lucas struggled so much with writing the screenplay for final Star Wars installment Episode Iii - Revenge Of The Sith, he had to force himself to stick to a rigid working day as he sought inspiration. The hugely successful movie-maker, 60, took on the persona of a normal office worker as he sat at his desk for nine hours a day, five days a week - and he still only managed to produce five pages everyday. He says, "I am very diligent about writing. I go to work at 8.30am and leave at 6pm. I sit there with that page in front of me but I still can't write it. I do get it done, I actually write five pages a day. But I force myself - otherwise I would probably write a page a day."

Forty-five hours a week to produce crap.

Nope, writing dialogue this bad isn't easy; you have to work at it.