Comica Obscura: Battle of the Warriors

Battle of the Warriors (2006, Jacob Cheung) also known as A Battle of Wits

It is remarkable how many movies have merged out of Hong Kong and mainland Chinese studios which found inspiration in the most tumultuous periods of the country's own history. The 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and the 00s have all featured their fair share of sweeping epics (named 'wu xia' films) which attempted to convey China's at times stunningly violent past. The trend in cinema is as follows: the more modern of the films, the more emphasis is put on the action. There are some exceptions of films which, even though they recognize that China's Warring States Period was, for many reasons, an awful era for its senseless violence, they try to espouse something a little bit different. Writer-director Jacob Cheung's Battle of the Warriors, based on a Japanese manga created by Hideki Mori, is in that sense unique.

Blog update: The Ides of March

 

Hello readers,

Some of you may be wondering why no new material has been published since Sunday 4 days ago. True enough, reviews typically appear with greater frequency here at Between the Seats then they have in the past couple of weeks. We shall not lie, time has been of the essence on a nearly daily basis over the course of the past 14 days or so. Work has heated up, certain obligations for Sound on Sight have required a bit more time than anticipated and what little free time remained has been spent on, well, non-movie related activities (Yes, we do those too).

BBS Productions Presents: The Last Picture Show

The Last Picture Show (1971, Peter Bogdanovich)

Saying that film itself is an important part of people's culture seems rather obvious. After all, this is a movie blog, with most of the readers who pass by being movie bloggers themselves. Singing the high praises of cinema is simple enough and also quite fun to do in the case of such a community. In the wider landscape of general society, movies as art is a notion which can go unnoticed, or under-noticed. Theatre, ballet, music, paintings and to a lesser degree architecture all can claim their rightful place among the building block of culture for almost any society with greater ease. Film, however, is frequently relegated, many times rightfully, to the realm of commercialism. If one ponders the issue for a few minutes only, one can understand that even commercial movie endeavours speak to the culture of a society, despite what some cinephiles might prefer to believe. One type of film will sell better than another because of what a given society as a whole enjoys. The day the movies go away, even the crassly commercial ones, is the day society loses a bit of itself.

Comica Obscura: Fritz the Cat rebuttal

For a better appreciation of the article that follows, please read Bill's review of Fritz the Cat from last week. 

 

After two weeks in which our respective reviews and rebuttals made no qualms about where we each stood with regards to The Rocketeer and Sword of Vengeance, two examples for which our opinions diverged on some important issues, it seems safe to say that with the third film we arrived at very similar conclusions.

Capsule reviews: Spellbound, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Spellbound (1945, Alfred Hitchcock)

Comica Obscura: Fritz the Cat

Fritz The Cat (1972, Ralph Bakshi)

The following statement is based solely on an educated guess, but it seems as though it is in the domain of animated feature films that the divide between the mainstream and the independent is most pronounced. Newspaper reviews from the Arts section and even the Oscars can help increase the life span of an independent live-action film in some instances, even though that too is never a guarantee. Yet when it comes to animation, those movies which stand proudly outside of the mainstream do seem relegated to perpetual obscurity, that is until one either stumbles on the film by happenstance or it is mentioned by somebody already familiar with the title. Heavy Metal is one example. Fritz the Cat, based on a very counter-cultural comic strip born out of the curious mind of Robert Crumb, is another. It comes as no surprise that its director, Ralph Bakshi, also made a name for himself by directing several non-mainstream, independent animated films.

Far East Specials: Ong Bak 2: The Beginning, Ong Bak 3

A two for one Far East Special today for the readers (a 'capsule reviews' version of Far East Specials in a sense). Curiously enough, Between the Seats has never seen the original Ong Bak film, although cursory research revealed that the second and third films in the trilogy have next to nothing to do with the original. In fact, they consist of a two-part prequel which occurs about 600 years before Ong Bak, the story of which was set in present day.

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning (Tony Jaa, Panna Rittikrai)

BBS Productions Presents: A Safe Place

A Safe Place (1971, Henry Jaglom)

If the BBS line of films, which went from the late 60s into the early 70s, consisted of artistic works exploring the oft overlooked aspects of American society and culture, then they would have been remiss not to have at least one movie offer a female perspective. Sure enough, several of the previous films in the marathon, which is operating in chronological order of their theatrical releases, have offered some significant female characters, but never at the very core of a story. Sometimes close, but never quite there. Along came Henry Jaglom in 1971, a man whose career concentrated predominantly on theatre, who was (and still is) keenly interested on the woman's perspective of life in general and what the woman's version of humanity's endless struggle to find its own place in the world is like. On case some perceive it as presumptuous for a man to have made such an attempt, it should be noted that on the Criterion Blu-ray supplements, the director reveals that several film and genre study professors have shown A Safe Place to classes of women, without telling them who had made the picture. They usually love it and are shocked to learn afterwards of the director's gender.

Comica Obscura: Sword of Vengeance rebuttal

A full appreciation of the article that follows rests on one's familiarity with Bill's review of Sword of Vengeance.

The rebuttals from my end have, at this stage of the Comica Obscura marathon, felt inspired by the pictures upon which the discussions have been based. For The Rocketeer, who was a character that took his battles to the sky, the response article was characterized by some high and mighty pseudo intellectualism related to nationality and how one's attachment to country their of origin results in particular viewpoints on a film, an attempt to 'elevate' the discussion to another level just as the protagonist 'rose' to the occasion in his adventure. For Kenji Misumi's Sword of Vengeance, or, as you obsess in writing it, Kozure Ôkami: Ko Wo Kashi Ude Kashi Tsukamatsuru, the battle falls back to earth. In truth, I have re-read your review a couple of times and on each occasion its briskness has posed some problems for a rebuttal, which forces me to get into the nitty gritty of your analysis. Like the samurai, I shall approach your points delicately, with precision, and strike with a fury when the opportunity arises.

review: Rampart

Rampart (2011, Oren Moverman)

Crooked cop dramas always have a place in the movie landscape, and it has been the case for decades already. The police are, after all, the recipients of both public outrage and praise. They live to serve and protect, yet occasionally exhibit behaviour so far below the standards which must be adhered to that it becomes small wonder many frown upon them. There is a fascination in seeing this duality develop on screen. Whether said interest rests in the satisfaction derived by some in seeing the reasons for their hatred of cops explored on film or merely out of some perverse pleasure in seeing good people become bad (or bad people pretending to be good under the guise of a badge and a gun). After working together on 2009's The Messenger, actor Woody Harrelson and director Oren Moverman join forces yet again for Rampart, which premiered at last year's Toronto International Film Festival and has been rolling out since across the North American market.