Below are the 4 most recent journal entries recorded in moviereviewbran's LiveJournal:

Sunday, August 19th, 2007
11:31 am	Love and Honour (Bushi no Ichibun) (2006) Directed by: Yoji Yamada Starring: Takuya Kimura, Rei Dan, Ken Ogata After finally having seen the third in Yoji Yamada's trilogy of unrelated samurai dramas, I've come to understand Yamada's subtle blend of drama and humour. Even in moments where comedy would be considered quite black (for example; a scene where a fumbling official commits seppuku) you can find unexpected comic undertones. I liked this movie. A lot. Almost as much as I liked The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei) and more than I liked the slightly inferior The Hidden Blade (Kakushi ken oni no tsume). Even though it was a bit melodramatic at times, I felt the acting and the emotions were genuine. Takuya Kimura gives a very reserved performance showing even the depths of anger with calm and control, whereas Rei Dan showed with only her eyes that she was not as naive as her character let on. But the scene-stealers were the peripherals; the loyal servant, the "chatterbox" aunt, bureaucratic uncles and elder samurai. Yamada creates a panoply of multidimensional characters instead of relying on cliches and stereotypes as a lesser director would have done. As with the first two films in the "series", swordplay is limited to a few brief, but effective, scenes. Fans of Chanbara who are unfamiliar with the other aforementioned Yamada films be warned: this is not Zatoichi, despite the presence of a blind swordsman. If you're looking for something more subtle, more dramatic, and with a great story, this or The Twilight Samurai are strong recommendations (and if you love either of those, see The Hidden Blade). Ultimately, Love and Honour more than lives up to its predecessors and carves its own niche in modern Jidai Geki. 4 out of 5 blind samurai (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
6:47 pm	Scaramouche (1952) Directed by: George Sidney Starring: Stewart Granger, Mel Ferrer, Janet Leigh, Eleanor Parker Having read Rafael Sabatini's book on which this is based, I will have to submit two reviews for this movie: one as an adaptation, and one as a grand old technicolor swashbuckler! As an adaptation, it fails miserably. Most of the characters and basic plot elements have been altered or cut out entirely. Some of the wonderful dialog remains, much of it shifted into different contexts, but the most poignant scenes were completely omitted out of necessity after having cut their antecedents from the screenplay. Andre-Louis (simply Andre here) is reduced to something of a lovable and witty rogue, with much of his emotional depth stripped. To simplify the plot, his relationships with the other characters are changed greatly, but this makes the plot feel very shallow by comparison to the book. In fact, it's because the book is so good that makes the movie seem so bad! Plotwise, the book is about a young lawyer and godson to a feudal lord who, after seeing his good friend killed in a duel with a seemingly vicious nobleman, becomes a fugitive, an actor, a fencing instructor, and finally a politician involved in the French Revolution. It's very well-written, and was a best-seller when it was published in the early 1920s. The movie cuts out the French Revolution, though hints at its coming, and reduces the plot to more of a cut-and-dry revenge movie/romance. Having said that, I love this movie! It helps, of course, that I saw the movie before I read the book. As a separate entity, George Sidney's Scaramouche is a great, old swashbuckling adventure! George Sidney, mostly known as a musical director, directed two swashbucklers; this, and a 1948 adaptation of The Three Musketeers, both of which are among the best of the era. Perhaps it was his skill in filming dance choreography that lent so well to swordplay choreography. Stewert Granger as the lead, Andre Moreau, is a presence on the screen. He's almost twice the age that his character should be, but that's a matter for that other review up there. Having been trained in the classical British method, he brings a dashing flair to his character. Mel Ferrer's Marquis de Maynes is a graceful and deadly swordsman. Having no prior training in fencing, he used his skill as a dancer to learn the fight choreography, much like many Hong Kong martial arts stars. In fact, this movie bears many similarities to a typical kung fu movie. A revenge motive is established at the beginning, but our hero is not skilled enough to defeat the villain. So, we spend the rest of the movie watching him hone his martial skills until he's finally ready to take on the villain in a climactic showdown. But we'll get to that. Our two heroines are the aristocratic Aline, played by Janet Leigh, and Lenore the actress, played by Eleanor Parker. Both are beautiful, though it may be said that Janet Leigh is more pretty while Eleanor Parker is quite ravishing as a redhead. Throughout the movie, we know Andre will end up with one of them, but which one? There's a playful nature to his dual romances, each having their own setbacks. The dialog, some of which is directly from the book, is witty and well-spoken by our leads, particularly by Granger, who excels in this type of role (see Beau Brummel or The Prisoner of Zenda). But the swordplay is the real draw for fans of the swashbuckler genre. We see Andre progress as a swordsman through training sequences and duels until the climax: a five-minute duel that sees our characters swinging on ropes, balancing on balcony ledges, and jumping from staircases. It was reputed, though it seems never substantiated, to be the longest swordfight put on film, though they could hardly have counted Hong Kong movies, many of which feature 10-minute-plus final fight sequences. But that's neither here nor there. It's swordplay filmed just the way I like it: long takes, good shots of the actors doing their own fencing, and quick, agile, well-choreographed fencing with no obvious speeding-up. I hate when filmmakers compensate for poor fight choreography or untrained actors by using quick cuts and flashy editing, or by avoiding filming the swordfight itself as much as possible! Why are you filming the actors face when swords are clanging below!? Okay, I'm getting carried away. It should be added that this film also features some fine examples of that noble precursor to the car chase: the horse chase! To summarize, great movie, bad adaptation. Sure, Ferrer's de Maynes lacks the menacing physique we imagine of the Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr, Parker's Lenore is not a substitute for Climene Binet, and the surprise ending lacks the power of the much more complicated surprise ending of the book, but those don't stop me from loving this movie for what it is; old-fashioned, swashbuckling entertainment! I strongly recommend both the movie (this version - I've never seen the 1923 silent that is somewhat truer to the source) and book, just keep them separate in your mind and heart. 1 out of 5 Andre-Louis' or 5 out of 5 Andres (Comment on this)
5:07 pm	Flame of Araby (1951) Directed by: Charles Lamont Starring: Maureen O'Hara, Jeff Chandler, Lon Chaney Jr. Another exotic offering from Universal, Flame of Araby succeeds in many places where the similar Bagdad does not. Yes, this is a movie featuring white actors playing non-white characters. But I've decided that this is the last time I'm going to mention it. We're talking about Old Hollywood here. Today's audiences have to remember that before Omar Sharif, Yul Brynner was the most exotic actor in Hollywood. In the forties, there were no lead actors but white actors, save for Sabu, whose roles were generally limited to comic sidekicks in children's movies. But I digress. Flame of Araby is a decent adventure movie. The plot is centred around the hunt for a wild black stallion in the deserts of northern Africa. Lon Chaney and Buddy Baer play Barbary corsair brothers whose prize stallions will race for the hand of Maureen O'Hara's Tunisian princess. Jeff Chandler steps in as the son of a Bedouin sheik and romantic interest for O'Hara. The dialog and acting are a little more subdued in comparison to Bagdad. The romantic drama unravels slowly between Chandler and O'Hara, giving a layer of tension, whereas romances in this sort of film are usually played quickly and easily between action sequences. As for the action sequences, they were pretty good. The final race was exciting, though it was certainly no Ben-Hur, not that Flame of Araby at 77 minutes had any epic ambitions. It runs no longer or shorter than its plot allows and by the time it was over I thought it was an altogether enjoyable - if not exactly great - film. 3 out of 5 black stallions (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 7th, 2007
11:15 am	Bagdad (1949) Directed by: Charles Lamont Starring: Maureen O'Hara, Paul Hubschmid (as Paul Christian), Vincent Price, John Sutton Bagdad (1949) is fairly substandard 1940s exotica, capitalizing on the success of earlier Arabian Nights films starring the likes of Maria Montez, Sabu, and Jon Hall. This is for genre fans only. If you liked the Arabian Nights films, or Maureen O'Hara's own previous foray in the genre, starring opposite Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in Sinbad the Sailor (1947), you may like what Bagdad has to offer, but probably not that much! Maureen O'Hara, with her red hair and fair skin, is obviously not terribly convincing a Bedouin princess. Neither are Paul Hubschmid (a Swiss actor) as an Arabian prince or Vincent Price as a Turkish Pasha any more convincing, but that's old Hollywood! The action scenes are clumsily executed, with swords clanging haphazardly and little choreography to speak of, but they are occasionally somewhat satisfying. There are a few other saving graces to this mediocre offering. The Technicolor photography makes full use of the lush and colorful sets and costumes (probably the same ones used in any or all of the aforementioned genre films!) and the over-acting gives it a fun, campy quality that doesn't grow tiresome due to it's short length (82 minutes). Also, Maureen O'Hara has an opportunity to use her pipes in a few musical numbers (if that's really her singing) that are fairly enjoyable. If you're looking for more swashbuckling adventure, I'd recommend Sinbad the Sailor or Arabian Nights (1942). If you happen upon this one at the video store, it's probably best to avoid unless you're a big Maureen O'Hara fan, or you're like me and you have to see it despite any negative reviews. 2 out of 5 scimitars (Comment on this)