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Once upon a time in the west is the best Sergio movie though.
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Feb 11, 2016 05:20
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 Power Rangers SPD - Episode 20 - Perspective Released June 25th 2005, Directed by Paul Grinder This review is a podcast episode, hosted on Soundcloud! For some context, from 2014 into early 2015, I was part of a podcast with fellow goons Liar Lyre and Burkion (and occasional other guest). We reviewed every single episode of Power Rangers from Mighthy Morphin through Lost Galaxy before the show kinda fizzled out and died. Burkion and I have been trying to bring it back, and we decided to jump ahead to the SPD episode that borrows the storytelling premise of Rashomon. Forgive the rough audio, this is only the second time I've ever edited an episode of a podcast! Up Next: The Idiot Released May 23rd 1951, Directed by Akira Kurosawa
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Feb 11, 2016 05:41
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jivjov posted:For some context, from 2014 into early 2015, I was part of a podcast with fellow goons Liar Lyre and Burkion (and occasional other guest). Oh poo poo, you were one of the Podcasters with Attitude guys?  I loved that podcast! I didn't even know it was goonmade, honestly.
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Feb 11, 2016 05:43
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LORD OF BUTT posted:Oh poo poo, you were one of the Podcasters with Attitude guys? Oh God people who know our content we need to run away! Everything is Jason's fault and I am only to blame for when things are good.
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Feb 11, 2016 06:06
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LORD OF BUTT posted:Oh poo poo, you were one of the Podcasters with Attitude guys? Oh. Oh poo poo. People remember us! We had/have FANS!
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Feb 11, 2016 06:14
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 I don't remember you deciding to do a podcast for this episode. I kept saying you should review the episode until you did! Man, everyone really is the hero from their own perspective.
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Feb 11, 2016 06:15
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Krysmphoenix posted:
I'm going to have you killed.
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Feb 11, 2016 06:21
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Burkion posted:Oh God people who know our content we need to run away! jivjov posted:Oh. Oh poo poo. People remember us! We had/have FANS! It was a great podcast, y'all can chill! I grew up with the original MMPR and slowly lost interest as I got older, so looking back on the old stuff and seeing where it went was inherently really interesting to me, and y'all were entertaining to listen to on top of that. 
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Feb 11, 2016 06:25
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LORD OF BUTT posted:It was a great podcast, y'all can chill! I grew up with the original MMPR and slowly lost interest as I got older, so looking back on the old stuff and seeing where it went was inherently really interesting to me, and y'all were entertaining to listen to on top of that. Part of why I really want to bring the show back is we were JUST about to hit the stretch of seasons that I remember watching as a kid. I was a little old to be considered the right age to enjoy Power Rangers at the time...but I really loved Lightspeed Rescue and the next couple seasons after that.
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Feb 11, 2016 06:28
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Hat Thoughts posted:Ey Jivjov if u want to see more Shatner u should check out him being a real fucker in After having watched A Town Has Turned To Dust, it feels like a run-up to The Intruder in many ways.
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Feb 11, 2016 08:59
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:After having watched A Town Has Turned To Dust, it feels like a run-up to The Intruder in many ways. Ya definitely agree although I rly like how despite the obvious overlap between the two characters they both feel very distinct. Even when he's 'in charge' Dust Shatner seems kind of like he's constantly collapsing, as opposed to the sort of smoother malevolent 'who's law?' imp he plays in The Intruder.
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Feb 11, 2016 09:56
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The_Rob posted:Once upon a time in the west is the best Sergio movie though. I think Once Upon a Time in America is better, personally. That one is really good too though.
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Feb 11, 2016 10:05
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jivjov posted:We reviewed every single episode of Power Rangers
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Feb 11, 2016 11:27
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Because we love schlocky children's entertainment.
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Feb 11, 2016 14:46
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Generally the "why" with podcasts is "because we can and we're bored"
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Feb 11, 2016 17:38
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LORD OF BUTT posted:Generally the "why" with podcasts is "because we can and we're bored" "We were going to talk about it anyway so why not?"
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Feb 11, 2016 17:46
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MacheteZombie posted:"We were going to talk about it anyway so why not?" This is so very absolutely true that it hurts.
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Feb 11, 2016 22:13
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Podcasting is such a weird world. The Power Rangers thing doesn't surprise when there are also podcasts out there dedicated to like Fire Emblem games and such. Having podcasts dedicated to odd niches like that is neat. No Kurosawa exclusive podcasts that I'm aware of though. 
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Feb 11, 2016 22:20
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Raxivace posted:No Kurosawa exclusive podcasts that I'm aware of though. We should have started one. I kind of like the current super-niche podcast trend that's going on. A ten or twenty episode deep dive into a topic can be pretty interesting even if it seems to mainly be used for pop culture stuff.
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Feb 12, 2016 05:49
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jivjov posted:This is so very absolutely true that it hurts. It's honestly the only reason someone needs for podcasting and that's fine because: Raxivace posted:Having podcasts dedicated to odd niches like that is neat. is true. quote:No Kurosawa exclusive podcasts that I'm aware of though. jivjov, you have a new mission.
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Feb 12, 2016 15:57
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MacheteZombie posted:jivjov, you have a new mission. Given that I'm already halfway through my own retrospective here in the thread, I'm in no hurry to start a podcast. I'd be happy to guest on someone else's though!
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Feb 12, 2016 15:58
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So I'm watching The Idiot right now and these random plot dump text cards are killing me. I assume those were inserted to cover the studio-mandated cuts?
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Feb 20, 2016 22:27
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jivjov posted:So I'm watching The Idiot right now and these random plot dump text cards are killing me. I assume those were inserted to cover the studio-mandated cuts? Yeah. There's a huge chunk of the movie that was cut. About an entire 100 minutes worth. It's kind of a Magnificent Ambersons situation.
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Feb 21, 2016 00:18
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Raxivace posted:Yeah. There's a huge chunk of the movie that was cut. About an entire 100 minutes worth. My review of this is gonna be terrible. I just got to Part 2; and I only have the barest grasp of the plot of Part 1. Everything just feels so disjointed.
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Feb 21, 2016 00:30
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For this one I wouldn't worry too much about it. Kurosawa enthusiasts don't exactly talk about The Idiot much. Just do what you can. Maybe Wiki summaries will help clarify the beginning of the movie.
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Feb 21, 2016 00:37
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Is the novel Kurosawa based this on available in English? I won't do it for the thread anytime soon, but I kinda wanna read it.
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Feb 21, 2016 00:41
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Absolutely. Dostoyevsky wrote it, so you can find it pretty easily in bookstores and the internet.
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Feb 21, 2016 00:50
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Raxivace posted:Absolutely. Dostoyevsky wrote it, so you can find it pretty easily in bookstores and the internet. I don't know a drat thing about Russian literature; I take it his works are considered worldwide classics, then?
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Feb 21, 2016 00:55
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Yeah he's a pretty big deal. Classic literature isn't my forte so you'd have to get someone else to tell you in-depth info on him.
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Feb 21, 2016 00:59
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jivjov posted:My review of this is gonna be terrible. I just got to Part 2; and I only have the barest grasp of the plot of Part 1. Everything just feels so disjointed. This accurately sums up watching Kurosawa's The Idiot. But think about it this way, this is the last weak Kurosawa film for long time.
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Feb 21, 2016 01:39
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 The Idiot Released May 23rd 1951, Directed by Akira Kurosawa This is a rough, rough movie with a heart that is pure Kurosawa. This is going to be a short review; as I really had a lot of difficulty engaging with this film, and believe me, I really wanted to. The lead actor, Masayuki Mori, was previously in the rather thankless role of the murdered husband in Rashomon, but really gets to show off his stuff here as Kinja Kameda. His portrayal of a man suffering a mental disability is remarkably well done. His line deliveries, his awkward movements, and his very presence on screen just exudes of sensation of being out of place, uncomfortable, but trying very hard to fit in and be normal. Setsuko Hara, as Taeko Nasu, is the other standout performance to me. She is not a bad person; but she views herself as tainted and unworthy. Pushing away those closest to her while simultaneously wanting someone to be close to. The cinematography here is pure Kurosawa. From a shot of crazed eyes peering out of a mail slot in a door to unsettling pans over winter ice skating pageantry, to an awkward family dinner, Kurosawa was very much in control of lighting and camera for this production. Editing, however, was very much out of Kurosawa's control. I was given some rather forceful flashbacks alllll the way back to Sugata Sanshiro with the replacement of actual film with title cards describing plot and character. This time, however, the film was not the victim of government censorship, but rather studio cutbacks. The studio did not like the length of the film (which was originally 4 hours long, with the two parts presumably to be released separately, a la Kill Bill) and demanded cuts. It seems that much of the truncation happened in the first half of the film, as Part 2 does not have any title cards and doesn't seem nearly as disjointedly presented as Part 1. However, it was this disjointed presentation that really killed my immersion and made it so hard for me to watch The Idiot. At the end of the day, I ended up just having to turn off my brain, and not in the way one generally uses that phrase in relation to movies. I stopped trying to follow the plot and character interactions and instead paid attention to the beautiful footage of wintery Japan and various locales within. It was obvious that the finished product does not fully represent what Kurosawa wanted to present, and I am filled with regret that no original cuts of the movie survive. Up Next: Ikiru Released October 9th 1952, Directed by Akira Kurosawa On a scheduling note; After Ikiru, I have one more bonus film planned, then we'll go back to alternating with Ghibli stuff for a while. The next post from me, however, will be on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning reviewing my experience at the Alamo Drafthouse watching My Neighbor Totoro with my lovely wife. If she can remember her account password, I'll even have her post a film review in the thread.
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Feb 21, 2016 02:30
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Yeah that review basically sums up The Idiot. I think it's interesting and sad that nobody seems to be putting even a front of effort into finding that 100 minutes in the same way people do for stuff like Ambersons. It could turn the movie into a masterpiece for all we know. Instead The Idiot sits forgotten, only occasionally asserting the fact that it ever even existed through midnight TCM screenings and the like.
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Feb 21, 2016 02:41
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Raxivace posted:Yeah that review basically sums up The Idiot. My cursory reading on the issue (much of which happened while the film was playing) indicates that Kurosawa himself spent some time digging through archives trying to find an uncut copy of his own film, but found that none were left. If the director himself couldn't find them; I wouldn't be surprised if it truly was lost forever. Unlike, say, old episodes of Doctor Who; the 4+ hour cut was never shown in theaters or broadcast anywhere, so the only copies would be screeners for the studio.
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Feb 21, 2016 02:44
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It probably is lost forever, but you never know. We still find stuff everyone assumed to be forever gone even now.
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Feb 21, 2016 02:49
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jivjov posted:I don't know a drat thing about Russian literature; I take it his works are considered worldwide classics, then? I never read "The Idiot", but have read another of his books, "The Brothers Karamazov", and it's fantastic. His books seem to largely be about the futility of life (I mean he's Russian, of course his books are in that vein). Seconding that I wouldn't get too hung up on "The Idiot". It's sad the movie was butchered, and I would love to see the full release found, but it doesn't keep me up at night like the lost "Ambersons".
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Feb 21, 2016 04:41
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jivjov posted:and instead paid attention to the beautiful footage of wintery Japan and various locales within. Hokkaido seems to be very rarely used as a setting for Japanese films (for those not aware, it's the much colder, much less populated northern island in Japan; kind of Japanese Alaska). Occasionally, a giant monster will stomp through it on its way to the big time, but hardly any other depictions on film. The festival scene in the movie is a famous yearly event in Sapporo, though I think there's less ice skating with burning torches these days. One other thing to point out about The Idiot (since there are so few things to point out) is that it marks the beginning of Kurosawa's work with Russian culture. He'll go back to it a few times, and never with the success that his other films enjoyed.
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Feb 21, 2016 14:58
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Random Stranger posted:Hokkaido seems to be very rarely used as a setting for Japanese films (for those not aware, it's the much colder, much less populated northern island in Japan; kind of Japanese Alaska). Occasionally, a giant monster will stomp through it on its way to the big time, but hardly any other depictions on film. The festival scene in the movie is a famous yearly event in Sapporo, though I think there's less ice skating with burning torches these days. There are more movies set there than you might think, the further in you go. Yes the Gamera/Godzilla/Zeram ones, but more frequently as like a symbol of the end of the world and people exhausting terrestrial Japan by running there. Film's like Oshima's Boy, Running in Madness Dying in Love, Silence Has No Wings, and the Yellow Handkerchief to give maybe the most famous example. Then there are those about tough living, rural, emotionally reticent, isolated people (usually men) - where the location speaks for that - in What the Snow Brings, a Distant Cry from Spring, Where Spring Comes Late, Little Wing, the Railroad Man, parts of the Catch; and Affair in the Snow and Elegy of the North in more melodramatic ways. Also maybe the Abashiri Prison movies and the Big Escape fall into this, where outside walled prisons is only walled no man's land of snowy Hokkaido. Snow Trail and Fireflies in the North too. A Tender Place as an example of the no man's land swallowing up any possibility of finding the truth behind a disappearance mystery. Then just the snowy setting, where the distance and exoticness to the rest of Japan is used, like in Love Letter, some scenes in Tokyo Drifter, Shinji Somai's Kaza-Hana, Hou Hsiao-hsien's Millenium Mambo as a non-Japanese example. This goes to show that the majority of the movies made in Hokkaido are not by people from Hokkaido but by people using it for its otherness - beauty or distance and isolation. Mipo Oh's most recent two movies, The Light Shines Only There and Being Good, were set there and not in winter, and offer more day to day slices of life. Eriko Kitagawa's Halfway does similar, but again both director's aren't from Hokkaido. There's also a number of movies on the Ainu people, i guess the most notable being Naruse's Whistling in Kotan. So yeah, you're right there aren't relatively many, particularly in classical Japanese cinema. But there are some, the island serving larger thematic purposes more often not.
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Feb 22, 2016 00:33
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El Graplurado posted:So yeah, you're right there aren't relatively many, particularly in classical Japanese cinema. But there are some, the island serving larger thematic purposes more often not. That's pretty cool. I actually poked around a little bit after going, "I can only think of three or four films set in Hokkaido," but didn't bother really digging into it like that. I'm not really sure if there was a thematic reason Kurosawa wanted to use Hokkaido in The Idiot; maybe he just felt like the snowy setting would be more evocative of the Russian roots of the story. And taking it back to this thread, Snow Trail (which I didn't count because I only remembered it as being set in the mountains) was written by Kurosawa and stars Mifune.
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Feb 22, 2016 01:25
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Random Stranger posted:And taking it back to this thread, Snow Trail (which I didn't count because I only remembered it as being set in the mountains) was written by Kurosawa and stars Mifune. And suddenly there's another film on my list.
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Feb 22, 2016 01:30
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jivjov posted:And suddenly there's another film on my list.
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