What classics did you see last week? (18 Feb to 24 Feb 2018)

Wolf Warrior (2015) 5/10

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959) 3/10

Voodoo Island (1957) 6/10

Black Panther (2018) 9/10

The Mission (1986) 6/10

It (2017) 7/10

47 Meters Down (2017) 4/10

Battle of the Sexes (2017) 6/10

Heartbreakers (2001) 5/10

East of Borneo (1931) 3/10

Hi all,along with spending days getting my iffy internet service back to running,I watched a number of 60's flicks:

Nikkatsu duo:

Yabai koto nara zeni ni naru (1962) 9

Continuing on their presentation in the first set, Arrow present a sparkling transfer,dirt free,a clean soundtrack and easy to read Eng Subs.

Brashly opening with a title track,director Kô Nakahira opens his heart on screen to his love of post-WWII (American inspired) Japanese culture, as Nakahira & cinematographer Shinsaku Himeda glaze the Nikkatsu screen in shimmering Pop-Art colours that run in ultra-stylised lighting giving the dangerous double-dealings a high stakes mood. Along with an eye-catching use of dissolves and side shots that allow for glossy group shots, Nakahira displays a sharp eye (and ear) for the use of effects to add to a Comedy punch-line,via wacky sound effects giving the dialogue an added bounce, and the speeding up of the film speed adding to the breakneck speed of the crime.

Bringing the crime genre home by having a victim found dead outside Nikkatsu Studios,the screenplay by Ichirô Ikeda/Michio Tsuzuki and Tadaaki Yamazaki brilliantly keep the forgery job serious,but find hilarity in how far everyone goes to get their hands on the prints-which leads to a twist ending that "winks" at the viewer. Passing the counterfeiter around like a human pass the parcel, the writers twist the hard-nose Nikkatsu "Diamond Guys" image into a lightning fast zany Comedy caper,lit by all the tough gangsters being given very funny quirks such as the fearing of glass Glass-Hearted Jo (played by a terrific Jô Shishido) and the sick at the sight of death Tomoko Akiyama, (played by a sassy Ruriko Asaoka)who all learn that danger's where the money is.

Tokyo no abarenbô (1960) 7

A match for their Danger Pays transfer in the same set, Arrow present a clean soundtrack and a crystal clear image.

Basking the movie in a Jazzy title track,director Buichi Saitô & cinematographer Kuratarô Takamura tap to the beat of the 1950's Golden Age of Hollywood. Saitô and Kuratarô Takamura outstanding colour-coding that makes the sharp clothes and backgrounds be highly stylish,and also subtly reflecting the youthful optimism in the new age of the teenager. Pointing the Nikkatsu "Diamond Guys" to the early swings of the 60's, the screenplay by Tsuyoshi Ishigôoka and Takeo Matsuura wonderfully dress Shimizu's (played by a dynamic Akira Kobayashi) in the changing attitudes and lifestyles gaining ground,from Shimizu being educated abroad,to going against the grain of being put in the corner,by Shimizu standing up against the "Diamond Guys."

Truffaut duo:

Mata Hari, agent H21 (1964) 7

Appearing topless in the opening dance number, (which 007 would not do until Sophie Marceau in 1999's The World Is Not Enough) Jeanne Moreau gives an enticing performance as Hari,whose romance with Lasalle, Moreau (who wisely does not try to put on a fake accent) brings out with a subtle dropping of Hari's guard,that Moreau nicely matches with a quick-witted edge for the espionage action. Joined in the spying game by special appearances of François Truffaut regulars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Charles Denner and the gorgeous Marie Dubois, Jean-Louis Trintignant gives a very good performance as Lasalle,whose lack of awareness over Hari's spying is given a charmingly light comedic touch by Trintgnant.

Accepting this mission when the French New Wave and the Euro Spy genre were at their peak,the screenplay by co-writer/(with François Truffaut) director Jean-Louis Richard plays loose on the real life of Hari to target a FNW tragic romance with Spy thrills. With the romance between Hari and "François" slyly nodding to Truffaut's affair with Moreau, the writers become ill at ease over carrying out the task,as the would-be New Wave romance between Hari and Lasalle is unable to blossom due to the espionage tugging at the strings threading a tragic romance final,whilst the spy action keeps being withheld from fully turning into thrilling set-piece missions for Hari, by the need for the missions to be linked to the Lasalle romance.

Whilst the choice to shoot in black and white leads to the title missing the Pop-Art colour it looks ready-made for, (that Umberto Lenzi used very well in the 1965 playful woman-led Spy flick 008: Operation Exterminate ) Jean-Louis Richard's effortlessly switches from writing for Truffaut to directing a Truffaut script, via closely working with cinematographer Michel Kelber to deliver glittering, fluid tracking shots,which along with following each stage of Hari's missions,also flow into the New Wave. Eyeing Alfred Hitchcock for Hari's challenges, Richard's impressively crosses the New Wave fluidity with the crystallized tension of the Thriller,by a witty use of physical comedy that gives Hari's attempts to grab a briefcase and find papers in an officers room an unpredictability,thanks to whip-pans landing when the punch line hits,and Mata Hari starts planning to escape with her license to kill unseen.

The Soft Skin (1964) 8

Planned as a quick 4 week production as the rights to Fahrenheit 451 were sorted,but ending up as a flop at the box office,and causing its maker to distance himself from the French New Wave (FNW) style,co-writer/(with Jean Louis-Richard) directing auteur François Truffaut presents a swansong to this era in his credits,which gathers all the themes built up across the works. Shooting scenes in his own apartment,Truffaut & cinematographer Raoul Coutard build upon their tracking shots in Shoot the Piano player with delicate extended tracking shots round the Lachenay household, circling in on the declining state of their marriage.

Done after he had writer his book on Hitchcock, Truffaut prominently uses Georges Delerue simmering score to give Nicole and Pierre’s affair an atmosphere of unavoidable doom,with Truffaut continuing to use silhouettes for the most romantic scenes,and “on the streets” walk & talks revealing a disconnection between Pierre and Nicole understanding what they each desire in the relationship.Inspired by newspaper stories,tales from pals and events in their own lives,the screenplay by Truffaut and Richards trims the loved-up state of Jules and Jim for a fractured melancholy romance. Smartly making Pierre’s daughter Sabine and his wife Franca (played by a wonderful Nelly Benedetti,who plants Franca’s seeds of doubt in a no-nonsense way) be vocal over what Pierre is leaving behind,the writers give Pierre’s love for Nicole a brittleness,where Pierre’s dream of running off on the road with a young lover is hit by the reality of family life and their jobs.

Firing up a photo finish,the writers subtly shift the point of view from the Nicole and Pierre’s loving state to Franca delivering her verdict from the sight she sees in the breakdown of her marriage.Coming from the “Classic” era of French cinema, Jean Desailly gives an excellent performance as Pierre, whose meek, middle-management manners are blended by Desailly with a burning wish to capture the sparks in a new relationship. Possibly being the most beautiful air hostess there has ever been, Françoise Dorléac gives an exquisite performance as Nicole,who shares Pierre’s wishful state of the romance,but is given a feisty edge by Dorléac,which flowers at the touch of the soft skin.

Other flicks:

Tormented (1960) 7

Spotting the lighthouse before crashing into the low-rent Poverty Row rocks of the era, co-writer/ (with George Worthing Yates) director Bert I. Gordon & Kiss Me Deadly cinematographer Ernest Laszlo actually put some real effort into the movie,with the limited space of the lighthouse being caught in tight corner shots. Whilst they do throw in the usual things on visible wire tricks of the era, Gordon and Laszlo actually use neat trick shots to torment Stewart with overlapping images of ghostly footsteps and tracking shots to a broken playing record,and a walk down the aisle that smells the flowers with the stench of death.

Teaming up with Them! Writer George Worthing Yates,the screenplay by Yates and Gordon puts the ghostly tale on Film Noir rocks,with a great thick line in pessimism that brings child killing to Stewart's mind. Making the relationships he has with women cynical, the writers bring out the tormenting with ghostly whispers boiling Stewart's mind, and leading to a bitter "romantic" ending. Haunted by the eerie screams Juli Reding gives Vi, Richard Carlson peels his beefcake looks off,as Stewart becomes tormented.

Konkurs (1964) 6

Casting the opening credits against the worn-down backdrop of an industrial city,co-writer/(with Ivan Passer) director Milos Forman & cinematographer Miroslav Ondrícek compose a score to the incoming Czech New Wave (CNW),with flickering whip-pans across the crowds dancing to the rebellious youthful energy of the CNW. Linking two separate docs together, the "screenplay" by Forman and Passer does very well at expressing the generational exchange of music,as the dedication the experienced musicians show towards perfecting their performance of classical pieces,is matched by the giddy high-kicking Rock and Roll performers that include Forman's future second wife Vera Kresadlová,whose singing gives the CNW its first anthem.

Not just 13 movies for the week, but 7 1st timers, including Outcast.
It takes the same premise as Lord Jim - a white man in the far East is disgraced and becomes a pariah - but then goes in the other direction. Where Jim has nobility and redemption, well those words don't exist in Outcast. Well worth seeking out.

I'll try and keep up with it each week.
Thanks for doing a great job Matthew. [cheers]

American Outlaws(01) Colin Farrells first one and it was fun

Pursued(47)

In Order of Disappearance(14) I absolutely love these revengers and it was also very funny.