For those of you who like to read novels online, here's a shit-ton of movie reviews, including the new Wolverine movie..

Yojimbo (1961): Written and Directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa
Few films have been as revolutionary as Yojimbo and few filmmakers have been as imitated as Kurosawa. Hollywood re-made The Seven Samurai with the Magnificient Seven, and Sergio Leone re-made Yojimbo with A Fistfull of Dollars (to the point where Kurosawa actually sued him and won, receiving 15% of that film's worldwide gross). It's easy to see why a director making a western would be so inspired by this movie, it feels like a cowboy picture every step of the way (and obviously Kurosawa was inpired by america's westerns). Toshiro Mifune plays a wandering samurai who arrives in a little 1860s town torn apart by the conflict of two rival gangs. The ineffectual "officer" (sheriff) tries to get the samurai to join one of the gangs so he might get a finder's commission, but the gangs aren't interested until he displays his prowess with the sword. The only person seemingly not corrupt is the little old man who runs the tavern, and he just seems angry with the samurai for insinuating himself into the fray. The samurai concocts a scheme to rid the town of both gangs single-handedly, by working for both sides and playing them off one another. He manages to fool them all pretty easily until one of the boss' youngest son comes back to town. He's more clever and ruthless than any of the other villain, and also has something no one else in town has, a revolver. One of the things I loved about this film is the way the characters personalities were reflected in their appearances (pig-faced men behaving like animals, for example). The defenseless victims of the corrupt gangs are hunched-over and elderly, and in a town that seems to be wholly inhabited by the gangs there seems to be only two other inhabitants: the old tavern owner and the undertaker. The concepts in this movie aren't subtle and can be appreciated almost soley by the visuals. It's an evolutionary step in the action genre, one that could only have been done by a master director.
****1/2 out of *****

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009): starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins, Ryan Reynolds
Marvel's greatest strength in comics is it's greatest flaw in movies: their backstory. D.C. comics characters (Superman and Batman) are basically sitcoms, lots of things happen to them but their basic character never changes (and if it does change, you can be sure of a return to form soon enough). Marvel is the opposite, they always try to give their characters a certain realism, try to make whatever changes they make to their characters stick. Stan Lee was a visionary in the early 60s, his characters were multi-dimensional and even flawed. But they were meant to be short-lived. Whereas Superman may have been a 1930s creation, there was nothing about his origin or personality that cements him in that time period. Marvel's characters are almost all tied to their 60s roots, and efforts to drag them into the 21rst century seem forced at times. One exception was the X-men, who were given a re-birth in the 1970s and basically removed from that 60s mindset. Then writer Chris Claremont took over the title and X-men became the biggest franchise in Marvel history. Claremont introduced a radical departure in comics, going deeper into backstories and origins of characters than ever before, introducing shocking twists and turns along the way. When Claremont left the X-Men in the early 90s, the editors at Marvel wanted to continue his style (which afterall was the biggest selling thing in comics at the time). This led to Marvel disasterously tampering with and changing the continuity of the X-men characters on an almost monthly basis. Which leads us to "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", a film which attempts to document the mixed up mash of confusion that is Wolverine's life (thanks to the past 18 years and countless interpretations by countless writers of his life story). The movie plays like some 8-year old's imagination gone wild: "Wouldn't it be cool if Wolverine was 164 years old and fought in every war ever? Wouldn't it be cool if Wolverine's claws were really made out of bones that popped up through his hands?". It turns out some characters are "cooler" when they're left as an enigma. When you spell out every detail, you ruin the mystery. But anyway, this all sounds more like a critique of the comic book than the movie, so let's get to the movie. The director never misses an opportunity to employ some ancient movie cliche, whether it's tossing a match into a trail of gasoline and walking slowly away as the helicopter behind you explodes in slow motion, or it's kneeling on the ground and, clutching your dying loved one close to you, you throw back your head and yell "NOOOOO", while an overhead camera pans upwards, creating the illusion that your "NOOOO" is reaching up to the heavens (as seen in Star Trek 2: the Wrath of Khan, or in that Seinfeld episode where they parody Star Trek 2: the Wrath of Khan). Unlike say, the new Rambo, X-Men Origins: Wolverine doesnt' take itself seriously enough to be over-the-top action packed, nor does it have any laughs in it. I know it has some things it intended to be funny, but they never really raise a smile (most of the laughs are unintentional, brought about by cheesy dialogue). When a film wants laughs for it's little in-jokes, it has to have the audience on it's side, and I doubt anyone save the diehard fans are going to be on this film's side. Especially in an age when superhero films have evolved to be more engaging, both plotwise and character-wise, X-men origins: wolverine seems like a throwback to action movies studios put out when they didn't care about insulting the audience's intelligence. In that respect, X-Men Origins: Wolverine has more in common with "Fast and Furious" than it does with "Iron Man" or "The Dark Knight". The film also creates an uneasy mix of silliness and brutality that leaves you wondering who the intended audience is supposed to be (cracking wise one minute, slaughtering senior citizens the next). But the main problem is Wolverine himself, who in this movie is portrayed as indestructable. His brother Sabertooth is also indestructable and they fight alot. When two people who can't be killed fight to the death, it's like watching a game of Pong played by two computers, there's zero tension and zero threat of anything happening to either character (especially when this is a prequel, and we already know both characters make appearances in the first X-Men movie). X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a definite step-back for superheroes, not as bad as "Daredevil" (but then again, what is?), but it has that Daredevil feel to it. But much like Daredevil, it's proof that too much backstory is sometimes a bad thing. KHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
** out of *****

Tanin no kao a.k.a. The Face of Another (1966): Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Machiko Kyo
A man with a burned face teeters on the brink of madness, torturing himself and his wife with his daily obsessions over appearance and how people are looking at him. He goes to his psychiatrist friend who also happens to be an expert in prosthetics, and is given a lifelike mask to wear, only so the Doctor can observe and study his reaction to the mask. Soon, the man has an entirely new outlook on life, but the doctor wonders if it's the man or the mask that's living this way. There's quite a surrealistic element to this film, especially with the subplot involving a disfigured girl, suicides, and Nagasaki. Unfortunately, these surrealistic elements tend to sidetrack the main narrative rather than enhance it. And while the direction is sometimes amazing, it just as often gets lost in poor editing decisions. There are scenes that have no business being in the movie or being as long as they are, and it slows the story down to a halt. I'm also not quite sure what conclusion the film intends to lead me to. I'm not sure the filmmakers knew what conclusion they were leading me to either. Having said this, I can't deny the film has a certain charisma that draws you in, and the performances by the lead actors are really quite good. In any event, I'd trade a thousand Hannah Montana films for just one film like this. A for effort.
***1/2 out of *****

All Of Me (1984): Starring Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Victoria Tennant, Directed by Carl Reiner
The fourth and final collaboration between Director Carl Reiner and Steve Martin might also be their funniest, second only to "The Jerk". Martin play attorney Roger Cobb, who aspires to be made a partner in his law firm but can't give up his passions for playing jazz guitar, and therefore isn't taken seriously by his boss. He's sent to deal with dying eccentric (i.e. rich and weird) client Edwina (lily Tomlin), who's figured out some way to put her soul into her stable hand's daughter's (Victoria Tennant) body when she dies, unfortunately, the guru drops the bowl containing her soul out the window and it hits Cobb on the head as he's walking out the door. All this is of course just an excuse to set Martin loose with some of the best physical comedy of his career, as Edwina controls half his body while he retains the other half. The movie itself may not be very clever (physical comedy and clever rarely go hand-in-hand), but compared to "The Jerk", it's downwright understated. The interchanges between Tomlin and Martin are pretty entertaining, and transition between their inner dialogue (in Cobb's head) and Martin's outer manifestation of Edwina's personality is tightly choreographed. This is probably one of Steve Martin's best comedic performances in what is a very enjoyable movie.
***1/2 out of *****

American Splendor (2003): starring Paul Giamatti, Harvey Pekar (as himself), Danny Hoch, James Urbaniak, Judah Friedlander, Hope Davis, Joyce Brabner, Toby Radloff
American Splendor is the biography of Cleveland underground comic book writer Harvey Pekar as played by Paul Giamatti. Pekar leads a strikingly lonely existence, working his job as a file clerk and collecting old records in his spare time. In the 1970s, he forms a friendship with Robert Crumb, and soon the two are collaborating on what is basically an autobiographical comic book. Harvey becomes a minor celebrity, finds love with a fan, and makes several memorable appearances on "Late Night with David Letterman". All this is done in a fairly entertaining fashion, and while Harvey and friends are all eccentric, they're also intelligent, and it's unfair to write them off as misfit losers when they actually have something worthwhile to say. Harvey is a complex character (and I assume, person), he seems to be eternally pessimistic and yet there's a great need for potential love. And yet he's willing to hold a mirror up to himself and make his worst characteristics known to the world (through his comics). It's not easy getting to the root of Harvey Pekar. Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis do a great job portraying these people. It'd be easy to do caricatures, all mannerisms and no substance, but these people are made real here. It's not always enjoyable spending time with this group, but getting to know them is worthwhile. As his friend uber-nerd Toby Radloff proclaims while professing his love for the movie "Revenge of the Nerds", the nerds triumph in the end.
**** out of *****

Sunset Boulevard (1950): Starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich Von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Directed by Billy Wilder
William Holden plays Joe, a down-on-his-luck screenwriter living in hollywood. The poor guy can't afford to make his car payments and no one seems interested in his hackneyed screenplays. One day while escaping from repo men, he stumbles upon a scene right out of an Edgar Allen Poe story. It's the home of Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), star of the silent era who hasn't really been seen in 30 years. She lives in this hollywood house of Usher with Max (Erich Von Stroheim), a servant so loyal he'll do anything to keep her delusions of stardom alive (even writing dozens of phony fan letters to her every week). Everything in this house is creepy, the pipe organ in the front room plays dischordant chords whenever the wind blows through it, and there's rats in the abandoned swimming pool. Miss Desmond herself seems positively off her rocker; as Joe walks into the house for the first time, she mistakes him for a funeral director she'd called to bring a coffin for the chimp who died and was laying in wake in her bedroom. After Joe corrects her, she presents him with a script she's been writing over the last few decades. It's intended to be a return to stardom for her, but proves to be a gordian knot for Joe when she asks him to "punch it up" for her. Joe quickly goes from being the hired writer to the "kept" man, and he doesn't like it one bit. And yet, he can't bring himself to leave Norma, even when he meets a feisty script-reader (Nancy Olson), whom he sneaks out at night to collaborate with. It's not clear he even can leave her, though. From the beginning, he seems trapped in a web like a fly. Director Billy Wilder uses this house of usher horror scene to skewer man's view of his relationships with women. Norma Desmond as the wife, locking the man into marriage, old, matronly, takes care of his wants and needs, and yet he feels trapped, there's no romance. It's only through the younger new woman he feels the tingle of fresh love. But even taken at surface value, the movie creates a great atmosphere as we pity poor Norma, a woman who exists soley in her past, unable to cope with the loss of youth. Buster Keaton and Cecil B. Demille play themselves in this movie, and the famous line "Mr. Demille, I'm ready for my close-up" isn't spoken in some moment of final triumph, but in final defeat. Gloria Swanson's portrayal of the sad and psychotic Norma Desmond is both brilliant and hilariously over-the-top, as Norma puts it, she "speaks with her eyes". This is a well put together movie, with great performances and great dialogue. Simply put, it's a classic.
*****


The Black Cauldron (1985): starring Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, Freddie Jones, Nigel Hawthorne, John Byner
It took 7 years and the combined efforts of 2 directors and 17 collected writers to come up with the disney turd known as The Black Cauldron, the story of a boy and a magic pig who must find the magic cauldron before the horned king can. Along the way they make friends with several colorful characters, including the annoying Gurgi, who manages to ruin the film much in the same way Jar Jar Binks ruined the first Star Wars prequel. But the voice acting is pretty bad all around, the boy hero never gets too excited over anything. The animation is equally bleh, characters don't run away from danger so much as they stumble away drunkenly. At one point, a fairy friend is added to the group, but nothing is ever done with him, until finally he gets fed up and announces he's leaving. I almost did too, but I stuck it out til the end. The ending, at least, is a little climactic, due mainly to an army of undead skeleton monsters rising up out of the cauldron, but this is all spoiled by an unwanted and unrequested resurrection scene. This represents the bottom of the barrel for Disney productions.
** out of *****

Key Largo (1948): Directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Becall, Lionel Barrymore
Frank McCloud walks into a Key Largo hotel and is greeted by a screaming lush named Gaye Dawn (Claire Trevor) and a group of thugs. But it's not the lush or the thugs that McCloud's come to see, it's Mr. Temple, and his daughter-in-law Nora (Lionel Barrymore and Lauren Becall). McCloud served in the war with Mr. Temple's son, and while passing through the area, has stopped to pay his respects to the family. Meanwhile, the local police are on a manhunt for some indians who have escaped from the local jail (even though they're only serving a 30 day sentence). By the time the thugs reveal themselves to be the gang of exiled mob boss Johnny Rocco, and ready to hold the hotel hostage, it's time for the hurricane to hit and all hell to break loose. Key Largo is packed with intensity, both manmade and that made by mother nature. Lauren Becall plays Nora like a wounded bird, wanting to believe in the good of man but willing to scratch the eyes out of any evil-doer that threatens her. She absolutely worships strength in her men. Bogart's McCloud is a survivor, but it's a constant struggle to follow his mind and not his heart. There's a moment when he's branded a coward by the room, and while his words say he'd rather be a live coward than a dead hero, his eyes tell the story of a man who'd like nothing better than to prove everyone wrong. And that's really where the bulk of this movie's strength lies, in performances and the use of non-verbal communication to tell a story far more subtle than the surface suggests. That sublety doesn't extend to Edward G. Robinson's performance, however, as he chews the scenery in his role as the charmingly ruthless and vicious mob boss. In one scene, he tortures Gaye, an old flame of his, with memories of a singing career she once had before booze took over her life and ruined her voice. He offers her a drink in exchange for a song, gently chiding her into singing although she is clearly tortured by the prospect. As she sings, the camera pans around around the room to the faces of the uncomfortable audience being held captive by Rocco. After the ackward performance, Rocco disgustedly denies her a drink, considering her like some lowly animal. It's quite a scene and quite a good movie. In fact, I'd say it was nearly flawless.
*****

Munchhausen (1943): Starring Hans Albers, Wilhelm Bendow, Brigitte Horney, Michael Bohnen, Ferdinand Marian
Commissioned in 1942 by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and with a script written by banned author Erich Kastner, the last thing you'd expect from Munchhausen is a charming little escapist fantasy, and yet that's exactly what you get. Baron Hieronymus Von Munchhausen flits across Europe, seducing Catherine the Great and engaging in duels with irate noblemen before a magician gives him a ring which will turn him invisible for one hour, and also grants him one wish. Munchhausen wishes to remain the "age I am now, for as long as I wish to be", and thus is granted immortality. His companions also have extraordinary powers: one has built a musket which can hit a target one hundred miles away, while the other can run hundreds of miles in an hour, without even getting winded. Munchhausen is captured by the Ottomans when the cannonball he's riding crashes into the palace. They escape by hot air balloon and travel to the moon, where they meet a race of humans who can detach their heads from their bodies. Somehow Munchhausen makes Terry Gilliam's re-make, "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" seem sensible. It's an absurdist fantasy that's almost like an acid trip without the acid. Technically, the sets, the costumes, even the color technique used (agfacolor) are some of the best of any time period, and there is an interesting combination of mischief and poetry to the Baron's character, thanks to a great scrip. Surprisingly, there's quite a bit of nudity in this film (at least it seems like alot for 1943), and the Baron isn't shy in his seductions of the ladies. Munchhausen is quite an interesting piece of history, from many angles, and something I'd recommend to any fans of Gilliam's film.
**** out of *****

Ran (1985): Written and Directed by Akira Kurosawa, Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Mieko Harada
Ran is the epic tale of Japanese Lord, who in his advancing years has decided to hand the rule of his kingdom over to his sons. He makes his oldest son the absolute ruler all of his domain, and his middle son a ruler of his 2nd castle. But before he can get to his youngest son, the son speaks up and calls his father a fool, claiming the father's plan will destroy the kingdom. The father is outraged by his son's insolence and disowns him. Meanwhile, the two older sons are weak-willed cowards who are easily manipulated by a shrewish wife. She's power hungry and convinces the oldest son to betray his father. When the father realizes that all the youngest son predicted has come to pass, he's overcome with remorse, and in fact is driven mad. Although the story is loosely based on Shakespeare's "King Lear", it seems more suited to the japanese tradition of honor and respecting your parents, especially. It is revealed throughout the course of the movie that the Lord isn't a particularily sympathetic character, that his rise to power was built upon a great deal of bloodshed. I've read that this is Kurosawa's great anti-war piece, that the war is never glorified, but the chopped off arms and the arrows in the eye sockets do at times seem gratuitous. Still, the end result of building your kingdom on the blood of others is that you will live to see it crumble. From a filmmakers standpoint, Ran contains some of the best scenery ever put on film. Armies with different colored flags, mounted on horseback, sit atop great, misty green hills. Certain scenes seem almost like paintings. It's a visually beautiful film that blends eastern and western myth into a great piece of cinema.
*****