maybe one of the greatest action comedy ever?
it beautifully blends slapstick and kung fu that results in great action and comedy.
the film has heart, its comedy doesn't overtake its story but rather compliments it, stephen chow uses it to create a universe full of character, whimsy but also stakes.
it has a lovely score, i will always love films that have a score thats reminiscent of classic chinese music(like the kung fu panda movies do)
this silly yet serious martial arts movie kinda blows me away with how perfect of a parody it is while still being a real martial arts film.great performance, the actors have comedic timing, good cinematography, good vfx, good action scenes, really what more can you ask for?
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4,613 reviews
still scorsese's best.
i love its atmosphere of a dark and shiny night time america that grows in its death, drugs and blood.
nic cage as frank pierce is brilliant along with Patricia Arquette, john goodman, ving rhames and tom sizemore as great supporting characters and with their limited screentime, the script from paul schrader but also the performances characterize all of them really well.the films cinematography is high contrast but it compliments the story and themes. frank is relatable. he's guilty about death in his work, the film expertly tells a tale of death and when to let go but also to help however you can until the very end.
Peaked at the first scene obviously.
Christopher waltz is a highlight in this film and his character is well defined but then you have everything else and while I wouldn't say its terrible, I also don't like it as much as i used to on my first watch.I love to see nazi get killed but when thats just your entire movie, thats cool but then also don't pretend you actually have a set of characters and story because they all suck except for one.
Cinematography is nice tho.
agnes got godard to do some buster keaton type shit
A teardown on nepotism vs hard work, nature vs nurture and the balance of power position.
Raimi gives all of this such a fun vibe and while all those mixed together doesn't always work, its still interesting.
Bradley is the nepo baby asshole and Linda is the hard working office worker but she also has something deep inside of her that unravels the longer the film goes on.The film uses power as a way of dissecting how both of these characters work, while Bradley is someone who schemes and who takes every opportunity to use linda even before they stranded on the island.
But Linda becomes more and more psychotic but whats interesting is that this behavior probably didn't start at the island but rather with the death of her husband. In a way she becomes more and more hostile and violent when she wants something, be it to get away from her husband or to stay on the island.
The film asks you who really is the bad guy here? The answer is still Bradley but more so men.Woman have always had the disadvantages in work as men are always above them so they have to get creative. But Linda is a special case in where, that position of power over Bradley on the island awakes the same thing that was present in the death of her boyfriend.
In a world where we have to fight and kill others, send help displays raimi's signature style to a world that qeustions morality, the power disadvantages of woman in office work but also the dark ways woman are able to get promotions, hell just jobs ingeneral that technically should be fairly for the taken but we as a society rely to much on a woman's beauty.
The vfx are kinda bad but it adds the campy nature of raimi.
The cinematography is fine, the close ups are really good but other then that its all fine.
i saw this for movie of the week for a discord server and wow this sucked.
actual good representation of gay men but the actual people themselves are empty vessels.
the cinematography is beautifull and performances are good but the movie is dull in its story and characters. tbh i didn't think it wuld be that bad.
relatable in the worst ways possible.
that moment when you realize the family you once knew is not the same and is slowly breaking into pieces.
ryuhei is a clasic archetype of the hard working man of the family but when he loses his job, everything crumbles as his authority begins to vanish. ryuhei is bound by this need for masculine dominance in his house and the larger world as well.
it leaves him angry and the only one to take that out on is his family.
he wants to protect them so bad that he not only doesn't do that but only drives them further away which creates disconnect.his wife megumi is in the middle of this, she is also get tired. at one point in the film she gets kidnapped by a stranger but finds comfort in that encounter, they both feel like failures, they struggle with the situation and life they find themselves in.
kenji is the youngest son in the family, he aspires to play piano but he is not able to because of his dad but that only causes a wall between them because ryuhei doesn't want him to play piano for silly and dumb reasons like to maintain his iron fist in the house which only creates pain for everyone. in a way, i see it as a queer and trans allegory.
when it comes to being trans or gay, nothing is more terrifying then family and even more so what their reactions and ideas are but most of them fail to understand that waiting, ignoring or simply rejecting it all together only creates pain, isolation and suffering for everyone but just like ryuhei, most parents and family members don't realize that but only when you allow to breakthrough and let your child do what they want and be who they wanna be, you can finally then break that wall.
the need for societal integration and fears of those parents fuel this as well but its a misguided attempt at safety.takashi is the oldest son who appears in a few scenes before going off and fight in the militairy only to come back home and then back to another country, realizing how he actually should find happiness.
here i come with that queer and trans allegory again but it fits so well, takashi represents that need to find out what makes you happy, who your people are and what it means to be happy.
the feeling of what makes you happy clashing with what your parents want is a timeless concept and tokyo sonata uses it perfectly.
queer and trans people should not be bound by parental expectations but rarely ever get to be free of those expectations.
i relate to both of the sons, i want my family to be happy with me but i also don't want to be stuck in their expectations, fears and misguided safety.in the film, the last scene is ryuhei and megumi seeing their son finally play piano and then they finally realize what their son can do and not what society deems valuable which is beautifull.
kiyoshi shows the messed up, flawed but ultimately wonder of being family is. his camera is excellent at always showing the right angle and his dialogue in here is masterfull. everyone gives a powerhouse of a performance.
What happens when social media bleeds into real life which is sadly not uncommon.
Kiyoshi kurosawa displays a world like many of his others ones but here, social media is more prevalent then ever. What first are hateful comments and threats become real bullets and guns. Our protagonist is a morally questionable reseller, selling mostly trash which does not bother him but in the 3rd just like with the desensitized feeling of being online, being anonymous, yoshii's becomes increasingly more sanitized towards the blood he spills. What starts as shock ends in no reaction.
Earlier in the film these shadows which are physically seen as people are looming over him but he doesn't bother getting deeper into why until its far to late.
Every performance is immaculate and like so many of his other films, kiyoshi's direction is cold, calculating, precise but correct in the human sensibilities we all have.
this was so loud, i couldn't hear the femboy asmr i was also listening to that was open on another tab
i like its story about the need for love, its what we all want.
even more so when we don't have it but i thought the film was rather fine in its characters. the performances are great. there isn't specifically much wrong with it but im not that big of a fan of the characters.
they are relatable in their desire for love but there isn't much else for me to grapple on.i like the cinematography, direction and again, performances but all feels....idk uninteresting.
like watching brand new shoes getting covered slowly in shit
when im in the most tuff asian ever tournament and bruce lee is my <a href="https://youtu.be/DbzazFn7Qu0?si=VeOD3nLQmavRLZDn">competition</a>
