The plot here isn’t anything special, the dubbing for both the US and Cantonese versions are really poorly done, and the dialogue is not great — but none of that matters because the fight scenes here are out of this world. The way Lee whip punches and kicks his foes, is brutal — mostly due to the sound effects. This is some of the best one vs. all fighting I’ve seen and obviously influenced other great ones that would come after it like IP MAN, THE RAID 2: BERANDAL, THE MATRIX RELOADED, THE PROTECTOR, and KILL BILL. All of the action sequences are phenomenal and, frankly, I prefer them to ENTER THE DRAGON’s. It is so easy to see how Bruce Lee became a worldwide star after this. His fighting ability and personality is so electric — everything he does grips and excites you. The spying scenes are also AMAZING. Chen is frankly a better spy than James Bond in this. You can also see a little conversation happening with Bruce Lee and the James Bond films. You can really see in the influence of the ‘60s Bond films (specifically DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, and GOLDFINGER) — especially with the music and the camera techniques. Petrov reminded me a lot of villains in Bond films like Red Grant and Oddjob. Something I did not expect is how brutal of a killer Chen is. He acts like Charles Bronson in DEATH WISH and goes after everyone without abandon — which makes the ending all the more resonate. Another thing that makes this film really work is the Japanese vs. Chinese race issues.
Quarantine Watch #285: The Firemen's Ball (1967)
This was so funny and I prefer it way more to Foreman’s LOVES OF A BLONDE. While I wasn’t laughing out loud to everything, the entire premise is amazing. Taking the ideas of government corruption and the lunacy of politicians and transplanting it into the low stakes world of a firemen’s ball. It is so chaotic and everyone is so stupid that it makes for an amazing commentary/comedy.
Quarantine Watch #284: The Tenant (1976)
This has been on my list ever since I became aware of it during Bravo’s Scariest Movie Moments. I never knew what is was about, but I also wanted to finally finish the Apartment Trilogy. It is weird watching Roman Polanski considering everything we know about him, but there is a lot here that is well done. The production design, cinematography and overall atmosphere is amazing. I particularly loved the forced perspective shot. The cyclical nature of the film is also interesting. I’m not sure why Polanski is initially into the apartment and obsessing over Simone but I really dug the ending.
Quarantine Watch #283: Knick Knack (1989)
I’m surprised at how clean the CGI animation looks for 1989. To be fair this is mainly due to not using people and using very smooth ceramic characters. You can so much style, themes, and even camera angles that Lassiter and team would implement on Toy Story. The story feels like it could have been ripped from an episode of Looney Tunes and has the same energy of it. Everything is so simple and just works really well. It’s awesome to see how far CGI animation has come — to the point that this looks like something someone would make in an intro to class in College now.
Quarantine Watch #282: Nostalghia (1983)
Tarkovsky is a director I am really trying to adore. You can see so much talent in him — especially in the camera and lighting of this film. This is my 4th Tarkovsky and still my favorite has and been the first one I saw — STALKER. I have trouble really connecting with his films. I think the main reason for this is his obsession with poetics and his use of dreams instead of narrative. While usually I don’t mind it, it feels a bit too much for me. I only really liked the Bell sequences in ANDREI RUBLEV and THE MIRROR was so overhyped to me I didn’t enjoy it at all. The pacing here is so SLOW but it kinda works. We are left in singe compositions for such a long time the tableaus look like paintings. Everything with the Candle here is great and stood out as my favorite parts of the film.
Quarantine Watch #281: Results (2015)
Kevin Corrigan is real treasure. He is the best part of the film and it is weird because the film initially presents him as the main character who need to grow, but as it progresses he is relegated to the background in favor of Cobie Smulders and Guy Pearce. The depression and ennui that Corrigan’s character experiences, coupled with his awkward personality really resonated with me, and he balances all of these emotions in the most subtle of ways. Like everything in his life — he has lost the ability to truly care due to the crumbling of his marriage and his uncertainty about his own existence. The Pearce/Smulders story is less compelling however I liked the way the two of them played off of one another. Additionally Giovanni Ribisi is so funny with the little bit of screen time he has. Additionally I like to think the director told the costumer designer to just dress him like Jason Mraz. My main issue with the film is the pacing, which is all over the place. It goes from a decently paced romance to a slog back and forth and back and forth. With a little more focus I think it could have become one of my favorites. Additionally I think the characters work really well for a TV series.
Quarantine Watch #280: The Trip to Spain (2018)
The perception of this series is ever evolving as more films are released. The first film can be seen as a cute funny and witty comedy film with actors playing themselves. The second one comes out and it is seen as a fun sequel. With the third one it is a trilogy. Now with THE TRIP TO GREECE out it seems like this is now a full fledged series and reminds me of the Bring Crosby/Bob Hope Road films. This was my least favorite of the three I've seen so far, but I still loved all the games they play together. That has always been the selling point of the series and you can watch these two go back and forth for hours and not be bored. The thing that is also great about these films is that each one is really able to develop an emotional through-line with the two of them and it never feels like is is too much or melodramatic.
Quarantine Watch #279: Love and Death (1975)
This is simultaneously a BIG epic film and a small comedy (in the vein of his other comedies like TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN, BANANAS, and SLEEPER). Like those films this is joke after joke after joke. Diane Keaton is superb as always. Also its not lost on me that even though it is set during the Napoleonic era, it is a red flag and very on brand that Woody Allen really wants to marry his cousin in this.
Quarantine Watch #278: Project Power (2020)
This is a real well assembled cast. Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt play really well together, I wish they’d do a comedy together. I can just see the chemistry between them. I also liked seeing Machine Gun Kelly in a small role (the 3rd one I’ve seen him in during this quarantine). The real star of the film though is Dominique Fishback, who I had only ever seen in THE DEUCE. She is phenomenal in almost every thing she does here. A lot of the design and action sequences reminded me a lot of a video game, with all the tanker stuff bringing me back to playing METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY. I loved the effects and the overall concept. I see why people don’t see it as great, and it isn’t perfect, but it is so enjoyable, exciting, and fun from beginning to end. It tries to tackle a lot of different big themes subtly (post-Katrina New Orleans, the over reach and abuse of the government, the system set up against African Americans, drug abuse/the drug game, PTSD, bioengineering, ownership of DNA etc.), but not as effective if it had focused in on one or two of these themes.
Quarantine Watch #277: River of Grass (1994)
This film feels like a love letter to BADLANDS and the works of Jean-Luc Godard (specifically BREATHLESS, BAND OF OUTSIDERS and PIERROT LE FOU). It’s so interesting to see so many films from this era having similar styles, tone, and filmmaking techniques — I am reminded of films like SEX LIES AND VIDEOTAPE and SLACKER for instance. I loved the atmosphere of the film — the way the locations are shot makes this area of Florida feels so specific/interesting while also also banal at the same time. The drumming from Cozy’s father that is played over the film also adds to this. Lisa Donaldson’s performance as Cozy was the best in the film, but I think that may be because I was particularly drawn to her voiceover. It reminded me of Patricia Arquette’s voice over in TRUE ROMANCE from just a year prior. It’s really cool to see how far Kelly Reichardt has come from this. That moment at the end is also CRAZY.
Quarantine Watch #276: Jim Gaffigan: Noble Ape (2018
When I sat down to watch this, I thought this was a special that had just come out. I needed something funny to help with a depression feeling and my dad wanted something short so this was the perfect thing to watch. Gaffigan is so funny. While I felt some of the joke were a little bit of low bearing fruit, a lot of it was really great specifically the massage therapist stuff and the M&M store.
Quarantine Watch #275: Bachelor Party (1984)
There is so much of this that is bad and so out of touch with reality, especially looking at through 2020 eyes. You can also see that this really just a big rip off of other slobs/snobs movies of its time. There are so many ANIMAL HOUSE rip off moments that it feels almost like a studio asked for their own ANIMAL HOUSE. All that aside, movie was hysterical. I found myself laughing so many times that it is hard not to enjoy it. Tom Hanks is really amazing. His charm is what keeps you so into the film that looking back on it, there is no way this guy could do anything but shine in the movie business.
Quarantine Watch #274: Diabolique (1955)
This was really great. The whole thing is so Hitchcockian that it is not shocking at all that he wanted to make this, but couldn’t obtain the rights before Henri-Georges Clouzot did. The cinematography by Armand Thirard and the score by Georges Van Parys are so damn good. The lighting is scary in its own right but with the way it is shot coupled with the music, moments become truly terrifying. The mystery of the whole story is also so enthralling you get so invested in following Véra Clouzot’s Christina as she tries to figure it out.. The one thing that really bothered me is that the ending is so famous I knew what it was and knowing that made me realize the entire plot/plan from around the 15 minute mark. If there is any movie I wish I could wipe my brain and know nothing about going into tit, it would be this one. There is also an excellent 7 minute featurette on the Criterion release that compares the bathroom scene from this and shower scene from PSYCHO (which came out the following year) in a fantastic way — I highly recommend.
Quarantine Watch #273: Rafiki (2018)
The film walks in the footprints of a lot of similar coming of age queer stories that come before it. The hiding of the true self, the fear of being an outcast, the fear of society and family, etc. Everything about the film is a real good example of the scenes they are — the love scenes are great examples of love scenes. The brutal moments — are so brutal it hurts you. The best part of the film are the colors which are so vibrant, but never really seem over the top. It places you in a world that is just so excitable. I had never seen a Kenyan film before, which is why I was very excited to check it out . Samantha Mugatsia was the standout of the actors as Kena. Everything about her was just pitch perfect.
Quarantine Watch #272: Ponyo (2008)
This is probably Hayao Miyazaki’s most childlike film, even more-so than MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO. It is stuffed with childlike glee and wonder. The colors and even the animation style compliment this. It is strange because it feels like the design and artwork of most Miyazaki’s films while also being not as detailed and without using as many edges or various colors. It all just feels so simple. The whole thing goes across as magical, especially with the Ocean creatures and the underwater stuff. In typical Miyazaki fashion — this is a love letter to nature. It really feels like he was inspired by the tsunami that hit India in 2004. I’m sure it even resonated more in Japan after the big 2011 Tsunami there as well. Aside from all that though, this is one of the most innocent and wonderful love stories put onto screen — this is mostly due to the main characters being five year-olds. It just makes everything all the more pure.
Quarantine Watch #271: House Party (1990)
I went into this really wanting to love it. My favorite part of the entire film was Martin Lawrence. I’m so happy he got the chance to shine here, especially since his role in DO THE RIGHT THING is so minimal. You can see he got MARTIN off the ground based off his performance here. I also loved Lucien "Bowlegged Lou" George, Jr. as the high pitched member of FULL FORCE. He was so funny. There is a BIG energy here that reaches into the huge performances from everyone. This can also be due to the energy of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s style in both film and TV. The police dealing with the black community is so on point, it is scary, since it is played over the top at points. I didn’t know who Kid ‘n Play were before this and I think I would have enjoyed it more with the original pair of Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff (although I don’t see Smith doing something with this much R rated stuff). The members of Full Force are so OLD in this (due in part to them playing high school kids in 30s) that it is clear they grown ass men. I’m not sure if this was to show Kid’s POV to see them more as behemoths or if they just really wanted Full Force in the film. Play is such a dick to Kid too. I would have enjoyed it more if they were playing more off of one another. To be fair EVERYONE is a dick to everyone else for most of the film. I’m really interested in seeing Reggie Hudlin’s student film from Harvard this was based on. There were real funny moments here, but for me it took at lot to get going and I didn’t end up enjoying it as much as I thought I would. I did also love the dance scenes. They were really fun while not being overly choreographed or fake.
Quarantine Watch #270: Schizopolis (1996)
This film probably has the strangest dialogue of any film I’ve ever seen while also being insanely witty — emphasis on the insane. The film also doesn’t even try to be coherent. It is a masterpiece but also says nothing, but only ends up feeling okay — all at the same time. It is everything and nothing. The thing this film nails probably better than any film is POV. We are truly in the minds of these characters and how they perceive the world. This gives you vertigo if you try to stand on solid ground, because the ground here is not solid. It’s unstable and quaking even when you feel like you are just standing still. It is also SO of the early/mid ‘90s. I feel like so many visuals of the film could have been played over Toad the Wet Sprocket or Beastie Boys songs and played on MTV and it’d work. This is especially true with the sped up car scenes. There are so many laugh out loud funny moments, but a lot of times these things are just sequesters. Everything here is just bombastic, chaotic and schizophrenic (as suggested in the title).
Quarantine Watch #269: Destino (2003)
This just feels like you are dancing through the most known images of Salvador Dali. It is almost as if he designed a segment of FANTASIA. The animation here is so great and it is great that they were able to complete it, considering a lot of the effect could in no way be achieved in the ‘40s or the ‘50s (at least to my knowledge). Dali is such a specific and idiuosyosincatic mind — it is hard to fathom how anyone could come up with these images in the first place. Dominique Monféry did a great job interpreting it, and I’m sure it was not easy to accomplish. The character design of the woman reminds me so much of Megara from HERCULES that I wonder if she was used as a starting point. Same for the green eyed creature flower things. They look like Mike from MONSTER INC. I loved the music underneath. While it is not as ground breaking I enjoyed this much more than UN CHIEN ANDALOU. I wish he played more with innovative filmmakers like Walt Disney and Luis Buñuel.
Quarantine Watch #268: Sam Jay: 3 in the Morning (2020)
There is so much of this that had me laughing like crazy. I love her delivery and. I feel like the politics stuff becomes a crutch for a lot of stand ups and honestly it feels like they do the bits most times because they feel like they need to. I appreciated the blunt honesty regarding touch conversations regarding volatile topics of the modern era (like the Trans stuff, etc.) While I don’t agree with most of it I found it funny. Reminded me of Bill Burr’s takes on most topics. I loved all the stuff with her mother and aliens at the end. The framing device for special, with her wife and packing for vacation/flying, was great. I really loved the first 2 quarters and the final quarter, it was the 3rd quarter of the special that dipped a bit.
Quarantine Watch #267: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
When I was in the sixth grade, I had a very eccentric English teacher (for instance he had a mummy in a case displayed in the office). To help us understand stories we would watch episode after episode of 1984-1994 TV series. That became my boot camp for understanding Sherlock Holmes, mystery films, and detective stories at the same time. I never understood the plot of THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES when I read quick summaries over the years, but this film really nails it down simply. My first exposure to the concept was in a brief moment in the PAGEMASTER. A good amount of SH stories can get very complicated, but this was real engaging and simple. It is easy to tell who the bad guy is at just about the halfway mark and I wish it was more well hidden. I also loved all the moor stuff and you can tell John Landis used it as influence on AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. Basil Rathbone really is the best person who ever portrayed Sherlock Holmes. I fucking loved him. I just hated that he wasn’t in 1/3 of the film due to his character spying from the outside. I’ve never been a fan of how Watson was portrayed during these times (a little oafish) and I like the more confident and smarter portrayals like Jude Law, Martin Freeman, and Lucy Liu. I really miss these types of films — a studio makes a bunch of films and releases multiple even in the same year. There are 14 films in this Sherlock Holmes series and they were released within 7 years. The minimum films in a series come out in the modern are once year (2 at the most). I’d love to see some people go back to this model — It would be real successful, especially with the advent of streamers.
