I want to say that "The Dirty Dozen" fits in the same vein as "The Great Escape," except where "The Great Escape" had a certain likable charm to it, where even the sour and down moments were undeniably optimistic, "The Dirty Dozen" is cynical, hardened, and fits in more with the action clichés one would expect from a war movie. "The Dirty Dozen" is the proto-typical war film that would inspire the films of today, like "Saving Private Ryan," "Fury" and "Hacksaw Ridge," trading in charm and wit for realism and big action sequences.
The film follows Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin) being given the impossible task of penetrating an impregnable Nazi fortress with only the help of twelve prisoners condemned to either death row or life in prison, that way if anything goes wrong the military can put the blame on a bunch of criminals. The majority of the film is Reisman establishing trust and honor among these men who have been locked up for years, the prisoners learning to be productive members of society again, and the military watching over Reisman's operation like a hawk.
The best scene in the movie is when Reisman's commanding officer, Colonel Breed (Robert Ryan) makes a deal with Reisman to see if his men could infiltrate Breed's command and capture him without being detected. It shows these men were always more than just hardened criminals, but intelligent soldiers who are quick on their feet. What makes this scene enjoyable is that it comes across like the dozen are truly enjoying themselves, like they take joy in messing their own army's heads, fooling them at every turn.
Still, I only ever felt like I got to know about half of the dozen characters, with the rest filling the role of cannon fodder for the final sequence. It is the typical war movie cliché of building up a straw man character just to knock him down in a storm of bullets.
Overall, "The Dirty Dozen" is a fine war movie, if a bit predictable and cliché nowadays. There are some charming moments, but for the most part this is a cold and sterile look at World War II. Not the best WWII film out there, but certainly not the worst either.
Final Grade: C+
"Ugetsu" is an odd piece of work that takes two common Japanese genres, the ghost story and the jidaigeki (period drama), and combines them to produce a film that is accessible to a wide audience by giving us a uniquely human samurai tale with a supernatural edge. The film focuses on how war affects the minds of those who cannot fight and the toll it takes on them and their families, both physically and emotionally.
It starts in a small Japanese village during a time of constant civil war between rival clans. The village is populated by farmers and workers trying to make a decent living without getting involved in this conflict. These villagers include the pottery maker Genjuro (Masayuki Mori) who dreams of making it big and living a luxurious life with his wife Miyagi (Kinuyo Tanaka), and Tobei (Eitaro Ozawa), who dreams of making a name for himself as a samurai. After Genjuro gets a taste of real money from selling his pottery, he becomes obsessed with getting more at whatever cost, even risking his life in the face of the evil clans.
After their village is attacked, the two families leave together and split up at the nearest town after they learn of the threat of pirates, leaving the men to head into town and make as much money as they can. But both Genjuro and Tobei get lost in their own greed and ambition, with Tobei looking for a way to make a name for himself as a samurai, while Genjuro is visited by a creepy princess who wants more than just his pottery.
There is not much else I can say about "Ugetsu" without spoiling the plot and the journey of self discovery and tragedy these two go on. But I will say that, like most Japanese period pieces, pain is a constant companion throughout their trip and the land of Japan has an odd sense of justice. While the film is slow at times, it only helps with the scenes involving Genjuro and the princess and the gnawing feeling that something is wrong with their forceful relationship.
If you are at least familiar with the genres at play in "Ugetsu" then give this film a try and see how they blend together in this sorrowful tale. And even if you do not know about the themes and atmosphere of a Japanese period piece, this is still a great tale about two small men who wish for something bigger in a harsh and brutal world.
Final Grade: B+
Unless you are a diehard movie fan, the biggest thing to come from this movie is that it gave way to that annoyingly loud introduction to DVDs in the 2000s from THX.
"THX-1138" is George Lucas' directorial debut and is about as minimalistic of a depiction of the future as possible, with lots of empty white and blank landscapes, with every character wearing the same plain jumpsuit and shaved haircut. Set in the far off future, humans now live a robotic lifestyle underground where their given designated tasks, take pills to suppress emotions, and can no longer have sex. Everything is done automatically and mechanically, including the production of offspring, psychological treatment and even a Mecha-Jesus to act as a confessional. People don't even have names anymore, just numbers like a bar code.
Basically, imagine "WALL-E" if we went underground instead of into outer space.
The making of "THX-1138" is the most fascinating part of the movie - George Lucas originally made this movie while he was in college but found the final product unsatisfactory. After he graduated, Lucas was taken directly under the wing of Francis Ford Coppola, the director of "The Godfather" movies and "Apocalypse Now," where Lucas would help Coppola in pretty much every aspect of filmmaking. For one of Coppola's bigger projects, Lucas basically acted as the "assistant to everything," but Coppola couldn't find the best way to pay Lucas for doing all that work. The best thing Coppola came up with was to fund Lucas' directorial debut entirely. Lucas used this as an opportunity to redo and reshoot his final college project, and this time with a nearly $800,000 budget and A-list actors like Robert Duvall and Donald Pleasence.
Lucas made "THX-1138" as a direct response to the rise of consumerism, with television, newspapers, and magazines forcing products and advertisements down our throats, treating us like mindless drones that will buy anything that's put in front of us if it has enough pretty colors. The film is also a slam against then-President Richard Nixon, as the villain of the film takes direct excerpts from his speeches to propagate his evil point-of-view.
And that's about all that's interesting with "THX-1138" - Everything else is pretty standard for a dystopian science fiction film where everything from emotions to duties to society is handled by computers. Maybe it is because of the blank voids this film uses for backgrounds, or the bland designs of the characters, but because everything looks and feels the same, nothing truly stands out. This movie just feels like one giant shade of gray.
If you're curious how the creator of "Star Wars" got his start and the his first attempt at science fiction, then give "THX-1138" a shot. But if you're truly interested in watching a worthwhile dystopian science fiction, look to other more visually interesting tales in the genre and save this one for a rainy day.
Final Grade: C
Imagine if "Night of the Living Dead" was a ghost story instead of the first true zombie film, and you would get "Carnival of Souls."
Except where "Night of the Living Dead" was an exciting piece of horror with startling effects and poignant piece on racism, "Carnival of Souls" is a meandering tease of a movie that only benefits from having odd cinematography. Combine this with the pacing of a David Lynch film and you get a movie that feels like a chore to get through.
"Carnival of Souls" is an independent horror film about a teenage girl who miraculously survives a car accident, and tries to find meaning in her life after said accident. All the while, this girl feels like she is being followed by people who are not there, including a man that no one else can see. She is mysteriously drawn to an old carnival just off the Great Salt Lake, where she continually sees pale people who won't stop dancing.
Watching "Carnival of Souls" is like seeing someone go to a paint store, tries out different samples, literally watches that paint dry, and then leaves the store without buying anything. It comes and goes, but without anything significant or important being accomplished. The characters are dull and lifeless, especially the main female lead, and I routinely found myself checking the clock. Even though this movie is less than 90 minutes, it felt like it was nearly three hours.
Don't bother with "Carnival of Souls," there isn't much to see here outside of how it influences directors like David Lynch and George A. Romero.
Final Grade: D+
When I first heard that James Stewart was the lead actor in a western in the early part of his career of the 1930s, I was genuinely shocked that the wholesome every-man would play such a rough and tumble role. I was even more surprised to learn that Stewart plays a deputy sheriff who refuses to use his guns and wins the towns people over with law and order instead of barbarianism, despite everyone initially thinking he's crazy.
In other words, Jimmy Stewart is still playing the wholesome every-man in the unlawful old west. And the strange thing is that he makes it work.
"Destry Rides Again" is set in the old west town of Bottleneck, which is run by a corrupt mayor and a power couple who run the saloon that has a vice grip on the local farmers. The attractive German dance hall queen named Frenchy (Marlene Dietrich) lures in the boys, and her boyfriend Kent (Brian Donlevy) runs a rigged poker game that makes the farmers gamble away their land and property until it all belongs to Kent. The sheriff catches on to their game and gets shot in the back for his troubles. The town elects a new sheriff jokingly, the town drunk Wash Dimsdale (Charles Winninger). But much to the shock of the townsfolk (and me), Wash sets down the bottle and gives a grand speech about how he will clean up Bottleneck and make it a town worth living in.
Wash declares that he'll do it by bringing in the son of the famous gunslinger, Destry and make him his new deputy. But, as everyone quickly finds out, Destry Jr. (Jimmy Stewart) is not like his father. He's quiet, reserved and wants to solve every problem peacefully instead of with more violence. He walks around town without wearing any guns on him and tells lots of stories about people he knew and the kind of trouble they got into. But he shares a massive similarity to his father - he's damn good at his job.
The more I thought about the setup for "Destry Rides Again," the more I realize that it has a lot in common with "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" - an official is killed in an unruly region, Jimmy Stewart is praised for being the young up-and-coming and is sent in to replace the official, but his wide-eyed innocence makes everyone see him as little more than a child wearing his dad's boots. Just replace the Senate from "Mr. Smith" with the old west and you've got "Destry Rides Again." It gets even weirder when you realize both films came out the same year, and the leading female had top billing over Jimmy Stewart in each movie, mostly because Jean Arthur and Marlene Dietrich were bigger stars than Stewart at the time.
Outside of Jimmy Stewart's lovable performance as Destry Jr., I adore this movies' charm and atmosphere. It takes the time to flesh out everybody in this town while having a sense of humor about everything. From the odd yet quirky Boris Callahan (Mischa Auer) to the heart-broken and homeless Claggett family, there is no shortage of colorful characters here. Yet even this its great slapstick comedy and wordplay, the film still finds time to have impactful and emotional scenes, the best one being the aforementioned fiery speech from the new sheriff to rile up the townsfolk.
Overall, I was extremely surprised by how much fun I had with "Destry Rides Again." It is a quirky western that is loaded with outstanding performances and a great atmosphere. Jimmy Stewart is his usual lovable self that never seems to grow old or tiresome and adds a great deal of heart and strength to this movie. I think the similarities to "Mr. Smith" make this film even stronger, making this one of the most memorable westerns I've ever seen.
Final Grade: A-
If you were ask me which film(s) was my least favorite in the Marvel cinematic universe, I would be quick to point directly at the first two Thor movies. This is because both "Thor" and "Thor: The Dark World" seem at odds with the rest of the Marvel movies and don't have fun with their ridiculous scenarios. In a way, the idea that the Norse Gods are real should lead to the most creative and awe-inspiring films in the series, yet the first two are so bland and forgettable that it makes them much worse. When you focus more on Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings than the god of thunder, you know you are doing something wrong.
Luckily, every problem I had with the previous Thor movies is fixed with the latest entry, "Thor: Ragnarok," and we finally get a film that fully embraces its over-the-top ridiculous nature. This movie reduces Thor to his most basic elements and throws away all superfluous material to give us a all-out insane ride that never skips on laughs, thrills, and impressive visuals. Nearly every scene has something memorable, whether that's a new character that steals the show, the superb acting from Tom Hiddleston or Cate Blanchett, or just the great sense of humor this movie has.
This is best brainless popcorn flick of the year.
This film takes place during the events of "Captain America: Civil War," when Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns home to Asgard after failing to locate any of the infinity stones, where he learns that his adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has been disguising himself as their father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) for a while. The two head to Earth to find Odin, who foretells of Hela's return and her intent to retake Asgard. As Odin's power diminishes, the goddess of death Hela (Cate Blanchett) emerges and effortlessly destroys Thor's hammer and casts the brothers to some trash planet while she heads to Asgard to claim the throne as the rightful heir. Now it's up to a devastated Thor, a treacherous Loki, a fallen Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), and a familiar green rage monster to retake Asgard from Hela before she destroys all nine realms with her undead army.
I would like to applaud these filmmakers for so drastically altering the tone and atmosphere of the previous Thor movies to a more light-hearted and joyous tone, while still keeping the same sense of scale and grandiose. Gone are characters like Kat Dennings' Darcy and Stellan Skarsgard's Erik Selvig, as well as a film that relies too much on Thor just swinging his hammer around a lot. Instead, we get a film that is still engrained in Norse mythology but has some of the best comedic writing of the entire Marvel cinematic series. Even the previous films' over-reliance on Loki stealing every scene is toned down here while Hiddleston still turns in a great performance.
What I enjoyed the most about "Thor: Ragnarok" was its sense of humor. I sat in a fairly packed theater, and I probably laughed out loud more than everyone else combined. There are plenty of new characters that were designed specifically for laughs, especially the gladiator Korg, an alien made entirely of different types of rocks with a soft spoken British accent who always seems to be on the receiving end of bad timing. Another standout is the eccentric and kookey ruler of the planet Thor and Loki get trapped on, the Grandmaster, played by the always awkwardly hilarious Jeff Goldblum, who turns in his best performance since "Jurassic Park."
The film takes every chance it has to tell a joke or point out the ridiculous nature of its setup. Most of the jokes worked for me, though there were a few that missed their mark.
On top of that, "Thor: Ragnarok" goes all-in on the crazy and goofy to give audiences a movie that is, above all else, fun. How can anyone hate a movie where the Hulk fights a giant wolf demon on a Technicolor rainbow bridge while Led Zeppelin is playing? How can you not have fun with Thor and Doctor Strange messing with each other? This movie had me grinning the entire time and I loved every second of it.
"Thor: Ragnarok" is the best escapist film of the year, packed with impressive visuals, great performances all around, the standard great sense of humor you expect from Marvel films nowadays, and is never short on thrills and fun. It is goofy and over-the-top, but never to the point where that gets in the way. This is some of the most fun I have had with a superhero film since "Guardians of the Galaxy," and one I wouldn't mind seeing again soon.
Final Grade: A-
I'm not afraid to admit, for all of cinemas' subtleties, advancements, and vast range of storytelling, that would go no where if audiences did not have fun with these films. Cinema is certainly an art form, but it is also a form of entertainment, like any other media or art form. If art does not give you any enjoyment, then it fails.
The reason the Godzilla series means so much to me is because I have been entertained by its many films for most of my life. Even films as low on this countdown as "Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla" still have one or two things that I enjoyed, with each entry after that getting better than the last, until we get to the most entertaining movie I've ever seen, "Mothra vs. Godzilla."
"Mothra Vs. Godzilla" taught me it was possible for a daikaiju film to have a strong narrative that was as interesting to watch as the monster scenes. That a monster movie should not be only about the monsters, but the people effected by these monsters and their attempts to combat them, or simply survive. This is not the first time the Godzilla movies did this obviously, but "Mothra vs. Godzilla" has the benefit of having impressive effects and Akira Ifukube's best score.
The film starts with a massive typhoon hitting Japan, destroying an industrial park. More surprising though is that a giant egg washes up on a Japanese beach, leaving everyone surprised as to where it came from. Before researchers can find out about the egg, a business man by the name of Kumayama (Yoshifumi Tajima) buys the egg from the local fishermen and intends to make a theme park with the egg as the center attraction.
A local reporter, Sakai (Akira Takarada) and his photographer, Yoka (Yuriko Hoshi) look into the matter and find that Kumayama is being funded by one of the richest business men in Japan, Banzo Torahata (Kenji Sahara). As the two discuss their plans, they are visited by two unexpected guests - Mothra's twin fairies, who claim that the egg belongs to Mothra and that it must be returned to them, before Mothra hatches and causes great damage across Japan.
Though this might be the least of their problems, as it seems that typhoon washed ashore something much bigger and more dangerous than Mothra.
"Mothra Vs. Godzilla" has an interesting atmosphere, unlike any other monster film out of Japan. Other than "King Kong vs. Godzilla," this was the first film Toho would make that has two monsters battling each other. Prior to this, Toho focused on solo monster endeavors, like "Rodan," "Varan" and most notably, "Godzilla" and "Mothra." As such, Toho wanted to make this match-up feel grand and epic. They do this by combining storylines and themes from both "Godzilla" and "Mothra" to create a film that balances eerie destruction with a whimsical adventure.
"Godzilla" was a morbid, unforgiving look at the lives of a frail Japan being savagely beat down by a giant monster created by atomic fire. While "Mothra" was more about the horror of man, in particular greedy businessmen. In that film, Mothra's twin fairies are kidnapped and forced into show business, with Mothra traveling across Japan to save them and destroying anything in its path. Ultimately, "Mothra" is about the pain that man inflicts upon itself, while still feeling like a light-hearted fantasy.
"Mothra vs. Godzilla" finds the perfect middle ground between these two oddly different monster movies that makes their final clash feel like more than just two titans battling it out, but also feels like a conflict of ideals.
Much like in "Mothra," this film finds a way to use the giant moth's property into a means of profit. Both Kumayama and Torohata are unwilling to give the egg back, since Mothra has no legal power. They boast about how rich they'll be when they make an entire theme park around the egg and build up the mystery of what will hatch from it. Where this film differs is that these men are more fleshed-out than the villain in "Mothra."
Kumayama saw an opportunity to make a name for himself and refuses to let it go. It seems to be less about the money for him, and more about reputation, as his projections for how much they'll make out of this are much lower than Torohata's numbers. When the fishermen complain that they haven't gotten their money for the egg and the land to build the park, Kumayama insists that he will pay them back the next day, even though there's a rumor the park will never open due to the bad press. Kumayama ends up paying the fishermen money out of his own pocket and sells all of his stock on the egg as collateral to Torohata.
I get the impression that Kumayama is a desperate man who wanted everything to be fair, only for Torohata to betray his loyalty and use him to become even more powerful. Simply because that's how business works. Kumayama is less of a villain and more of a guinea pig and shield for Torohata, even though Kumayama is still consumed by greed and ambition to see his final outcome.
With a wonderfully charming performance from Yoshifumi Tajima that adds just enough humanity to Kumayama, his character is up there with Dr. Mafune and Katsura as one of the best characters in the franchise.
"Mothra Vs. Godzilla" takes the themes of greed and capitalism of "Mothra," but gives it a more human touch by making the characters relatable and sometimes heart-breaking, like those being destroyed in "Godzilla."
The size and scope of "Godzilla" is also still in full effect, though is enhanced by having superior effects. In particular, Godzilla's opening rampage is one of the most haunting monster sequences I can think of. It starts off with Godzilla rising out of the ground, as if he were a zombie ready to feast again. There's something even more haunting about seeing Godzilla's dorsal spines slowly rise out of the Earth instead of the water that makes his entrance stand out.
Once Godzilla reaches Nagoya, we start off with seeing Godzilla's figure way off in the distance, only for the camera to get closer and closer, until Godzilla is destroying a building right in front of our faces. It's like the opening shots of Godzilla in "King Kong vs. Godzilla," where his dominating figure continues to grow.
This sequence makes full use of rear projection and super-imposing images of Godzilla over live shots of Nagoya fleeing from this monstrosity. "Godzilla" used this a few times, but here we see Godzilla tower over the massive city landscape, to the point where it looks like he is still miles away and is already bigger than most of the skyscrapers.
For this reason, and many more throughout the film, "Mothra Vs. Godzilla" has the best effects of any Toho monster film. During the 1950s and 1960s, no other film studio was doing what Toho did and was doing so well - they made creatures bigger than anything we had constructed up to that point and made them seem believable and still terrifying. We would fight it with everything we had, even though we were sure it wouldn't do anything.
The filmmakers understand the scale and power these abominations possess, and that they provide a struggle we might lose but certainly worth fighting.
This works in "Mothra vs. Godzilla" because the defense force is intelligent for once. They understand what they are fighting and know that Godzilla cannot be stopped, but can be incapacitated or moved to less populated areas. They lure Godzilla away from the most densely populated areas with fire and explosives, with the effects crew accidentally setting Godzilla's head on fire at one point (though it is shocking to see on film). Once there, the military unleashes millions of volts of electricity on Godzilla, which do down Godzilla at one point.
This is why "Mothra Vs. Godzilla" is the most entertaining movie to me. It takes my favorite movie genre of giant monsters, never skips on a chance for exciting action with impressive effects, and still plans out every scene, character, and monster fight to the last detail to give us a movie that respects its audience. It combines eye-popping visuals with a great story, something you don't see too often in the monster genre.
Of course, the crowning moments in the film are the fights between Mothra and Godzilla. Mothra, being a creature of beauty and kindness, does not fight like any other monster. She prefers to out-wit her opponents and get them in a position where they cannot hit her, using her maneuverability and wind to keep them away. Godzilla is monster of brute strength and will take a threat directly to the face if he has to. Together, these two have a cat-and-mouse style fight, where Mothra blasts Godzilla with hurricane-force winds and drags him around by his tail.
This is made more suspenseful when we're told that Mothra is dying and has little strength left, but will use the last of it to stop Godzilla.
The battle at the end of the film is equally as fun to watch. Mothra's egg finally hatches and gives birth to two Mothra larva, who immediately head for Godzilla to fight him. This turns into a battle of brains against brawn and the monster equivalent of David against Goliath. The twin Mothra's can only dodge Godzilla's atomic ray (which apparently is now strong enough to melt solid rock) and use their webbing to slow him down.
What helps sell these fights, as well as any scenes with Godzilla and Mothra, is the music. Akira Ifukube's style of music was not to accompany the scene, but enhance the atmosphere and give some moments a bigger emotional punch. This is the film where Ifukube would nail down the classic Godzilla theme, which would be used in nearly every Godzilla film from that point on. That theme carries a power that matches Godzilla's slow methodical pace, but also his immeasurable strength, like a bomb that has crashed and could go off at any moment.
Yet the quiet almost lullaby of Mothra's theme provides a nice contrast to the Godzilla theme. These pieces of music perfectly capture their respective characters, and makes their fights far more intense when their themes are also fighting for control.
"Mothra Vs. Godzilla" is a great example of every film aspect coming together to produce the most entertaining film in the Godzilla franchise. The effects have never been better, the writing is logical and relatable, the acting matches the writing perfectly, the music is larger than life and makes so many scenes better, and the monsters are still amazing to watch. This film manages to take what "Godzilla" and "Mothra" started and makes it even better, providing a film that always makes me excited when I see it.
But above all else, it captures everything I love about Godzilla perfectly. "Mothra vs. Godzilla" takes a monster of immeasurable strength and power and uses it as a way to show people's strengths and flaws. Some people like Kumayama and Torohata grow greedy and selfish in the face of these creatures, while others like Sakai and Yoka are quicker to make their fellow man better and act selflessly.
Godzilla isn't just an allegory, or destroyer, or protector, or even a monster - he's a mirror that brings out the best and the worst in people.
And with that, we've reached the end of my Godzilla-thon. All 31 films reviewed and categorized from best to worst. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing these reviews and recounting everything that I loved and hated about this series. If you're interested in any of the Godzilla films, I highly suggest you check them out, especially since the Criterion collection just bought the rights to nearly every Showa film. Plus, there are plenty more Godzilla films being made as we speak, so don't expect me to be done with the King of the Monsters for good.
