The BBA Flag got waved on top of a Medieval Castle

Cardiff Castle's a nice place. I respect the people there a lot but I just had to do this:

Hey, at least I didn't leave graffiti in the stones like some people have been doing since medieval times. 

More: http://www.cardiffcastle.com/

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #20

The Big Picture (2010) - Directed by Eric Lartigu

Excellent! It has been ages since I have seen such a good neo-noir. I am really glad I watched this without knowing anything about it. I highly recommend watching it without even reading the rest of my review. I wouldn't say the synopsis below is a spoiler exactly - watching the two minute trailer definitely is, that is why this is the first time I have not included one in this series - but, as I said, this is a film best seen with as little knowledge about it as possible. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Something bad happens. It is not exactly the protagonist's fault, at first. Under the right circumstances - with the right defense lawyer - it could easily be portrayed as just an accident, but that wouldn't be much of a noir, would it? It wouldn't be much of a story at all.

The darkest shadow of suspicion imaginable soon descends on the protagonist and he seals his own fate doing what appears to him as his only choice. However, in classic Chandleresque fashion, every step he takes with purpose to protect himself and his loved ones backfires, making things worse and worse.

At the end, there was a touching and very appropriate moment of redemption, but the atmosphere, score and acting still make this one of most deliciously dark noir films that I have seen in a long time.

Niels Arestrup, the mob boss from A Prophet, plays a non-criminal, yet equally menacing authoritative figure in this film. Fans of this film will also like "The Square," directed by Nash Edgerton.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #19

We do not live in a "litigious society." We live in a world that is afraid to be litigious because of the relentless jokes and talking points paid for by the US Chamber of Commerce and other lobbyist vampire squid groups like them. We need to be more litigious. There is no other way to settle legitimate disputes and redress real grievances. watch this film. it's amazing.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #18

Unfinished Sky



I can't get enough of these Australian crime dramas.

This trailer seems to have a couple of spoilers. I feel bad posting it, but as a caveat I will recommend just jumping right in to the film without doing too much research. You will not regret it.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #17

Harakiri is a timeless parable of poverty, charity, family, class, honor, cruelty, ritual disembowelment and, last but most important of all, dimples.

If Dickens himself had been born in Japan, he could not have written a more compelling, anguished story than is told by this film.

I first saw the Takashi Miike remake of this 1962 classic when I randomly chose “Hara-Kiri: Death of aSamurai” on Netflix Streaming the other night. I was instantly captivated. The dread and foreboding in the first few scenes captured so well, it is no wonder that Miike is best known for modern horror classics like “Audition” and “Ichi the Killer.”  But this is no mere horror movie. The horror of it all is the key to a door leading to an infinite number of larger themes, the most elemental of which are listed above. As Alfred Hitchcock knew so well, suspense is much more horrifying than the splatter violence so many of us are desensitized to by now.

Unlike Hitchcock, neither Harakiri (1962) nor Hara-Kire (2011) takes enjoyment in the cruelty which it depicts. It is there, bold and beautiful, but with purpose. No jouissance, as Zizek would say.

I am glad that I saw the remake first. The first act of the remake is superior to the original. The actors in the 1962 film sound almost like they are simply reading lines. The cinematography and the editing – especially Miike’s use of silence – is exquisite. However, it is the second act when the remake begins to veer off course into a muddled, sentimental version of this timeless story. I would not call it bad, but the original was smoothly paced and never left me waiting for a scene to be over.

Ultimately, it is difficult to recommend to anyone else which one to view first. I am glad I saw the remake first and then the original. Although it was not a perfect viewing experience, I got to see the best first scene first and the best last scene last: so yeah, there’s that. But I have not had, and cannot physically have, any other experience to recommend to others: so yeah, there’s that too.

As an American, I do not recall ever seeing a foreign remake of a foreign film from the same country. It is quite interesting. I have been supremely disappointed in the past, enraged even, watching classic films – The Omen comes to mind – being remade into downright trash for purely commercial purposes. If you have seen the original film  and love it, I do not recommend watching the remake without this caveat.

Most remakes, in my experience, are done for commercial exploitation, however I feel like there was more than just commercial exploitation intended here. There was definitely some of that. There is no other way to explain why any film is made in 3D after 2009.

But at the end of the day, I have had one of those film experiences that I cannot stop thinking about long after the credits have rolled. I look forward to repeat viewings of both films.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

Roger Ebert Gave Thumbs Up to a Video About the First King of Funny Faces

Proof

It's this video:

St. Patrick's Day Parade - Hackettstown 2013

This is a multi part video playlist from the parade today. Click the next button to skip forward.