Watched through Black Mask tonight, maybe the fourth time doing so, and it really pumps me up. I feel like I own the world after watching it, and the same thing goes for all movies in the same genre. The same genre you ask? Movies with action, a lot of action, and filmography that manages to move around a lot and speed up things while still retaining clarity, really capturing the flow of the fight, and the fights are intense. IMDBs recommendations are disappointing though. I'm searching for something similar to this and they tell me to watch Spider-man 2 or a James Bond movie. Good movies indeed, but not even close to the same caliber as this one, and they're a completely different style, I think a suggestion such as FightClub, Wanted or Black Mask 2 would be a bit more relevant. Read on...

Maybe you saw the Grindhouse movie Planet Terror a few years ago? Maybe you paid attention to the promising fake trailer at the start of the movie? It wasn't planned to be, but it did become, which is both amazing and not strange since the fake trailer was pretty much the best part of the Planet Terror movie... and the movie was good too.

Danny Trejo acts out his first leading roll in this film after having been in the business for a whole lot of years. Sure took enough time, he's 66 years old already! Though Danny isn't any great actor, he fits perfectly into his roll and I'd love to see him leading more movies in the future, there aren't many figures as naturally rough and menacing as he is. Read on...

Just watched the movie with this title, an old action classic by John Woo from 1990, and it was depressing. Not the kind of depressing that leaves you crying and screaming and tearing your hair out, more like the kind of depressing that makes you... eh... depressed. If you've ever seen Deer Hunter you'll know the kind, and vice versa.

The movie follows a group of friends from Hong Kong to Saigon and back, and it just so happens the Vietnam war is raging on at the same time. Their fight to stay alive tests the limits of their friendship and the values of human life. There's a lot of blood, dust, death and disturbance involved, as with all John Woo movies, and though it's not a film that leaves me with peace of mind, or one that I'd enjoy watching again for the good action scenes (as is the case with a bunch of other John Woo movies), it is a movie I appreciated. Recommended if you're not too weak of heart.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

I watched Fight Club yesterday. I didn't have very high hopes for it since I remember having watched the beginning of it sometime a while back, and nothing really happened, but as they say you should never judge a book by it's cover. It features a seemingly regular guy (a bit strange, though, but not stranger than the average stranger). He has insomnia and decides to go to a few group sessions, and they become his addiction, a place he can go to and speak with people actually listening and not just waiting for their turn, it lets him sleep, better than a baby.

After a while he meets Marla, a tourist who comes only for the free coffee and entertainment, and once again he can't sleep, reminded of his own lies. His life takes a new twist on a business trip, where he meets Travis, the best single-serving friend he's met so far (everything on planes come in single portions), and from there the real fight starts. The movie is slightly insane, with a complex plot and undeniable an amazing exchange of memorable phrases and morals. I won't destroy the movie for you, so if you haven't seen it already, do so. Things will get crazier than you expected they could ever get. The soundtrack is great, the filmography is great, the actors are great, everything is great. The movie contains not a single dull moment in it, where there isn't action, there's speech, good speech too. Seems like this movie will rise high up in my favorites.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

For once, I'll write a proper movie review, here ya go. :P

During the early 1900s all the way until the late 1960s Japan was full of rebellion and revolution. The youth was united and the violent demonstrations ravaged throughout the cities. One of the biggest, with many hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, went on for months. The Molotov cocktails flew through the air, as well as stones and other sharp projectiles. Different structures of society were at this time a big issue and the revolutionists had big ideas. Anarchy, communism, free sexuality, etc, played a big part in the whole riot. During the big earthquake in 1923 Japan's secret police supposedly got rid of a few people they didn't like, some of them being revolutionary leaders, young students with different ideas than the leaders of society.

The reason the revolutions eventually ended was the companies changed view on 'revolutionary behavior'. When it all began the companies had nothing against hiring former activists, seeing as they were good leaders and the company could benefit from them. Their views must have changed though, and a few decades later their opinion was the opposite. There was even a law in japan at the time that companies could refuse a person a job simply because that person had been active in various rebellions earlier. This noticeably scared the Japanese youngsters, and most cooled down.

In the end of the 1960s, when the revolutions were slowly coming to an end, this movie was created.

It was highly controversial at the time, and because of this, much material supposed to be in it was removed. Now, in modern uncensored society, these removed sections can be displayed again, and therefore the shortened three hour movie suddenly gains one entire hour. I must admit that it did get pretty boring at times. The movie is, if you are unaware of the underlying meanings, completely random as well, and at times very slow. It's abstractly filmed and there is no steady plot.

I didn't understand half of what was going on in the movie, and the other half could have had many different meanings. In general though, it features two separate stories, one in the past and one in the present. The story in the past features a revolutionary figure, his 3 lovers, and his constant deaths (which I assume symbolize the revolutions and their constant defeats, but never giving up completely). The present story is about a prostitute, a young student, and the filming of both a documentary about the past revolution and crazy imaginative chitchat about the present. In the end the movie director hangs himself and a photo is taken of all the dead people from the past story.

It really isn't a movie that can be explained, so you should watch it and get your own opinion on it. It's in black and white though, and very long, so all shallow inpatient action-obsessed Americans, look the other way, if you're looking for a massacre there won't be any in this. In terms of art it's a masterpiece, and even the music is surprisingly good for it's time. Eros is the name of the god of love btw, and probably symbolizes the views on lawless relationships of this time. Overall, a great piece of art, but definitely not a movie you'll have the patience to watch twice, at least not me.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

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