Film Review: Manhunt "John Woo is Back!"(Released 2017)

Manhunt
Released 2017
Directed by JOHN WOO!
(Ryan's rating ★★★1/2 out of four)

I have to come right out and say it, I love John Woo.  As a boy growing up in the 1990s his Hong Kong urban action films were my favorites.  So this review may be a little biased.

Woo's lyrical film style where every main character carries two guns (usually Baretta 92FS) was termed by critics as "Bullet Ballet" or "Gun Fu" due to its stylized violence, choreographed like a dance sequence.  While characters jump, spin, tumble, and slide through the action scenes there is always an air of reality to the dance and that is Woo's gift, he takes things that are so over the top they should be terribly unbelievable but they become commanding in his hands.

Manhunt (released in Asia in 2017 and currently available on Netflix streaming) is Woo's first action drama in nearly twenty years.

The story follows Du Qui (Hanyu Zhang), a high powered corporate lawyer whose client is the giant Tenjin pharmaceutical company. The film opens in a bar (strikingly similar to the bars in The Killer and A Better Tomorrow) where two characters discuss how classic movies are sadly falling out of style. In a wink to the audience this will be a classic style Woo film. I do not want to reveal too much but a an exhilarating gun battle explodes so seamlessly I was hooked. 

After the opening credits we shift to several years later as the owner of Tenjin pharmaceutical appoints his ne'er-do-well son as the future head of the company during a large celebratory gala. Du Qui has also won several lawsuits in the company's favor.  He is planning on leaving Japan, but the company sends a beautiful woman to make sure Du Qui stays put.  Yet the next morning he wakes up next to the murdered woman and is quickly framed by some corrupt police officers.  He escapes and goes on the run to prove his innocence.

Enter Masaharu Fukuyama as the dedicated detective who is reaching his breaking point (in the same vein as Danny Lee in The Killer or John Travolta in Face/Off) who soon realizes that Du Qui is innocent.  This sets up one of Woo's most common themes, the similarity and/or eventual partnership of two men on opposite sides (usually of the law).  The detective and the lawyer team up with a woman they both know from their past and take it on the run to prove Du Qui's innocence and Tenjin's illegal activities.  The trio of two men and one woman is another common Woo theme (see Once a Thief and Hard Boiled).  The plot gets too complicated to recreate here but is surprisingly easy to follow while you are watching with all its additional information.

The Media Asia logo at the beginning is straight from those 1990s VHS tapes I watched growing up.  The film has a feeling of coming home while still being current and exciting.  If you are not a Woo fan or a fan of Hong Kong action cinema this may not be for you.  More cynical viewers will also need to put their mind into a place where jumping a few inches to the left allows you to avoid a massive amount of machine gun fire and a gunshot wound to the shoulder does not slow you down until the story needs you to slow down.   

But such is a John Woo film.  He rose to fame in Hong Kong in the 1980s and early 1990s with such classics as A Better Tomorrow, Once a Thief, and especially The Killer and Hard Boiled.  The latter two influenced countless film and filmmakers (Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and The Matrix to name a few). Less talked about in America is the harrowing Bullet in the Head which takes place during the Vietnam War as three friends try to use the war as a way to get rich quick in the smuggling trade through Hong Kong.  The popularity of these films in Asia and on home video in America led Woo to Hollywood in 1994 with a series of financially successful though often critically panned films (Hard Target (far better than it is given credit for), Broken Arrow, Face/Off (his best in America), and Mission Impossible 2).  After Paycheck (poorly received) Woo transitioned to making epic historical films, the first taste was Windtalkers, and returned to Asia to make Red Cliff and The Crossing (both of which were so long they were split into two theatrical films each).  As well as the video game Stranglehold (which I personally love and is a sequel to Hard Boiled).

Manhunt is a tribute to a Ken Takaura (the Clint Eastwood of Japan), one of Woo's heroes.  It is a true return to form and a tribute to everything I love about John Woo's filmmaking. While the plot is overly familiar, like many of Woo's films, the fast pace and Woo's touches keep it fresh.  Now don't get me wrong this is not a director going through the motions of the things that made him famous this is a director rediscovering his calling.  

Film Review: My Name is Nobody (released 1973)

My Name is Nobody 
Released 1973

Directed by Tonino Valerii

(Ryan's Rating: ★★1/2 out of four)

This Spaghetti Western (though filmed in New Mexico and Spain) is really a comedy spoof of the genre's manly image.  In particular the films of Sergio Leone (Dollars Trilogy, Once Upon a Time in the West) the man who basically invented the Spaghetti Western.  

Leone is credited with the story and was a Producer (though uncredited in some prints), fans have long debated how much input he had over the film as his hallmarks are all over the screen.  The two loner gunslingers with a mutual respect who work together, the "Mexican Standoffs", and even a revisit of the shooting off each others hats from For a Few Dollars More.  Also Leone's longtime composer Ennio Morricone provides a wonderfully off kilter score for this film.

Henry Fonda stars as Jack Beauregard a legendary gunfighter who wants to retire and sail across the sea.  Terrence Hill has more screen time but less lines as the title character Nobody.  The simple yet convoluted plot is really just an excuse to hang set pieces on, the basic story involves a gang of men trying to kill Beauregard as he is moving across the state to make his steamboat trip.  Nobody is a young fan of Beauregard and follows him along in an effort to convince Beauregard to go down in the history books by taking on the hundred and fifty men single handed.  There is also the business man who has a mineral mine that he is passing off as a gold mine...but that is confusing even when seeing the whole movie (this may have made more sense in the longer Italian version).

Since this is a Western spoof there is a running gag of Nobody never shooting anyone despite his ability with a gun.  He prefers to shoot glasses out of people's hands, or hit them with oversized circus props.  There are also joking references to Western lore, the gang is named "The Wild Bunch" and walking through a graveyard they find a tombstone for Sam Peckinpah.  Nobody's name also alludes to Sergio Leone's "Man with No Name" Trilogy starring Clint Eastwood.

This film is designed for lovers of Sergio Leone and film buffs, it will probably leave casual viewers cold.  It is overlong and can be slow moving, also while Hill gives a great performance sometimes his zany antics drag.  The shootout in the barbershop, and the bar sequence are wonderful Leone stylings.  Yet many of the tension building moments end in a comedic chuckle as opposed to the expected gunfights.  Even the climactic showdown with the Wild Bunch is more exciting for its widescreen beauty and staging than its action quotient.

The retiring gunfighter unable to escape their past became a common theme as the Western Genre dwindled in popularity in the 1960s (a trend that sadly continues into the present day).  Actors associated with playing cowboys were given valedictory swan songs, John Wayne's The Shootist, Randolph Scott's Ride the High Country (also one of the last for Joel McCrea), and Clint Eastwood's final Western Unforgiven to name a few.

Following that retiring theme this film would prove to be Fonda's final feature in the Western genre (discounting his cameo in son Peter's Wanda Nevada), it is a fitting cap to a career that includes such classics as My Darling Clementine (as Wyatt Earp), The Ox Bow Incident, and Once Upon a Time in the West (excellent in a rare villainous role) and that alone makes the film significant.

I have been wanting to see this movie for a number of years as a fan of Sergio Leone it adds to his all too brief film output.  So I was very happy to see it streaming as part of Amazon Prime.  I went in expecting a traditional western so I had to adjust my expectations as the film played on.  If you go in expecting a spoof instead of A Fistful of Dollars you'll be good.  Happy trails readers.

Film Review, Allied (released 2016)

Allied 
Paramount Pictures 2016
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
(Ryan's Rating ★★★ of four)

I am a fan of classic movies and films that are not in ultra high definition.  As well as movies where the special effects department is not directing the movie.  Do not get me wrong I like a good Marvel movie but at the end of the day I'll be watching Turner Classic Movies or the Western channel.

What I find so enjoyable and refreshing about Allied is that it could have been made in the 1940s (albeit minus the brief nudity and brief profanity) with Clark Gable and Greer Garson.  For those of you who do not enjoy classic films (yes I look down on you) because you feel they're slow or boring Allied moves at a clipped pace that kept me glued to the screen.

The story is set during WWII where two operatives, a Canadian working for the British (Brad Pitt) and a French spy (Marion Cotillard), meet in Casablanca on an assignment to assassinate a Nazi supporter.  They are undercover posing as a wealthy married couple who have charmed their way into the upper crust of the city.  This opening thirty or so minutes could have been a movie in itself but is really only act one in this film and it is some of the most enjoyable set up I have seen in a long time.

Needless to say the two spies fall in love, get married, and move to London (during The Blitz).  He takes a desk job for the military and she becomes a house wife raising their baby.  Then his superiors suspect his French wife of being a German operative and the rest of the film moves into a Hitchcockian mystery where Pitt's character and the viewer are unsure who to trust.

Pitt fits into this period piece exceptionally well and shows his movie star charisma and acting chops.  I for one always find Pitt hit or miss, he is very commanding on screen in everything but often I find his films underwhelming.  Here he succeeds with aplomb.

Cottillard is one of those performers that I have seen in about a dozen films but I can never remember where I have seen her.  This is probably due to her immense acting abilities which allow her to disappear into characters and also that she does not really make traditional blockbusters (for instance she is not associated with Wonder Woman or Captain Marvel).  She perfectly fits into the 1940s period and her performance is right on pitch.

Robert Zemeckis has made some of my favorite films (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Back to the Future Trilogy, Forrest Gump, and I Wanna Hold Your Hand).  Over the first decade of the 2000s he became a champion of motion capture digital filming which he used on the wonderful Polar Express and the less exciting Beowulf and A Christmas Carol (with Jim Carrey).  Now he appears to be returning to the more traditional live action films, with Allied he shows off his expert eye for framing, camera placement, wide shots, tracking, and long takes and especially pacing.  A film buff like Spielberg (his mentor) and Scorsese, Zemeckis pays homage to Billy Wilder and in particular Hitchcock (whom he previously emulated on the less successful What Lies Beneath in 2000).

Overall Allied is not the greatest film ever made but it is a very entertaining adventure thriller for adults with an eye for the classic which is something to be enjoyed.

Film Review The Death of Stalin (released 2018)

The Death of Stalin.  My Rating: ★★★ out of Four Stars.

This blog has taken on several different themes, it originally was intended as a blog about Hawaiian Music and the history of the music of Hawaii.  It then turned into a music review journal as I went through each CD in my album collection.  Then after a very long break it briefly became a creative non-fiction blog with life essays.  Now once again after a multi year break it is taking on a new life.

A co-worker of mine who is a film professor recently learned I had majored in film studies as an undergraduate and suggested I restart my blog with film reviews so here we are with another revamp.

My studies focused on film criticism and film history.  Growing up, I had wanted to be a film reviewer like some of my favorites Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, and especially Leonard Maltin.  Maltin is still my all time favorite reviewer and historian.

At the 2018 California Independent Film Festival I had the great pleasure to meet Mr. Maltin, very very briefly, and see him give an informal talk when he was presented with the 2018 Golden Slate award for his years of film history.  During his talk amid the wonderful stories about Roy Rodgers, Jimmy Stewart, and Katharine Hepburn, Mr. Maltin mentioned The Death of Stalin as one of the best movies now playing.

I recently had the opportunity to see the film on DVD.  As the title indicates the plot deals with the week or so following the death of the Soviet leader and how his inner circle deal with the change of leadership.  Director Armando Iannucci, best known for creating the hit HBO series Veep, uses much of the same skills here satirizing political structures that he brings to his popular TV series.  The inner circle is a bumbling power hungry group of backstabbers played by an excellent cast of familiar faces.  Jeffrey Tambor is particualrly hilarious as the boneheaded Malenkov who takes over the role of Soviet leader.  Paddy Considine is wonderful in a small role as the nervous head of Moscow Radio.  The always reliable Steve Buscemi is great as the fast talking Nikita Khrushchev spouting zingers left and right.

While there are a number of laugh out loud moments throughout it should be noted that this is a dark comedy with serious moments as well as depictions of the Soviet death lists, the Russian prisons, executions, and a rather violent coup.  While most of the action in these scenes is just off screen or in long shot they can be disturbing (which is the intention).  The director mentions on the DVD special features that he did not want the film's humor to erase the fact that the real individuals depicted were ruthless leaders who murdered many of their people.

If it were about ten minutes shorter (it's an hour and forty seven minutes) it would have been a tighter and possibly stronger film but as it is will surely appeal to those who love black comedy and satire.  Is it as great as the reviews led me to believe, no, but it is a well made well acted film with some truly funny moments.

Story of the Judas Goat

In Honolulu there is an annual event called the Friends of the Library Booksale where for one week every summer this organization uses the McKinley high school cafeteria as a giant bookstore. They fill tables with all types of books: Mystery, Hawaiiana, Fiction, Politics, Biography, Cookbooks, Childrens, VHS tapes, etc.  The items are less than $5 each and on the last two days everything is half price or fifty cents.  There are older editions, out of print titles, diamonds in the rough, as well as a lot of inexpensive books (hundreds of James Patterson titles).  One reason this event is so popular is that there are not very many bookstores on Oahu and almost no used bookstores.  The stores that sell used books are often small or the used section is a tiny area in a regular bookstore.  There are no Half Price Books or Moe's like they have in Berkeley with endless aisles of used titles.  So this annual library books sale is quite an event every summer, and you are almost guaranteed to run into someone you know at the book sale.

I have always been more of a library guy.  I borrow books read them and return for another person to enjoy.  Up until my late twenties I only owned a handful of books most of them reference or required for school.  Truth be told I am still more of a library guy but as I've gotten older I find myself more willing to buy books.  (Side note I do collect items kitschy things, comics, koa items, memorabilia, so why not books).  I had been to this books sale once or twice when I was very little and my mom bought me some random Batman and Superman comics.  Then I did not return until 2005 and I bought a coffee table book "A Day in the Life of Hawaii" and a snorkeling book for a girl I was dating at the time.

It was not until the 2009 book sale when I started my annual attendance and my search for The Judas Goat.  As some of you readers may remember 2009 was a bit of a bad year (click here to read about 2009), by the summer I was at a new job working at Barnes and Noble and trying to find my way in the world.  As I was feeling lost and in a routine I was not super happy with I found myself turning to books more than ever.

Got Books?

I have been a fan of mystery books since I was little (Encyclopedia Brown Anyone?) one of my favorite authors (mystery or otherwise) is Robert B. Parker (he sadly passed away in January 2010, but he died at his desk writing!).  His books were immensely popular (70s-00s) and spawned the TV Series "Spenser for Hire" and the "Jesse Stone" TV Movie series, as well as the big screen western Appaloosa. Parker is the author that made me want to read mysteries as an adult and eventually write mystery books for my in progress Master of Fine Arts degree.  The first book I read of his was The Godwulf Manuscript a true heir to Chandler and Phillip Marlowe.  It is one of the few books I've read more than once.  The novel features Parker's Private Investigator Spenser searching for the medieval book of the title and running into corruption, cults, and murder at a Boston University Campus.

By 2009 I was on the fifth book in the Spenser mystery series: The Judas Goat.  This book is less of a mystery and more of an adventure and character study. Spenser is hired to track down and kill a terrorist group who killed (collateral damage style) a millionaire's family and left the millionaire in a wheelchair.  While most of the books take place in Boston, this entry finds Spenser traveling to London and Canada.  Along for the ride is Spenser's badass friend Hawk who carries a shotgun under his leather coat.

The Hardcover Edition I passed on

So back to me. I attend the 2009 book sale and I went back several times during the week.  One day I find an old hardcover edition of The Judas Goat.  It is a copy that has been withdrawn from the library circulation so it is a little beat up.  There is a 1970s style blue and yellow cover, as well as a cool synopsis and bio that are not on the paperback editions.  I flip through the book and wonder if I should buy it.  Then I think to myself that I'm already reading a paperback copy from the library and was about half way done.  I put the hardcover edition back on the table and move on.  The next day I read the novel in one of those reading frenzies where you can't put the book down and you're up till late at night flipping the pages until the end.  I finish the book, and I loved it.  As I turn out the light on my nightstand I decide to return to the book sale and buy the hardcover edition.

As you probably guessed I went back and searched for hours and could not find that hardcover edition I had put back on the shelf.  Someone bought it during my time of wishy-washiness.  From that day forward I vowed to find myself a used older edition of The Judas Goat.  For the next four years I returned to the book sale searching for this one specific book.  It became something of a game I played with myself in every used book store I went into I checked the mystery section for a copy of this book.  I never found it.  Although I always looked for the book I began to tell myself it would never be, I would never find it.

August 2014. I was in a bit of a funk (actually I guess like all people the funk comes and goes).  On this day the funk was there.  I went down to Berkeley looking to purchase something to make me feel better (I know not the best tactic but it was what I was doing at the time).  I purchased some comic books on Shattuck Ave. Ghostbusters ongoing series (that sadly ended in September 2014) is something wonderful to behold but I still felt a little sad because I had not been reading Ghostbusters just purchasing the issues and saving them to read when I had time.

On my way back to the car I was passing Moe's Books. I had been there several times before and always looked for the book but never found it. I decided to play my game and headed for the basement where the used mystery books are kept.  I scanned the Parker area and I thought I saw the title. I passed it and then my eyes darted back.  There it was on the shelf.  A different edition than I had ever seen.

Finally Found!

I grabbed it, used my Moe's store credit and it was mine.  On the drive home I kept reaching into my bag to see if the book was still there.  I was afraid it might have vanished or all been a dream.  But no I had achieved my goal and my five year search had come to an end.  It is a strange feeling, now when I enter a used bookstore I have no set goal I find myself wandering aimlessly.  Sometimes I still look for The Judas Goat just to see if it is there.  I am not sure why I have decided to tell you all this story.  I guess I could say when you really are searching for something you may eventually find it.  I am truly grateful that I have the opportunity (due to my life and surrounding) to play a book game like this and not worried about starvation and military uprisings.  I guess that shall be my end this is something I want to share because it took up a large part of my life and also to say thank you for that life.  Sorry if that is abrupt, I'm going to go read The Judas Goat now :)

Up Around the Bend - Yosemite Drive pt 2 (Hitting the road)

Yosemite Drive pt 2 - On the road
to read part one click here

"Catch a ride to the end of the highway, and we'll meet by the big red tree. There's a place up ahead and I'm going come along, come along with me.
Come on the rising wind,
we're going up around the bend."
--Creedence Clearwater Revival

Quick side note: although Creedence is one of, if not, the best Swamp/Southern Rock bands they are actually from El Cerrito, California an area in the East Bay sort of near Berkeley and Oakland. Back to the travel journal.


My alarm rang at 5:30am.  I needed to get an early start if I wanted to reach Yosemite by 11am.  The sun was already starting to light up the sky, it was the beginning of summer.  I went through my usual morning routine, but a bit quicker than normal: I did my yoga stretches, fifty push ups, a bowl of cereal, mug of orange juice.  Brushed my teeth and washed my face.  My overnight bag was packed except for my toiletry bag which needed my tooth brush and retainers.  The bag was packed to the brim, I made sure my little green journal was stuffed in there so I could note my journey.

With a text message to my relatives (On the road see you soon!) I was off.  The first few hours were freeway with walls preventing me from seeing very much but eventually the road turned into an open highway. It was largely farmland and rows of crops. I think some were avocados, others were probably citrus trees.

California Crops 

I remember seeing only one person working in all the farmland I passed.  He looked to be of Mexican descent.  He was wearing blue jeans and a red plaid work short.  He was riding an all terrain little four wheeled cart through the rows of crops kicking up clouds of dust.  I thought that would be fun but after an hour or so it would get very tedious.  I wondered if he rode up and down those aisles all day.

There was so much open farm land on my drive it reminded me of driving to Oahu's North Shore where the tight spaces of the city open to rows of pineapple crops.

James E. Roberts Bridge pic doesn't do it justice

What I remember most about the drive from the bay to Yosemite was passing over the James E. Roberts Memorial Bridge. I was driving along a hill and I had glimpses of a ravine with a giant lake to my left and cliffs to my right. Then suddenly everything opened up and I saw the land and sky all around me, the blue green of the lake below.  The bridge is curved so I could see the giant columns that kept it above the water. I wanted to pull over and take a picture but there was no shoulder for quite a ways. I later learned that I was in Tuolumne County and the water way I drove over was an off shoot of Lake Don Pedro.  James E. Roberts was a noted engineer who was an expert at building structures to withstand seismic events, no wonder he is honored in California.

Several miles after the bridge I found myself climbing a seemingly endless road up and over a mountain. It was a narrow two lanes where if I went any faster than 25mph I felt in danger of rolling into the precipice. I wondered how many car accidents occurred on such an isolated road. There were a great many cars using this winding road and if there was any back up there was no where to go unless you ditched your car.  The view was beautiful (even better two days later on the way back as the sun was setting) and I made it over the hill.  Shortly thereafter my gps signal started to wane and my phone battery started to drop.

I was getting closer but from here on I was driving on faith and the occasional road sign that said I was heading in the right direction. A few things I learned on my drive thus far: I suspect that the time between the yellow and red stoplight signals is much faster in California. For instance in Hawai`i you have a good 5-9 seconds before a light turns red. California it is more like 3-5 seconds.  I'm not sure if it is because the intersections are bigger or if people are driving faster but that certainly seems like the case.

I also thought about Pastor Jim's question regarding "Big Land Fever" I am not sure if I felt it yet but I know the area was vast and seemingly endless and I wanted to keep driving.

To Be Continued

"Back Home Again" - Blog Warming Gift

A walk in the park

"Gee it's good to be back home again, this old [Bay/blog] feels like a long lost friend.  It's good to be back home again." - John Denver

A fellow blogger has moved homes from a "blogspot" to a "wordpress." I wanted to get them a Blog Warming Gift to make them feel at home in their new environment. But what to give them? a set of wine glasses? a hanging plant? extravagant? practical? Decisions, decisions.

I decided to stay simple, short and sweet (although I did spring for some digital wine glasses below). My blog warming gift is a blog post, along with some photos taken by a guy from Hawaii.

This blogger who has just moved sites is the person who inspired the renaissance of my blog. I am so very grateful to have met her.

As a fan of the previous "Destination: San Francisco" I will miss the dark background of a cracked wall with antique portraits, but I am excited and already liking the bright white space that seems to signal something new.

The writing will remain engaging and moving as it has been and I look forward to the new adventures. I see nothing but good things to come for my blogger friend. I hope you are settling into your new location (from the number of recent posts it certainly seems like it).

Welcome home to the Bay, I hope you like your Blog Warming Gift, and Happy Blogging Miss Carroll!
The New Destination

Sunlight and Trees

From,

Ryan