Yojimbo

Hey, did you know that this is the last movie out of Ebert's books? Probably not, but I do, since I eat, sleep, and breathe these movies. :) I felt like I had to share. So, today's movie is Yojimbo, directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1961. I guess it's his most famous film, but I wouldn't really know that. It's quite good, though. It's based, I read, on a few different Dashell Hammett novels such as The Glass Key and Red Harvest. I'm pretty sure I read Red Harvest, but for some reason or another I can't really remember. I was a great student, you know?

Regardless of how much I actually learned in college, Yojimbo is pretty great. Samurai movies and Western films have always had a lot in common, but here, Kurosawa went out of his way to add in Western elements. Later, Sergio Leone would make Fistful of Dollars, which is, I've heard, extremely similar. I only point this out. I guess, to underline how much this movie is like a Western, since I think that's a neat aspect of the movie.

Ran

I remember the first time I ever rented Ran. I got it from the local library when I was in high school after hearing from some source or another that it was a good movie. I had just received a new laptop, for college, and I set it up at a desk and watched Ran on it, stuffed into an uncomfortable desk chair. I remember being astonished by the color and beauty of the beginning, but unfortunately after that, I managed to fall asleep sitting in the awful desk chair.

Because I was so dumb the last time I tried to watch this movie, I felt excited to watch it today - even though it's so long! It was directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1985. He actually directed it when he was 75, which seems to me to be an impressive feat. I was really tired from work today, but I was still really interested in and fascinated by this colorful and unique movie. I never read King Lear, the Shakespeare play the film is based on, but I still loved the plot and the amazing directing. Kurosawa inspired so many of my favorite directors, and for good reason. His eye for beautiful compositions and amazing fight scenes was simply just amazing, and his films always feel and look like no other.

Seven Samurai

So many films and directors owe so much to Akira Kurosawa. His 1954 film Seven Samurai has been described as possible the most influential film ever mad. Not only was there a direct remake, but many of his samurai films were made into western films, or inspired films like Star Wars. Ebert speculates that it might have started the practice of introducing the main hero of the movie by showing him undertaking a mission unrelated to the plot. Others say it is the first film to use the now-common plot device of recruiting a bunch of different characters into a team to accomplish a common goal. These sound like big, vague statements, but that is because there are so many films that use these different things that it's difficult to point to just one or two as examples! I started this movie pretty late under the incorrect notion that it was only like, two and half hours long (which IMDB mobile showed). When I booted up my Blu-ray and started Netflix, I was told it was three and a half. Yikes. So it's late, and daylight savings whatever, so it's even later, and I'm just starting my post about about 3:00am. Forgive any shortness, wrongness, or vagueness, please. :)

Ikiru

There are a lot of movies in America about how people react when they realize that they have become frustrated and bored with their lives. More often then not, they react with violence, in movies like Falling Down. It's a bit of a cathartic fantasy - we all get frustrated with our bosses and people around us, and in our heads we think about lashing out. Today I watched Ikiru, a film made in 1952, co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. Here, the main character realizes that he has wasted his life, and that his life is been boring and meaningless. Instead of lashing out, he tries to fix things.