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Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

I dunno how I missed this movie before but...

This movie is awesome! If you haven't seen this, go watch it. NOW.

I love the dialogue in this film, it's so great.

Just saw "The French Connection" in 35mm.  Great movie.

It was a little beat up, but the colors didn't seem faded at all.

I don't know what their source was, but I agree that it was probably from the 80s at the earliest...a vintage 70s print would have looked much, much worse than it did. 

It looked great, though- untampered with digitally.

The Aluminum Falcon said:

Notorious

I watched a 1950s 35mm reissue print this weekend at a local theater. It was a fantastic experience. The movie, as always was wonderful. It's perhaps my 2nd favorite Hitchcock behind Vertigo, but it's definitely the most watchable Hitchcock for me. The plot is interestingly merely functional but the characters and their dynamics propel the story nicely. I didn't spot any incompetent actors in the movie at all. This is one movie that I can proudly say has no bad acting that dates it: no useless comic relief here.

The crowd was incredibly receptive, and the theater was surprisingly full. The ending got lots of wry laughter, as I recall. It was a very old theater, so that definitely made the viewing more "authentic" to the times. Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant were stunning on the big screen. The 35mm print was dusted and scratched in some areas, though, all in all, it was surprisingly good for its age. Film always has this wonderful warmth and texture to it. The grain never got intrusive, to me; gate weave prevented the picture from seeming sterile. Of course, the cue marks popped up every now and then. I doubt I'd have enjoyed a digital presentation as much.

On one note, I noticed that the exposure seemed to change in certain shots; while it initially seemed to be a flaw in the film print, I noticed that the film became darker (*a change in exposure*) on shots of Claude Rains where he's being menacing/forboding. I do wonder if it's intentional. In any case, intentional or not, it's absent from the DVDs or BDs. The dangers of restoration I suppose...

10 out of 10 stolen keys

The Killer

I watched an Anamorphic DVD-Rebuilder authoring of the Criterion edition at home. The video and audio were unimpressive, though the subtitles seemed to be an accurate translation. I have a feeling this was an LD transfer of a 35mm print, definitely unrestored but not DVNR'ed. They never seemed odd or machine-translated. This was my first time watching the movie, and this was my second time watching a Hong-Kong John Woo film, after Hard Boiled a few years ago.

It was good. I liked it. Chow Yun-Fat was at the top of his game, and, so were the supporting actors. The story was good. It was far more dramatic than I expected. In fact, I would probably classify it as a drama with action scenes, as opposed to an action movie that happens to be dramatic at times. The story is basic, yet well done and compelling here: a man seeks to help a woman he injured. Despite the drama, the tone never seemed to get too dark with one exception (which I will get to in a second). Check out the banter between characters. There's a certain humor to the titular Killer at times; he's not a bad man, and he isn't a solemn one either. The most obvious humor is, of course, the whole Butt-Head and Numb-Nuts schtick; it's present without overstating its blatancy. Needless to say, the action scenes were fantastic here. Good gun play, just a bit below Hard Boiled.

If I had one problem with this movie, it was the ending. Prior to the very ending, I liked the movie a lot. It was amiable and a very exciting ride; I felt the drama/emotion, but not to the point of despairing over it. In other words, it was a proper drama, without resorting to being overly sappy. Now, to preface this, I have no prior problems with bleak endings. None whatsoever. If a character, even the protagonist, deserves to die or needs to die to emphasize a point of the movie, it's fine by me, such as in Get Carter, Donnie Darko, Alien 3, Sin City, Shallow Grave, Evil Dead, Return of the Living Dead, and Night of the Living Dead. If anything, it's unjustified happy endings, especially studio-imposed ones, that get under my skin and bug me, such as Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Dawn of the Dead, Army of Darkness, and Blade Runner.

But, having said that, this ending just killed me. It was an awful downer of an ending. Frankly, it ruined the movie for me; I'm not sure I even want to watch this film again, knowing it ends like this. I had foreseen/expected a sad ending, but not to this extent. I'd expected the titular Killer to die, but then donate his corneas to her. That would be sad, but it'd be somewhat just. He was a killer; he deserves to die. He "broke" her eyes in life, now he can "fix" them in death. That would be an ending I could live with. I can just picture the scene of the police officer taking her to the operation and fulfilling his promise.

Instead, though no one emerges happily. The Killer dies, but he's brutally blinded by bullets first; he no longer has anything to give to the girl in death since his eyes are damaged. He can't even reach out and comfort her before he dies. The police officer illegally shoots the surrendering Triad leader multiple times in front of cops. No doubt, he'll be arrested and sent to prison, especially with so many witnesses and his bad status with his boss as it is. Since he'll be locked up, he can't fulfill his promise to John of having them transplant his eyes to the girl; he also can't give the money to the girl and escort her overseas. Speaking of the money, that'll probably get confiscated by the police! Yeah, the money that Sidney died to get is just going to the police. The blind girl isn't going to see any of it. No pun intended. She'll just fade to permanent blindness. Sadly enough.

I know it's just a movie, but the ending really let me down, and was too dark in lieu of the lighter tone of the rest of the movie. Because of the ending, I'd rate this movie:

7 out of 10 guns.

It would have made a 9 with a more satisfying close.

Ah! Two of my all time favorite films. Notorious is the finest B&W Hitchcock and forms a nice balance with the absolute haunted despair of Vertigo. I'm truly envious of your theatrical experience and can only surmise that you saw something made from the surviving 50's era fine grain print materials. This I think would have added to the darkening effect you saw, as closeups and opticals tend to have their visual differences magnified by both wear and the fine grain. The Criterion DVD seems to have a tiny bit of this going on IIRC.

Thanks for mentioning the ending to The Killer. It's not something I often get to discuss, but is absolutely unexpected. I was like you, watching the film for the first time on the Criterion DVD after being blown away by the absolute cinematic force that is Hard Boiled. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, through all the phenomenal gun battles, mentally pleading for the Killer to escape with Jenny, and then get hit with that. On every level, and I have written about this in detail, this is damning drama. Everyone loses. Everyone. I'm a noir geek, and the word bleak is a very familiar term. This goes far beyond that. This is like a poetic Hong Kong version of Chinatown's denouement. You are reminded that there is real life after all and that there are very few if any happy endings. This is something common in Woo's work, a theme of sorts running through A Better Tomorrow and Bullet in the Head for example.

Though I cannot ever put it above Hard Boiled (I hold them equally), this is one of the most enjoyable pieces of drama I have ever witnessed. A masterpiece.

BTW, the Criterion DVD comes from their laser and is the only good NTSC release, with pretty accurate color and subtitle translation. The Dragon Dynasty DVD/Blu-ray is atrociously converted from a stunning German PAL DVD. Criterion really should get their hands back on these two John Woo masterpieces.

greenpenguino said:

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

I dunno how I missed this movie before but...

This movie is awesome! If you haven't seen this, go watch it. NOW.

I love the dialogue in this film, it's so great.

One of the 10 best films of the 2000's. Shane Black is back!

Trooperman said:

Just saw "The French Connection" in 35mm.  Great movie.

I missed out on seeing this recently. Still glad the original non-tampered with version was released on Blu-ray, but it's always been a problematic title to transfer due to its extreme grittiness and original Deluxe printing.

zombie84 said:

Just saw TDKR again. Noticed a lot of humour that I didn't walk away with the first time, because of the general brutality of the film.

Bruce goes to doctor.

Doctor: I haven't seen worse cartiledge in your knees.

Bruce: That's good!

Doctor: No. That's because there is NO cartiledge left in your knees.

Classic Batman joke.

Yeah, I thought that was hilarious too.  And at the very last second, I realized that the doctor was Thomas Lennon (Dangle from Reno 911) doing a cameo.  Made it more hilarious. =P

Battle Royale - 8/10

This is one of those movies I should have seen a long time ago. It starts a bit silly, and the overacting of the school children is laughable in early parts, but it's an exciting movie. I was always hesitant to watch because of the nature of the violence, but it wasn't as graphic as its reputation suggests (though still quite graphic). Maybe I need to rewatch certain parts of the movie, but one thing that stands out is the teacher, Kitano, basically instrumenting the whole affair because he was tired of snotty kids mistreating him.

Anyway, good movie overall.

Batman: The Movie (1966)

Fun!

Saw "Temple of Doom" tonight.  Unfortunately it was not 35mm film, but it looked pretty good for what it was.  The audience reaction was overwhelming (little kids to seniors, the age range was huge).  Spielberg really knows his audience, really knows how to push their buttons- John Williams too.  The entire movie is crafted to get reactions from people, something you don't really get watching it at home alone.

Seeing it with that many people in the audience was worth the price of admission alone. 

^This. Just saw it at the Cineramadome in Los Angeles. Fucking amazing, even on a second viewing.

"Supergirl" (International Cut)

Not as bad as "Superman" 3 or 4, but still way too tame to be taken seriously. The actors looked like they had fun with it. 

Trooperman said:

Just saw "The French Connection" in 35mm.  Great movie.

On a related note, the last film I saw was Killer Joe.  Disturbing and funny at the same time and a tour de force from Matthew McConaughey.  

3.5 Pieces of fried chicken out of 4 blowjobs.