Episode 155:
SPOILERS ALERT!
Wherein some of us try (really try!) to be positive about the clumsily derailed attempt at retro-love for The Wolfman character and story; it just does not seem to come out that way. The new film, with its two directors, two screenwriters and final schizophrenic outcome prove our undoing after 40 minutes of back and forth.
As a palette cleanser, we do get into quite the love-fest for anything and everything Akira Kurosawa. Especially a new brand-spanking, crisp-looking print of Rashomon, which is on tour right now. We have got some great DVD releases to mention this week as well as a teaser conversation on the micro-trend of film makers tackling movies that relate to the workings of the internet. And for those wanting to get their Cthulu, Steampunk and Serial-Killer geekery on, there is some discussion on China Meiville, Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, specifically Perdido Street Station and Torso. Enjoy!
Thanks for listening and be sure to leave your own thoughts/lists in the comment section below!
Click the Audio Icon below to listen in:
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http://moviepatron.com/cinecast-temp/episode_155a.mp3
TIME LISTINGS:
Intros/Opening: :00
(SPOILERS!) Wolfman: 3:14
Rashomon/Kurasawa: 46:39
DVD picks: 1:03:13
steampunk novels/serial killers/movies about internet: 1:10:36
Outro music: 1:18:11 – 1:25:02
MAIN REVIEW:
Wolfman (IMDb)
OTHER REVIEWS (what we watched):
Valentine’s Day (Andrew’s review)
Rashomon (IMDb)
DVD PICKS:
| Andrew: Coco Before Chanel (IMDb) 
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Kurt: Black Dynamite (Kurt’s review) 
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Matt: The Guild (season 3) 
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BLU RAY:
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Andrew: Hunger (IMDb) 
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Kurt: Revanche (IMDb) 
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Matt: Cabin Fever 2 
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OTHER DVDs AVAILABLE:
OTHER STUFF MENTIONED:
Perdido Street Station, China Meiville
Torso
Movies about the internet
PRIVATE COMMENTS or QUESTIONS?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, or email us:
feedback@rowthree.com (general)
andrew@rowthree.com
kurt@rowthree.com
Love love love the images you guys come up with for the show! Looking forward to listening
If anyone is interested, this is The Wolfman bus shelter that I snagged.
http://moviecarpet.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/the-wolfman-poster-1.jpg
The detail on that one-sheet photography is magnificent! Must be awesome at ‘bus shelter’ size!!
Kurosawa was a huge Dostoevsky fan as well, and despite actually making an adaptation of one of his works with The Idiot, his quintessential Dostoevsky film (and my favorite film of all time, Kurosawa or otherwise) is Red Beard. Its a Criterion film but I never hear anybody say anything about this film. Its the last film he made with Toshiro Mifune and he has never been better.
Has anyone seen Red Beard? You guys named off a bunch of Kurosawa but not this. I have seen almost all of his films that are available here, and I echo Matt’s sentiment, Kurosawa is on a level all his own, the Michelangelo of cinema. Red Beard is his Sistine Ceiling.
and Andrew, The Lower Depths is pretty solid in its own right.
What I think is cool about The Lower Depths Criterion is that it is a double-disc, double-artwork DVD that comes with both Kurosawa’s version and Renoir’s interpretation. Should be interesting.
Kurosawa has yet to impress me, but I haven’t seen Red Beard.
Good call on Red Beard, rot. That is definitely one of Kurosawa’s best films, and still something of a hidden gem.
Oh, and some clarification on that Criterion edition of Ran: there is indeed such a thing, and there were plans for them to release a Blu-Ray, but it was unexpectedly announced as being out of print, and the Blu-Ray was scrapped. They released one for the equally eye-popping Kagemusha as a make-up effort.
correction: Red Beard is the last film Kurosawa did with Toshiro Mifune IN BLACK AND WHITE.
I never did watch the Renoir take on The Lower Depth, need to get on that.
seconding Dersu Uzala. I bought it on Kurts recommendation and though I ended up selling it to Kurt afterwards, its only because i thought it was powerful and direct enough to only need to see once for me. A real 5/5 gem.
I’ve seen a number of Kurosawa, more than the average filmgoer I imagine, but I actually have not checked off Seven Samurai. And yet I’ve had it on its original Criterion release since 2004. I should hang my head in shame, but I keep waiting for the right moment. Ikiru is still my fave Kurosawa overall, followed by Ran.
When Kurt flubbed and called him “Benicio Del Characters” I laughed on my train. a few people looked at me funny.
Red Beard is another great one, not my favorite, but still a fantastic film. Rot’s right that Mifune is outstanding in it. Its a shame that those two had a falling out, as they were fantastic together.
And the bus shelter is ridiculously impressive Kurt. I never planned on taking any of them home because they are far too big to frame, but when I saw that one I knew I had to have it.
I never quite got all the love for Ikiru, I think its good, but kind of middle of the road for Kurosawa. For the longest time Seven Samurai was my favorite film, highly recommend particularly as an introduction to Kurosawa people watch it first… or maybe High and Low which is also great.