Chenji!! Gettâ robo: sekai saigo no hi (1998) Review

IMDB Review: Chenji!! Gettâ robo: sekai saigo no hi (1998)

If you are interested in screaming, logic-defying robot battle, this is the one. I am a fan of Gunbuster, but the first two episodes of that six episode OVA aren't great. And I am bigger fan of Gurren Lagann, but I did not dig some of the comedic episodes and the wacky stuff, nor did I love the goofy designs of the main mecha. GaoGaiGar actually has my favorite robot designs, but there is an absurd amount of reused footage for each episode (more excusable in this, since it was a long running show) and the Mike Saunders character is the most grating character in any show that I choose to regularly watch. Additionally, the early attempts at CG are unwanted.

Contrarily, Getter Robo Armageddon is a pedal down screaming battling clanking explosion of testosterone and creativity. An incredibly high standard is set with the arc of the first few episodes, but as with the the best Gainax shows (which are their robot shows rather than their unfunny broad "comedies") and GaoGaiGar, Getter Robo Armageddon continually tops itself, getting crazier and crazier and crazier. In this case, it does it with an adult audience in mind and with stronger violence and aggression. (Though the harder sci-fi ideas of Gunbuster are appreciated by me-- I really dig hard sci-fi, especially Greg Egan and Ted Chiang.)

"So much for the laws of physics" is an actual line from the show, as the carnage reaches unprecedented levels of wildness and invention.

Animation quality of Getter Robo Armageddon, as if often the case with OVA series, is good and often spectacular. Certainly the battles and gory sequences are as fluidly animated as a high budget feature. And the monster designs are worthy of Rob Bottin (The Thing) or Bernie Wrightson.

Although I heartily recommend Gunbuster and Gurren Lagann and Gaogaigar (Japanese sure like the letter G for robots, don't they?), Getter Robo Armaggedon is the best, a relentless barrage of ideas, conveyed through screaming action, and it is the most ridiculously passionate Super Robot show I've ever seen. I've watched it in its entirety three times and will watch it for the remainder of my life.

(New Getter Robo is also good, but nowhere near the level of this.)

Two Seconds (1932) Review

IMDB Review: Two Seconds (1932)

There's no chance a movie like this is coming out of Hollywood this decade or the previous decade or in the nineties or eighties. Two Seconds is the story of an unhappy steel worker and his squalid little life. At times, Edward G. Robinson is very over the top, but when it matters, his performance is crackling with authenticity and passion and it is clear why this small and unattractive man became a huge Hollywood icon. His fire is undeniable.

Unpredictably plotted in the way many pre-code B pictures were, this piece is always engaging and alive and perhaps a bit too short. It contains an absolutely searing monologue that you will never forget and overall the work is a dirty window through which the desperation of life for the lower class in 1930 American can be gleaned.

A good film and a rich portrait.

(I saw 35mm prints of the movie at Film Forum, N.Y. on two occasions.)

Pitfall (1948) Review

IMDB Review: Pitfall (1948)

Do not read a synopsis of this film-- I am not writing one-- a lot of the effect is achieved through the surprising trajectory of the movie, which is an excellent proto-noir piece.

The performances are good, and never has Dick Powell been better. I think of this guy in terms of Busby Berkley musicals and the excellent Sturges comedy Christmas in July, but here he turns in a subtle and believable performance that is fresh and modern and far more REAL than many of his contemporaries. This is the kind of thing you'd expect from Bogart or Aldo Ray and I was impressed by his work and the daring piece overall.

It is amazing how much edgier mainstream Hollywood movie were once allowed to be--- nothing like this is coming out as a major release these days.

Striking and authentic.

(I saw a 35mm print of the movie at Anthology Film Archives, N.Y.)

Little Murders (1971) Review

IMDB Review: Little Murders (1971)

The pulse of this movie is subversive and menacing, and even though there are many, many great laughs, I think the classification of it as a comedy is wrong. It never feels like a comedy. In terms of tone, it is something like the pilot for Twin Peaks and a Mamet play and an Odets play, but with some strange off off off off Broadway claustrophobia and seventies nihilistic horror. It displays a collapsed and paranoid urban environment in which people are combative with words and isolated by them.

I feel it should be essential viewing for any writer, as it contains four of the best-- if not the actual four best-- monologues I've ever heard in a movie. Arkin and Sutherland have amazing monologues that are only marginally upstaged by those given by Gould and Jacobi.

I laughed many, many times (as did many people in the sold out screening I attended), but when it ended, the haunting and thoughtful core of the movie lingered more than did the comedy.

A rich and allegorical piece that deserves serious study and accolades.

(I saw a 35mm print of the movie at Film Forum, N.Y.)

Dying Room Only (1973) Review

IMDB Review: Dying Room Only (1973)

Exact rating 6.5.

I spent some time going through the supposed classics of television horror, most of which were relatively mediocre (eg. Dark Night of the Scarecrow, The Norliss Tapes, Trilogy of Terror, which is 1/3 good) or weak (Gargoyles, Devil Dog, Don't be Afraid of the Dark). Certainly many folks have some sentimental attachment to these movies, but I don't.

Although I like the idea of atmospheric low budget seventies TV horror, I did not stumble upon anything nearly as good as Tobe Hooper's second best movie, Salem's Lot or Spielberg's Duel or the first Nightstalker movie.

Amongst the best of the bunch is Dying Room Only, a sharply written and well paced piece of rural paranoia, written by Richard Matheson, with an excellent and natural performance by Cloris Leachman in the center, giving gravity to the weird goings on.

This is very simple persecution horror, along the lines of Spielberg's Duel, which it thematically resembles (both were written by Matheson), and for a 75 minute movie experience and nice 1970s flavor, I can recommend this engaging and taut little piece over the many better known television films of this era.