Wednesday, September 07, 2005
SUMMER OF SAMURAI
The Exterminating Angel was back in his home town on Long Island last week, visiting his parents, but made it in to the city over the weekend to see some friends and take in a screening of Kill! at the Film Forum as part of its Summer Samurai series.
My first night back in the city, I stopped by my old haunt, the Ginger Man, and then made my way down to DBA and met up with my friend Matt. It was a long night, so I was more than a little hung over when I scuttled on over to Houston and Varick on Saturday afternoon. Shock of all shocks, I actually had a good time seeing a movie at the Forum. The theater wasn't too crowded and the people weren't annoying at all. No one sneezed on me or ate borscht straight from a jar. Such a pleasant environment had me almost nostalgic for the less than ideal Forum screenings of years past.
Anyway, on to the movie. Well, you know, I don't think I have much to say about Kill!. It's about a ronin and a samurai-wanna-be that find employment with warring factions in a small town. Even though the two men are on opposite sides of the conflict they strike up a friendship. Yet, Kill! didn't focus exclusively on the relationship between the two men, as it had about a dozen other major characters that, honestly, I had a hard time keeping track of. The only other film that I've seen by the director, Kihachi Okamato, is Sword of Doom and I found Kill! to be somewhat similar. Both films looked fantastic, (appearing to have been shot in high-contrast black and white,) and had great action sequences. Unfortunately, they were also very talk-heavy; the characters in both films have lengthy expository discussions that seem designed to destroy pace and momentum. Kill!'s title promised non-stop action, but didn't deliver.
Well, that was it for my Samurai Summer film-going. I know, I know, I only saw one of more than a dozen films, but what're ya gonna do? ¶ 11:26 AM
My first night back in the city, I stopped by my old haunt, the Ginger Man, and then made my way down to DBA and met up with my friend Matt. It was a long night, so I was more than a little hung over when I scuttled on over to Houston and Varick on Saturday afternoon. Shock of all shocks, I actually had a good time seeing a movie at the Forum. The theater wasn't too crowded and the people weren't annoying at all. No one sneezed on me or ate borscht straight from a jar. Such a pleasant environment had me almost nostalgic for the less than ideal Forum screenings of years past.
Anyway, on to the movie. Well, you know, I don't think I have much to say about Kill!. It's about a ronin and a samurai-wanna-be that find employment with warring factions in a small town. Even though the two men are on opposite sides of the conflict they strike up a friendship. Yet, Kill! didn't focus exclusively on the relationship between the two men, as it had about a dozen other major characters that, honestly, I had a hard time keeping track of. The only other film that I've seen by the director, Kihachi Okamato, is Sword of Doom and I found Kill! to be somewhat similar. Both films looked fantastic, (appearing to have been shot in high-contrast black and white,) and had great action sequences. Unfortunately, they were also very talk-heavy; the characters in both films have lengthy expository discussions that seem designed to destroy pace and momentum. Kill!'s title promised non-stop action, but didn't deliver.
Well, that was it for my Samurai Summer film-going. I know, I know, I only saw one of more than a dozen films, but what're ya gonna do? ¶ 11:26 AM
