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Old Boy (2013)
7/10

A drunk is held captive for 15 years and then released. He's obsessed with discovering why he was imprisoned, wanting that more than revenge or justice, willing to follow the leads to the bitter end.

I wasn't impressed as I thought I'd be. There are some cool cinematic effects, and it's an interesting story, but not a film you'd want to watch with the family. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I thought there would be more karate action, and there is really is not... expect one scene.

I was happy that I actually forgot what the ending of the film was. It's a big reveal ending... and it's pretty gut wrenching, but it's not very relatable (I surely hope). It surely keeps you guessing, but the pay off is... calamari.

The Mysterians (1957)
6/10

http://www.fantasticalandrewfox.com/...sheet-1959.jpg

Space aliens arrive on Earth, cause some destruction, take some hostages, and explain they want peace, a small plot of land and some Earth women (don't we all?). Directed by Ishirō Honda.

Listening to some of the film's Commentary of a recently released DVD, this was the only the second color, and first widescreen film, in Japanese film history. As with many films where the main draw is it's state-of-art visual effects, it becomes dated very quickly. And this film was indeed state-of-art Japanese film artistry in 1957. There is quite a bit of film beauty, and if you knew the skill they used to achieve it, you'd be as impressed as so many were at the time. Fortunately, these film techniques would go on to be used in great films such as Mothra Vs Godzilla (1964).

Unfortunately, The Mysterians is almost completely devoid of basic human characterization and meaningful interpersonal interaction. Along with a lack of suspense, even the science fiction plot is over-simplistic and dull.

One thing that struck me was the film would often repeat the same shot two, three or more times within the same scene sequence (jet fighters breaking formation). As aficionado of Japanese sci-fi and kiaju film/TV of the era, the repetition of shots was a sign of stock footage, run-time filler, laziness and cheapness... ironically, there was nothing cheap about the film, as it had a large budget (exceeding Gojira/Rodan), and it was one of the highest grossing films in Japan that year. The shot repetitions were unnecessary, but certainly not its worst drawback.

And most importantly, if you ever watch the film, don't view with the (current) Tokyo Shock English dub! It's one of the worst dubs I've ever heard. It seems to be mocking of the material. As an example, it gives some Japanese "dumb hill-billy" accents. I don't know if the original RKO English dub exists anymore, but that would be only one I'd risk.