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chef d'oeuvre.

Published 04 March 2008 by matthew | | E-mail this post

I recently saw three movies. Two were really good:

Throne of Blood (Kumonosu jô) is a black and white 1957 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, which adapts the plot of Shakespeare's Macbeth to medieval Japan. It is mystical, whimsical, horrifying, beautiful, and quite ambitious. A true masterpiece, of which I cannot recommend enough.

Interesting note: In Washizu's famous death scene (which I won't ruin if you haven't seen it), the arrows being shot at him are real arrows being shot by expert archers. Evidently, it greatly aided the realism in Milfune's horrified facial expressions. Genius.

Being John Malkovich was one of the more interesting movies I've watched. I'm sure most have seen it, so I'm not going to even attempt a quick description. I will say, though, that I found myself often disturbed and always full of intrigue. The ending, to be sure, left me quite uneasy. I consider it to be more of a subtle thinking-man's movie, very engaging and extremely smart; however, it is also enjoyable on a purely entertainment level.