It's really tragic - I get out to far fewer movies then I used to (though this does go in phases, or maybe spasms). Of what I have seen, these are the ones that I'd deem worthy (in no particular order):
Kill Bill, Vol 2
Eternal Sunshine...
Hellboy
Spider-Man 2
Manchurian Candidate
And somehow that's all I'm coming up with - if that's it, I'm acually embarassed.
I've got Friday off, and hoping to catch up with a bunch of stuff I've missed recently over the weekend/next week which would be (and yes, I've been known to do the movie binge thing):
Zantiochi (sp?)
Gozu
Collateral
Harry Potter the 3rd
possibly Anchorman
And then there were a ton I kept meaning to get to but missed, mostly indy or foreign films, though.
Gozu
Saw it in L.A. last Thanksgiving. Definitely the most fucked up thing I've ever seen. I think the
lactating old lady
sent me over the edge. 9 months later I still can't decide if I hated it or not.
Zantiochi (sp?)
Zatoichi. It means "first strike" or something to that effect. Ichi is Japanese for the numeral 1, or first. I had a gorgeous gray kitten once named Ichiban (first one) because he was the first of the litter to exit his mother (He died of old age not too long ago). Zato (I *think*) means "hidden." The word Zatoichi also occasionally refers to a samurai sword hidden in a bamboo walking stick. (EtA: These swords were frequently used by Ronin (outlaw or masterless samurai) who were forbidden by Emperor Tokugawa from carrying weapons)
Yojimbo (another famous movie title, and word frequently associated Japanese samurai culture) means "guard" or "guardian," and carriers warrior connotations.
Tokugawa wasn't the Emperor.
hey, did we know that Darrin Morgan (of Jose Chung and Small Potatoes fame) sold a superhero comedy script?
Cooool.
So the literal "hidden one" becomes "first strike" when used like that? Is the assumption that the element of surprise from the hidden weapon gives him first hit?
I had always assumed that Zatoichi had a double meaning - his sword is a zatoichi, but also he is a zatoichi because no one views this old blind guy as a threat.
Yojimbo (another famous movie title, and word frequently associated Japanese samurai culture) means "guard" or "guardian," and carriers warrior connotations.
Yojimbo rocks!!!! One of my favorite movies of any kind. Plus, Toshiro Mifune kicking ass.
If you like Yojimbo (or any of the Mifune/Kurosawa samurai westerns) then you should run, not walk to see Zatoichi. It's Takeshi's homage to that style of film.
The Boston Globe has gotten snarky with their own advisories w/r/t movie ratings, or lack there of (for example, they warned that Legally Blond 2 contained language, adult situations and excessive pink).
Their comment on Zatiochi? Sudden, graphic violence and random
riverdancing.
Hee.
And yes, I plan on seeing this in the theater, ASAP.
