25th Hour & Kanto Wanderer

25th Hour is Spike Lee doing the post 9/11 film, and it's quite excellent. Possibly the best Spike Lee film in the last fifteen years. Ed Norton has a day to seemingly get his life in order until he goes to prison for seven years for heroin dealing, and he has to deal with unresolved issues with the Russian mobsters who he worked for (including the worst thing in the movie, Tony Siragusa), his girlfriend (Rosario Dawson), his father (Brian Cox, his typical great self), and his two best friends (Barry Pepper and Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Really, only the Goose is not excellent. The scene in the bathroom of the bar, where Ed Norton just goes off on everyone and everything in New York, is just outstanding. And how can you hate anything that has Isiah "Clay Davis" Whitlock Jr. saying "She-e-e-e-it"? You can't. It's not possible. Also, as any good film about a post-9/11 New York City must have, it finishes with a song from The Rising, one of the many completely awesome songs written about 9/11 and its effects. This one is The Fuse, not my favorite track from the album, but it is perfectly fitting in the film. Also anything that has Anna Paquin is pretty much a must watch for me. I was talking with my parents about the film, and when I said I had just seen 25th Hour, my dad asked if it was that film with Anthony Quinn and Virna Lisi. Apparently 40 years ago, they made a film called The 25th Hour. It's weird how some films are remembered by my parents.

Kanto Wanderer is a Seijun Suzuki film, but although it was slightly insane, it wasn't insane enough to get him fired. There were some really neat lighting effects, like the scene where slicing a few people with a sword led to the walls falling down and big red walls replacing them. And the scenes of gambling are also done quite well. The last one made me want sushi. Plus, the use of color throughout and close-ups in the earliest scenes just make it clear that it's a film. I can't believe that they didn't see this film and say, "This guy is going to continue to go crazy with the films, and maybe we shouldn't allow him to do this." Then again, if they had, we wouldn't have his later films. It's crazy, but it's just a typical yakuza film, but Suzuki can make anything worth watching purely by sheer talent. And I want to commend Homevision for putting out a quality DVD, with no horrible subtitles, and a clean image. Nothing much on the special features front, but putting out a clean print is enough for me.