Cinematic Distractions...

The last movies of my 2018...

Papillon(2017):

Stop with the incidental Christmas movies! "Home in time for Christmas", he says.

The thing to do, having seen both, would be to compare this with the 1973 Steve McQueen/Dustin Hoffman version, but I can't. Each stands alone with its own features and flaws. Steve McQueen or Charlie Hunnam? Flip a coin as far as I'm concerned.
Rami Malek or Dustin Hoffman? Rami Malek, except when I'm in the mood for Dustin Hoffman. When I learned this remake was being made, my first and only question was, "Who is playing Dega?". I was not disappointed in any way.

This version seemed richer in both beauty(Dega's art), and graphic brutality. I liked that it took time to show a glimpse of their lives before they were arrested. Those scenes were pretty slick.
I can't help but wonder though...Which version would Trumbo prefer?

A Fist Full of Dollars(1964):

My two reasons for renting this: Ennio Morricone, and Yojimbo.
It is worth it to get your hands on the DVD for the commentary, which is packed with information about the film itself, and also the legal and financial issues that arose both during and after production. Draws parallels with Kurosawa's Yojimbo as they occur on screen.

Not a Western fan, I came at this with the wrong attitude. I wanted to see "the movie that ripped off Yojimbo". It certainly borrowed, but it's its own beast, and I was quite knocked on my ass by it.

The Magic of Mushrooms(2014):

Spore printing is fun, and potentially life saving. I've done it more than a few times. It is a good idea to put the mushroom cap under a glass or small bowl, especially when trying to do a print outdoors. Covers the magic of the mushroom life cycle. Does not cover magic mushrooms, which if I am not mistaken(and I might be --mushroom identification can be tricky), spore print in an inky blue-black.

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro(1979):

It was so late it was early, and I wanted something simple and familiar. I had seen it once before. I fell asleep for about twenty minutes the first time. I stayed awake for all of it this time.
Classic anime is hard to beat, when one suffers moods of the type that are not alleviated by either discussion or medication.

Sword Master(San shao ye de jian - 2016):

It's beautiful, beautiful sets, beautiful costumes, but that is all I can say about it.
My cat wouldn't let me watch it. I think the graphic crispness was too much for her. She wouldn't stop jumping in front of the screen. She batted at every falling blossom, and drop of water(or blood). She also felt compelled to stick her paw smack in the middle of the sword master's face whenever he was on screen.
My cat, Tita, gave it two paws up, all the way up.

The Same River Twice(2003):

"Where are they now?" style documentary about a group of people who had made another, relatively unknown documentary about their free-spirited days spent rafting the Colorado river during the summer of 1978. Lots of nudity, and granola attitude...I could not find the original documentary River Dogs(1978). I don't think it's available anywhere. Without seeing their then, there is no reason to care about their now. They spent a summer as a bunch of naked, unkempt hippies a decade after it was cool. The only thing interesting to me was how many of them wound up in local politics as a career.