Cinematic Distractions...

It's been at least a month since I viewed these. An ongoing family medical crisis took priority. This is a good test of my memory. I'd apologize for how half-assed this one is, but most of them are.

Sure Death 4: Revenge(Hissatsu 4: Urami harashimasu - 1987):
I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. Wow! Was I surprised! I also didn't know it was the fourth entry in a series. The movie rental service has the title listed as Sure Death Revenge.
The bad guys look like an anime cosplay version of Mötley Crüe circa 1984(Shout at the Devil).
The main protagonist is gumshoe meets samurai turned vigilante, Mondo Nakamura, played by Makoto Fujita.
Sonny Chiba plays a mercenary ronin who teams up with Mondo to avenge a wrongful death, and root out the corrupt officials responsible for it.
The score is more appropriate for a Spaghetti Western or a bullfight, but it works, and it works well.
It's darkly comedic, a tad romantic, packed with action, and I hope the rest of the series is just as good or better. I love the Mondo Nakamura character. Makoto Fujita is brilliant. I love the running gag of trouble starting whenever he sits down to eat a meal.
I haven't seen anything like this that's as good as this since I watched the Hanzo the Razor movies, which I also recommend.

G.O.R.A.(2004):
Borrowing from other movies is a time honored Turkish tradition. Many movies were borrowed from to make this sci-fi action comedy. Here are the ones I recognized:
The Fifth Element
The Matrix
Spaceballs
Star Wars
The Deathless Devil(Yilmayan seytan)
The Karate Kid
It's goofy but coherent, and a lot of fun. The fun begins when a carpet merchant who earns side money by faking UFO photos for tabloids gets abducted by real extraterrestrials.

The Breadwinner(2017):
Pretty, but also pretty heavy. Watch this with your kids if applicable. If not applicable, watch it anyway. It has lessons(cultural, and universal) to teach.

Have Gun Will Travel Season 04:Disc 01(1960):
I haven't been watching these frequently or orderly.
The standout episodes on this disc:
The Fatalist with guest star Robert Blake
The Calf Denver Pyle guest stars in this episode directed by Richard Boone.
Saturday Night with guest star Martin Balsam

A Night at the Opera(1935):
Not the best Marx Brothers movie, but it contains a few great bits, the cramped and crowded stateroom scene, and "the sanity clause". The Marx Brothers were what MGM did with musicals that couldn't stand on their own. This one can't even sit up, or maybe it can, and I just don't like opera.

Le Plaisir(1952):
A lot like La Ronde, but not as good. I marginally liked La Ronde. I liked only certain parts of this.
Although it's beautiful and well composed, and I have no problem with Max Ophuls as a director, I didn't like it. The misogyny of the stories upon which both movies are based --writer Guy de Maupassant's misogyny-- tainted my enjoyment of the lavish visual spectacle. The women of the brothel weeping in church as a group of children receive their first communion, and even more so, the tragic end of "The Model" segment really bothered me.
My favorite scenes involved the men back in the city as they discover the brothel is closed for the day, while the ladies attend the communion of the madame's niece. The men don't know what to do with themselves. A group of them end up sitting on benches facing a waterfront. There they mope, and chat, and a fight breaks out after one man jokingly implies his colleague's daughter is a whore.
The scene where the ladies stop to pick flowers in a meadow on their way back to the city is also quite wonderful. Moments later, the flowers appear again as decorations in the brothel.
The first story, "The Mask", is wild, impressively choreographed, and it shows a truly dedicated, unconditional love, but it's also depressing for the very same reason.
All three segments are a bit depressing. "The House of Madame Tellier" is the most upbeat, but the implication that sex work must be tinged with shame and regret brings it down. The costumes are gorgeous though. "The Model" almost deserves a trigger warning.