Cinematic Distractions...

[dulcedemon]

Yumeji(1991):
When the moon is full, make love, or go to Hell.
The fiend will grind you, and eat you alive.
When the moon is full, make love, or go to Hell.
Behind a bush of pampas, I saw a grassy mound of Venus...
Yumeji again. It's been at least ten years since I first watched Seijun Suzuki's Taishō trilogy. Unfortunately, only one of the three was available to rent this time around.Kagerō-za(1981), the second entry in the trilogy, was the one I really wanted to get.
Described as ghost stories, the ghost here is a matter of opinion in that there is disagreement as to whether the person is dead or alive. If he is alive, there is someone waiting to kill him, and also someone he wants to kill --the artist/poet Yumeji. All of it is over women.
Absurd and vibrantly colored, clarity is in short supply, but the artistry is abundant. My favorite scene for action and dialogue is one of the two dance scenes. Both are bizarre, but the less comical of the two, where Yumeji's tubercular betrothed pleads for his life while dancing a deranged Charleston with a guy who might be a ghost has a little something extra. There are many quiet scenes of individual characters standing in front of beautiful backdrops. The dapper Gyoshu surrounded by bright red autumn leaves is my favorite among those.
Taishō trilogy in my order of preference:
Kagerō-za(1981)
Yumeji(1991)
Zigeunerweisen(1980)
For those who don't know, the Taishō period refers to the years 1912-1926.

The Warrior(2001):
It drew me in immediately, but somehow I got it in my head that the child was a girl. Finding out to the contrary several scenes into the movie really jarred me. My assumption was not based on hair length. I'm used to seeing men with long hair, and I like it just fine.
Crude description of the plot: It's hard to go home again, while trying to get out of a gig as a paid assassin for a tyrannical warlord.
Shot in breathtaking mountain and desert locations in India.

Blackadder the Third(1987)
My favorite of the three seasons I've seen. I have yet to see the fourth. The episode Nob and Nobility really takes the cake.

Blood and Sand(1941):
Everything here is grandiose as befits a movie about a matador. I was surprised that it didn't win an award for best costume design until I did some research. Best Costume Design became an Academy Award catagory in 1948. Had it existed seven years earlier, I'm sure Travis Banton would have won for this. It did win for Best Cinematography however.
I liked John Carradine in the supporting role of El Nacional the best. Rita Hayworth delivers most of her lines through clenched teeth, and it's freaky as fuck, more scary than hot. Heavy on the religious imagery, but it's part of matador culture.

Blackadder II(1986):
Not quite as good as I recall it being, when I first saw it in the 1990s. Though what I mainly recall is that a friend of mine had a huge crush on Miranda Richardson, who plays Queen Elizabeth I, and also Gabrielle Glaster, who plays Kate/Bob in the episode Bells.