Never-Ending Movie Day: The Great Race

     My next choice for the Never-Ending Movie Day is a classic from director Blake Edwards: The Great Race (1965). It is another one of those few select movies that needs no introduction - although I am introducing it here. *grins*

    The Great Race is a multifaced farcical slapstick movie that covers all of the comedic bases. It parodies and satirizes other films and even the stars of the film, poking good natured fun at themselves and their public personas. It also gives homage to other films. It is packed full of stunning visuals, live action, hilarious scenes and scenarios, and of course, boasts the biggest pie fight in movie history - reportedly using 2,357 pies.

That's a lotta pies!

    This is a film that has no weak players. Every single casting choice worked and worked perfectly. Tony Curtis is marvelous, Jack Lemmon is wickedly hilarious, the lovely Natalie Wood is bold and outrageous, and both Keenan Wynn and Peter Falk play their sidekick roles to perfection. There is not a single weak link in this balanced ensemble cast.

    It might surprise people who already love this film, but when it was originally released it was not well-received at all and was considered a critical and commercial flop. Some critics said it was overdone slapstick with no substance, and even a few said that Natalie Wood was "hopelessly miscast" and that the energies of Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis did not quite make the slapstick work. Oh! How wrong they were!

    I do have to be fair to the critics and movie audiences of the time, even though I think they were crazy and delusional. There were other epic comedy movies, race movies, slapstick movies and television shows, all coming out in the same timeframe. And so, they were overloaded with lots to compare against and of course you'd prefer movies that had your favorite actors - And also they had just watched Tony, Jack, and/or Natalie in other very different films: Everything was fresh in theirs minds and the movie failed because of that.

It is what we say about some films: It was ahead of its time.

There are many movies that failed at the box office but later became considered cult and modern classics. Timeless! Like It's A Wonderful Life (1946), and the original Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971). As it was with The Wizard of Oz (1939), these films were born far before their time, but became not only popular classics, but are so ingrained in the American culture that many people watch them every single year of their lives. What is a Christmas without It's a Wonderful Life!

The Great Race is one of those films. It is a film you should plan on watching in advance. Don't watch other similar movies, or too many other films before watching. Watch it as it deserves to be watched, when you are ready, awake, untired, and in the mood to be entertained.

Never-Ending Movie Day: Ninja Assassin (2009)

 My next choice for the Never-Ending Movie Day will probably come as a surprise to some people: Ninja Assassin (2009). If you thought that I'd only be recommending older movies, classic movies, and comedies, in the Never-Ending Movie Day, you would be wrong.

Ninja Assassin is not well rated on many movie websites. That doesn't bother me in the least. I am recommending it because I think that it is a good movie - but I will admit that it is not for everyone. I enjoyed it on many levels, and for many reasons.

The movie stars Rain (Jung Ji-hoon), a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, actor, and record producer. He is so in shape physically that it made me slightly uncomfortable because of my own body. I kept looking down at my stomach and saying to myself, "What the heck!" Heh heh heh

It also stars the legendary Ninja movie actor Sho Kosugi, who was a big box office draw in the United States when I was growing up. The other stars are Naomie Harris, Ben Miles, and Rick Yune.

The storyline is that a ninja clan in Japan kidnaps orphan children from around the world and forces them to train to become assassins for the clan. They are subjected to every form of brutality and humiliation, trained relentlessly in the killing arts, and if they don't meet expectations they are killed by their teachers or fellow trainees. Raizo (Rain) is one of those children and he is slated to become the clan successor. The basic story is about him as an adult seeking vengeance on his master (Sho Kosugi) and others in the clan.

That's all you really need to know. The plotline is more complex than that and covers a wider range, but it boils down to him, the Ninja Assassin, seeking vengeance on the clan and master. This film is a Neo-noir, the revival of the genre, and it does that wonderfully. It follows the path of the old school ninja films and adds modern elements. It is not a happy film, it is not a clap when the hero kills someone movie, and it is bloody and brutal and unfair and leaves you at the end saying to yourself, "What! This is the end?! How can this be the end of the film!"

One review site summarized it as, "Overly serious and incomprehensibly edited." - which made me laugh when I read it. Few of the reviewers on that site seem to understand what the sub-genre is: If you leave out "incomprehensible" you are not creating a film in that genre at all. *chuckles*

***

  I read critics and reviews from time to time, but I never allow those people to influence me. When I was young, I read some very bad reviews of movies that, when I saw them, I loved completely. As mentioned in the Never-Ending Movie Day before, there have been lots of films that were panned by critics and went on to become classics of cinema and beloved by most people. I will always use It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Wizard of Oz (1939) as my perfect examples of this.

I've noticed that most movie rating/review sites have become filled with poor ratings and really clueless bad reviews of some very good films. Rotten Tomatoes is one of those, and sadly now I see the same on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB). I do understand why, of course. It is the same reason I never do in-depth reviews of movies or television series: I've seen too many of them to be objective. When someone says a movie has a clever plot twist, chances are I saw that twist coming a long time before it surfaces in the movie. I saw it coming because I saw it before in other movies that other people probably have never seen or can remember. If I review a film with that in my mind, it won't be a fair review.

If I gave any real weight to the opinions of movie critics (most now are semi-pro and amateur critics) I'd have missed seeing many wonderful films because those critics said a movie was terrible and not worth the time to view.

Ninja Assassin is watchable and the lead actor is impressive and it is a wonderful renewal of the genre. It is more than worth the time to see if you enjoy the Martial Arts film genres. I do, so here I am recommending it, against the advice of many critics who, appear to me, to have watched it after seeing and reviewing Pride and Prejudice for the 100th time.

Life, Society, The Universe, and Doughnuts

        From time to time we all need to take stock of our lives, our work, our efforts, and relationships. We need to assess what is working, what is not working, and what is a waste of time and effort, and heart and soul.

Things change. People change. Circumstance changes. Everything changes.

    Everything moves, even if we believe ourselves to be standing still in the same spot. If the symmetry of our existence was that we ourselves are the center of the universe, the universe still moves in unpredictable ways around us. So, unless we keep a close eye on the ever-changing orbital patterns in our lives we probably won't notice or realize those changes and pressures and evolutions, or revolutions.

    I believe that everyone wants and desires change to some extent. We want new things to evolve, new experiences and interests to be added to our lives so that life doesn't become tedious and boring – That is, except for those things we like just as they are. We want our lives and society to improve in ways that we ourselves approve of, but we don’t want changes that we dislike, don’t agree with, or do not understand. It is our nature as human beings to form a concept and rule of a morality that only extends as far as the end of our nose; If we don’t recognize the smell of something, or it does not appeal to us, it goes into that morality list as something to be ruled against.

    When people say something like, "I want my life back!", or "I want my country back!", or even, "I want our society to return to those better ways, and better times!", what they are actually saying is, "I want this and that to go back to the way it was, but at the same time I want to keep the new things that I like here too! Best of both worlds!"

    The truth of life is that what was the best of times for one specific group of people, wasn't the best of times for most every other group of people – And for some, it was the worst of times.

    If you desire the return of the idealized (fantasized) 1950s of white society in the United States, you will need to do that without computers, the Internet, cellphones, cable TV, multiple televisions in the house, having an automobile each for both you and your spouse (and perhaps additional cars for your kids). Your family will need to survive on one income because housewives do not have outside salaried employment; Their unpaid job is to be a housewife: Cooking, cleaning, raising the kids, managing the household bills, etc.

Things change. People change. Circumstance changes. Society Changes. Culture Changes.

“I want my best friend to be my best friend and closest person to me for all of my life” That is almost never the outcome for most people. You change, the friend changes, and circumstance changes. You get into a romantic relationship, or they do, and that changes everything.

“I want my favorite restaurant to be there for me always!” But the restaurant closes, or they change the menu, or change cooks and servers or owners. It is the same with a favorite bar, or pub, or club. It changes styles, or themes, or the crowd changes, and atmosphere changes. Everything changes. Things never remain the same.

    We must at times look at every aspect and each and every element of our personal lives and professional lives to see what is still working for us. We will need to tweak some things, and in some cases completely replace those things, because when something remains the same for too long it is because it is stagnant, and might be rotting from the inside.

    What worked 10 years ago might not be working today. This applies to business, romance, intimacy, and every form of personal relationship. When we settle into a comfortable existence, we treat it casually and expect it to remain the same forever (or for as long as we want). But that is never the case because we are never alone in that comfort zone. Other people are there too. How they feel, what they think, it always affects the stability of our assumed comfort zone.

People change.

When people change, everything changes.

    So, yes, we often need to look at our lives and analyze every aspect and circumstance in them and decide where we need to make changes. We will always need to make changes. Nothing remains the same. There is no such thing as a forever-comfort-zone, no matter how much we desire it. You must look and see if you are just spinning your wheels, because when you are spinning your wheels you are not moving forward.

    Life is a long incline on a very steep hill. When you spin your wheels you are not simply not moving forward, you are actually losing ground, sliding back, because you are on that steep incline. You lose ground inch by inch, and when you lose ground on a steep incline, it takes much more effort to get back to where you were, much less get higher on the hill.

    When you are comfortable and content, happy and carefree, that is when you begin sliding imperceptibly backwards. If you are not vigilant about your life and circumstances you will not notice that you've lost ground on that road, that hill of life, until your gains in life have eroded beyond reclamation. You can never regain the exact same place and position again. All you can strive for is a similar, but different place and position on that steep hill of life. You might even have to go all the way back down and get on a very different road.

Life changes. People change. Circumstance changes. Roads change. Everything changes.

    The shape of the center of the universe, or YOU, is never constant because of the changes and pressures from objects in orbit around it. That means that you must change too, even if it is unwillingly. No one said you have to like it, or be happy with it. You just have to do it.

    You must always be proactive in your own life. You must constantly reevaluate your life, your relationships, your career and business, and even your hobbies, to see what is working for you, or not working well enough, or if something has become detrimental. When you do that, you also need to consider how your actions, or passivity, or behavior affects other people;

You are not alone in the universe, even if you believe yourself to be the center of it. Other people can remove you from that center, if you are not mindful and considerate of their wants and needs and thoughts. The universe can become a big doughnut, and doughnuts my friends, can be wonderful things.

Be the doughnut, not the hole.