DejaVecu Blog

Lifetime Movie

DejaVecu — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:50:31 GMT

Seriously, this "movie" belongs on Lifetime. I got a lot done while it was on and I didn't miss anything.

It's sleazy but not that good really

DejaVecu — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:27:04 GMT

Rich, bored Cecilia is a fairly unlikable bitch who enjoys stripping in front of her servants, teasing them, and getting them fired. One day, her former employees, a group of brothers, decide to get their revenge. One brother picks her up after a boating excursion and delivers her right into the hands of the others who proceed to rape her in the back seat of her own car. Sex film rules and porno shenanigans firmly in play, she, of course, becomes aroused and begins to respond with lust and excitement. With her sexual passions reawakened, a naked Cecilia drives home to her husband. They make mad, passionate love. She then tells him all the details of her violation. Andre vows murderous revenge. Yet, she doesn’t want an act of retribution. Instead she proposes that they enter into an open marriage filled with sexual adventure. It will bring them closer together. Andre isn’t so sure though. After much macho posturing, Cecilia and a confidant orchestrate an encounter for the hesitant hubby and the sexy romp begins. Can their marriage really become stronger or will their philandering tear them apart and destroy Cecilia?

As far as the sex scenes go, I found them to be pretty tame and standard, until the sex party scene. As the film progresses, there is a sense that things are getting out of control more

BoringBoringBoring

DejaVecu — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 02:32:19 GMT

A few months after the death of her twin sister Sophie, Megan and her friends spend one last time at her family’s summer home in the Louisiana bayou. The summer solstice is approaching and Megan keeps noticing some increasingly odd occurrences, becoming convinced that Sophie is trying to contact her from beyond the grave.

What to say about this Daniel Myrick’s (The Blair Witch Project) little straight to DVD flick? Hmmmm… This is a tame supernatural tale that moves pretty slowly and then stops to show teen stars that I don’t care about drink and banter. There are some flashbacks too, so we learn that Sophie’s demise is shrouded in secrecy. Since what’s going on in the film won’t hold your interest, you’ll have time to wonder: is this a “vengeful spirit about to attack her gathered friends” film or “uncover the mystery of an untimely death” film? You want things to be one way, but they’re another…and they aren’t scary.

Great. Let’s find out why Sophie died. Maybe (read more at Bloodtype Online)

An animated masterpiece

DejaVecu — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 02:14:08 GMT

The suspect has been cornered at the circus. After conferring with a clown, a blinding spotlight hampers all surveillance. Suddenly, trapped in a cage, he is helpless while an angry mob, identical in appearance, looking exactly like the man in the cage, struggle to grab him and tear him apart. At the last minute his entire body is sucked through the bottom of the cage, through other times, other places, until he emerges in a hallway. He sees the suspect again, but he’ll never reach him because the hallway has begun to buckle and elongate. This is the just the opening sequence of Satoshi Kon’s amazing animated feature Paprika.

When several small devices (DC Mini’s) allowing doctors to observe and enter the dreams of their patients are stolen, Dr. Chiba Atsuko and her colleagues are very concerned. Then, they begin to observe delusional behavior among staff—nonsensical speeches and suicide (read more at Bloodtype Online)

A Sweet Fairytale

DejaVecu — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 02:05:08 GMT

Once upon a time, two quiet and quirky sisters lived in their cluttered mansion. Each day they would eat the same breakfast before sneaking out to examine the garbage of the people who lived in the city near by. Quickly darting from bin to bin, so as not to be seen, this odd pair would rescue what others had tossed aside. Each night, they would gently clean their newfound treasures and carefully draw and color a picture of each one for their record book. They had no cares for anything except their clutter and solitude.

One day, the two sisters discover a wicker chest filled with bright red balls of yarn. Of course, they bring it home and happily admire it as they sketch and color each ball for their ledger. But these balls of yarn already have an owner. They were never discarded; they were just waiting to be found. Later that night, loud noises wake up the sisters. An intruder has some how managed to get past the mountains of junk to get into their home. They find a young, naked girl feverishly knitting the red yarn. When she finishes her sloppy red sweater, she quickly pulls it on and passes out. When she comes to, she begins to scream—a loud, growling, agonizing scream which echoes throughout the house, shaking pictures from walls and clutter from tables—“Damn! I have to knit it again!” This will happen again and again. The sisters’ world of compulsive collecting and isolation will be completely disrupted. Dubbed “Knit Again” by the pair, this slightly deranged creature will demolish everything they have created.

In this quietly odd film, there are long stretches of time without much, if any dialogue. Playful and surreal marching music alleviates some of the silence, but the audience is really just a patient observer, a child watching the tale of this broken secret world unfold. There is plenty to see. The actresses are skilled (read more at Bloodtype Online)

What happened?

DejaVecu — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:28:42 GMT

It sounds like a story with so much promise. It starts out with a truly horrific, bloody, graphic crime scene. It casts doubt and makes you suspect the main character. Then...it meanders all over the place, tosses in some supernatural nonsense and rather implausibly has the main character forgetting things that there is no way that he could have conceivably forgotten or I am just so unbelievably confused by what this film tried to show me that I can't remember it clearly. But, in my defense, I had back-up (i.e. I watched it with a friend) and both said back-up and I were stone cold sober and of sound mind.

I love Asian films and I love unique storytelling. I love surprises and I am a patient film watcher. I will forgive a lot of things for breathtaking visuals (or over the top violence)...seriously, show me something unique and I will wait for the payoff. Unfortunately, while things looked pretty good here...there was nothing to wait for. A big disappointment.

Great Job with this Remastered Release Synapse!

DejaVecu — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:55:31 GMT

Yoshihiro Ishikawa’s female swordplay classic Female Demon Ohyaku (1968) is definitely a film to get excited about. It opens with a bridge and a sobbing woman--never a good sign in a Japanese film. Wasting no time, the woman attempts to fling herself and her small daughter into the raging waters below. The daughter survives, but the audience knows her life will be shrouded in shame. Mom was a big whore and her daughter Ohyaku, played by the beautiful Junko Miyazono, grows up to be a con-artist geisha, increasingly angered by the way men take advantage of women. Her lousy attitude (i.e. she won’t put out) quickly gets her into trouble with a wealthy government man.

Great Conclusion to a Fine Trilogy

DejaVecu — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:52:57 GMT

The final installment in Synapse Films’ Legends of the Poisonous Seductress series is Okatsu the Fugitive (1969). This is in no way a sequel to Quick-Draw Okatsu, it just uses the same lead actress and gives her the same name. Nobuo Nakagawa also returns as a capable director.

This is the most atmospheric of the Junko Miyazono revenge trilogy. The plot is filled with fairly standard variations on honor betrayed and revenge killings, but the sets take a decidedly more stylized and ominous tone that fans of Jigoku will really appreciate, but more on that later.

Read More at http://www.bloodtypeonline.com/o8.htm

Amazingly detailed and Well Constructed

DejaVecu — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:50:23 GMT

Junko Miyazono returns in Quick-Draw Okatsu (1969), playing the capable daughter of a master samurai. Directed by Nobuo Nakagawa, the famed director of the horror classic Jigoku, this is the Legends of the Poisonous Seductress trilogy’s first color installment.

Okatsu is a proud, fully trained female samurai, unlike her lazy brother Rintaro who quickly falls victim to a gambling loan scheme. Having already angered the government by protecting enemies of the state (including a mini skirt clad swordswoman), Okatsu naively thinks she can protect her brother by turning herself in. Of course, her plan doesn’t work and she winds up watching her father die a gruesome, torturous death before being raped.

Read More at http://www.bloodtypeonline.com/q2.htm

Classic Noir: A Desperate Obsession

DejaVecu — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:46:33 GMT

When a successful advertising executive loses his girlfriend to suicide, his magnificently desperate obsession with obtaining a gun pulls him deeper into the ugly underworld of Japan. Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man) writes, directs and stars in this gritty black and white exploration of self-destruction. The cinematography is exceptional—this is a classic noir world of shadow, dripping pipes, exposed light bulbs, fatalistic dialogue and penetrating stares.