NO REGRETS FOR OUR YOUTH (1946)

Beautiful movie. A lot of the political stuff went right over my head, but all I cared about was seeing Setsuko Hara in a Kurosawa movie!

The film opens in 1933 and Setsuko is the daughter of a well respected professor. There's some stuff going on about academic freedom and anti-militarism. Anyway, Setsuko is a free-spirited youth and doesn't have time for silly shit like fascism. She is attracted to two of her father's students: Noge and Itokawa. Itokawa is taking the path of least resistance while Noge is hellbent on his anti-war efforts. The entire story takes place over 12 years, from 1933-1945.

As far as I know, and that's not too far, this is the only film where Kurosawa had a female as his lead character and he couldn't have made a better choice than Setsuko Hara. She's amazing! She covers a wide range of emotions, from a happy-go-lucky youth to a woman with a purpose, perfectly. Another thing I noticed, I think I'm correct here, is the entire movie was portrayed from her point of view.

If you're new to Kurosawa this would be a horrible place to start, but if you've already seen all his classics a dozen times and are looking to to expand your knowledge then this would be a good film to check out...and maybe if you're lucky you'll fall in love with Setsuko and watch her at her very best: with Ozu.

TWILIGHT (2008)

Well, call me a nerd if you want, but I really enjoyed this movie. I don't know anything about the "Twilight" story. I've never read the books or even knew what the story was about until I watched this movie a few minutes ago and...it was awesome!!! Then again, I love the early seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and I'm a romantic motherfucker, so it's probably not a big surprise that I dug this story.

Sexy teenager Bella is the product of a broken home. Her mother has a new boyfriend, so Bella goes to live with a father. He lives way up Northwest somewhere, where it's rainy and dreary all the time. One day, in the lunchroom of her new high school, she sees this cute beau hunk motherfucker named Edward. He's mysterious and Bella is instantly obsessed with this dude and he with her. Wait till she finds out he's a vampire!

All kinda of interesting stuff happens including them hooking up and him explaining how he's different than other vampires and him even having to kick some other vampire ass. It's a lot of fun and that's all that really matters. I have no desire to ever see it again though. One time was enough...alright maybe ten more times.

Part 2 - The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
Part 3 - The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
Part 4 - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011)
Part 5 - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)

THE CITY OF VIOLENCE (2006)

A police detective returns to his hometown to attend the funeral of a childhood friend. While there he senses that something isn't right and with just a little bit of detective work he discovers that indeed there is some wrong shit going on. Now it's up to him and another childhood friend to kick a couple of hundred dude's asses at a local restaurant. Sadly it over an hour into the movie before the badass fight scene happens.

The final fight scene is impressive, but by that time my brain had checked out completely and I really didn't give a f what happened or who won I just wanted something to happen to wake me up!

If this comes on TV then it'd be worth watching, I guess, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find it or even waste a rental to see it. Skip it: there is absolutely nothing in this movie you haven't already seen elsewhere.

That dude in the black lands on his face!