Fearless (Hong Kong, 2006)

Officially this is Jet Li‘s last martial arts movie. Unless, he says, is presented with an exceptionally good script. Meaning it does not mean much.

Li plays Huo Yuanjia, a real martial arts figure, who becomes very popular by beating the world’s top fighters at the begining of the twentieth century.

For Jet Li’s fans, this is a very good film. Though the story is quite simple it serves its purpose of bringing many fights to the screen. One problem is the cool editing technique used to shoot those fights. There are too many cuts and too many different angles to allow the audience to clearly enjoy the choreography of the fight. That is all Hollywood’s fault : it is the style of editing that is mostly used nowadays to portray action. Sad really, Jet Li fighting is a beatiful thing to watch. At least, this fast paced editing is not used in all of the fighting scenes, making it possible to enjoy some of them very much so.

The rest is excellent in its execution. Mind you, it is a standard period martial arts film, don’t expect too many twists and surprises. Most enjoyable, nontheless. Could be a good introduction to the genre, it is easily accessible and most people are familiar with Jet Li.

Really worth the watch.

Navajo Joe (Italy/Spain, 1966)

An excellent Spaghetti Western with a remarkable score by Ennio Morricione (under the name Leo Nichols).

Starring a young Burt Reynolds as the last survivor of a Navajo tribe massacred by the evil Duncan, played by Aldo Sambrell. A tale of revenge and kindness, sounds strange but it is true. The main character, Joe, is looking for revenge, but also helps villagers along the way.

Very entertaining western movie ! Great action sequences, editing and pacing. Might not be the best introduction to the genre, but Spaghetti Western fans will love it and must absolutely see it. Burt Reynolds is more convincing than I would have given him credit for. Nice surprise.

Really good. And the music : amazing.

Pancho Villa (Spain/UK/USA, 1972)

Well, it is a western about the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, played here by Terry “Kojak” Savalas. Weird choice. Bad movie. Not necessarely Savalas’ fault, though. Still it is a bad movie.

Not much more to say, really.

Just don’t watch it, okay?

The Three Musketeers (USA, 1921)

My first silent movie and a Douglas Fairbanks film, no less !

I don’t believe I need to tell anyone what the movie is about, do I?

The fight scenes and the acrobatics are incredible. Fairbanks was truly an athlete ; not a make-believe action star created in an editing room. There are no tricks here, it is the real deal. That man can move and jump around so much it is surreal. Following his why walk when you can run/why run when you can leap attituted all through the film.

It is an entertaining movie to watch, but feels a bit long (118 minutes). Maybe too much of the original Alexandre Dumas story was put in the film. When adapting a book to the silver screen, parts must be cut out. Even more when it is as thick as The Three Musketeers.

For swashbuckling lovers, silent film fans and cinema enthusiats.

Royal Wedding (USA, 1951)

Fred Astaire dancing is always a great thing to see, even when he is in his fifties ! In this film he plays Tom Bowen, a performer in a dance act with his sister, played by Jane Powel. As Astaire began his career with his sister Adele in real life.

Plot wise, it is standard musical storytelling and as for the music, well let’s just say we don’t hum any of the songs when it’s over. That said, it is not a bad film, on the contrary ! It is an excellent Fred Astaire picture and it contains two of the most popular scenes of the musical genre.

First, there is the unbelievable dancing scene with the hatrack… Simply marvelous. A long time ago, I saw the MGM documentary That’s Entertainment and saw a part of the hatrack scene. That was when I understood, even at a young age knowing nothing of musicals, that this Fred Astaire was something special. No wonder his partners always look so graceful : in his hands even a hatrack can dance ! It must be seen to even remotely have an idea of how good it actually is.

Second, Fred dances on the walls and ceiling of his hotel room. No, Lionel Ritchie did not create that concept, far from it. Doing it in the fifties was very innovative and probably a technical nightmare.

There you have it, these two scenes alone made the DVD purchase worth it.

May not be his best musical, but needs to be seen by lovers of the genre.