The Game to Movie Collection: Part One

Forever on the lookout for an existing market to exploit (because originality is hard), and despite multiple past failures, the Hollywood predators often stray into the gaming world. I’d give them credit for repeatedly trying if it was for noble reasons, but mostly it isn't. They hope that an IP with an established fan base can be turned into a profitable venture with minimal effort.
It's a lengthy list (sorted alphabetically) that will no doubt increase in the future, so I've put it after the cut. Click it to see the full collection:

AntiTRUST (2001)

I remember being disappointed with this upon my initial viewing, years ago. It’s because I was foolishly expecting it to be a Rachael movie, through and through. With my expectations now properly adjusted, I have to admit that I quite like it for what it is. It’s ambitious, but not too ambitious. It seems to know exactly where it wants to aim and the morals that get it there are ones that I can get behind. The only far-reaching weakness is Claire Forlani’s acting. In my experience, she’s always been sub-Tara Reid level. She occupies space and looks at ya funny. Eh, at least she makes Rachael sparkle in comparison.

3 Appropriate Nods to George Orwell out of 5

Nutted by NEG.

Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha (2004)

A Bollywood remake of Return to Me (2000), an English language film starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver that I've no intention of ever watching.
In the Hindi version Rishabh and Parineeta (Khan and Zinta) are in love, the contrived, too perfect kind that makes an onlooker sick with revulsion.
It's a callous thing to say but I was glad when the inevitable tragedy screwed them; the reason being that what followed at least had the potential to be less mediocre. Alas, the potential was equally watered down. The basic idea remained entirely basic, challenging nothing but an endurance for blandness.
A viewer who's less critical and more sentimental than I am may be able to derive something they consider worthwhile from the film, but they'll need also to be more forgiving of plodding narratives and shoddy editing.

2 pretty Preity pictures out of 5

Only Yesterday (1991)

A twenty-seven-year-old Tokyo resident named Taeko takes a summer trip to the countryside. It's a holiday away from city life, but Taeko plans to work whilst there, helping with the annual safflower harvest. What she hadn't planned was that her ten-year-old self would choose to accompany her.
It's the same person but in two different eras. The adult Taeko replays and relives her memories of fifth-grade, reflecting on the trials of youth, the hopes and dreams she had and how they stack up to where she is now in her life. When combined they make one complete story – one lengthy journey toward an unwritten future. The deliberate undefined edges that some scenes employ suggests that feelings and situations we thought were complete at the time might actually have lines that aren't filled in until years later, provided we're wise and daring enough to make the connections.

3½ apple pieces out of 5

Brewster's Millions (1985)

It's the only version of the story that I've personally seen, to date, but Wiki states that the 1985 version of Brewster's is the seventh film to be based on the same text, a 1902 novel of the same name by George Barr McCutcheon.
The titular character is a Minor League baseball pitcher who inherits a large sum of cash. The rub is that in order to claim ownership of the loot he must first meet the unusual criteria set by his dead relative: Brewster must spend $30 million in just 30 days and by the end have no assets to show for it.
A money problem approached from the opposite perspective than usual is a fun idea, but in reality it's reliant on Richard Pryor's onscreen personality from beginning to end. Without his comedic talent it would still be a fun idea, but most likely also a more forgettable film than it honestly already is.

2½ flagrant misuses out of 5

47 Ronin (2013)

47 Ronin is a very lean film. There's nothing present here beyond what is absolutely necessary. However, it isn't hollow or sparse like many current efforts. I will still joyfully admit that I brought a lot into it myself, and that it is very much OF myself. I cannot begin to guarantee that Keanu will wring emotion out of you the way he does for me. However, if you can recognize the appropriateness of the spartan execution, given the subject matter, and are willing to look into yourself as experiencing it, you may find similar fulfillment.

4 Minus Three Degrees of Yayoi out of 5

Nutted by NEG.

Friday Foster (1975)

Miss Foster is a magazine fashion photographer who's sent to cover something other than 70s fashions. Whilst there she witnesses a violent assassination attempt on an influential man. Afterwards, aided by a suavely-dressed Yaphet Kotto, she hunts the killer while being similarly hunted by him.
It's certainly not Pam's best work; not quite amateur hour but not far removed either. On the plus side the two leads definitely work well together, Weathers makes a believable villain, Scatman is his usual great self, and the music is memorable. I'd like to have seen more of the police lieutenant (Ed Cambridge) because he was fun. In conclusion, it has the feel of a TV Movie and if not for occasional nudity it'd probably be suitable for Sunday afternoon viewing.

2½ seduction brandies out of 5

Return of the Street Fighter (1974)

Sonny Chiba returns as Takuma Tsurugi, this time hired to take down someone dangerous, but he makes an enemy or three along the way.
There's a police investigation sub-plot buried in there somewhere, but mostly film number two is a series of fights that take place in different locations with varying weather conditions. It's not as good as The Street Fighter (1974) and some of the antics are ridiculous, but somehow Chiba makes them almost believable – he's that classy. I love how his eyes scan the room for danger even when he's intensely focussed on the fight at hand.
There's some B+W flashbacks interspersed between bouts, adding either more brutality or some much-needed plot to the violent action.

3 bloodied knuckles out of 5

The Stone Tape (1972)

A ghost story at Xmas is something of a tradition on British TV, possibly because the dark and chilly Blighty evenings mean many folks stay indoors next to a crackling fire, the perfect setting for an evening scare.
The Stone Tape is one such example. It's a TV Play set in a large derelict house. A group of scientists and corporate types move in and set up a makeshift lab, hoping to invent a new type of recording device that'll put them far ahead of their rivals. The schedule is interrupted when Jill, the only female of the group, experiences an eerie chill in the store room.
At its best it's the kind of unnatural occurrence that might eventually receive a visit from Sapphire and Steel, but it's too uneven to recommend to anyone who's not already in love with the genre and, in particular, the era.

2½ weeping rats out of 5

Cemetery of Splendour (2015)

On the surface it's perhaps not quite as strange as Apichatpong's Uncle Boonmee... (2010) film, but Cemetery has a similar elusive quality infused within every part of it, the kind that makes pinning down what exactly makes it different from other works very hard for me to translate into words.
The plot involves a female volunteer at a makeshift hospital in which a large number of soldiers are being treated for a mysterious sleeping disorder, while outside the facility other soldiers carry out construction work, digging up the beautiful landscape. The temporary ward shares the space it occupies with the living memories of people with a rich but distant history. The watchful camera, slow-paced lifestyle and complete lack of non-diegetic music all contribute to a feeling that something spiritually and culturally profound is unfolding, and to discern it we need only become sensitive to its equivocal splendour.

3 funeral lights out of 5

The Ju-on Collection

The franchise began life in 1998 as two short films directed by Takashi Shimizu that formed part of a TV Movie named Gakkô no kaidan G (1998); they were Katasumi (In a Corner) and 4444444444 (Ten Fours), respectively.
It then moved to V-Cinema for The Curse I+II (2000) before finally making the leap to a full theatrical release with Ju-on: The Grudge (2002). Its success was such that Hollywood soon followed with a series of English language remakes, two of which were even helmed by Dir. Shimizu himself.
If you only want to experience the best that each region has to offer, the Nutshell contributors recommend number 03 in the Japanese language selection below, and number 02 in the English language selection.

Japanese Language Films:
01. Ju-on: The Curse (2000)
02. Ju-on: The Curse 2 (2000)
03. Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)
04. Ju-On: The Grudge 2 (2003)
05. Ju-on: Black Ghost (2009)
06. Ju-on: White Ghost (2009)
07. Ju-on: The Beginning of the End (2014)
08. Ju-on: The Final Curse (2015)
09. Sadako vs. Kayako (2016)

English Language Films:
01. The Grudge (2004)
02. The Grudge: Director's Cut (2004)
03. The Grudge 2 (2006)
04. The Grudge 3 (2009)

NOTE: Sadako vs. Kayako (2016) is a crossover with the Ringu franchise. For short reviews of films in that series see The Ringu Collection.

Special ID (2013)

A Chinese action movie in which Donnie Yen plays an undercover cop who attempts to take down a gang leader, or something... it was all so bland that I'd forgotten the majority of it seconds after it had ended.
The fight scenes are as unconvincing as the props, except for a brief moment near the end with Tian Jing, during a car chase, where it almost feels like a scene from a Police Story sequel, but it's gone as quickly as it arrived.
The relationships were empty shells. But by far the worst aspect was the music - having none at all would've served the film better than the weak rock band garbage that was used the majority of the time.

1 leg-hug out of 5

Death Rides a Horse (1967)

An Italian-made (Spaghetti) Western in which four bandits brutally assault and murder an innocent family in their own home, leaving a young boy orphaned and shaken; it's a night of blood and fire that the youth never forgets. Fifteen years later he sets out to put an end to the horror.
There are clear influences from Leone, which is no surprise, but Dir. Giulio Petroni adds some impressive ideas of his own into the mix.
Lee Van Cleef is naturally excellent. If John Phillip Law had managed to recreate even half the charisma of Clint and not just display a similar taste in clothes, then Death Rides a Horse could've been a genuine classic of the genre. It narrowly misses out on being so, but it's still a damn fine addition and even has master composer Ennio Morricone on score duties.

3½ bad investments out of 5