the plot goes where the money flows - we simply follow orders

Average rating: 7, disregarding the turkey

 

A Fistful of Dollars {Per un pugno di dollari} (1964) - "Wandering gunfighter Joe arrives in the Mexican village of San Miguel in the midst of a power struggle among sheriff John Baxter and the three Rojo brothers. When a regiment of Mexican soldiers bearing gold is waylaid by the Rojo brothers, Joe is hired by Esteban to join the gang, but he plays one side against the other." 

length: 1h, 39m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Sergio Leone  |  why I watched: I'd seen it a few times, but never reviewed

IMDb: 7.9/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 98% / 91% Audience  |  my IMDb: 7/10  |  MPAA: R

tone & texture: gritty, grit & grain

notable quote: "'You see, I understand you men were just playin' around, but the mule, he just doesn't get it. Course, if you were to all apologize...'

    [they laugh] 

    'I don't think it's nice, you laughin'. You see, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughin' at him. Now if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it.'"

my notes: it's not subtle, but then it's not supposed to be. This is a distillation of Westerns, in one untidy package. 

themes: justice, chaos v. order

overall:  recommended

 

Payback (1999) - "A small-time criminal double-crossed by his partners claws his way back from the brink of death with a single, obsessive goal: collecting the money he believes he’s owed. In Payback, that simple premise unfolds as a relentless march through a bleak urban underworld where every encounter leads to another beating, threat, or act of retaliation. The film leans heavily on cynicism and brutality, presenting a criminal ecosystem in which nearly every character is corrupt and violence is the primary language of negotiation. What begins as a straightforward revenge caper gradually settles into a grim exercise in endurance." 

length: 1h, 40m  |  source: PlutoTV  |  directed by Brian Helgeland  |  why I watched: it's been in my Pluto watchlist for ages

IMDb: 7.0/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 56% / 69% Audience  |  my IMDb: 1/10  |  MPAA: R

tone & texture: cynical, monochrome/muted

my notes: I watched for a while, maybe 30 or 40 minutes, before turning it off. Violence for the sake of violence, with no shot at redemption or meaning, is oppressive. 

themes: revenge

overall: not  recommended

The Goldfinger {Jin shǒu zhǐ} (2023) - "Set against the roaring boom and brittle excess of 1980s Hong Kong, The Goldfinger follows the meteoric rise of a flamboyant financial operator whose empire expands faster than its foundations can support. As wealth multiplies and influence spreads through banks, brokers, and boardrooms, investigators begin to trace the fault lines of a spectacular fraud. What unfolds is less a simple crime story than a chronicle of ambition, illusion, and the dangerous alchemy of money and charisma." 

length: 2h, 6m  |  source: Fawesome  |  directed by Felix Chong  |  why I watched: it stars my two recent favorites, Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Andy Lau, back together again for the first time since the Infernal Affairs saga

IMDb: 6.2/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 59% / 75% Audience  |  my IMDb: 8/10  |  MPAA: not rated

tone & texture: unsettling, high-color/stylized

notable quote: "'You think I'm stupid?'

    'Mmm hmm.'"

my notes: it's so much deeper than it looks. It reminds me of a combination of Wolf of Wall Street, Catch Me If You Can, and maybe Criminal Minds or Law & Order: Criminal Intent. It's crazy, loopy, BIG, quite funny at times, desperately sad, and intricately complex in the layers that need unraveling. And all built around the stupidly simple structure of pyramid scheming.

    Leung is terrific as Ching Yat Yin, showing off his range and facility for micro-expression. Dude can say more with one eyebrow than most actors could in a monologue. He is incredible. Andy Lau, playing the straight banana, can somehow convey personal power and the force of righteous justice at the same time as the weariness and frustration of being under bureaucratic water. He is accessible.

    (The Chinese title translates to something like "Magic Touch" or "Money-maker", giving it less of a cheeky James Bond nod and more of a Scorsesesque greed stamp.)

themes: power, transformation, justice

overall: highly recommended

Eat Drink Man Woman {Yǐn shí nán nǚ} (1994) - "In Taipei, a widowed master chef gathers his three adult daughters every Sunday for elaborate family dinners—ritual feasts prepared with extraordinary care, even as the family members themselves struggle to say what they truly feel. In Eat Drink Man Woman, daily life unfolds through food, conversation, and small revelations as each daughter begins to reshape her future. With warmth, humor, and quiet observation, the film explores how love, independence, and tradition collide within a modern family, where the most important conversations often happen between bites." 

length: 2h, 4m  |  source: PlutoTV  |  directed by Ang Lee  |  why I watched: this film was recommended as a natural follow-up to Little Forest (2018, reviewed here)

IMDb: 7.8/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 88% / 92% Audience  |  my IMDb: 7/10  |  MPAA: not rated

tone & texture: intimate, classic Hollywood polish

notable quote: "'Don't get upset.... It was bound to happen.' 

    'I'm not upset. I hope they all move out, so I can have a quiet life.' 

    'Quiet life? I know you. What you want, you can't get. What you don't want, you can't get rid of. You're as repressed as a turtle.'"

my notes: I liked it. The food looked amazing, the cooking was fun, and some of the relationships were fascinating. But it didn't quite move me, as I'd hoped. The eldest daughter (Jia-Jen, played by Kuei-Mei Yang), especially, was hard to like or relate with. 

    The original title is part of a Chinese proverb. It does mean "eat drink man woman" but in Asian audiences, this is clearly known to be the sum of fundamental needs and desires. In the movie, the eat/drink part is literal (and also represents the father's way of communicating). The man/woman part should be apparent.    

themes: tradition v. change, love

overall:  recommended

 

The Killing (1956) - "A meticulously planned racetrack robbery draws together a group of small-time operators, each assigned a precise role in a tightly timed scheme. The plan unfolds from multiple angles, revealing how preparation, personality, and chance intersect in ways no one can fully control. As the clockwork design begins to strain under human weakness and unforeseen variables, the film turns a straightforward heist into a study of how fragile even the best-laid plans can be." 

length: 1h, 24m  |  source: PlutoTV  |  directed by Stanley Kubrick  |  why I watched: it was recommended as a well done, different sort of noir

IMDb: 7.9/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 96% / 92% Audience  |  my IMDb: 6/10  |  MPAA: Approved

tone & texture: straightforward, noir shadows

notable quote: "I know I'm not pretty, and I'm not very smart. Please don't leave me alone again."

my notes: I didn't love it. I can see how it was well done—it's all about the structure of the heist, the 'how'—but it's not the kind of film that I can grab onto. I need the 'why', to find a movie I can love. 

themes: chaos v. order

    Roger Ebert loved this one.  

overall:  recommended, I guess? Others may like it better than I did. 

 

[the title quotation is from The Goldfinger]