raoul-guariguata

How do I start this? Okay, I'm not into punk music anymore. Since over a decade. Most bands in the movie I listened to when I was in my teens. Well, now you have all these guys from punk bands who turned fathers trying to cope with their new life style and the apparent "contradictions" with their punk present and past. The question for me is: how rebellious had they been in the past?? Or was it all mere show? I don't criticize the family aspect. I believe it is a part of life getting older and having children. My criticism is rather how established these guys get, living the same life anybody lives, engaging material values and so on. The real question remains: if they hated society so much as some pretend: why didn't they try an alternative life style with their family? Starting up communes or ecological projects are what so ever. I don't really see any political awareness with most of the protagonists except: f+?3 this, or f?$§ that. Really, they have become so common and the only difference is probably that they are tattooed and whatsoever while the rest of the family represents the typical suburban family, with the dad being a musician for profession. I acknowledge Ron Reyes since he took a big step and left everything behind and I don't know how much he would still consider his self part of the punk movement.

The movie becomes very repetitive, often the same views and ideas just coming from different mouths: "I'm on tour, can't see my children, have to earn money for them."..blablabla.... Way too long for such little information given.

Anyway. WTF were Blink 182 doing in the movie since they belong to the Post-Punk-MTV-era.....

13 Assassins is a bad ass movie. I would have loved to see this movie in cinema, but unfortunately German audience, cinema and distributors are ignorant, so it was a direct to DVD-release. Story is simple: mid of 19th century. Evil lord who loves torturing people should be assassinated by a group of samurai. Similarity with Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece Seven Samurai is given, but it is a remake of a 1960's movie with the same title. Unusual "normal" for a Takashi Miike movie, he proves in my opinion that he is able to create movies for bigger audiences and not only film lovers with focus on Asian cinema. Although he has left the underground a long time a go. Like I mentioned above, this movie would have deserved a theatrical release. I love chambara movies and have seen many. This is definite a return to the genre, even if Miike makes some mistakes at points, the movie is outstanding. Costume, setting, actors. Everything has been created with extreme love for the detail. A entire village was set up (and then more or less completely destroyed for the movie). The main battle is epic. 40 min non stop action. Miike keeps the violence relatively low for his standards. Two or three decapitations, not really any severed limbs. Could have had more I thought, but then it probably wouldn't have worked for a bigger audience. The actors are superb and suit their roles. I did feel reminded of good old sixties with Mifune and Nakadai. The actors might not possess their status and their charisma, but they are close and Miike is proving that he can handle serious and bigger stuff. The CGI he should have let done by an European or American team, then there wouldn't have been any visual flaws. The blood from the roof....I really would like to know if Miike was inspired by Kitamura's Azumi, in which there is a similar scene towards the end. For people, who don't like dialogs and long introductions: the movie is split in two. A very long build up over half of the movie and the last third the battle. I am reviewing the international version with its 2H 5min runtime. The Japanese is half an hour longer. I am looking forward, once released....and for the next Miike-movies. A director the international critics can't ignore no longer.....