Throne of Blood - "A Man Without Ambition is Not a Man"

Film 4 are currently running a Kurosawa season at the moment, and the latest one was this classic retelling of Macbeth. Samurai Commanders Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and Miki (Minoru Chiaki), on their way to see their feudal lord Tsuzuki (Takamaru Sasaki), Lord of the Spider Web castle, encounter a fortune-telling demon.

Famous for the final "arrow" scene, I don't think it's as good as Yojimbo or, my favourite, Sanjuro, although the Scottish Play does translate rather well to feudal Japan. Mifune is excellent as the increasingly paranoid and tyrannical Washizu, driven by both his wife (Isuzu Yamada) and his own ambition to fulfil his destiny, whatever the cost, and the whole film has a creepy foreboding quality.

Contrasting with this (through my LoveFilm subscription), and also a story of ambition, is Pain and Gain, a crime "comedy" starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Body builder and personal trainer Daniel Lugo (Wahlberg) decides that he wants the high life that he sees some of his clients enjoying.

Although it does have a few funny moments, it's mostly a rather silly and somewhat grim crime caper. Wahlberg isn't too bad, and he's got suitable support in Johnson as a Christian ex-con and Ed Harris as a private eye trying to convince the police to take the whole thing seriously. The real suprise, though, is that it's all true(-ish), making the whole thing rather sad (the protagonists are currently on death row in Florida).

2 Guns and The Yards

I seem to have been watching a lot of films with Mark Wahlberg in them recently. Previously there was the cops-n-crims drama We Own The Night, and now there's these two films. Firstly, The Yards, through the LoveFilm Instants streaming service.

Fresh out of jail, having taken the rap for his friends, Leo (Wahlberg) tries to get a job at the local train repair yard and gets taken under the wing of corrupt fixer Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix) and his boss, and Leo's uncle, Frank Olchin (James Caan).

Made by the same director as We Own The Night, and with the same lead actors, the results are pretty much the same. Phoenix dominates as the corrupt and amoral Gutierrez, increasingly desperate as his plans go awry. Caan gives as good as he gets and brings a certain gravitas that only a man who's played opposite Pacino in the Godfather can. Charlize Theron is a surprise though, almost unrecognisable in what must have been, like Wahlberg, one of her first films. Wahlberg also looks young and is outclassed by the rest of the cast, but this was early in his career and you can see, looking at his later films, that he's improved, probably by knowing what roles he can't do as much as what he can.

Speaking of which, I watched one of his latest films, 2 Guns with Denzel Washington. Two agents, Bobby Trench (Washington) and Mike "Stig" Stigman (Wahlberg), unaware of each others true role, rob a bank to implicate a Mexican drugs baron Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos) and end up stealing $43 million belonging to the CIA.

A more-than-decent action film, with a fair amount of genial banter between the two leads. The plot is above average as well, with enough double crosses to make sure you don't take it for granted. The only thing which lets the whole thing down is the support, with Olmos looking like he can't wait for the cheque to arrive and Bill Paxton trying to be a mean CIA agent. Paula Patton is also underused as the love interest, but this is basically a buddy movie with a few twists and lots of bangs and crashes. Wahlberg takes to his role rather well, but is somewhat outclassed by Washington, as you'd expect (he's better than Sly, though). Overall, pretty good and a superior pizza movie.

We Own The Night

A crime thriller from a few years ago. In the late 1980's, night club owner Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) gets embroiled in a struggle between Russian drug dealers and the cops, represented by his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and his father (Robert Duvall).

A good story, if a bit by the numbers, and somewhat unevenly paced. Phoenix is good, but the supporting cast is underused, especially Duvall and Eva Mendes as Green's girlfriend. However, it makes for a better than average pizza movie.

Broken City & Glengarry Glen Ross

I received this through my LoveFilm subscription. After resigning from the N.Y.P.D. due to a shooting in suspicious circumstances, private investigator Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) is asked by Mayor Hostetler (Russell Crowe) to investigate his wife's suspected adultery.

Both actors are too good to just phone in the part, but Wahlberg is outclassed by Crowe here, although the latter is somewhat miscast I think. The supporting cast is pretty top notch, especially Alona Tal as Taggarts' assistant. The thing that lets the movie down, however, is the plot, which you can see coming a mile-and-a-half away. Maybe a better scriptwriter would have introduced a few twists and turns to ramp up the tension. Not a bad movie, but an opportunity missed.

Glengarry Glen Ross I'd never seen before, despite it being over twenty years old, and I spotted it amongst the freebie's we can't sell at the shop, so I snagged it. Four salesmen (Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin) at a real estate company and their manager (Kevin Spacey) are presented with a problem when their superior (Alec Baldwin) calls with a new monthly "incentive":

Originally this was a stage play by David Mamet, which he then wrote as a film script, but it still has that feel. It's an excuse for everyone to give 150% and they don't disappoint (even Alec Baldwin shines and he's only on for twenty minutes), but it's Jack Lemmon's film, playing a worn out desperate man looking for one last success. Highly recommended.