’50s
Noah’s Barks pages covering things relating to the years 1950 to 1959, i.e. the ’50s.
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Death in the Garden
Death in the Garden is a fairly typical escape/wilderness survival story with the usual themes of psychological degradation. Something so standard is disappointing coming from Luis Buñuel, and while the characters all develop the direction doesn’t transcend the basic plot. And while the premise had not become tired yet, even identifiably unique things like the… (read more)
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Touch of Evil
Touch of Evil is a gigantic, ruthless bore for the first half, making no effort to have an engaging hook: a murder mystery about a case where the victims or the crime itself don’t actually matter. The main story about a detective jurisdiction dispute lacks fire when Orson Welles’s jabs are minor and ignored by… (read more)
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Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty is one of Disney’s richest works of artwork and animation, with a distinctively sharp, geometric illustrative style resembling painted glass and tapestry. Despite its stunning appearances, even by Disney standards the story is too traditional and can’t be saved its very light charms and their starkest villain yet. This return to form was… (read more)
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To Live
Between the moral platitudes, typical plot concept and progression until the last 50 minutes that just unnecessarily establish the point of the first 90, Takashi Shimura‘s total of two expressions, and that Akira Kurosawa has many better films under his belt, my reaction towards To Live (Ikiru) is enough to leave even me curious. It’s… (read more)
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Throne of Blood
Awesome, haunting stuff but I’ve noted in my other reviews that I’m a big fan of Akira Kurosawa‘s characterization through dialogue and there isn’t much of that in Throne of Blood. It has an extremely modest runtime for his career being under two hours, but it both does and doesn’t feel its length. It takes… (read more)
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The Seventh Seal
The themes on mortality aren’t of any particular insight, but The Seventh Seal‘s heavily sullen atmosphere invisibly weaves a dark shroud over a revived and stoically breathing portrait of a suffering 14th century Europe. Not without its share of duller moments, but they’re overcome through powerful imagery, properly contemplative philosophical musings, and surprisingly, some great… (read more)
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The Hidden Fortress
Certainly not my least favorite Akira Kurosawa movie, but The Hidden Fortress is the first to make me question what the point of it all was. I also wonder what the 139-minute running time went towards, as barely anything of significance happened. Most of the movie consists of the two bandits screwing up and Toshirô… (read more)
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Chuck Berry – “Berry Is on Top”
The timeless hip-shaking racket of ‘Berry Is on Top’ is enough to give you nostalgia for an age gone past—even one you may have never lived in. (read more)
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Seven Samurai
Akira Kurosawa is known for warm, humanistic dialogue and characters, but this burns brightest. ‘Seven Samurai’ is a celebration of life, and a fair one. (read more)
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Rashomon
People lie, I guess. I can’t be surprised by any aspect of Rashomon. If you view Rashomon under the perspective that it’s about perception against reality it’s a lot more interesting, but the narrative seems to suggest it’s simple egocentric lying with its drama about the evil in man. Evil that’s deliberate, as is shown… (read more)