Change Your Image
Tim-329
Reviews
The Decoy (2006)
Good effort
I've seen a preview of this Western. It is definitely a low budget effort - but made with a lot of heart. First off and worthy of immediate mention are the locations. This looks and feels like a Western. The acting is better than average at this level and I really liked the guy who played Martin. What perhaps could be improved with this picture is the work in post. The editing could be a big sharper, the sound mix and little richer and some more compositing and filtering could really bring to life some excellent shots. But what of the story? Actually the underlying plot is quite good. A mute man is framed as a 'decoy' to take the heat for a murder - all to cover up a bank robbery. His friend the sheriff must then escort him to the hanging. But the film is a little bit slow in getting going. I'd have preferred it if it had featured more of this journey and beefed up the conflict between this two friends / adversaries. Even if this meant we saw some of the preamble in flashback. All in all - I'll be checking out other films from these guys as this first feature shows promise and grit.
Tsuribaka nisshi 16: Hamasaki wa kyo mo damedatta (2005)
Nuts!
I saw this on the airplane while everyone else was watching Narnia or something. It was nuts - in an old skool style similar to the Marx Brothers. I think if you were Japanese you would look down on it as puerile rubbish. But it was just so silly I loved it.
The story is simple enough. A Japanese businessman skives off work to go fishing and has various misadventures before a feelgood ending.
I couldn't believe that this was in fact the 16th film in the series. I thought the title just happened to have the number 16 on the end. As far as I can tell the series follow this happy-go-lucky central character. I can't think of a Western series that has gone on for this long. Maybe that's a good thing! Certainly in the UK we would see this more as a TV series than a film franchise - but then I'd have missed it. What it does show however is that perhaps we need more likable characters in films. Most central roles in the West are either idiots, nasty or devious.