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Netflix Movie Club |OT2| True Grit

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A friend tricked me into watching Ichi the Killer! I don't know how I watched the whole thing. The only movie I ever regret watching.
 
I've been meaning to watch this for a LONG time, so here we go!

Grimløck;156612004 said:
i've watched all the suggested movies before. i was hoping for more obscure gems from the movie club.
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Challenge accepted!
 
I have a few friends who love Ichi the Killer. They've asked me for ages to see it. Watched most of it today. Had to make dinner and spend time with the missus (and I know this is not something she wants to see) so I'll finish it tomorrow when I get home from work.

What an odd movie. For slasher/gangster I think it really fits the bill. The body mutilation and gangster elements add for a pretty odd slasher/gangster flick. It's more spectacle than anything else. Not the typical movie I'd see so it's refreshing to see something outside my comfort zone.
 
Grimløck;156612004 said:
i've watched all the suggested movies before. i was hoping for more obscure gems from the movie club.
Click to expand...

Nominate some stuff you haven't seen! I've seen a lot of the things that have been nominated so far, but luckily most of what has been chosen I haven't seen.
 
Rock And Roll said:
Nominate some stuff you haven't seen! I've seen a lot of the things that have been nominated so far, but luckily most of what has been chosen I haven't seen.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat. Out of the nine movies, I have only seen three of them. A few of them had been on my queue for awhile too. It has helped in that regard as well.
 
So I finished watching it. It's such an absurdity to this movie. I know there is a traditional barrier between east and west here at play too but there's just so much wrong with this movie. In both a good and bad way.

Looking up the wikipedia entry for slasher it's "a psychopathic killer stalking a sequence of victims in a violent manner, often with a bladed tool such as a knife" which is basicly what this is. But in a very odd way. There's also two psychopathic killers stalking around. Ichi is the odd one. Tadanobu Asano as Kakihara really sells the whole package as the more charismatic pshycopathic killer. Every scene he's in is a "joy" to watch. His wardrobe is fantastic.

But as a movie? Yikes. It's all over the place. There's no real point to it except torture, mutilation and senseless killing. With some repressed sexuality and violent BDSM thrown into the mix. Definitely out of my comfort zone.
 
Isn't there subtitles? For some reason its straight up Japanese. If not I may not watch it or will need to find another way. Looks brutal as hell so far.
 
Oh man people are in for a world wind of hurt with this one, probably one of the darkest most absurd comedy films out there.
 
Ichi and Audition introduced Takashi Miike to international acclaim. Amazing take on the Yakuza picture (his other Yakuza films Gozu, Fudoh: the New Generation and the first Dead or Alive need to be checked out too). The man was on a fucking roll in the late 90's and early to mid 00's but in the last couple of years his films have been very safe and un-confrontational. I never would guess that the director of Ichi the Killer would direct a live action Ace Attorney movie.
 
Watching Ichi tomorrow. Sort of looking forward to it.

Nominations for Week 11 are open. The genre is documentaries. There is over 1,000 to choose from.
 
For documentaries I'm going to nominate Pumping Iron (1977).

I also would like everyone to see Exit Through the Gift Shop as that is one of the best movies ever made regardless of genre. But won't nominate it because I've already seen it.
 
AlexSA2 said:
Ichi and Audition introduced Takashi Miike to international acclaim. Amazing take on the Yakuza picture (his other Yakuza films Gozu, Fudoh: the New Generation and the first Dead or Alive need to be checked out too). The man was on a fucking roll in the late 90's and early to mid 00's but in the last couple of years his films have been very safe and un-confrontational. I never would guess that the director of Ichi the Killer would direct a live action Ace Attorney movie.
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I miss the old Miike :(

The Miike who was making films such as:

Visitor Q
Ichi the Killer
Audition
Gozu -- (Gozu is a piece of demented brilliance)

The man was fearless at one point in time before he went on to make Ninja Kids (amongst countless other films)

Ninja-Kids-Nintama-Rantaro-Movie.jpg


Granted, I'm being harsh. I still very much like Miike's output, but I do somewhat miss the fearless Miike who wasn't afraid to push the boundaries of (bad?) taste. Still, he truly is one of the most versatile directors out there. It astounds me that he can make something as vile (and kind of brilliant) as Ichi the Killer and then go on to make what is essentially a kids film like Ninja Kids later on in his career.

Although, I know someone who has worked on the set of his latest film (Yakuza Apocalypse) and I've heard nothing but good things about that film and that it is a return to the Miike that I liked best. So that's got me pretty psyched.
 
I just finished Ichi The Killer...

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

It was like a trainwreck that I couldn't take my eyes away from. What kind of twisted bastard makes a movie like this?! I sat there curled up on my desk chair for 2 hours and just let it happen to me. Does this movie have a message, or any deeper meaning than being a sadistic, rapey gorefest? What the hell did I just watch? AND WHY DID I WATCH THIS MOVIE RIGHT BEFORE GOING TO BED?
 
Luap said:
I just finished Ichi The Killer...

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

It was like a trainwreck that I couldn't take my eyes away from. What kind of twisted bastard makes a movie like this?! I sat there curled up on my desk chair for 2 hours and just let it happen to me. Does this movie have a message, or any deeper meaning than being a sadistic, rapey gorefest? What the hell did I just watch? AND WHY DID I WATCH THIS MOVIE RIGHT BEFORE GOING TO BED?
Click to expand...
Now you just need to watch Gozu, you'll be scarred for the rest of your life after viewing that masterpiece.
 
Awww yeh, Ichi the Killer is one of my favourite films. Really like the movies i've seen by Takashi Miike, but i haven't gotten around to most of his other Yakuza films, i really gotta change that.

Gotta watch The Birdpeople in China too. I saw like 15 minutes of it before i fell asleep because it was like 4 in the morning, but holy fuck what a great soundtrack it has.

But back to Ichi the Killer: There's so much about this movie i love. Everything from
the super anti-climatic ending fight
to the straight up schizofrenic mood of the movie. It aso has ALOT of the (i dont know the word for it so help me pls) "cinemotography"?) that i really like about Miike. Scenes that are almost entirely shot from one camera, and the wide angles that show of the entire room with the cast being almost out of focus. Love that stuff.
 
Nominating Brother's Keeper for Documentary this week.

And yea, Ichi the Killer is quite the splatter fest, I liked it a lot, just because of how absurd it is.

The 2003 Prequel to Ichi the Killer is on Streaming Netflix as well, it's about Ichi in High School, social dynamics of a lawless school, Ichi watching people fight and getting off to it, until he finally does what Ichi does. It's pretty low budget, and obviously weird, but some of you might like it more because of the high school setting and the focus more on Ichi's story.

1-Ichi
 
A Human Becoming said:
The winner for this week is...Marmato! It was nominated past the deadline, but it's a small group so again I'll let that go.

Netflix page (Long) Youtube trailer

Director: Mark Grieco
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There wasn't a winner yet, that's my excuse :)

Edit: started watching this at lunch and got about halfway through. I'm having trouble figuring out which slant they've taken. Almost seems like their just showing facts rather than try to push an agenda. A lot of reading but its pretty interesting so far.

Lol...pay attention to the tune their playing at the one guys daughters graduation. That song has to have an alternate meaning because it sure as hell doesn't fit the theme.
 
I was especially confused by the ending of Ichi The Killer. So much left unexplained. Like why did
Jijii tell Ichi that Kaneko was his brother
? And why did
Jijii hang himself
? What happened to
Ichi... did he get kicked to death by the kid
? Who was the person
who's looking back in the final shot of the film
? It didn't quite look like
Ichi but he looked too old to be the kid
.

What a weird movie.
 
Finished Marmato. That was actually a pretty decent documentary. I didn't feel like there was an agenda at all. Felt more like an impartial eye letting me just see how things have unfolded. Got a little dark as it progressed but amazingly those villages were quite peaceful through it all...mostly.
 
Luap said:
I was especially confused by the ending of Ichi The Killer. So much left unexplained. Like why did
Jijii tell Ichi that Kaneko was his brother
? And why did
Jijii hang himself
? What happened to
Ichi... did he get kicked to death by the kid
? Who was the person
who's looking back in the final shot of the film
? It didn't quite look like
Ichi but he looked too old to be the kid
.

What a weird movie.
Click to expand...

The answer to all those questions is:
tumblr_moxr8mj1sC1s2ebdwo1_500.gif
 
lordxar said:
Lol...pay attention to the tune their playing at the one guys daughters graduation. That song has to have an alternate meaning because it sure as hell doesn't fit the theme.
Click to expand...

I was laughing when I watched that scene, glad to see someone else heard it.

Just finished it today since I was busy all weekend. I agree with you guys, it really didn't push any agenda, which in my opinion is what the main goal of any documentary should be. Just present facts and let the viewer come to their own conclusions. The shots of the town/mountain/mine were really good too.

I gave it 3 stars. There wasn't a whole lot to this movie and it just chugged along slowly.
 
Rock And Roll said:
I was laughing when I watched that scene, glad to see someone else heard it.

Just finished it today since I was busy all weekend. I agree with you guys, it really didn't push any agenda, which in my opinion is what the main goal of any documentary should be. Just present facts and let the viewer come to their own conclusions. The shots of the town/mountain/mine were really good too.

I gave it 3 stars. There wasn't a whole lot to this movie and it just chugged along slowly.
Click to expand...

Actually this was probably the best documentary I've watched as far as just presenting the idea as unbiased. Wish more were like this one. Give me the information and let me decide. Don't pull a Super Size Me which I would agree with except the presentation irritated the shit out of me. So if I had to watch that and go vote on something I'd vote for fast food just cuz the guy was a douche. :)

The visuals were great. I love seeing how others live and the miners are pretty inventive.

We voting anything in this week? I need to look what the category is.
 
I was especially confused by the ending of Ichi The Killer. So much left unexplained.
Like why did Jijii tell Ichi that Kaneko was his brother? And why did Jijii hang himself? What happened to Ichi... did he get kicked to death by the kid? Who was the person who's looking back in the final shot of the film? It didn't quite look like Ichi but he looked too old to be the kid.

What a weird movie.
Click to expand...

Why did Jiji tell Ichi that Kaneko was his brother?

If you look at the photos of Ichi's final targets, you will notice that Kaneko is left out. Perhaps Jiji telling Ichi that Kaneko was his brother was a way of sparing Kaneko's life. After all, Kaneko was somewhat kind to Ichi earlier on in the film.

Then again, maybe there is no rhyme or reason to it. After all, it's implied that Jiji was in control of Karen (with the whole Tachibana backstory)

And why did Jijii hang himself?

Pretty easy answer. Jiji is a masochist. For him, Ichi was his greatest creation. The ultimate killer who felt no remorse. Kakihara was the ultimate target for said killer. Jiji was watching his carefully orchestrated game from a distance and he was essentially enjoying it just as much. However, as noted in the film, when Jiji looks at Kakihara's head, he notices that there is not a single mark on Kakihara. Meaning that Kakihara killed himself. Ichi failed. Jiji's plan failed.

The idea behind the ending is pretty simple. Kakihara isn't looking for Ichi for the means of revenge for his fallen boss, rather he's looking for Ichi because he believes that Ichi is the man to fill the void that is left as a result of the death of his boss and lover (of sorts). As Ichi is left in shambles and crying over killing Kaneko, Kakihara finally realises that Ichi is not the person to fill that void and instead throws himself off the building in despair.

Basically the ending is symbolic that none of these characters got what they desired and in the end, death became their alternative. It's a pretty (absurd) tragic ending. Hence why Jiji hung himself, he failed to meet his own desires as Ichi failed to take out Kakihara.

Or perhaps...there is another take on the ending, but we'll get to that...

What happened to Ichi... did he get kicked to death by the kid?

Presumably still alive. Presumably still a distressed mess.

Another take on the ending is that it was Kaneko's child who killed Jiji and that it is Kaneko's child who turns around at the end...considering the crow and all. Remember, Kaneko's kid was really into feeding the crows and as the guy turns around in the final shot, a crow flies by him. Maybe its symbolic that Kaneko's child grew up and got revenge...although I'm not really a fan of this take, it is still plausible.

It is a weird movie and it does (I think) slightly fall apart at the end with the over blown ending, but I usually go for the first theory. That in the end it was Jiji who killed himself...I don't know, it seemed the easier answer to digest and made more sense with what the movie is actually about.
 
DanielMann said:
Why did Jiji tell Ichi that Kaneko was his brother?

If you look at the photos of Ichi's final targets, you will notice that Kaneko is left out. Perhaps Jiji telling Ichi that Kaneko was his brother was a way of sparing Kaneko's life. After all, Kaneko was somewhat kind to Ichi earlier on in the film.

Then again, maybe there is no rhyme or reason to it. After all, it's implied that Jiji was in control of Karen (with the whole Tachibana backstory)

And why did Jijii hang himself?

Pretty easy answer. Jiji is a masochist. For him, Ichi was his greatest creation. The ultimate killer who felt no remorse. Kakihara was the ultimate target for said killer. Jiji was watching his carefully orchestrated game from a distance and he was essentially enjoying it just as much. However, as noted in the film, when Jiji looks at Kakihara's head, he notices that there is not a single mark on Kakihara. Meaning that Kakihara killed himself. Ichi failed. Jiji's plan failed.

The idea behind the ending is pretty simple. Kakihara isn't looking for Ichi for the means of revenge for his fallen boss, rather he's looking for Ichi because he believes that Ichi is the man to fill the void that is left as a result of the death of his boss and lover (of sorts). As Ichi is left in shambles and crying over killing Kaneko, Kakihara finally realises that Ichi is not the person to fill that void and instead throws himself off the building in despair.

Basically the ending is symbolic that none of these characters got what they desired and in the end, death became their alternative. It's a pretty (absurd) tragic ending. Hence why Jiji hung himself, he failed to meet his own desires as Ichi failed to take out Kakihara.

Or perhaps...there is another take on the ending, but we'll get to that...

What happened to Ichi... did he get kicked to death by the kid?

Presumably still alive. Presumably still a distressed mess.

Another take on the ending is that it was Kaneko's child who killed Jiji and that it is Kaneko's child who turns around at the end...considering the crow and all. Remember, Kaneko's kid was really into feeding the crows and as the guy turns around in the final shot, a crow flies by him. Maybe its symbolic that Kaneko's child grew up and got revenge...although I'm not really a fan of this take, it is still plausible.

It is a weird movie and it does (I think) slightly fall apart at the end with the over blown ending, but I usually go for the first theory. That in the end it was Jiji who killed himself...I don't know, it seemed the easier answer to digest and made more sense with what the movie is actually about.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the breakdown. I can definitely see that now about
Kakihara being the ultimate masochist and Ichi being the ultimate sadist, and Jijii basically getting off on the showdown between the two
.

Still, for sure the weirdest movie I've ever watched. Your clarification helped a lot though.


obin_gam said:
The answer to all those questions is:
tumblr_moxr8mj1sC1s2ebdwo1_500.gif
Click to expand...

lol

Gotta love that Glasgow smile.
 
SalsaShark said:
fun fact: I went to Marmato last year
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What was it like?

Marmato was a decent documentary. Some of the aerial shots looked amazing on my TV. Corporations exploiting native people is a meaningful topic to me and I admired the will and devotion of the people for their town and survival. My only gripe with the whole situation is how the Canadian mining company was unable to prevent the locals miners from breaking into the mines. Couldn't they have paid for guards or put more government pressure to protect their property? I'm glad they didn't be it seemed like a strange oversight.

I'm only seeing three nominations so far. I won't be choosing until the end of tomorrow so feel free to nominate until the choice is announced!

I nominate Red Cliff.
 
For sports I'll nominate The Hustler (1961). Still haven't seen it and I've only seen some of The Color of Money.
 
Finished "Maravilla" The story of Sergio "marvilla" Martinez, one of my favorite boxers. It is not the best documentary but it was fascinating to learn more about him and the politics in the boxing world. If anyone wants a good boxing doc I recommend "Champs". However, it is not on Netflix.
 
Not sure if I will finish it tonight but this is damn good. Its like watching a 60's version of modern reality TV.
 
Watched it last night and was really impressed. It just really gave off such good vibrations while watching it. Even the narration manages to stay pleasant even though it could have easily went the other way.

Seeing them discover new locations (especially in Africa) was surprisingly captivating. There's not a whole lot to say about this one too as it is a documentary, but I totally agree it's almost like a blueprint for some current reality TV. I gave it 5 stars.
 
That surprisingly wasn't bad. I didn't expect much when it started but I was pretty engaged once the Africa segment started. Once they moved on though, I lost interest. Definitely wouldn't have watched something like without this thread but it was a cool little thing.
 
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