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Payback: Straight Up- The Director's Cut, a review by Jon

Payback was released in 1999 and it was based on a book called The Hunter by Richard Stark. The same source material for John Boorman's Point Blank starring Lee Marvin. I must give that earlier film another go; I saw it years ago and liked the story, but not the style, or even the ending.

When Payback came out I really liked it. It was the same story, but low key and to the point. And the point was usually being used to batter someone! Grimy, violent little film that it is!

I didn't know that the film I saw in 1999 wasn't what was originally intended and that apparently it didn't test well, so Brian Helgeland the director was kicked off because he refused to change it, a new section filmed with a new ending and the whole thing edited different. Now Brian has gone back to his original footage and pieced it back to how it originally was. As I said, I did like that theatrical version, so I was reluctant to get Straight Up. Especially when you think he directed The Sin Eater, so maybe he doesn't know what the heck he is doing and perhaps the theatrical Payback was a rescue job.

I just watched Straight Up and I like it more than the standard Payback. Leaner and meaner, it harks back to the 1970s (Helgeland's original intention apparently) and removes a lot of stuff that was added just to spell things out to the audience. It's lost some humour, but the stark brutality makes more sense. Somehow the theatrical version seems a bit silly to me now. You may think different, but both versions are worth seeing.

So anyway, if you like gritty 1970s style crime films, I recommend this. If you've seen the original Payback, I really recommend it, if only for novelty value. But if you don't fit either of those slots, I still implore you to get this modestly priced DVD because the extra features give a fantastic glimpse into the bonkers world of Hollywood. Payback demonstrates all that is right and wrong and right again with the filmmaking business, and the 'Making of' featurette is one of the best I've seen.

Normally in situations like these you have to wait until someones dead (Orson Welles, Touch of Evil) or it becomes tit for tat grudge crap (The Exorcist: Dominion) before you see definitive (or hacked!) versions. Here though, the 'making of' is made up of interviews by people with only positive things to say about the whole affair, including Mel Gibson. They still stick strongly to their original intentions, but I think the fact Straight Up exists at all is miraculous. They are all gracious about each others intentions, so it's a pleasant half hour.

Parts of the interviews, especially the composer of the new score, are often quite moving even. And Brian Helgeland has the last line and tearfully puts everything in perspective, especially if you were starting to think of Gibson as the villainous producer... 

There's a good interview with Richard Stark too.

(From Payback: Straight Up- The Director's Cut on December 13th, 2007)

Zatoichi in Desperation, a review by Antares

Zatoichi in Desperation (1972) 72/100 - One has to wonder if the title of the 24th film in the series is meant to describe the feeling in its star, that the end is near in this long franchise. After the lackluster offering that preceded this film, Katsu decided to take the reins of director upon himself and he makes a very striking film from a visual standpoint. Although at times, his framing dwells precipitously close to art school overindulgence. A lot of people consider this a weak sister when compared to the long extended family of films of the blind masseur, but I thought it was quite entertaining, and only in brief moments, did it lag. What I liked the most was that Katsu kind of returns to the roots of the franchise, when it wasn't all about action and comedic segments, with a bleak storyline and setting. Katsu also tosses in a few MacGuffin side plots, one which seems to pay homage to Kenji Mizoguchi's Sanshō dayū. One of the highlights of this film is when Ichi finally gets a bit of trim from a prostitute, whose mother, through a kindly act from Ichi, is accidentally killed in the beginning of the story. Alas, the prostitute is merely setting him up for his assassination. Finally, the climactic battle in the end is made more suspenseful when Ichi has his hands stabbed by whaling spears in exchange for the prostitute's life. The yakuza boss gives him back his cane sword and Ichi awaits his execution by the yakuza's brigands in the morning. But Ichi has one surprise left in his bag of self defense tricks, and although wounded seriously, he lives on to make the final film in the Toho run. It's not a great film, but it's worth a look if your a completest and dare I say, I'd probably watch this one again in the future.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on December 20th, 2014)

[Rerun Marathon] Spaced, a review by Tom

9/10

Fun episode.

(From [Rerun Marathon] Spaced on November 18th, 2007)