The Death Note live-action Japanese films!

In Japan, the Death Note manga story was made into 2 live action films. Having just seen them recently, I'm highly recommending them to any fan of the manga or anime series.

(Caution: spoilers may follow)

As you can imagine, trying to condense a 13 volume manga series into 2 films is going to be a tough task, and much detail must be sacrificed in any such endeavor. However, given how well plotted the manipulations were, it makes me wonder what the problem is with American film adaptations when liberties are taken with plot. Very often a movie butchers a book's plot so severely that if you have read the original work, the film is completely un-enjoyable.

This is far from the case with "Death Note" and "Death Note: The Last Name". There are a number of deviations from the plot, and of course many of the scenes are omitted, but all of these changes are done with close attention to the integrity of the concept and characters behind Death Note.

The movies never introduce characters like Mello or Near from the manga, but they compensate by keeping the drama and competition between Light and L extremely captivating. Light's manipulation of characters using the powers of the Death Note goes into uncharted territory with these films, although the underlying twisted motives will ring familiar bells with fans of the manga or anime series. I recommend checking these films out! You can probably find them under foreign films-Japanese. There are also plans for an American Live Action re-make of this story, so watch for that too...

Seven

For my 7th post, I'm choosing to review my favorite movie: Seven.

Seven is a psychological thriller that is so well plotted there are hardly any films that compare to it. I often refer to it as my #1 favorite movie. I've even heard that the word 'Seven' is spoken seven times in the script of the movie, but every time I try to count the 'sevens' I end up getting sucked into the plot again and lose count by the 4th or 5th 'seven'. I can talk about this film endlessly, but I'll try to just give a quick review, offer some of my thoughts and leave it at that.

(Caution: spoilers may follow.)
Seven tells the story of 2 New York detectives (Mills & Somerset) investigating a series of homicides with a common theme; the seven deadly sins: gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, pride, envy and wrath. The crime scenes are quite gruesome as the serial killer uses the victim's own "sin" as the method of their "punishment".

Just when it seems that Mills & Somerset will run out of time to save any of the presumed 7 victims, the killer hands himself in. And his name is John Doe.

The most memorable part of the movie is, of course, the killer twist that comes when John Doe reveals his final victims. I've heard reviewers say it left them feeling like they had just been run over by a train. I couldn't agree more.

The thing that fascinates me most about Seven, and keeps me watching it every so-often is how the 3 main characters all seem to be dealing with the same struggle: to get by in the chaotic, dangerous environment that is New York. Drugs & violence seem to permeate society from every angle here. The way I see the characters' psyches is pretty much the same: in some way or another, they all give up this struggle at some point in the film. They only differ in how they deal with this feeling of futility. At one point in the movie John Doe even brings this to detective Mills' attention, stating how they may be more similar than Mills might believe.

John Doe (played by Kevin Spacey): John Doe gas given up in his struggle to live a normal life in the sin-infested environment of New York long before the story has even begun. We get a small glimpse into his mind when Somerset reads a couple passages from John Doe's library of journals while searching the suspect's home. He's chosen to deal with his frustration with the commonplace acceptance of the 7 deadly sins by committing atrocious acts of "forced attrition" against those he sees as sinners. The police see the results as a senseless killing spree until our detectives come along and start to put the pieces together.

Detective Somerset (played by Morgan Freeman): This man is a veteran detective on the brink of retirement who is asked to mentor newbie David Mills before he hangs up his badge & gun for good. His retirement represents his point of giving up in the struggle to fight crime he sees as more futile by the day. In the course of the film we discover how this pessimistic environment has affected Somerset's personal life, resulting in his inability to remain close to any of the people he may have once loved. When it came down to being dedicated to either a family or his job, he chose his job, in hopes that he could still make a difference. Throughout the film this belief of his is in constant doubt.

Detective David Mills (played by Brad Pitt): Mills is a young & 'green' detective with a drive to make a difference & prove himself a worthy detective. He embarks on this case with a perspective that reminds Somerset of how he used to think when he was younger. His ambition also reveals an underlying impatience that often gets the best of him. Once Doe hands himself in, while the police are still making sense of his crimes, he tells the detectives (through his lawyer) he'll confess if he can reveal the last 2 bodies to Mills & Somerset alone. The legal obstacles to a death penalty for Doe are so frustrating to Mills its almost more than he can stand. He jumps at the chance to get Doe's confession, and at the same time falls into Doe's trap.

As John Doe reveals the crowning piece of his series of 7 murders, the results are so personally devastating to Mills that he loses his mind and gives up on the legal system he works to support. He becomes a vigilante (and I can't blame him, you'll see what I mean if you watch this film), taking John Doe's life in dramatic fashion...

Don't be surprised if this movie leaves you asking yourself, "What's the point of life anyway?" Don't say I didn't warn you.

Heath Ledger & 10 Things I Hate About You

Heath Ledger, the actor from the movies 10 Things I Hate About You & Brokeback Mountain, passed away earlier this week. His death is an unexpected tragedy, and he will be missed. As an actor I thougth Ledger had the potential to become as popular as Tom Cruise (but not as crazy), or Russell Crowe (but not as arrogant). He seemed to have the world ahead of him...

Of the films he made in his all-too-soon ended career, 10 Things I Hate About You is my personal favorite. In this re-telling of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Ledger plays the Bad-ass high school bad-boy, who's initially bribed to date the older of 2 sisters, so another boy can date the younger sister. The older sister has long since sworn to never date, and has gained a less than pleasant reputation. In Ledger's character's efforts to win her trust and take her to the prom, he finds he really does like her, and after all the typical teen drama plays out, everybody who's nice gets a happy ending.

As far as comedies go, this is always in my top 5 favorites (I also count the original Blues Bros., and The Princess Bride in the top 5). In many ways its a typical teen comedy. The things that set it apart for me are the fact that the toilet humor is very minimal, and the overall story is well developed. The sountrack is pretty good. The dialog is fast, which often makes for a good comedy, because sometimes you're laughing pretty hard at one joke, and maybe miss the next one, which means you'll catch it the 2nd time you watch the movie.

Anyway, this was the movie that broke Ledger into the big-time for films. He might not have made another comdy like this one, but his talent as an actor was hard to miss with the films he went on to make after this one.