On the older versions of the blog (and in thr archives here too) I hae a column called "Movies I Should Have Already Seen" Pretty straightforward, right? Here are some movies I have yet to see that people often guffaw at learning so:
Pulp Fiction
Nightmare Before Christmas
Breakfast Club
It's A Wonderful Life
Heat
Casino
Schindlers List
North by Northwest (Showing my age a lot of classic movies tbh)
Back to the Future
And on and on.
Here is one that I just saw for the first time: Enter The Dragon
To caveat this, all I know about "grindhouse 70s kung fu" is Kill Bill and Wu Tang Clan references. And this had been mimicked and copies to the point I got much of it from the zeitgeist. "Boards don't hit back." Yeah...got it.
Oh, but its still so good! The lines are brief and corny but solid. I particularly like John Saxon's character asking his aide how much money he has left and its about 60 something dollars. And the aide responds with a sarcastic yes but damn did the John Saxon character think that was impressive.
And for creating so many cliches I did dig how it plays with it. Like when Bruce Lee fights O'hara. O'hara is the top henchmen. He is introduced via a montage of him getting hit with boards and not flinching. "This is the only film we have of him," says the exposition. His audition tape for American Ninja Warrior?
And the fights builds up with fanfare and Bruce just destroys him. Middle of the film too. Just set em up and knock em down.
I laughed at one scene where Bruce gets some nunchuks and does a solid 10 second bit where he shows off his skill to a henchmen. I was expecting the henchman to run away after this but he just pauses, grabs a bat, and runs in to get annihilated.
Bruce is a absolute unit. I knew his legend but you sometimes have to see to believe and damn was he amazing. Just glowing with power and charm. Sometimes the legends are true. Like, how people forget Vince Carter and Karl Malone were damn good (because they did not win the NBA championships) but no did you see them? Did you see this dunk?! Karl Malone could fight a bear!
The movie feels like a motion comic. Bruce does this move where he finishes off a few guys by throwing them on tje ground and then jumping on their spines. You dont see the actual kill but hear the crack and his dramatic "Hiyah!" But its also the fluid static of the moves. Maybe its a technical reason or a trade craft reason (the hell I know about kung fu!) but fights are seen. By that I mean we get pose, move, hit, next. Pose, move, hit, next. Oh and lots of screaming and "Hiyah!" These felt, to me, like panels in a comic and the little interludes the gutter lines between each. So every move has a tinge of anticipation and imagination.
Really hats off to the foley and audio team here. I love every crack and snikt and "hiyah!" I have no clue if its technically good but hold those details close. I love each Wilhelm scream in here. They are mini codas to end of those comic panels.
The mirror fight, right? Wow, that's a scene.
I may have some more kung fu movie watching to come indeed. Thousand Type Style! 🐉
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