Tokyo Chorus

 

Yasujiro Ozu made a ton of silent movies and I'm glad that the Eclipse collection decided on releasing three of them. This was a pretty good movie although it would have been better with a score. This focuses on a father who loses his job and the effect it has on his children and on his wife. The wife is embarrassed by his effort with a job beneath him. The boy throws a tantrum when he realizes he won't get a bike. This isn't a completely depressing movie. It does have a hopeful outlook. I wish that more of Ozu's early movies were available. 

Captains Courageous

 

Freddie Bartholomew is a spoiled brat but a lot of that has to do with the fact that his father is neglecting him. He accidentally falls off a ship and gets rescued. The crew doesn't like him but Spencer Tracy takes him. He teaches the boy responsibility and how to be a man. He also provides something important a good male role model. I liked this movie. I don't like Spencer Tracy but he did a good job with this one. I need to read the Kipling novel.

Harakiri

 

This was a pretty cool Japanese movie about the Japanese ritual suicide harakiri. It's about a hungry man who resorts to harakiri to get some charity. But then his father-in-law comes afterward to get some revenge and he is not a weak man to be messed with. It definitely deserves the Criterion treatment.

Rodan

 

I watched this Japanese monster movie yesterday. It was all right. I've seen more entertaining Godzilla like movies. Still, it was watchable. It's about a mining town and some deadly pterodactyls. The special effects unintentionally come off as cute sometimes.