You wouldn't think that Walter Matthau would make a convincing secret agent at the age of 60. And, maybe, in a dramatic rather than comedic film he wouldn't. It just passes muster here where he's a senior man who is supervising and a bit past his prime.

Cold Souls is much more like what I hoped Being John Malkovich would be like than Being John Malkovich actually was. Paul Giamatti plays a fictionalized version of himself. He's an actor rehearsing to appear in a stage production of the same title as the film. Unfortunately, he's having problems. He's oppressed by his inability to find the center of his character and has gotten into his own head about it.

This is certainly not for everyone. The comedy is quite dark and the topics considered are equally dark and the jokes can be very blue. The heroes are...not heroes. They're villains who draw the line somewhere. Or maybe they're very corrupt cops who still have a slight sense of justice. You should watch the trailer; if you don't laugh at the mime joke, this is most definitely not the movie for you.

Each of Yamada's films select a decent samurai, put him in a difficult position and then see what happens. What will it take to make them fight? How much indignity will they endure? What are the limits of honor, justice, virtue, and how should a man behave when confronted with evil, injustice, and shame?

Most of the Marx Brothers' best work was honed on the stage. It was either a touring comedy/vaudeville performance that was converted to a movie or they took their script on the road to refine the jokes prior to filming. It's not universally the case, particularly with their later movies, I believe, but with the early and best work it was.