Patient-X
Railgun
Oh no, it's getting like Blu-ray.com in here with the obsession about booklets
Rate the Last Film You Watched
- Thread starter Professor Irony
- Start date
I lurk around that thread, amongst others, sometimes. It often gets lively around new releases and the recent controversy of day one copies not having booklets!Oh no, it's getting like Blu-ray.com in here with the obsession about booklets
Reminds me I should nip down to Fopp at some point and see if they have Sixteen Candles in stock, want to get Cruising and Weird Science too!I miss the good old days when all we cared about were slipcovers
Haha I'm not particularly that fussed about booklets since I know I have some titles that don't include them. I am more or less amazed that the films that I have picked up so far still have them when you consider the fact that they came out around 2017-2018.Oh no, it's getting like Blu-ray.com in here with the obsession about booklets
Asian Cinema Watch Day 7!
Dead or Alive (Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha [DEAD OR ALIVE 犯罪者]) is a 1999 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and no this is not an adaptation of Koei Tecmo's fighting game, but rather something else that is even more bombastic. This is a Yakuza film that has a strange unique presentation to it. It starts off with a highlight reel of various events that are literally taken out of context but does offer a general introduction to what you can expect. Admittedly I did find the story rather hard to follow and it took a while for me to get a general idea of the premise. But once I got to understand the story, Miike decides to pull his usual bombastic batsheet insanity with a finale that makes you question everything that has just happened. But honestly this finale is rather fun to watch and I am now curious to see what else Miike has to offer with his next two DOA films. Overall a pretty good film with a story that does require you to pay extra attention and an exciting rocketing conclusion.
My reaction to the ending of this film is literally this:
Dead or Alive is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video.
4/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Dead or Alive (Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha [DEAD OR ALIVE 犯罪者]) is a 1999 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and no this is not an adaptation of Koei Tecmo's fighting game, but rather something else that is even more bombastic. This is a Yakuza film that has a strange unique presentation to it. It starts off with a highlight reel of various events that are literally taken out of context but does offer a general introduction to what you can expect. Admittedly I did find the story rather hard to follow and it took a while for me to get a general idea of the premise. But once I got to understand the story, Miike decides to pull his usual bombastic batsheet insanity with a finale that makes you question everything that has just happened. But honestly this finale is rather fun to watch and I am now curious to see what else Miike has to offer with his next two DOA films. Overall a pretty good film with a story that does require you to pay extra attention and an exciting rocketing conclusion.
My reaction to the ending of this film is literally this:
Dead or Alive is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video.
4/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Watched:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
To Watch:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
To Watch:
- Dead or Alive 2: Birds
- Dead or Alive: Final
- Dreams
- The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love
- The Human Condition Part II: Road to Eternity
- The Human Condition Part III: A Soldier's Prayer
- Lady Vengeance
- Ley Lines
- Love Exposure
- Orgies of Edo
- Rainy Dog
- Retaliation
- Shinjuku Triad Society
- Shoplifters
- Street Mobster
- Tale of Cinema
- Thirst
- Wolf Guy: Burning Wolf Man
- Woman is the Future of Man
- Yakuza Law
D1tchd1gger
Shrine Maiden
When I saw Dead or Alive on your list I thought it was going to be a live action version of the game 
I think there is one, isn't there
I think there is one, isn't there
There is indeed a live-action one, but I believe it was only produced in America called DOA: Dead or Alive.When I saw Dead or Alive on your list I thought it was going to be a live action version of the game
I think there is one, isn't there
Asian Cinema Watch Day 8!
Dead or Alive 2: Birds (Dead or Alive 2: Tōbōsha [DEAD OR ALIVE 2 逃亡者]) is a 2000 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and is the second installment in the Dead or Alive trilogy. All of the films in the trilogy are not connected to each other so they are their own thing outside of the director and main two actors returning for each one. In this film it's more so about two assassins reminiscing of their childhood time and wanting to take a break from shooting Yakuzas so it's a different type of film than the usual. I found DOA2: Birds to be an alright film with a lot of fun comedic moments in some scenes. My issue is that it feels unsatisfying at its conclusion and I feel there could have done more with the story, even if they decided to go over-the-top I wish there was more polish. Overall it's still worth a watch and it's actually easier to understand the story compared to the previous film. After thinking about it I would say the first film may be a bit better. Then again I do have the third film to check out.
Dead or Alive 2: Birds is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video.
3.5/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Dead or Alive 2: Birds (Dead or Alive 2: Tōbōsha [DEAD OR ALIVE 2 逃亡者]) is a 2000 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and is the second installment in the Dead or Alive trilogy. All of the films in the trilogy are not connected to each other so they are their own thing outside of the director and main two actors returning for each one. In this film it's more so about two assassins reminiscing of their childhood time and wanting to take a break from shooting Yakuzas so it's a different type of film than the usual. I found DOA2: Birds to be an alright film with a lot of fun comedic moments in some scenes. My issue is that it feels unsatisfying at its conclusion and I feel there could have done more with the story, even if they decided to go over-the-top I wish there was more polish. Overall it's still worth a watch and it's actually easier to understand the story compared to the previous film. After thinking about it I would say the first film may be a bit better. Then again I do have the third film to check out.
Dead or Alive 2: Birds is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video.
3.5/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Watched:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
To Watch:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
To Watch:
- Dead or Alive: Final
- Dreams
- The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love
- The Human Condition Part II: Road to Eternity
- The Human Condition Part III: A Soldier's Prayer
- Lady Vengeance
- Ley Lines
- Love Exposure
- Orgies of Edo
- Rainy Dog
- Retaliation
- Shinjuku Triad Society
- Shoplifters
- Street Mobster
- Tale of Cinema
- Thirst
- Wolf Guy: Burning Wolf Man
- Woman is the Future of Man
- Yakuza Law
Asian Cinema Watch Day 9!
Dead or Alive: Final is a 2002 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and is the third and final installment in the Dead or Alive trilogy. As mentioned before each film is not connected outside of the director and the main two actors returning for each one. In this film, we have a futuristic sci-fi setting about two folks on separate sides once again. While the main duo is always great to watch, unfortunately for this installment they are left on the sidelines in favour of the film focusing on the side-characters instead. The side-characters got my attention at first but it dragged and lost my interest as the film went along. It's like the story went to a halt for some random scenes that didn't fit in. Granted what was unique with this film is the director mixed in Japanese, Chinese and English dialogue throughout though the logic is weird because somehow everyone understands each other (like Kitano's character in Ghost in the Shell's Hollywood film if you've seen that). The villain had my curiosity but it never really went anywhere outside of the rather random final shot. The final fight was interesting at the very least but it was left very late and was brief since by the time they randomly thought it was over. Overall DOA: Final was a disappointing and weak conclusion to the trilogy and I would say you should pass on it, though if you decide on it then, by all means, feel free to check it out just to witness the final shot and cool action scenes.
Dead or Alive: Final is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video. Do note that the Arrow Video transfer is a DVD NTSC upscale as there is no high definition transfer used for the release.
1.5/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Dead or Alive: Final is a 2002 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and is the third and final installment in the Dead or Alive trilogy. As mentioned before each film is not connected outside of the director and the main two actors returning for each one. In this film, we have a futuristic sci-fi setting about two folks on separate sides once again. While the main duo is always great to watch, unfortunately for this installment they are left on the sidelines in favour of the film focusing on the side-characters instead. The side-characters got my attention at first but it dragged and lost my interest as the film went along. It's like the story went to a halt for some random scenes that didn't fit in. Granted what was unique with this film is the director mixed in Japanese, Chinese and English dialogue throughout though the logic is weird because somehow everyone understands each other (like Kitano's character in Ghost in the Shell's Hollywood film if you've seen that). The villain had my curiosity but it never really went anywhere outside of the rather random final shot. The final fight was interesting at the very least but it was left very late and was brief since by the time they randomly thought it was over. Overall DOA: Final was a disappointing and weak conclusion to the trilogy and I would say you should pass on it, though if you decide on it then, by all means, feel free to check it out just to witness the final shot and cool action scenes.
Dead or Alive: Final is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video. Do note that the Arrow Video transfer is a DVD NTSC upscale as there is no high definition transfer used for the release.
1.5/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Watched:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
To Watch:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
To Watch:
- Dreams
- The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love
- The Human Condition Part II: Road to Eternity
- The Human Condition Part III: A Soldier's Prayer
- Lady Vengeance
- Ley Lines
- Love Exposure
- Orgies of Edo
- Rainy Dog
- Retaliation
- Shinjuku Triad Society
- Shoplifters
- Street Mobster
- Tale of Cinema
- Thirst
- Wolf Guy: Burning Wolf Man
- Woman is the Future of Man
- Yakuza Law
Asian Cinema Watch Day 10!
The Happiness of the Katakuris (Katakuri-ke no Kōfuku [カタクリ家の幸福]) is a 2001 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike. This film is surreal. It's like peak Takashi Miike material. You have a combination of movie genres mashed together and it works surprisingly well. Now some folks have claimed this to be a horror film and I disagree on that part. There are elements of it but it's played out in a comedic tone. In other words, this is a straight-up slice of life comedy musical film with bits of stop motion clay animation and horror added into the mix. Overall I really enjoyed this film. The comedy was great, the music sequences were bizarre but amazing considering they tried their best to sing and there's even one sequence that is straight out of a Karaoke segment from Yakuza (coincidently Takashi Miike directed a live-action Ryu ga Gotoku film). The ending is bizarre but rather satisfying when you consider the randomness of the film, and the characters were all great to watch. Though if I had to nitpick, the young girl wasn't in the film as much as you would expect but the other characters were strong enough in their performances to make up for it. This is a film worth checking out even if you have no interest in any of the genres I had mentioned,
The Happiness of the Katakuris is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video. The Blu-ray is rated 18 which is bizarre considering the DVD is a 15 and there's no record of any reasoning as to why this is the case. My guess is that the Blu-ray transfer made any themes more noticeable to view.
4.5/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
The Happiness of the Katakuris (Katakuri-ke no Kōfuku [カタクリ家の幸福]) is a 2001 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike. This film is surreal. It's like peak Takashi Miike material. You have a combination of movie genres mashed together and it works surprisingly well. Now some folks have claimed this to be a horror film and I disagree on that part. There are elements of it but it's played out in a comedic tone. In other words, this is a straight-up slice of life comedy musical film with bits of stop motion clay animation and horror added into the mix. Overall I really enjoyed this film. The comedy was great, the music sequences were bizarre but amazing considering they tried their best to sing and there's even one sequence that is straight out of a Karaoke segment from Yakuza (coincidently Takashi Miike directed a live-action Ryu ga Gotoku film). The ending is bizarre but rather satisfying when you consider the randomness of the film, and the characters were all great to watch. Though if I had to nitpick, the young girl wasn't in the film as much as you would expect but the other characters were strong enough in their performances to make up for it. This is a film worth checking out even if you have no interest in any of the genres I had mentioned,
The Happiness of the Katakuris is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video. The Blu-ray is rated 18 which is bizarre considering the DVD is a 15 and there's no record of any reasoning as to why this is the case. My guess is that the Blu-ray transfer made any themes more noticeable to view.
4.5/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Watched:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
To Watch:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
To Watch:
- Dreams
- The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love
- The Human Condition Part II: Road to Eternity
- The Human Condition Part III: A Soldier's Prayer
- Lady Vengeance
- Ley Lines
- Love Exposure
- Orgies of Edo
- Rainy Dog
- Retaliation
- Shinjuku Triad Society
- Shoplifters
- Street Mobster
- Tale of Cinema
- Thirst
- Wolf Guy: Burning Wolf Man
- Woman is the Future of Man
- Yakuza Law
Asian Cinema Watch Day 11!
Thirst (Bakjwi [박쥐]) is a 2009 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook. This is basically an erotic vampire horror film that actually grabbed my interest throughout and it follows the struggles of a young priest dealing with the situation. The film starts out pretty interesting though it does quickly fast pace itself at first until eventually slowing down not long after. My main issue with this film is the pacing because it's pretty slow for the most part and while the character development was interesting there's a lot of scenes that you could probably consider to be filler in itself. It's around the 90-minute runtime where the story really picks up and that's where the film starts to get even more interesting and the ending is what I had in mind and was pretty satisfied overall. I think Thirst is a solid film but could do with a shorter runtime and the middle parts of the film having some more polish.
Thirst is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Palisades Tartan.
4/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Thirst (Bakjwi [박쥐]) is a 2009 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook. This is basically an erotic vampire horror film that actually grabbed my interest throughout and it follows the struggles of a young priest dealing with the situation. The film starts out pretty interesting though it does quickly fast pace itself at first until eventually slowing down not long after. My main issue with this film is the pacing because it's pretty slow for the most part and while the character development was interesting there's a lot of scenes that you could probably consider to be filler in itself. It's around the 90-minute runtime where the story really picks up and that's where the film starts to get even more interesting and the ending is what I had in mind and was pretty satisfied overall. I think Thirst is a solid film but could do with a shorter runtime and the middle parts of the film having some more polish.
Thirst is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Palisades Tartan.
4/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Watched:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
#11 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Thirst
To Watch:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
#11 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Thirst
To Watch:
- Dreams
- The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love
- The Human Condition Part II: Road to Eternity
- The Human Condition Part III: A Soldier's Prayer
- Lady Vengeance
- Ley Lines
- Love Exposure
- Orgies of Edo
- Rainy Dog
- Retaliation
- Shinjuku Triad Society
- Shoplifters
- Street Mobster
- Tale of Cinema
- Wolf Guy: Burning Wolf Man
- Woman is the Future of Man
- Yakuza Law
Saw this one recently, absolutely bonkers but Miike pulls it off well and the cast were great.Asian Cinema Watch Day 10!
The Happiness of the Katakuris (Katakuri-ke no Kōfuku [カタクリ家の幸福]) is a 2001 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike. This film is surreal. It's like peak Takashi Miike material. You have a combination of movie genres mashed together and it works surprisingly well. Now some folks have claimed this to be a horror film and I disagree on that part. There are elements of it but it's played out in a comedic tone. In other words, this is a straight-up slice of life comedy musical film with bits of stop motion clay animation and horror added into the mix. Overall I really enjoyed this film. The comedy was great, the music sequences were bizarre but amazing considering they tried their best to sing and there's even one sequence that is straight out of a Karaoke segment from Yakuza (coincidently Takashi Miike directed a live-action Ryu ga Gotoku film). The ending is bizarre but rather satisfying when you consider the randomness of the film, and the characters were all great to watch. Though if I had to nitpick, the young girl wasn't in the film as much as you would expect but the other characters were strong enough in their performances to make up for it. This is a film worth checking out even if you have no interest in any of the genres I had mentioned,
The Happiness of the Katakuris is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video. The Blu-ray is rated 18 which is bizarre considering the DVD is a 15 and there's no record of any reasoning as to why this is the case. My guess is that the Blu-ray transfer made any themes more noticeable to view.
4.5/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Watched:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
To Watch:
- Dreams
- The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love
- The Human Condition Part II: Road to Eternity
- The Human Condition Part III: A Soldier's Prayer
- Lady Vengeance
- Ley Lines
- Love Exposure
- Orgies of Edo
- Rainy Dog
- Retaliation
- Shinjuku Triad Society
- Shoplifters
- Street Mobster
- Tale of Cinema
- Thirst
- Wolf Guy: Burning Wolf Man
- Woman is the Future of Man
- Yakuza Law
Asian Cinema Watch Day 12!
Street Mobster (Gendai Yakuza: Hitokiri Yota [現代やくざ 人斬り与太]) is a 1972 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. This is a classic Yakuza film about a mobster who gets himself dragged into a Yakuza battle between two gangs in Tokyo. Honestly, the film is good but I had a hard time liking the main character due to his behaviour and actions (like literally its because of him that his 'girlfriend' and his gang got killed and literally his fault that there was a gang war between the two groups). I did also find that his relationship with the girl was rather off-putting considering she was raped by him years prior and yet somehow they both get along together fine and she even loves him. I do think that would need a lot more character development to find the relationship part more believable. Overall Street Mobster is a good film with a fair few issues from my perspective. The pacing was just about right though a bit too fast in places.
Street Mobster is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video.
3/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Street Mobster (Gendai Yakuza: Hitokiri Yota [現代やくざ 人斬り与太]) is a 1972 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. This is a classic Yakuza film about a mobster who gets himself dragged into a Yakuza battle between two gangs in Tokyo. Honestly, the film is good but I had a hard time liking the main character due to his behaviour and actions (like literally its because of him that his 'girlfriend' and his gang got killed and literally his fault that there was a gang war between the two groups). I did also find that his relationship with the girl was rather off-putting considering she was raped by him years prior and yet somehow they both get along together fine and she even loves him. I do think that would need a lot more character development to find the relationship part more believable. Overall Street Mobster is a good film with a fair few issues from my perspective. The pacing was just about right though a bit too fast in places.
Street Mobster is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video.
3/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Watched:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
#11 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Thirst
#12 - Japan - Kinji Fukasaku's Street Mobster
To Watch:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
#11 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Thirst
#12 - Japan - Kinji Fukasaku's Street Mobster
To Watch:
- Dreams
- The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love
- The Human Condition Part II: Road to Eternity
- The Human Condition Part III: A Soldier's Prayer
- Lady Vengeance
- Ley Lines
- Love Exposure
- Orgies of Edo
- Rainy Dog
- Retaliation
- Shinjuku Triad Society
- Shoplifters
- Tale of Cinema
- Wolf Guy: Burning Wolf Man
- Woman is the Future of Man
- Yakuza Law
Asian Cinema Watch Day 13! I watched today's film earlier than usual due to my cinema trip to watch Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (the first time I'll be watching Apocalypse Now, which is funny considering I bought Apocalypse Now Redux back in December 2013 but never watched it).
Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope (Urufu gai: Moero ôkami-otoko [ウルフガイ 燃えろ狼男]) is a 1975 Japanese film directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi and based on the Wolf Guy manga written by Kazumasa Hirai (8 Man). This film was pretty entertaining with a great main protagonist who you come to understand his background along the way and the way he fights during the action scenes is pretty cool (the coin moment was fun). The story is pretty good with our Wolf man investigating the mysterious Tiger curse and what he ends up getting himself into later down the line. The music has an interesting selection which works pretty well. I would say the film lost me a bit during the third quarter but it quickly gets back on its feet during the final act. Overall a solid film and I would say it's worth checking out.
Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video.
4/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope (Urufu gai: Moero ôkami-otoko [ウルフガイ 燃えろ狼男]) is a 1975 Japanese film directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi and based on the Wolf Guy manga written by Kazumasa Hirai (8 Man). This film was pretty entertaining with a great main protagonist who you come to understand his background along the way and the way he fights during the action scenes is pretty cool (the coin moment was fun). The story is pretty good with our Wolf man investigating the mysterious Tiger curse and what he ends up getting himself into later down the line. The music has an interesting selection which works pretty well. I would say the film lost me a bit during the third quarter but it quickly gets back on its feet during the final act. Overall a solid film and I would say it's worth checking out.
Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video.
4/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Watched:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
#11 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Thirst
#12 - Japan - Kinji Fukasaku's Street Mobster
#13 - Japan - Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope
To Watch:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
#11 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Thirst
#12 - Japan - Kinji Fukasaku's Street Mobster
#13 - Japan - Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope
To Watch:
- Dreams
- The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love
- The Human Condition Part II: Road to Eternity
- The Human Condition Part III: A Soldier's Prayer
- Lady Vengeance
- Ley Lines
- Love Exposure
- Orgies of Edo
- Rainy Dog
- Retaliation
- Shinjuku Triad Society
- Shoplifters
- Tale of Cinema
- Woman is the Future of Man
- Yakuza Law
Today I had the opportunity to watch a very special film at the cinema.
Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut is an updated version of the classic 1979 Apocalypse Now film by director Francis Ford Coppola. This is a 180 minute recut that omits 20 minutes of the Redux version released back in 2001. The story of Apocalypse Now is really interesting and this film goes through the whole journey in a lot of detail. I honestly went into the film for the first time barely knowing what it was about outside of the fact that a US soldier has to go on a mission to assassinate another soldier who went off somewhere deep in enemy territory on his own.
The cast of characters is also great from our main protagonist played by Michael Sheen to the wild 'no ducks given' Lieutenant Colonel played by Robert Duvall. Marlon Brando's performance was also really good and believable from the way he presented the lines to fit the character's persona. The rest of the cast also had great performances and it was nice to see familiar faces like Harrison Ford and Laurence Fishburne.
The music was spot on with the iconic song The End by The Doors to other hit pieces that fit the 60s/70s atmosphere. The cinematography was nothing that I had ever seen before with various shots blended together during its opening sequence to the way the film used its lighting to tease our main antagonist. I also really liked the action that was presented, even though this film isn't entirely an action film what was shown was really cool like the Napalm attacks during the raid sequence.
Overall this is certainly a film that deserves the title 'masterpiece'. Now the Redux version was notable for including a 22-minute section dedicated to a French family which is in The Final Cut in its entirety, which many found to drag the film a bit. I was honestly fine with this inclusion as it's essentially the calm before the storm type of moment and adds some interesting world-building to the Captain's situation and the whole war they're in.
5/5 (4.5/5 if you hate that one scene I mentioned that was included in the Redux)
Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut will soon be available to own on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray by Studio Canal. All three versions (Theatrical, Redux, and Final Cut) will be available on both formats depending on which release you go for.
Not trying to influence Grav's viewing choices, I'm just going to leave these here for completely unrelated reasons.
Asian Cinema Watch Day 14!
Shinjuku Triad Society: China Mafia War (Shinjuku Kuroshakai: China Mafia Sensō [新宿黒社会 チャイナ マフィア戦争]) is a 1995 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and the first installment of the Black Society Trilogy. I wasn't sure what to think of this film but after watching it I ended up liking it a lot more than I had imagined. The story is really good and the main character was great to watch. The final act was rather satisfying to watch also. Random note, there is a surprising amount of gay sex in this film. Overall another solid film from Miike's catalog and worth checking out. The dialogue is split between Japanese and Mandarin but the Arrow Video release splits the two through its subtitles (normal for Japanese, in brackets for Chinese).
Shinjuku Triad Society: China Mafia War is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video as part of the Black Society Trilogy collection.
4/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
As for Takeshi Kitano, yeah I'm looking into his catalog in the near future. Hana-Bi is likely to be the first.
Shinjuku Triad Society: China Mafia War (Shinjuku Kuroshakai: China Mafia Sensō [新宿黒社会 チャイナ マフィア戦争]) is a 1995 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and the first installment of the Black Society Trilogy. I wasn't sure what to think of this film but after watching it I ended up liking it a lot more than I had imagined. The story is really good and the main character was great to watch. The final act was rather satisfying to watch also. Random note, there is a surprising amount of gay sex in this film. Overall another solid film from Miike's catalog and worth checking out. The dialogue is split between Japanese and Mandarin but the Arrow Video release splits the two through its subtitles (normal for Japanese, in brackets for Chinese).
Shinjuku Triad Society: China Mafia War is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video as part of the Black Society Trilogy collection.
4/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Watched:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
#11 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Thirst
#12 - Japan - Kinji Fukasaku's Street Mobster
#13 - Japan - Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope
#14 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Shinjuku Triad Society: China Mafia War
To Watch:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
#11 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Thirst
#12 - Japan - Kinji Fukasaku's Street Mobster
#13 - Japan - Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope
#14 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Shinjuku Triad Society: China Mafia War
To Watch:
- Dreams
- The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love
- The Human Condition Part II: Road to Eternity
- The Human Condition Part III: A Soldier's Prayer
- Lady Vengeance
- Ley Lines
- Love Exposure
- Orgies of Edo
- Rainy Dog
- Retaliation
- Shoplifters
- Tale of Cinema
- Woman is the Future of Man
- Yakuza Law
Huehuehue. I am definitely interested in a bunch of Japanese films that I have yet to pickup from Arrow's backlog, like these lot:
Battles Without Honor and Humanity collection
Blind Woman's Curse
The Bloodthirsty Trilogy
Branded to Kill
Cops vs Thugs
Horrors of Malformed Men
Massacre Gun
Super Sister Fighter collection
Blind Woman's Curse
The Bloodthirsty Trilogy
Branded to Kill
Cops vs Thugs
Horrors of Malformed Men
Massacre Gun
Super Sister Fighter collection
Hmm, interesting. Of the Kitano crime films I've seen, I didn't like Hana-Bi as much as Sonatine or Boiling Point - it was just too bleak for my liking - but I know a lot of people do rate that one.
Asian Cinema Watch Day 15!
Rainy Dog (Gokudō Kuroshakai: Rainy Dog [極道 黒社会 RAINY DOG]) is a 1997 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and the second installment of the Black Society Trilogy. This is another unique Miike film as it's exclusively set in Taiwan and the main dialogue throughout the film is in Taiwanese/Mandarin and only a couple of scenes are in Japanese. The story follows a Yakuza who is exiled to Taiwan where he ends up dealing with a child who is apparently his son while tackling assassination jobs. The story for this film is honestly a slow start but I like the cinematography throughout because of the use of having a lot of the scenes being set during the rain which adds to the atmosphere and I guess a sense of loneliness or miserableness for Show Aikawa's character. Overall a solid film throughout and the ending was kinda predictable but what I had in mind with what the story was going towards.
Rainy Dogs is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video as part of the Black Society Trilogy collection.
3.75/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Rainy Dog (Gokudō Kuroshakai: Rainy Dog [極道 黒社会 RAINY DOG]) is a 1997 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and the second installment of the Black Society Trilogy. This is another unique Miike film as it's exclusively set in Taiwan and the main dialogue throughout the film is in Taiwanese/Mandarin and only a couple of scenes are in Japanese. The story follows a Yakuza who is exiled to Taiwan where he ends up dealing with a child who is apparently his son while tackling assassination jobs. The story for this film is honestly a slow start but I like the cinematography throughout because of the use of having a lot of the scenes being set during the rain which adds to the atmosphere and I guess a sense of loneliness or miserableness for Show Aikawa's character. Overall a solid film throughout and the ending was kinda predictable but what I had in mind with what the story was going towards.
Rainy Dogs is available to own on Blu-ray from distributor Arrow Video as part of the Black Society Trilogy collection.
3.75/5
Here's a brief look at what films I'll try and check out throughout this month:
Watched:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
#11 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Thirst
#12 - Japan - Kinji Fukasaku's Street Mobster
#13 - Japan - Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope
#14 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Shinjuku Triad Society: China Mafia War
#15 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Rainy Dog
To Watch:
#01 - Japan - Yōjirō Takita's Departures
#02 - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish
#03 - Japan - Toshiaki Toyoda's Blue Spring
#04 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
#05 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Terra Formars
#06 - Japan - Hideo Nakata's Dark Water
#07 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive
#08 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds
#09 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final
#10 - Japan - Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris
#11 - Korea - Park Chan-wook's Thirst
#12 - Japan - Kinji Fukasaku's Street Mobster
#13 - Japan - Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope
#14 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Shinjuku Triad Society: China Mafia War
#15 - Japan - Takashi Miike's Rainy Dog
To Watch:
- Dreams
- The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love
- The Human Condition Part II: Road to Eternity
- The Human Condition Part III: A Soldier's Prayer
- Lady Vengeance
- Ley Lines
- Love Exposure
- Orgies of Edo
- Retaliation
- Shoplifters
- Tale of Cinema
- Woman is the Future of Man
- Yakuza Law