You know I watch a fair amount of obscure bullshit that I love but would never expect to have any mass appeal. However every once in a while I come across something that is pretty obscure that I think should be way more popular than it is. Case in point, “The Karate” (or as I saw it he dub version I saw it, “Bronson Lee, Champion”). This is a mid 70s martial arts movie that just screams out for an…

Three movies in and I’m honestly blown away that a series knocked out on such a hasty schedule can be such a masterclass of script, acting and direction. Love how each ending is a variation of the same theme but it furthers the idea each time and gives us the sense of what Hirano is feeling.

I also love that the earlier movies show it as more chaotic because our leads are so low on the ladder but as the…

So happy to see this again. I watched it first on the evening of a torrential downpour in Irvine, California where it was having its US premiere. At that time of my life I was going to the movie theater 3-4 times a week and would especially seek out more obscure movies. The storm was so bad that I felt sorry for the director and producer because there were just a handful of us at the premiere. They were very…

Opening weekend at theaters in Malaysia and this is playing every 15 minutes and taking up 6.5 out of the 8 screens at the local mall theater. Saw it in a packed room, which is always fun. Lots of giggling and tears in the audience. The dad next to me was enjoying it at least as much as his two kids!

Loved the Hong Kong-style humor and the huge emotion and action. It all gets a little too big for…

Let’s watch a movie by Nobuhiko Obayashi for Japanuary!

I’m also not saying that you need to enjoy psychedelics to enjoy the movie, that’s obviously not true. However, I’m almost certain that if I had seen this in my “acid days” it would be a five star all-timer for me.

As it stands, I was so certain that I was going to love this but it didn’t actually hit me like I expected. Some wonderful and insane imagery and it…

Let’s watch an Ozu for Japanuary!

When folks talk about Ozu being some sort of hermetic master of cinema who you need to know esoteric movie rituals to understand I get the feeling that they’re not seeing how much humor is there (or it’s not humor they think is funny, which is fair).

For me this plays out like a super-chill episode of The Andy Griffith Show set in Japan with added poop and fart jokes. The little kid is…