MOVIES OF THE MONTH, NOVEMBER 2006

The Hustler Squad
This World-War-II-set sexploitation flick combines M*A*S*H and The Dirty Dozen in the story of an authority-bucking US officer and a tough Filipino partisan who train a diverse group of women to infiltrate a Japanese officer's secret pleasure island by posing as prostitutes.
Speed Grapher, Vol. 2
Basilisk, Vol. 2
Gunslinger Girl, Vol. 2
Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex (2nd Gig), Vol. 7
This is one series that maintained the same level of excellence from beginning to end. The way information from the early episode about the Major's childhood became important to the climax was very clever. Its complex view of the immigration issue has some intriguing similarities to Children of Men (see December reviews when I get to them). I'm looking forward to the GITS:Standalone Complex movie, Solid State Society.
Born Innocent
I can't believe they originally made this as a TV movie. It's actually more disturbing that most theatrical women-in-prison movies, probably because the actors actually seem to be the teenagers they are supposed to be.

MOVIES OF THE MONTH, SEPTEMBER 2006

My birthday month was a big one for martial arts, appropriately enough.

The Protector
Not as good as Ong-Bak, but still pretty fun. I wanted more of the campy tranny villainess (a la Black Lizard), but it does have the first capioera master I've seen who looks like he could really kill you instead of just dance you to death.
The Wicker Man
The original--not the remake that looks so bad I can hardly watch the trailers. I'd seen it before in a butchered version, but the the DVD has the famous naked dancing scene.
Fullmetal Alchemist, vols. 12 & 13
Jet Li's Fearless
Fearless is a meta-kung fu movie: it doesn't just display martial arts, that's what it's about. A little like the Shaw Brothers movies directed by Lau Kar Leung such as Shaolin Challenges Ninja and Martial Club, it's about martial arts as self-improvement and a way for different cultures to communicate by fighting, not killing. It gets a bit New-Agey in the middle, where our hero learns values by living in a remote tribal village, but there's enough action in the beginning and end to make up for it.
New One-Armed Swordsman
Hey straight gals! Do you love the tragic romance of Brokeback Mountain and the pretty boys of yaoi anime? Then check out the extremely homoerotic work of kung fu director Chang Cheh. Rumor has it that David Chiang and Ti Lung's wives hated the movies they teamed up in, and you'll know why. This is more a swordplay movie than a kung fu one, so don't expect elaborate martial-arts moves, but it is a Chang Cheh film, so expect plenty of dismembered limbs and spurting blood.
The Boxer From Shantung
Another early Shaw Brothers "kung fu" film, but really more of a gangster flick about a rube from the country with fighting skills who rises up the criminal ranks before realizing it's not worth it. Chen Kwan Tai burns up the screen with charisma, but unfortunately doesn't get to display his considerable martial arts skills. A nice cameo by David Chiang as a benevolent gangster boss.
The Sound And The Fury
Not exactly what you'd call a good movie, but I love Yul Brynner. He dominates whatever he's in, but unfortunately only made a few decent flicks. This film has all the Southern Gothic elements in place: run-down plantation, once-proud aristocratic family holding on by a thread, drunk brother, slutty sister who has an illegitimate child (a cheesy Blanche Dubois imitation by Margaret Leighton), a mentally retarded mute, tough-but-maternal black housekeeper, a bed-ridden matriarch who won't accept the family's decline, a sexy drifter, and the spunky young daughter who may actually make something of herself if she doesn't get knocked up. Brynner plays the adopted son who tries to keep the family together. His Russian accent is hilariously explained by saying he's a Cajun who spoke only French for his first 10 years. I haven't read the book, but I'm sure it's nothing like this movie.

Movies of the Month, August 2006

Bomb The System
Not really a graffiti-sploitation movie ala Wild Style, more like those old movies that would teach you all about some job or criminal enterprise while entertaining you. I don't know if it's really so hard out there for a tagger, but the real-life street artists they interview in the extras say it is.
Burst City
Early Japanese cyberpunk movie with a cool punk soundtrack.
Lupin III: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy
Not the best campy 70s Japanese movie, but then there are so many. Worth it for the girl-gang musical number.
The Descent
Back in the 70's, only Robert Shaw was macho and stupid enough to take a a giant shark, but today's extreme-sports types get a similar comeuppance in this movie. It's sort of like one of those war movies about a foolhardy captain who gets his platoon killed, except with female spelunkers.
Speed Grapher, Vol. 1
OK, it's the future and Tokyo is the playground of the rich. A burned-out war photographer sneaks in to takes pictures at a secret exclusive club where they have orgies and sometimes a teenage girl in an angel costume flies down to kiss people, which somehow gives them super-powers. He's accidentally kissed by her and suddenly everything he photographs explodes. Plus, he's being stalked by a female cop with a gun fetish. You know I love the weird stuff, I just hope it can maintain its level of freaky-deaky for the whole series.
Ghost In The Shell: Standalone Complex (2nd Gig), Vol. 6
Shaolin Vs. The Evil Dead
An updating of Hong Kong horror of the Mr. Vampire/Spooky Encounters variety with computer graphics and the great Gordon Liu as the ghost-busting priest. The only problem is it ends rather abruptly, so I hope there's a sequel.

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs
This movie is just waiting for Quentin Tarantino to rip it off. A tough female cop is sent to jail for executing a perverted diplomat vigilante-style, then sprung in order to free a big-wig's daughter from a gang of incompetent, chaotic druggies. As in most 70s Japanese movies, authority figures are worse than criminals and not to be trusted.
Hollow Man
The invisible-man movie genre finally has the computer graphics to go with it, and it looks great when he's on fire or covered with water, but the main ingredient needed is to have an actor who nails the part of an arrogant jerk who wants to play God, and Kevin Bacon does the job right.
Fullmetal Alchemist Vols. 10 & 11
Basilisk, Vol. 1
You got your superhero comic in my ninja anime! Two great tastes that go great together. I love the slug ninja.
Dead Birds
Another genre mashup, this time a horror/western. A good sleeper horror with a better-than average cast. With brother-vs-brother, surgery without anesthesia, and the original sin of slavery, the Civil War is a good setting for horror that has been too rarely used except for the occasional adaptation of an Ambrose Bierce short story.
Heroes Shed No Tears
A loose Hong Kong Lone Wolf and Cub adaptation and early John Woo movie. Excellent heroic performance by by Eddie Ko, a Hong Kong character actor who usually plays villains.
Planetes, Vol. 2

Movies of the Month, July 2006

The House on the Edge of the Park
A sleazy Italian thriller, but if it were done a little arty, like Man Bites Dog or Funny Games, it would be considered a commentary on the violence of our society.
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
I have learned from female revenge thrillers such as Lady Snowblood, They Call Her One Eye, Bury Me An Angel, Broken Oath, and Kill Bill that when women decide to take revenge, they go about it so carefully and methodically that their targets haven't the least hope of escaping. The same is true for Lady Vengeance.
A Scanner Darkly
Junkies and drug-war zealots are linked in a sick symbiosis, two sides of a paranoid coin.
Electric Dragon 80,000 Volts
Other than the first Matrix movie, only the Japanese have successfully depicted cyberpunk on film, and on 1/1000th of the budget.

From Beyond
If you loved the grotesquerie-with-an-undertone-of-perverted sex that was Re-Animator, you'll enjoy this low-budget but creative effort from the same team.
Kung Fu Zombie
Not as great as Spooky Encounters or Mr. Vampire, but an extremely fun example of the kungfu/horror genre starring the adorable Billy Chong.
Gankutsuou 5
Love! Revenge! Scandal! Gorgeous Settings! And now . . .giant robots! Who could ask for anything more?
Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 9
Things are getting serious. Who created the homunculi? Why were the Ishbalans massacred? If your country's leader is named Fuehrer Bradley, isn't that a bad sign?
Fists in the Pocket
Everything you need from a disfunctional family drama: blackmail, incest, matricide, mysterious fits of some kind. No sentiment, ephipanies, or pat psychological explanations.

Movies of the Month, June 2006

District B13
The Duel
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo 4
House of Fury
Jungle Holocaust
Kino's Journey 1 & 2
The New Barbarians
The New Gladiators
The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave
One Nite in Mongkok
Port of Shadows
X-Men: the Last Stand