With a career beginning in the 1960s, Meiko Kaji became a Japanese screen legend. From playing a Yakuza leader in Blind Woman's Curse to playing the tough, betrayed heroine of Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion, or embodying vengeance as Yuki in Lady Snowblood and its sequel, Lady Snowblood: Love Song
We watched The Furious as part of Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque. You can check out the full schedule here. Every now and then, a martial arts movie comes along and wows audiences with its innovations or the audacity of its choreography and set pieces. Enter the Dragon (1973) influenced a
To capture the subtle violences of late-stage capitalism, it turns out it takes a director skilled with the portrayal of violence, Park Chan-wook, in his exceptional new outing No Other Choice. We live in one of the worst, and most transparently idiotic, eras in the history of capitalism. Layoff
Paul Thomas Anderson has a knack for films about power, vice, and isolated protagonists. Boogie Nights centers the Wild West of the 1970's pornography scene, with well-endowed stars fighting to maintain relevance against the perils of an often shady fledgling industry. There Will Be Blood was a
In his book-length defense of authoritarianism, Leviathan, English philosopher Thomas Hobbes wrote that, in the absence of an overarching political authority, life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Of course, no one in Eden is in the state of nature (a real 'state of nature' had
It's been a great year to be a Stephen King fan. Well, almost every year is great for King fans, given that the maestro of nightmares is still churning out 1-2 great books a year with no visible plans to slow down, but halfway into the year and we've already seen quite a few exceptional adaptations
The Declaration of Independence straightforwardly notes rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Nothing is guaranteed; everything's a hustle. It's an impetus for American creativity and success, but it also fuels predatory behavior, criminal undertakings, and a need to always hustle
Spike Lee has always been both a champion and a practitioner of independent art. Always following the beat of his own drum, he found innovative early success in films like She's Gotta Have It and Do The Right Thing. Lee's films proceeded to score Oscar nominations for masterful outings, including
Last week's episode of Pretty Little Liars: Summer School left off with Faran (Zaria) taking on Bloody Rose Water's test like a champ. Of course, Bloody Rose Waters is a sore loser. So, she still attacks Faran, who not so easily gets away but not before slicing her arm with a knife. This week's
Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl returned for one of their four final specials for The Last Drive-In with a creature feature meets modern horror pairing, bringing together Rawhead Rex (1986) and Oddity (2024). It is a bizarre double feature on paper, and somehow even stranger in execution.
Hokum follows in the footsteps of other horror movies released recently that are what we like to call "slow burns." That subgenre usually starts slow and brings our characters into another world or brings an item from another world into ours. Hokum comes from writer/director Damian McCarthy, who
