Not being a fan of The Heroic Trio, the sequel really drops off with its bleaker, less coherent narrative and its sillier array of villains. Give a bump for the repeated practice of exploding characters.
Favorite films
Recent activity
AllRecent reviews
More-
-
Yakuza Graveyard 1976
Returning to the work of Kinji Fukasaku is such a joy. The unbridled master of gangster cinema and self-destructive Japanese masculinity is in fine form here with a film that seems utterly emblematic of his snarling, suicidal oeuvre. Liminality reigns here, particularly within his main character, a cop with a gangster's heart whose slow creep into the yakuza world seems at once honour-chasing and self-punishing. No one wins, everyone loses, and it's all shot sideways - wonderfully and tragically ferocious.
Popular reviews
More-
Love, Death & Robots: Zima Blue 2019
The strongest of the LD+R shorts by far - stylishly animated, beautifully graphical, elegantly philosophical, and all without the need for gunfire, explosions, or roaring maws of monstrous beasts. Wonderful.
-
The Wanting Mare 2020
Screened for the 2020 Chattanooga Film Festival!
The Wanting Mare is a gorgeous film to watch and probably a beautifully written one as well, but it is unfortunately left wanting by its cryptic fantasy world which needs more than the barest of details actually offered. The faraway looks, allusive dialogue, and wistful sadness that dominates most of the film (particularly the latter two-thirds) becomes tiring in short order. The Wanting Mare could probably be just as impressive playing silently, which is a testament to its tremendous visuals and to it being substantially underwritten. I’ll be interested to see the director’s next film.
