• Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Katte ni shiyagare!! Dasshutsu keikaku AKA Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! 2 – The Escape (1995)

    1911-1920ActionAsianJapanKiyoshi Kurosawa

    Quote:
    Nestled in the mid 90’s when Kurosawa was heavily involved in creating diptych crime stories such as “The Serpent’s Path” and “Eyes of the Spider” and especially his “Revenge” double feature, “Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself” was filmed and released for the home video market in Japan. The idea, six variations of life surrounding two low level yakuza gophers, expound on Kurosawa’s fascination with subverting the same idea and story in a wildly divergent manner.Read More »

  • Harold Young – The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)

    USA1941-1950CrimeHarold YoungHorror

    You cannot keep a good mummy down forever and Kharis is back in this sequel to The Mummy’s Hand, which itself was something of a remake of the classic Boris Karloff thriller of 1935, The Mummy. Although assumed to have been killed by Stephen Banning (Dick Foran) in the previous film, Andoheb (George Zucco) has miraculously survived and is now planning a terrible revenge on both Banning and his entire family in Mapleton, MA. With High Priest Mehemet Bey (Turhan Bey) as his faithful companion, Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) takes up residence in a Mapleton graveyard where the mysterious Mr. Bey somehow has obtained the job of caretaker. At the first full moon, the mummy is fed enough tanna leaves to break into the Banning residence and kill the now elderly Stephen. To find out what exactly happened, the dead man’s son, John (John Hubbard), gets in contact with Babe Hanson (Wallace Ford), one of the members of the original Banning expedition to Egypt. Read More »

  • Kirk Browning & Stephen Porter – A Touch of the Poet (1974)

    1971-1980ClassicsDramaKirk BrowningStephen PorterUSA

    Quote:
    “I first saw “A Touch of the Poet” at a small theatre in New York City, a wonderful production that had the audience completely in its power for the play’s entire duration. It’s widely seen as one of his four late classics, the others being The Iceman Cometh, A Moon for The Misbegotten, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night.Read More »

  • Elmo Nüganen – Nimed marmortahvlil AKA Names Engraved in Marble (2002)

    2001-2010DramaElmo NüganenEstoniaWar

    Based on an acclaimed 1935 novel about the War of Liberation (1918-1920) that ensured Estonia’s independence, the film tells about a group of young schoolboys heading to the front to fight the army of Soviet Russia.Read More »

  • Leslie Goodwins – The Mummy’s Curse (1944)

    1941-1950CrimeHorrorLeslie GoodwinsUSA

    Draining of a bayou swamp area in Louisiana is halted when superstitious Cajun workmen learn one of their crew has been mysteriously murdered. They whisper fantastic tales about mummies being buried in the area. Pat Walsh (Addison Richards), boss on the project is annoyed at their fear and furthered angered when Dr. James Halsey (Dennis Moore) of the Scripps Museum, and his associate, Dr. Ilzor Zandaab (Peter Coe) arrive to search for the mummies of Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Princess Ananka (Virginia Christine), believed buried in the swamp. Walsh’s niece and secretary, Betty (Kay Harding)shows interest in both the story and Halsey. Bulldozers unknowingly uncover the mummies, and that night Dr. Zandaab secretly meets Ragheb (Martin Kosleck, a workman, who takes the scientist to a hidden monastery. Read More »

  • Davy Chou – Diamond Island (2016)

    2011-2020CambodiaDavy ChouDrama

    Bora, an 18-year-old, leaves his village to work on the construction sites of Diamond Island, a project for an ultra-modern paradise for the rich and a symbol of tomorrow’s Cambodia. He befriends his fellow workers and finds his elder brother, the charismatic Solei, who went missing five years earlier. Solei introduces him into an exciting world, that of an urban and wealthy youth, its girls, nights and illusions.Read More »

  • Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa – Jerry & Me (2013)

    2011-2020DocumentaryMehrnaz Saeed-VafaThe Female GazeUSA

    Quote:
    Iranian-American filmmaker Mehrnaz Saeedvafa traces her journey from growing up as young girl in Tehran to adjusting to life in America, while she reflects on how the films of Jerry Lewis spoke to her as an outsider in both countries. Peppered with clips from Lewis’ films, as well as other Hollywood classics, that have been dubbed into Farsi, this short documentary is “an invaluable cross-cultural lesson,” said esteemed film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, who called Jerry and Me one of the best films of 2012.Read More »

  • Claude Berri – L’Un reste, l’autre part AKA One Stays, the Other Leaves (2005)

    2001-2010Claude BerriComedyDramaFrance

    “I try to make films that move people when they are in the theater and make them think only after they leave.” Claude Berri

    L’un reste, L’autre part is the story of two old time friends, both in their fifties, both married, who fall for two younger women. The cast is nothing less than stellar: Daniel Auteuil, Nathalie Baye, Pierre Arditi, Miou-Miou and Charlotte Gainsbourg

    Attal’s real-life wife, Charlotte Gainsbourg, appears as one of two romantic foils a character drama in which over-middle-age men fall in love with younger women and must confront the ramifications of ending their marriages (one does and one doesn’t, or so the title would have you believe).Read More »

  • Kôji Wakamatsu – Gendai sei hanzai zekkyô hen: riyû naki bôkô AKA Violence Without a Cause (1969)

    1961-1970ArthouseCrimeJapanKoji Wakamatsu

    Quote: Part of Wakamatsu’s ongoing fascination with sexual predators. It’s an incel film avant la lettre, executed in true Wakamatsu style. Certainly not his most prominent or polished work, though fans of Wakamatsu won’t be disappointed. Others should probably seek out his more famed work first. The film follows a frustrated young man. He yearns to be in the company of a woman, but seems unable to make any kind of meaningful connection with them. When a friend of his offers to share his girlfriend, he accepts reluctantly, but his first sexual experience awakens dark feelings that will drive him to commit violent crimes. Wakamatsu offers another glimpse into the mind of a very troubled soul. It’s certainly not a pleasant film, let alone a titillating one, so if that’s what you’re after you can better skip this one altogether. If on the other hand you like a stylized and frank descent into the rotten mind of a violent pervert, Wakamatsu has you covered.Read More »

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