Well I wouldn’t call this a good film, or even a scary film, but I certainly liked it better than the first one. It has an interesting structure decent performances, and I actually liked the ending. This film could actually be called, Ju-On the Rebirth.

Suzuki Seijin is one of the most visually impressive director’s to ever exist. This film is amazing in so many ways that it is really hard to describe. An unending orgy of amazing visuals within a twisted store of assassins. The Scope frame is so well used you would think he was born to it (even stranger that Pistol Opera it’s sequel made 30 years later was in 3/4, but still the best use of 3/4 I have ever seen so…).

Well this one finishes off my stash of unwatched Zatoichi films. 2 more DVD’s available, and 1 not available and that would complete my Zatoichi film collection. Katsu-shin is the man! Another chambara masterpiece!

Well I have one more unwatched Zatoichi film after this and I think I am only missing 3 of his films now, 12, 13 and 14 (which doesn’t seem to be available anywhere). Katsu-shin returns in all his glory in this, much like the films of the past, no cheesy 70′s music, and the biggest difference being more blood and gore, more limbs coming off and blood spraying across the room, or pouring into grains of rice.

I really needed a break from Zatoichi, and this was perfect. A high school story about two friends, and the boy that they both end up falling for. A really interesting film that was not at all what I expected it to be, or how I expected it to be. A very enjoyable film. It is a wonderful ode to the years around high school.

It’s interesting to note that this is the first film that Katsu-shin actually directed, and you can tell it is certainly different from the rest of the series, much more like his 1989 film Zatoichi that he also directed. It is a lot more brutal, and also has a very different look, being shot more with very long lenses with lots of close ups, and it also shows it’s era being 1973 and having the 70′s flashy editing in the opening sequence. This is an enjoyable Zatoichi film, though not one of my favorites, just as the final one that Katsu-Shin directed was also not one of my favorites in the series.

I just can’t get enough of Katsu-shin. He is too cool. My only regret is not seeing all the movies in order, but with the release schedules it really isn’t possible, and it doesn’t really matter. I just hope they release the TV series inexpensively on DVD, thought it will be weird Zatoichi not in scope!

This is another great Zatoichi film, and return to the formula of the women pining for him as he leaves, but he even cheats at gambling with loaded dice and is caught!

Well I finally watched my first Ozu film after hearing he was the master of Japanese cinema , and I have to say they were right. Yes the film if is very languidly paced, but it is still a an amazing and impressive story showing the generational conflicts in a 3 generations of a Japanese family.

I have always loved Bubblegum Crisis, though the original world the best (Crisis, Crash and AD Police), I just thought the boomers were much cooler being less organic than the 2046 version or the awful remake of AD police. Parasite Dolls is a semi sequel to the original AD police, being a new story about the AD police. And luckily it is a good one. 

It seems that all the players have been introduced in this 4th part of the series from the creators of HAIBANE RENMIE and SERIAL EXPERIMENTS LAIN. This is one of the coolest cyberpunk stories I have seen, and a perfect follow up to two of my favorite anime’s ever.

I can’t believe I hadn’t seen this film before. Another amazing film from Kurosawa. Not the greatest transfer, but the film is from 1952, and 1.33:1. An amazing film of the power of the mind to change a person. Really “To Live.”

I just can’t get enough of Katsu-shin. His character Zatoichi is one of the most enjoyable around. He is so much fun to watch, and this movie is no different. And it has a great duel at the end, as well as a cute child.

Wow I must be a sap, because while I enjoyed this film, the whole time I thought it could be better, and yet it still made my eyes well up at the end. I started off thinking this was just an exploitation film on Japanese Ko Gals, but by the end it really isn’t, it is about friendship. I remember hearing about this film when it came out, and while it does come on too strong for most of the movie I am glad to have finally saw it.

Katsu-shin does it again. Damn every time I think there can’t be more new stories for Zatoichi the next film I watch always gets me. Another bad ass one, and this one is different because for much of the film Zatoichi is sans his cane sword! How cool is that?

Damn do I love Katsu-shin, and especially his most famous character Zatoichi. You would think I would be getting bored of these films, as I have seen almost all of them, but instead I am rooting for them to bring out the TV series on DVD as well. Lets just hope they put as many episodes as the can on each DVD. Now this is another great Zatoichi film, and with some amazing shots, and some difference in the story, which I enjoyed.

I was expecting this to be good because I enjoyed MEZZO FORTE, the ultra violent follow up to Umetsu Yasuomi’s KITE, and this is the continuation, though in TV form. It isn’t quite as violent, though is still as action pact, and has the same great characters thought with an upgrade in the character designs. This is well worth checking out, and I am looking forward to the rest of the series. 

Wow. Another amazing film by Seijin Suzuki! And I had no idea this was a sequel to BRANDED TO KILL, though slightly belated (30+ years is a long wait!). Again about a Killer ranked number 3 and attempting to reach the top spot, but much more a visual and auditory feast than anything that makes narrative sense, and that doesn’t matter because this film is amazing!

Hmmm. Not sure what I feel about this Zatoichi film. It might be my least favorite of all the ones I have seen so far. A strange one indeed. This is film 21 out of the 26 Films that Shintaro Katsu did as Zatoichi (he also did 100 Hour long episodes of a TV series entitled Zatoichi Monogatari), and this one also has Jimmy Wang Yu as the One-Armed Swordsman. The thing is, that the film is such a strange mess. It has the crazy wuxia of the one armed swordsman, but the gritty realism (yea except that Zatoichi is blind) of the Zatoichi film. We have Jimmy Wang Yu jumping up huge cliffs and running on people’s heads, and the gritty sword fights of the Zatoichi fights with blood spraying (strangely little blood with the Jimmy Wang Yu fights). Also if it is the One – Armed Swordsman, what happened to his wife that kept from fighting? Did she die, and that is why he went to Japan to go to a temple? Who knows. Seems weird.

This is the US release by HVE, which is a decent transfer, though it looks like the prints of this 1958 Noir are showing some wear. There is certainly damage, and the film flutters in some places. Still that doesn’t detract from this excellent film noir about a bunch of diamonds.

Wow. I have to say that again, wow. This was one of the best films I have seen in a long time. What a wonderful film. I loved everything about it from the music to the story to the acting. Just everything about this film. This film is amazing. This is the Region 2 Japanese DVD which has great English Subs. I have actually had this for months, having heard how good this film was, but held off watching off. I think the name Vibrator turned me off, but oh was I wrong. I hope this film won some awards because it is absolutely phenomenal!

I spent a decent amount of cash on the Japanese Special Edition DVD of Kiriya Kazuaki (Utada Hikaru’s husband) first feature, and I am glad to have seen it, but it I wasn’t super impressed. Now the film is visually sumptuous, and an amazing visual feast, but I wasn’t too much a fan of the story, or the heavy handed morality play that makes up the finally of the film.

last night for Halloween my girlfriend and I watched the Chinese Region 3 DVD of the Japanese Horror film, Ju-On the Grudge. I was expecting so much, something good and scary, but was sorely disappointed. Not only wasn’t it scary, but it was just serial deaths, and not scary ones at that. What a let down.

Just got back from watching this opening day at the Arc Light watching GHOST IN A SHELL 2: INNOCENCE . It rocked. Absolutely bad ass. It does make me fiend for APPLESEED though, as some of the 3D still doesn’t match with the 2D Animation, but it certainly has improved. GITS has always been thinking mans ANIME with bad ass visuals, and this one certainly follows that principle, and is as good as the first one with much better animation.