Author H.P. Lovecraft can be recognized for producing some great stories in the horror genre while acknowledging his general terribleness as a human being. Thankfully, as his works have been replicated or adapted, they’ve found ways to be true to… Read More ›
In the visual essay “Rule Breaker: An Introduction to Sado Najajima” (2025), film critic Tom Mes calls director Sadao Nakajima (The Great Okinawa Yakuza War; Jeans Blues: No Future) one of “the Three Aces of Toei,” and laments that this… Read More ›
Content Warning: Themroc includes implied incest and cannibalism, which may be disturbing to some viewers. One of the best human experiences is discovery; that feeling of coming across something you’ve never heard of, seen, or discussed. Opportunities abound like this… Read More ›
In January of 2025, Radiance Films released Underworld Beauty, a 1958 yakuza drama from filmmaker Seijun Suzuki, the second restoration by the boutique distributor of the filmmaker’s work. Now, with A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness (1977), Radiance Films offers… Read More ›
When a boutique label announces that they’re releasing a 4K copy of a movie that has already had a restoration done, the questions are inevitably going to be asked as to which transfer is better between the two disks, what… Read More ›
In November 2021, The Criterion Collection debuted their first 4K UHD edition — that of Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane. Since then, they’ve released and re-released 4K UHD editions of titles new and old in an effort to continually meet consumer… Read More ›
What would you do to make amends with your past? For some, it means rolling up your sleeves and doing the hard work to atone; while, for others, it means living a life of abstinence. Both can be viewed as… Read More ›
Actor, writer, director Lau Kar-Leung is a staple of the Shaw Brothers Studio as evidenced by projects like The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978), The Shadow Boxing (1979), The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1984), and Disciples of the 36th Chamber… Read More ›
The New Hollywood movement (or “period”, depending on who you ask) was a defining moment in cinema where the film director was the “end-all/be-all” authority rather than the film studio. It’s a movement (generally from the mid-‘60s to early ‘80s)… Read More ›
Whether you’ve been a fan of the kaiju-destroying Godzilla from its initial creation in 1954 from Toho, or your first introduction to the gigantic destructive beast was Legendary’s Godzilla from 2014 or 2023’s spectacular Godzilla Minus One, there is one… Read More ›
Left to leave her hometown without her partner, a woman moves toward a major city center, finds herself a rich lover who allows her to enjoy the finer things in life, until two things occur requiring her to reconsider her… Read More ›
All the way up to the late 1990s, there had not yet been a satisfactory successor to Jaws, Steven Spielberg’s iconic 1975 blockbuster hit about a marine biologist and shark hunter taking down a man-eating great white shark. In walks… Read More ›
Trigger Warning: The narrative centers violence upon the LGBTQIA+ community and this may be distressing for sensitive viewers. If you’re reading this and, like me, you’ve heard of William Friedkin’s Cruising with Al Pacino (Heat), but have never seen it… Read More ›
There is an all-time great story of betrayal, recklessness, and tragedy told about the events that took place among the yakuza of Japan’s snowy north coast, and it’s told through around 50 minutes of interviews included as special features on… Read More ›
If anyone knows me, then you know I champion Criterion and their releases. They’re usually some of the best of the best, bar none to any other release in terms of quality of release (and quality control) and features. While… Read More ›
Trigger Warning: There are several sequences involving protracted strobing or flashing lights, so photosensitive viewers should take precautions before queuing up the film. According to Kenta Fukasaku, son of Kinji Fukasaku, the filmmaker’s 1983 action fantasy Legend of the Eight… Read More ›
Jean-Luc Goddard’s King Lear (1987) is a great movie for nobody and is available on Blu-ray through Criterion on February 11th, 2025. Almost nobody, actually. It’s certainly a film for me, and for legendary film critic Richard Brody of the… Read More ›
“Tell someone you love them today, because life is short. But shout it at them in German, because life is also terrifying.” – anonymous meme With a career filled with critical highs and lows, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson has wowed… Read More ›
“There is no honor among thieves.” This idea is often at the center of confidence or crime tales within any genre or medium. The people who you trust to pull a job just might be the same people who will… Read More ›
“You can’t take anything with you when you die, except your deeds.” – Lee Fun Yee (Cecilla Cheung) in Running on Karma Established in 1996 by director Johnnie To and frequent collaborator Wai Ka-Fai, production house Milkyway Image Ltd. would… Read More ›