Author Archive: admin
Sin City
Call it contemporary film noir with an edge, Sin City is one helluva ride. Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller give us a trio of stories tied together by the very dark nature of the city itself, Basin City, and the fact that almost all of these characters have known or met each other at one [...]
Day of Redemption
The cover reads: “A homicidal maniac is obsessed with revenge. A guilt-ridden lawman desperately seeking redemption. When their two worlds collide, only one will survive the deadly ‘dance with destiny.’” Here’s the story in a nutshell: Small-town Arizona sheriff Frank Everly (Jeff Fahey – Wyatt Earp, Silverado) has been listening to his wife Mary (Kristian [...]
Dead Girl [Morbido Amor]
Never released in the United States, Dead Girl is the brain child of writer-director Adam Coleman Howard and is meant to be a satirical look at the movie business. And it is quite funny in a very dark comedy sort of way. Cynical, sarcastic, and unfortunately, right on the mark in many ways. Mr. Howard [...]
Constantine
In director Francis Lawrence’s interpretation of the long-running comic book Hellblazer, Keanu Reeves plays John Constantine, only in this case he’s a late-30′s, chain-smoking loner who fights against the Devil’s horde in the dark back alleys of Los Angeles. A far cry from the comic’s “master of the occult” living in a foggy London, this [...]
In the Realms of the Unreal
Confession: I live in Chicago, and I’d never heard of Henry Darger before seeing the trailer for this film at the Music Box Theatre. Chicago is one of the biggest cities in the U.S., and it is difficult to track every news item on a daily basis, but the details of Darger’s story, as presented [...]
The Fire Within [Onibi]
On the surface, Director Mochizuki Rokuro’s The Fire Within (Japanese title: Onibi) would appear to be just another gangster saga centered around the downward lifestyle of a lone wolf Yakuza (Harada Yoshio). But stirring just beneath the surface is a deeper meaning, a symbolic grace, a philosophy of inevitability–”this is the law of the jungle” [...]
Another Lonely Hitman [Shin kanashiki hittoman]
Director Rokuro Mochizuki’s film is straightforward in its depiction of drugs, violence, and prostitution in this cockeyed noir adapted from Yukio Yamanouchi’s novel. Yamanouchi, once a layer for the Yakuza, is now a prolific writer of crime stories and manga in Japan. The story follows an ex-punk rocker’s release from a ten-year prison stint and [...]
Del’s Best & Worst Films of 2004
TOP TEN FOR 2004 #10–The Incredibles: Great animation, fun story, strong characters and not-too-farfetched situations make this the best animated film of the year. #9–Ray: Jamie Foxx’s tour-de-force performance as The Genius elevates this biopic to stellar heights. #8–Million Dollar Baby: Eastwood’s surprisingly touching portrayal of two elderly pugilists helping a young woman boxer in [...]
Nine Souls
Japanese director Toshiaki Toyoda’s works have been focused, primarily, upon his country’s disaffected youth in films like 1998′s Pornostar and 2002′s Blue Spring. Touching upon timely and critical issues pertinent especially to youth, and speaking to that group across many cultures, Toyoda’s works have been out of the mainstream for the most part. But that [...]
Switchblade Romance [High Tension / Haute Tension]
Two college girls heading to one girl’s farmland home during semester break. They’re riding along talking and debating as young adults will do, about almost nothing at all. They tease and taunt each other about directions, about their driving, and tear down the road singing along with the radio. It’s a sunny day and you [...]
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