Category: Drama
-

Psycho II (1983)
Now this is a legacy sequel! Psycho II (1983) was actually a box office hit, from what I’ve read, and exists nicely at this cross-section of eras and influences: obviously 1960s Hitchcock, but also 1970s Network TV Mystery Of The Week and 1980s Slasher Sequels. While an unnecessary sequel to a genre-defining classic twenty years… Read.
-

Lionheart (1990)
Lionheart (1990) was released as Wrong Bet in Australia; I never really grew up as a Jean-Claude Van Damme fan when I was a teenager and missed a lot of his movies. Now I love the guy because to me he’s endearing, even when he’s an egotist and not to mention, back in the day,… Read.
-

Nowhere To Hide (1999)
Sometimes the algorithm works. I only came across Nowhere To Hide (1999) when I was looking up “Similar Movies to” The Wild Goose Lake (a Chinese neo-noir that was a recent fave) on Apple. Wong Kar-wai stylistic comparisons for a South Korean crime thriller, images of dudes punching each other drenched in the rain, I’m… Read.
-

The Woman Who Ran (2020)
I’ve not seen any of South Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo’s work – he’s made like over twenty moderately budgeted movies – before The Woman Who Ran (2020), which appealed to me because it was available on SBS On Demand and it was only 77 minutes long. The first thing I can say: zooms. A camera… Read.
-
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972)
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972) belongs undeniably to a sleazy exploitation category, the “women in prison” sub-genre. Yet if you can stomach that grubbiness, this entry proves to be an artistic triumph because of two strong elements: (1) the theatrical and surreal style that director Shunya Ito (his debut film!) brings to it, and (2)… Read.