The Heroic Trio (1993)

I always understood that The Heroic Trio (1993) was one to see, ever since seeing clips of it in Olivier Assayas’ Irma Vep (it’s featured as one of the films that convinces the director character played by Jean-Pierre Leaud to cast Maggie Cheung in his remake of Les Vampires). A Hong Kong action adventure thriller, […]

Late Spring (1949)

Ozu – Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu – is a weighty name in arthouse auteur circles, often referenced by Paul Schrader, Mike Leigh, Jim Jarmusch, Claire Denis, Koganda, amongst others. A weighty name even though the reputation of his films is that they are quiet, patient, and delicate. I was intending to begin 2023 on a […]

Frownland (2007)

I’d always been curious about Frownland (2007) ever since reading Roger Ebert’s review upon its release – it sounded uncompromising and aggravating, a punishing American indie “comedy”, the type of thing that would never get a cinema release (well, in Australia) and you would have to wait until an import DVD might be available at […]

Friday Foster (1975)

While it has violence and nudity, there’s something lighter and frothier about the blaxploitation film, Friday Foster (1975); it’s almost ready to be a crowd-pleasing TV movie pilot, maybe because the film is being based on a comic strip (comparable to Modesty Blaise in terms of syndicated newspaper comics). A vehicle for the great Pam […]

A Colt Is My Passport (1967)

Watching Japanese 1960s crime flicks (particularly those produced by Nikkatsu Corporation) is always an insight into how much Quentin Tarantino has ripped off them off (also Jim Jarmusch when he makes hitman movies, and I tend to think of Jarmusch a bit more just because there’s a certain level of economy shared). Then again, A […]