I’m trying to remember which one of my friends recommended Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice. While I can understand his honorable intentions in introducing me to a new-to-me form of cult-driven film, he should have stressed that this is not a date movie.  (Features like these are the reason I have a hard time getting my wife to watch movies with me.) After the first twenty minutes, we turned it off to watch something we could enjoy together.

Later the next day, I finished watching it. Why did I go back to something I found very uncomfortable? I’ve always have felt the need to watch a film all the way through; otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to make an honest appraisal. There would always be nagging questions, “Did it get any better?” and “Does the sixties jazz soundtrack, more-Shaft-than-Shogun, turn into something more traditional?” For my own piece of mind, and because by that point I wanted to draw a review, I finished watching, but let me assure you, it was no fun.

A few of you kind readers are also fans of manga and anime. Some of you might know that Hanzo the Razor was originally a manga created by the same hand that made Lone Wolf and Cub. Some of you might even know that in “Samurai Champloo,” the over-the-top policeman character named Mando was a parody of Hando. Still, I urge you not to seek out this film. And if you do, don’t watch it with your wife—or anyone else you ever want to look in the eye again.

The Comic Critic

Appaloosa is a slim, trim, and neatly executed Western. Driven by the depth of the characters, the story is lovingly framed with a level of set and costume detail that is hard to equal. The visuals are so tempting that, after the movie, you are left longing to know this mysterious little town’s location. I give it a very strong seven, and was very tempted to give it an eight. I nearly did it, since it contained so many of my favorite actors. I’m still tempted and will do so—if I get enough fans clamoring to sway me to score it higher.
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There are films depicting the trials and tribulations of a descent into drug addiction, ending with deep soul-searching as our hero climbs up and gets on the wagon. This is not one of those films. Rather than being a joyful after-school special in which lessons are learned with tears shed and hugs given, Requiem for a Dream is more along the lines of some driver’s education films banned in the fifties for their overenthusiastic avoidance-instruction-by-example. If you enjoy watching a sad story about to become a tragedy, then this film is just perfect for you. And you will be well rewarded too. The quality of the script, acting and editing is top notch. So, why didn’t I give it an eight? Because it depressed the bejezus out of me.

To see all the other movie reviews I've not posted here since my last posting, check out The Comic Critic.

http://vimeo.com/3798117

Me being interviewed by Electric Elliot in my studio.

This is a vampire film, which uses vampire film knowledge to battle vampire film vampires while doing an homage to vampire films. A lot of great horror movies came out in the 1980s. And the best, like Fright Night, are filled with clever writing, wonderful characters, and a love for creepy crawly celluloid of the past. I was extremely tempted to give this film a ten. I'm still tempted to give this film a ten. In short, this is a great freakin' film and if you haven't seen it, you are culturally deprived.

More reviews can be found at The Comic Critic.

I love the social commentary that the only folks who end up normal afer the comet has passed, are those wo didn't care to stare up at the night sky in wonder. Talk about a selective survival mechanism. Seaking of surviving, our herine and her boyfriend made it through the night because they were in an old bunker, and yet none of the other survivor's stories sound that plausible. I love the wit and valley girl attitude. and for those watching for the first time, get ready for a big ol' 80's flashback. And check out who the actors were. Hilarious!

Death Race 2000 was one of the very first grindhouse films I ever saw. I believe it achieved cult status because it was timed to take advantage of the high frustration folks were feeling about gas prices and the economy. The storyline is none too subtle about it, either. In the film, a huge crisis occurs in 1978 that radically changed the political landscape, so by the year 2000 one of the means of population control is the Transcontinental Road Race. And the American Resistance Party believes that by messing with the race, they can bring down the immoral establishment. Like any wonderful grindhouse film, the premise was so ludicrous that by adding just a bit of humor to the script, the movie was able to achieve huge, if undeserved, laughs. Nobody cared about the huge holes in the plot or story, nor that the scoring system never made any sense. You just went to see some guy do what you wished you could do, and that's what a lot of movies are about.

An interesting side note to the film is that the Video Arcades of the day were having a hard time. Kids could play Pong at home on their Atari systems, so they weren't putting quarters into the slots at the arcades as fast as they used to. Then the Death Race arcade game come out. The goal was to run over a whole bunch of running figures. Once you did so, a headstone would pop up. The game became more and more difficult as more and more headstones got in your way. Running over a headstone would cause you to lose speed and it made a horrific noise. Anyway, a lot of uptight folks made a hue and cry over this immoral game. It was warping young minds. The story was picked up by the national news, and enquiring television programs pondered how video games were affecting American youth. All of this attention naturally drove kids back to the arcades for a chance at the machines–before it could be banned.

Some might think this to be the first movie-inspired video game, but that honor goes to Jaws. The bloodlust in Death Race was far more compelling to the media than Jaws for some reason. (Neither of the two games was properly licensed.) While it's now de rigueur that a video game is released as a tie-in to a movie, it all had to start somewhere.

This is just one of many movies that Sam Katzman produced. Katzman was all about keeping on budget and increasing the profit margin by getting them quickly in the can. Most of his films are B-Movie classics. He might have worked fast, with an eye for the bottom line, but somehow, most of his films have a solid professional feel. The Werewolf was made fourteen years after The Wolf Man, just a year prior to I Was A Teenage Werewolf. What I love about this film is its location. Sure, the sign on the sheriff's office says Mountaincrest, but every other sign in town reads Big Bear, a nice hunting community from what we can tell. If the scenery around Big Bear City looks familiar, it's because the town is a common filming locale for movies. From classics like Old Yeller (1956) to recent horror efforts like Ticks (1999), Big Bear City has played host to over 200 films. You might want to check out their annual film festivall.

I know that many people will disagree with me about this movie being a ten. But I don't care. I'm a science fiction nut who loves a good time-travel movie with some balls. Here is a poor schlep who finds himself bouncing between two realities. He goes back and forth from knowing that he is in two realities, to wanting to be believe that he is in one, to knowing he is in one. Beaten, kicked, and confused, he does his level best to stagger through both. And the storytelling is great. You almost wish that he were delusional because that would be the easiest route for our poor sympathetic hero. . See all the movies reviews at The Comic Critic Website.

Once again, I took a plane trip. And, once again, I found my in-flight viewing option to be… no, really, not another Nanny Movie! Argh. This time, it was The Water Horse, Legend of the Deep. I can see why they decided to lengthen the movie's title. Just calling it The Water Horse might have implied a simple story (to go with a simple title). Oh, that's a spoiler by the way. I do have to give the filmmakers a little credit for the way they handled its imagery. It's nearly impossible to make a large, smooth, dark gray creature interesting on the screen. Yet, by purposefully lowering color levels, its rich sepia tone created a nice ambiance for the title creature and other characters. The writing, predictable and obvious, is perfectly fine for the young viewer. Since I am an adult, I wanted bit more from the story and decided to have fun with this week's strip by showing that dialog was not the most interesting feature of this film. See all the movies reviews at The Comic Critic Website.