Letterboxd — Your life in film

Still one of my all time favorite CAT-III shock jams, relatively tame and dare I say even accessible in the way the plot unravels like a lighthearted police procedural (with some lowbrow intentional comedy that lowkey kinda knock it out of the park and undercut the inherent lameness of the procedural elements), but that’s not to say this movie doesn’t deserve every bit of its rating….I can’t really look at a bundle of chopsticks the same way again. Or a pork bun for that matter.

Impressive pedigree on the cast especially Anthony Wong who inexplicably gives it his all in a genuinely brilliant performance. 

8.5

Was quite enamored with this movie when it came out. It’s a lot less structured and more uneven and…..not as engaging as I remember, and some of the performances and song choices are pretty disappointing. But even at his state of health at the time Jackson shows flashes of his former glory here, constantly reminding the audience that he’s probably the greatest dancer the world has ever seen in the rehearsal footage. The tour would have been pretty rad, probably.  

6.75

A real dark horse candidate for best giallo ever in my opinion, just sublime stuff all around from the metatextual storyline that reads like Argento’s grand thesis statement on art and violence, wacky energetic pacing that goes from 0 to 100 like a dragster, goated theme song (courtesy of Goblin personnel) to that crazy dog chase that takes up a pretty big amount of runtime. 

This is fiercely, unmistakably Argento; the technical mastery on display here as he playfully jostles his critics and detractors while remaining on top of his game is a great flex. 

9.25

So far Bava has been all hits no misses for me and I was curious to see how I’ll warm up to my first B&W Bava feature when my favorite thing about him in the features I’ve seen is his emphasis on color. I thought this was great! Beautifully, atmospherically shot in black and white with the kind of gothic storytelling I expect from him, brooding creepiness with a tasteful amount of gore, predicting the next couple of decades of Italian horror. 

8.25

Ups the ante set by Death Wish 3 in a few ways—namely wilder, more beautifully inspired methods of youth punk execution—definitely a step down from its transcendent predecessor overall in terms of unstoppable vibe but still a worthy facemelter if you ever caught this on cable in the middle of the night. Enjoyed how this franchise moves from LA to New York with every installment up to this point; surprisingly I like the New York movies quite a bit more. 

Pair this one w/ The Hidden for a 1987 Danny Trejo double feature

7.75

Last time I saw this was for the first time two years ago at a pretty memorable pre-pandemic screening and none of my thoughts have changed except it’s actually more fucking crazy than I remember? Sharing my previous review here which I think is one of the better things I’ve written for this site. 

10

Buster Keaton's dad is a steamboat captain and they reunite after years apart, and falls in love with the daughter of his dad's rival, hilarity ensues. This one has one of my favorite scenes in the silent era: Buster trying on many hats with that deadpan stare. Plus, the famed tornado finale is as batshit insane as it was in 1928, and it pretty much turns the final act into a full-on lunatic stunt showcase that you have to see to believe. Buster narrowly escapes death about a few dozen times in these scenes. 

9.0