Images from Seijun Suzuki’s Everything Goes Wrong (1960) Last week I shared some of my thoughts about Seijun Suzuki’s excellent neo-noir melodrama Everything Goes Wrong (1960) over at the Movie Morlocks. It’s one of Suzuki’s early films that isn’t available on DVD in the US yet but you can currently watch it at Hulu.com if … Continue reading »
Filed under Japanese Cinema …
Masahiro Shinoda’s Pale Flower (1964)
I find it incredibly hard to write about my favorite films, directors and actors. When I really love a film as much as I love Masahiro Shinoda’s Pale Flower (1964), I tend to gush or the words just stumble around in my head and refuse to form into coherent sentences. I’ve been eager to write … Continue reading »
Remember My Name (1976) & TCM News
Anthony Perkins & Geraldine Chaplin in Remember My Name (1976) I’ve been really busy lately so please excuse the lack of updates around here. Lately it seems like I only have enough free time to share my Movie Morlock updates and today is no exception. I recently got the opportunity to watch Alan Rudolph’s unusual … Continue reading »
Yeti Holiday Fun
Xmas card illustrated by SHAG that I sent to friends & family in 2002 One of my favorite monsters is the elusive and mysterious Yeti or Abominable Snowman and during the winter months I always start thinking about my favorite Yeti movies. I decided to compile a brief list of viewing suggestions for Movie Morlock … Continue reading »
Jewel Thieves & Giant Monsters
After recently reading and writing about Peter H. Brothers’ book Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda, I was motivated to watch one of Honda’s lesser-known films that I hadn’t had the opportunity to see yet, Dogora (1964). I’m not sure how I managed to overlook this little gem involving a … Continue reading »
The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda
I recently read Peter H. Brothers’ informative new book Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda and really enjoyed it. It’s the first English language book written about the Japanese director Ishiro Honda and it’s a must-read for fans of Japanese science fiction and fantasy films. I love giant monster movies … Continue reading »
Happy Birthday Akira Kurosawa!
Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune in Stray Dog (1949) Stray Dog (1949) was the ninth film made by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and I think it’s one of his very best. Like many of my favorite Kurosawa films, Stray Dog features no rogue samurai or mad emperors and it’s set in modern Japan instead of … Continue reading »
Akira Kobayashi Turns 72
Akira Kobayashi One of my favorite Japanese actors turned 72 yesterday so I thought I’d make some time to wish Akira Kobayashi a very happy belated birthday. Earlier this year I had planned on paying tribute to Kobayashi during the Japanese Cinema Blogathon but at the last minute I decided to write about director Yasuharu … Continue reading »
Modern Mondays: Bright Future (2003)
My regular readers may have noticed that my blog was impossible to access for 3 or 4 days. This was due to a major problem with the blog servers. They’re still ironing out the bugs so don’t be surprised if Cinebeats disappears again. Hopefully the problems will be worked out soon. In the meantime, Modern … Continue reading »
Remembering Yasuharu Hasebe (1932-2009)
Akira Kobayashi in Yasuharu Hasebe’s Black Tight Killers (1966) While I was trying to compile a post for the Japanese Cinema Blogathon currently happening at Wildgrounds I read the sad news that one of my favorite Japanese directors, Yasuharu Hasebe, has died after he contracted pneumonia on June 14th. Hasebe was 77 years old, but … Continue reading »
Spend Springtime in Japan
Left: Joe Shishido & Reiko Sasamori in Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards! Right: Hiroyuki Nagato & Jitsuko Yoshimura in Pigs and Battleships We’re only four months into 2009 and the year is already becoming more interesting in terms of DVD releases than 2008. I’ve been impressed with Warner’s decision to open up their … Continue reading »
Resurrecting Yusaku Matsuda
The many faces of Yusaku Matsuda (1950-1989) Toru Murakawa’s Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (aka Yomigaeru kinrô; 1979) is a wildly uneven Japanese crime film that left me wishing it had been helmed by another director. The film’s script was adapted from a popular novel by Haruhiko Ooyabu and directors like Seijun Suzuki have had … Continue reading »
Favorite DVD Releases of 2008: Part II
Apologies for the long delay! My annual list of Favorite DVDs always takes longer to compile than I expect it will. You can find the first part of this list here. Now on to Part II #11-20 . . . Cornel Wilde in The Naked Prey (1966) 11. The Naked Prey (Criterion) You can read … Continue reading »
20 Favorite DVD Releases of 2008: Part I.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but overall 2008 was somewhat of a lackluster year for new Region 1 DVD releases of ’60s and ’70s era films when compared to the previous two years (See: 2006 and 2007). Some of my favorite DVD companies such as BCI Eclipse and most recently New … Continue reading »
Twittering the Oscars
In my last post I mentioned that I had recently started “Twittering” so I’ve decided to try and “Live Tweet” the Oscars tonight starting at 5 pm Pacific time. Feel free to join in the fun! You can find my latest Tweets posted on my Cinebeats Twitter Profile. Expect to read lots of off-the-cuff remarks … Continue reading »
