Kimberly Lindbergs Crime, Ishiro Honda, Japanese Cinema, Movie Reviews, Science Fiction

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 Jewel Thieves & Giant Monsters

Kimberly Lindbergs Akira Kurosawa, Crime, Directors, Ishiro Honda, Japanese Cinema, Movie Reviews, War

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 Happy Birthday Akira Kurosawa!

Kimberly Lindbergs Akira Kobayashi, Blogathons, Crime, Directors, Japanese Cinema, Meiko Kaji, Movie Reviews, Nikkatsu, Pinky Violence, Tokusatsu, Yasuharu Hasebe

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 Remembering Yasuharu Hasebe (1932-2009)

Kimberly Lindbergs Actors, Crime, Featured, Japanese Cinema, Movie Reviews

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 Resurrecting Yusaku Matsuda

Kimberly Lindbergs Alain Delon, American Cinema, Carol Lynley, Crime, Criterion, Delphine Seyrig, Favorite 2008 DVDs, Featured, French Cinema, Hammer Horror, Helmut Berger, Horror, Japanese Cinema, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Movie Reviews, Nikkatsu, Paul Naschy, Sean Connery, Serge Gainsbourg, Seth Holt, Spanish Cinema, Thrillers, William Klein, Yasuharu Hasebe

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 1960s and 1970s 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 20 Favorite DVD Releases of 2008: Part I.

Kimberly Lindbergs 1968, Crime, Gay Interest, Japanese Cinema, Kinji Fukasaku, Movie Reviews

The Decadent World of the Black Lizard

Akihiro Miwa and Yukio Mishima on stage together in the '60s "Ever since I first met him here, I've dreamt about Akechi. A vain man who acts like a critic. When his face appears in my dreams it disturbs me. I've never before had such an experience. He looks as if he knew and understood … Continue reading The Decadent World of the Black Lizard

Kimberly Lindbergs Carroll Baker, Crime, George Hilton, Giallo, Italian Cinema, Movie Reviews, Thrillers

The Devil with Seven Faces (1971)

Top: Carroll Baker has just seen the final cut of The Devil with Seven Faces (1971) Bottom: Even a cheap gorilla mask couldn't make the movie any better. Normally I neglect to write anything about movies I dislike. I never have enough time to write about all the films I like so why waste my … Continue reading The Devil with Seven Faces (1971)

Kimberly Lindbergs 1968, Alain Delon, Brigitte Bardot, Comedies, Crime, David Hemmings, Elizabeth Taylor, Giallo, Girl On a Motorcycle, Hammer Horror, Horror, Jess Franco, Joseph Losey, Julie Christie, Klaus Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, Mario Bava, Marisa Mell, Mia Farrow, Peter Sellers, Richard Burton, Richard Lester, Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, Steve McQueen, Terence Fisher, Terence Stamp, Westerns

My Top 20 Favorite Films of 1968

At the Britannica blog Raymond Benson has finished listing off his Top 10 Favorite Films of 1968 so if you're interested in the final results stop by and give them a look. I've mentioned on numerous occasions how much I dislike making lists of favorite films myself since they're limited by what I've seen and … Continue reading My Top 20 Favorite Films of 1968

Kimberly Lindbergs 1968, Actresses, American Cinema, Costume Design, Crime, Fashion & Film, Norman Jewison, Steve McQueen

Fashion & Passion in The Thomas Crown Affair

Fay Dunaway & Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) A lot has been written about Norman Jewison's 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair. If the reviews available at IMDb.com are any indication critics and audiences are split over it. I love this stylish '60s crime film. It's one of my favorite movies from … Continue reading Fashion & Passion in The Thomas Crown Affair

Kimberly Lindbergs Actors, American Cinema, Blogathons, Crime, Lee Marvin, TCM

Lee Marvin: A Sensitive 17-Year-Old Boy

"This film is really in one sense about Lee Marvin. It's about him as a character. He went out to the war and he was a sensitive 17-year-old boy and you know, he was brutalized and in a way, he was expressing himself through violence. He was always trying to recapture his humanity that he … Continue reading Lee Marvin: A Sensitive 17-Year-Old Boy