ABCs of Death 2 (2014) review // Second Verse, Same as the First?

When I first heard about the ABCs of Death in 2012, I was extremely excited by the idea.  Twenty-six directors each given a letter of the alphabet, a small budget (something like $5K, I've heard), and complete freedom to choose a word and create a short film to match it.  The only stipulation being that the short had to showcase death in some way, shape, or form.  When I saw the film, however, it was painfully obvious that "complete creative freedom" wasn't such a great idea for the vast majority of the short films contained within.  While the film had a few bright spots, it was by and large a bunch of crap.  So why get excited about the prospect of another anthology of twenty-six sub-par short films?

Sweet Home (1989) review // The Haunting in Japan

When talking about the greatest haunted house films of all time, people will probably throw out titles like The Haunting (Robert Wise's original, not the shitty Liam Neeson-starring remake), House on Haunted Hill (I'll admit I actually enjoyed this one's remake), Poltergeist (an apt connection that you'll read about below), Nobuhiko Obayashi's Hausu (if you know what's good for you), or one of my personal favorites, Steve Miner's House (story by Fred Dekker!).  A title they probably won't mention is Sweet Home, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 1989 feature that has languished in obscurity due to only being available on VHS and laser disc.  It is a crime against humanity that a proper DVD or Bluray of this film has not yet seen the light of day.  Criterion put out gorgeous digital editions of Hausu five years ago, and they have at least one Kurosawa film (his excellent 1997 chiller Cure is available to stream on Hulu) in their possession, so what gives?

Teaser for Takashi Miike classroom horror As the Gods Will

"人気グラビアアイドル6人が、撮影の合間にちょっと不思議なだるまを発見。オモシロ半­分で「だるまさんがころんだ」をはじめた彼女達に待っているものとは・・・？ Is it bliss or a tragedy? A secret game with sexy Japanese idols. 

スタジオの隅に無造作に置かれただるま…グラドル達が近づいていくと、突然しゃべりだ­す。 「だ・る・ま・さ・ん・が・こ・ろ・ん・だ」 だるまとグラドルのお遊戯の先に待ちうけているのは、極楽か、奈落か…？ Six sexy and utterly cute Japanese gravure idols in bikinis are caught in a cute little game with a Daruma doll they found in the studio. See them bounce, sway, shake…and witness what happens!"

Tokyo Tribe (2014) review // Gangs of Neo Tokyo

(Various spoilers follow)

For any fan of Asian cinema - Japanese films in particular - the early 2000s were a very special time.  Takashi Miike pulled himself out of the much of V-Cinema (no-budget straight to video flicks) hell and became an international sensation, effectively patenting his unique brand of crazy and opening the flood gates for two-bit imitators and other similarly-skilled instigators.  Of the latter category, Sion Sono's Suicide Club put him on the international map much like Miike's Audition, Dead or Alive, and Ichi the Killer did for him.  Post-Suicide Club, Sono steadily honed his craft on the semi-sequel Noriko's Dinner Table, mind-bender Strange Circus, dark drama Hazard, and the much more commercial J-Horror entry Exte - or as commercial as a film about killer hair extensions can be.

Wishful Thinking

First blog post.  I got the name from the ridiculously unnecessary remake of the classic whacked-out UK film The Wicker Man.  It very much epitomizes the case of "so bad it's good," as it has been elevated into the stratosphere by Nicolas Cage's insane performance.  But what isn't, these days?