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  • COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD -- Script was a little iffy, but the performances, stunts and direction more than made up for any issues there. Plus, great score by Stelvio Cipriani, including a song he wrote for Grace Jones. The disc has a really cool interview with Cipriani where he talks about his career and plays excerpts from his soundtracks on the piano -- but MAN, does that guy talk fast.

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    • SNAKES AND EARRINGS aka Hebi ni Piasu- Dir. Yukio Ninigawa (2008)

      I had high expectations going into this film due to both the subject matter & young actress, Yoriko Yoshitaka who plays the protagonist, Lui. But alas, I was disappointed on both counts. I realize this movie was Yoshitaka's break though role which galvanized her popularity & thrust her into the limelight as one of Japan's most promising young actresses but she seems out of her element here. A shame since I really enjoyed Yoshitaka's performances in Noriko's Dinner Table & A Drift In Tokyo but the weak script and half assed character development most certainly contributed to her lack luster perf in this film. On the bright side, she does get plenty nekkid to perform her soft core sex scenes.

      Even those few voyeuristic indulgences can't save this tripe from being a total waste of my time. Perhaps, I would've been better served to have spent the 2 hours I invested in watching this tripe, towards reading the novel on which this movie is based considering it won the famed Akutagawa prize for literature.

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      • Life And Death Of A Porno Gang - Grim! Well done, low budget for sure but pretty creative.

        Vances Sexualles - Two guys go on vacation and bang a few chicks, one of whom has a dildo bike but it's not as technologically advanced as the dildo bikes in the Six Swedes movies.
        Rock! Shock! Pop!

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        • Originally posted by Ian Jane View Post
          Life And Death Of A Porno Gang - Grim! Well done, low budget for sure but pretty creative.
          I was surpised by how much I liked this. Besides being grim, it weirdly manages to be very funny at times too. Some surprisingly good performances from the cast too. I knew the end was going to be a downer but I didn't expect it to get to me like it did.
          I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

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          • Agreed - I was worried at first that some of the humor might seem out of place but it wasn't and some of the characters were actually pretty interesting too.
            Rock! Shock! Pop!

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            • I Just Didn't Do It (Soredemo boku wa yattenai) Dir. Masayuki Suo (2006)

              The next film by acclaimed "Shall We Dance?" director Suo after a decade long hiatus & this one is a doozy. Based on a true story of a young man accused of being a train groper & undergoing a hellish journey through the implacable Japanese judicial system to proclaim his innocence. This film exposes the frailty of the Japanese legal system in the same way that Gen Takahashi's Confessions of a Dog exposed the underbelly of Japan's police as rife with corruption and criminality.

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              • Delinquent Girl Boss: Ballad of Yokohama Hoods (Zubeko bancho: Hamagure kazoe uta) - Dir. Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (1971)

                Enjoyed this one almost as much as Worthless to Confess...the finale is all kinds of awesome with the gals arriving like the calvary with sub machine guns mounted on their motorcycles & brandishing samurai swords to take on the local yakuza thugs.

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                • Didn't watch much this week, and it was mostly martial arts:

                  MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS -- Pretty fun Michelle Yeoh flick. The last battle scene was poorly paced and got a little heavy handed with the nationalism, but otherwise this was a lot of fun.

                  KILL ZONE -- Already mentioned this in the Donnie Yen thread, but I dug the hell out of this one.

                  FAST COMPANY -- Ehh, it was okay. Kept my interest well enough, and John Saxon was awesome as always but not anything particularly special.

                  GIRL BOSS REVENGE -- Not nearly as good as the previous one in the series but still a lot of fun. Was sort of an unusual entry what with it mostly handing the lead over to Sugimoto for the first 2/3 and then Ike showing up in the third act to take over. Might be just about the tamest Norifumi Suzuki movie I've seen.

                  8 DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER -- Reading the sad news about the state of Gordon Liu's health and family made me want to watch one of his classics in his honor. He and Kara Hui are both just ridiculously awesome in this one.

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                  • Originally posted by 47lab View Post
                    Delinquent Girl Boss: Ballad of Yokohama Hoods (Zubeko bancho: Hamagure kazoe uta) - Dir. Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (1971)

                    Enjoyed this one almost as much as Worthless to Confess...the finale is all kinds of awesome with the gals arriving like the calvary with sub machine guns mounted on their motorcycles & brandishing samurai swords to take on the local yakuza thugs.

                    I have a bunch of untranslated R2 pinky violence DVDs, and this is by far my favorite. I am absolutely in love with this film. Yoko Ichiji as the cute sidekick. Yukie Kagawa as the cowgirl villain. Her sycophantic henchwoman (not sure of the actress' name.) Yoko Mihara as the horny Chinese girlfriend. The nightclub. The song about Yokohama. The score. Everything.

                    You wouldn't happen to know where I can get subs..?

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                    • DIRTY MARIA (Yogore ta onna - Maria) - Dir. Takahisa Zeze (1998)

                      A true crime/pink thriller from one of the "4 Kings of Pink" (the other 3 being Kazuhiro Sano, Toshiki Sato, and Hisayasu Sato) which is part murder mystery/part morality tale with some perversion and mayhem thrown into the mix. Character actor, Taro Suwa gives a fine performance as the desperate husband in search of his missing wife who undergoes an existential journey in the process.

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                      • Originally posted by Marshall Crist View Post
                        I have a bunch of untranslated R2 pinky violence DVDs, and this is by far my favorite. I am absolutely in love with this film. Yoko Ichiji as the cute sidekick. Yukie Kagawa as the cowgirl villain. Her sycophantic henchwoman (not sure of the actress' name.) Yoko Mihara as the horny Chinese girlfriend. The nightclub. The song about Yokohama. The score. Everything.

                        You wouldn't happen to know where I can get subs..?
                        I agree with you. That Yoko Ichiji was a scene stealer as Reiko's sidekick. Wasn't she also in one of the other films in the series? Or am I mistaken?

                        Sorry, I wish this was fan subbed but I watched this sans subs as well. Still worth it tho' even if I failed to grasp everything just for everything you noted above. :up:

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                        • Bringing Out The Dead: One of Marty's better later day films. Albeit unfocused though. Great performances but it doesn't seem to know what it's trying to say and the 3rd act with Tom Sizemore the film suddenly resembles Fear and Loathing. Good film though, and certainly unique.
                          "Ah! By god's balls what licentiousness!"

                          Marquis de Sade, The 120 Days of Sodom.

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                          • Monty Python & The Holy Grail - This movie has a lot of replay value for me because I seem to notice something strange and silly every time I watch it that I hadn't noticed before. Last night I giggled a lot at one dude sitting by a creek with a log hitting the water with the log for no discernable reason. I love this movie, I hope it never wears off for me.
                            Rock! Shock! Pop!

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                            • Originally posted by 47lab View Post
                              I agree with you. That Yoko Ichiji was a scene stealer as Reiko's sidekick. Wasn't she also in one of the other films in the series? Or am I mistaken?

                              Sorry, I wish this was fan subbed but I watched this sans subs as well. Still worth it tho' even if I failed to grasp everything just for everything you noted above. :up:
                              Yoko Ichiji also played the daughter (or granddaughter?) of a noodle shop proprietor in DELINQUENT GIRL BOSS: WORTHLESS TO CONFESS. I agree with you about her scene-stealing. She's great on the bus at the beginning, and chasing after Reiko Oshida after they get released. My favorite is the bit where Reiko throws away the apple and Yoko is impressed and copies her. If you like her, I highly recommend THREE PRETTY DEVILS.

                              One thing I am really curious about in YOKOHAMA HOODS is the relationship between Yoko Mihara and Tonpei Hidari ("Tsunao.") Is she just way too horny for him or is there some other dynamic at play. Also love the fruity guy who picks up Reiko and Yoko in his car and becomes one of the supporting cast. His outbursts of poor English are amusing.

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                              • Originally posted by Marshall Crist View Post
                                Yoko Ichiji also played the daughter (or granddaughter?) of a noodle shop proprietor in DELINQUENT GIRL BOSS: WORTHLESS TO CONFESS. I agree with you about her scene-stealing. She's great on the bus at the beginning, and chasing after Reiko Oshida after they get released. My favorite is the bit where Reiko throws away the apple and Yoko is impressed and copies her. If you like her, I highly recommend THREE PRETTY DEVILS.

                                One thing I am really curious about in YOKOHAMA HOODS is the relationship between Yoko Mihara and Tonpei Hidari ("Tsunao.") Is she just way too horny for him or is there some other dynamic at play. Also love the fruity guy who picks up Reiko and Yoko in his car and becomes one of the supporting cast. His outbursts of poor English are amusing
                                ah yes, I should've recognized her as Oyuki. Thanks for the heads up regarding THREE PRETTY DEVILS --- I've been meaning to check that one out for a while now as I'm also a fan of Junko Natsu & Reiko Ohara.

                                Not really sure if there was another dynamic at play re: Hidari & Mihara's r/s...she just seemed to be an oversexed nympho to me. She was even trying to put the moves on that US army soldier who went AWOL and was double crossed by the yakuza until Hidari put a stop to it haha. I was trying to figure out what she was requesting of Hidari in the scene in the beginning where she shows him that pearl ring? Wondering if she wants him to put a pearl in his penis the way yakuza are reported to do in prison to add to the pleasure of lovemaking? Anyway, i was kind of shocked when Yoko showed off her stomach because I thought she was pregnant by the size of her flabby midsection!

                                I just watched AKIHABARA GEEKS (2002) a documentary produced by NHK that profiles five pople for 24 hrs in the famed section of Tokyo that gave rise to the popularity of the otaku. I was expecting some sensationalistic account but most of the individuals profiled appear as quite normal, down to earth people who just happen to be pursuing their hobbies/interests. The possible exception being that moe infatuated otaku, Motoharu...some of his scenes made me a cringe a bit. I wanted to know more about Kouichi Shimayama, as he appeared the most interesting subject but alas, this was a rather short documentary that didnt go in depth into their subjects. The least interesting was that college student who works at a maid cafe to get herself through law school but at least she was cute.

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