cityonfire.com | Movie News & Developments |
- A Colt is My Passport (1967) Review
- The Happiness of the Katakuris | Blu-ray & DVD (Arrow Video)
- Ready for a new ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ trailer?
| A Colt is My Passport (1967) Review Posted: 17 Feb 2015 12:01 AM PST  "A Colt is My Passport" Japanese Theatrical Poster Director: Takashi Nomura By Kyle Warner In the 1960s, the Japanese studio Nikkatsu was cranking out action films at a rapid pace. They were often made fast and cheap, but they were also wildly inventive, and gave rise to talents like Seijun Suzuki, Joe Shishido, Koreyoshi Kurahara, and Toshio Masuda. Today, I want to shine the spotlight on one of the lesser known action movies of the period: A Colt is My Passport, a film that's just as cool as its title suggests. Joe Shishido plays a hitman tasked with killing a rival yakuza boss. After completing the assassination, he and his partner (Jerry Fujio) attempt to escape the country, but the bad guys have all the airports covered. Joe and Jerry are told to hideout in a truck stop outside of town while things cool down. However, while waiting there, his boss makes nice with the son of the recently murdered rival, and an alliance is formed. In order to ensure friendly relations, Shishido must be killed, and his boss is all too willing to give him up. Made the same year as Branded to Kill, some fans are quick to point out that the two movies share some interesting similarities. Both Nikkatsu films star Joe Shishido as a hitman that's being hunted. Both feature an assassination attempt that is nearly foiled by a small creature in the crosshairs (butterflies for Branded, a small bird for Colt). And both have a quirky energy to their action sequences – the action is equally visceral and humorous. But beyond these similarities, they're two very different movies. Suzuki's film was a trippy nightmare way ahead of its time. Nomura's film is more of a celebration of the genre, with stark black and white photography, hardboiled film noir dialogue, doomed romances, and a brilliant, bloody finale. Joe Shishido is excellent as the hitman Kamimura. The actor has played more complex characters and given more showy performances, but he appears perfectly at ease here. At this point in his career, Shishido was adept at playing these sort of roguish antiheroes, and this should go down as one of his finest films thanks in no small part to his steely screen presence. The director Takashi Nomura is something of an unknown name in film history. A glance at his IMDb filmography shows that he primarily worked in TV since the 70s. From what I can gather, his only other notable film was the 1961 western Fast-Draw Guy, which also starred Shishido. It doesn't surprise me that Nomura made a western at some point, as we see many elements of the genre show up in A Colt is My Passport. The film's score uses a harmonica to create the feel of a Spaghetti Western. Also, at about the half-way point, Jerry Fujio picks up a guitar and sings us a tune, and one could imagine the scene working just the same around a campfire. And the action-packed finale which finds our hero at the designated place as gunmen appear from out of a dust cloud in very similar to the imagery of various westerns. Beyond these nods to the western genre, Nomura's style is less flashy than his Nikkatsu colleagues of the time. But I'm not complaining. A Colt is My Passport is the only Nomura film I've ever seen and it's a great one. But it's not all perfect. For whatever reason, exciting car chases are a rarity in Japanese cinema. The car chase in Colt is strangely polite by Western standards. Thankfully it ends in a splendid way, but I can't say that the sequence is one of the film's finer moments. Also, Colt doesn't spend much time with the villains, so sometimes the viewer may get confused as to who is who in the yakuza family dynamics. I'm not exactly wishing that we had more of the villains in the film, but I do think that they could've been more defined and memorable. Some will find issues with the film's crazy finale. I'm not one of those people. Shishido and his enemies are given a day to plan for how best to kill one another. The bad guys opt to use an armored car with bulletproof windows. Meanwhile, Shishido digs a grave in the middle of a patch of dirt and… I won't spoil what happens next. Suffice to say that it may stretch believability just a tad, but it's so energetic and cool that I personally count it as the film's best scene. A Colt is My Passport is available on DVD in the Nikkatsu Noir box set from the Criterion Collection's Eclipse line. Unlike most Criterion releases, the Eclipse Series is completely devoid of special features. The only supplement is a short essay from Chuck Stephens printed within the case. Also included in the Nikkatsu Noir box is I Am Waiting, Rusty Knife, Cruel Gun Story, and Take Aim at the Police Van. It's a great set of films – A Colt is My Passport being my favorite of the five. When you look for lists of the best Japanese crime films, you're going to see a lot of the same names repeated over and over. Titles like Battles without Honor and Humanity, Shinjuku Triad Society, Hana-Bi, Branded to Kill, and Pale Flower. Names like Kinji Fukasaku, Takashi Miike, Takeshi Kitano, and Seijun Suzuki. You're not likely to hear A Colt is My Passport mentioned on such lists. And that's too bad. Gritty, cool, lean, and mean — A Colt is My Passport is just about everything I ask for from an action film of the period. It's one of the most underrated and underseen yakuza films currently available to Western audiences. I highly recommend it. Kyle Warner’s Rating: 8.5/10 |
| The Happiness of the Katakuris | Blu-ray & DVD (Arrow Video) Posted: 17 Feb 2015 12:00 AM PST  The Happiness of the Katakuris | Blu-ray & DVD (Arrow Video) RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2015 Arrow Video presents the Blu-ray & DVD for 2001′s The Happiness of the Katakuris, directed by Takashi Miike (New Graveyard of Honor). It’s the “The Sound of Music meets Dawn of the Dead“! The Katakuris are a family trying to run a peaceful country inn but with a lack of guests there is much excitement for their first visitor, until they wind up dead! As each guest in turn dies in strange circumstances the family agree to hide the bodies but will the coverups come back to haunt them. Watch the trailer. Stay tuned for pre-order information. |
| Ready for a new ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ trailer? Posted: 16 Feb 2015 12:00 AM PST  "The Empire Strikes Back" Japanese Theatrical Poster THE MOVIE: Currently in post-production is Star Wars: Episode VII, the continuation of the Star Wars saga created by George Lucas. Episode VIII and IX are slated to arrive in 2017 and 2019, respectively. The film’s will be directed by J.J. Abrams (Super 8). The movie, which will be released in 3D, opens worldwide on December 18, 2015. Updates: Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the sequel will take place 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi. | Lucasfilm confirms that the new Star Wars films will have nothing go do with the “Expanded Universe” (i.e. offshoot novels, cartoons, comic books and video games). The offical cast and credits have been announced for Episode VII, courtesy of starwars.com: John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film. Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. Looks like they might be taking an old school approach to Episode VII, which will make J.J. Abram’s sequel mesh with the original trilogy even more. Head over to TMZ to see the non-CG sets and creature design. We’re sure there will be CG, but not nearly as much as the prequel trilogy. | First set photos of the Millennium Falcon. It was announced that Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) will be directing the first standalone Star Wars spin-off. Today, there are several reports that Josh Trank (Chronicle) has signed on to do his own standalone spin-off. In other news, J.J. Abrams cheekily responds to all the leaked photos popping up online. Definitely check it out at Collider. | Head over to Collider for interesting interview tidbits with Mark Hamill. News has broke that Brick and Looper director Rian Johnson has been signed to write and direct Episode VIII. There’s speculation Johnson may also write a script treatment for Episode IX. It looks like this new trilogy will continue the Original Trilogy tradition of having a new director with each film. A load of Star Wars VII updates: Click here to see what might be Han Solo's new costume. At the same link is info about Han’s new ship, the Super Star Destroyer (and the whereabouts of the Millennium Falcon). Also, the new villains are now revealed, as well as images of the new Storm Troopers helmet. First official look of the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars: Ep VII. Look closely… (Note: this is not CGI, it’s an actual model built on set). | If you haven’t, check out a batch of leaked images (beware of spoilers). | Disney revealed that the official title for Star Wars: Episode VII is Star Wars: The Force Awakens. | Watch the first trailer now! According to MTFG.com, reliable sources indicate that Daniel Craig (Spectre) will be playing a stormtrooper in Star Wars: The Force Awakens: “I don’t know how long he will be in the movie, or how many lines he will have. He may not have any lines at all. I have the feeling that he will though,” says the MTFG. The Raid 2 stars Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian (Mad Dog/Prakoso) and Cecep Arif Rahman (The Assassin), will reportedly have roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. No details on what or who they’ll be playing, but Twitch (via FCS) said it best: “After the underwhelming prequel trilogy with its massive over-reliance on CGI trickery not only has Abrams shown a strong preference for practical effects but has now also cast a trio of highly skilled martial artists who have already demonstrated their skills with blades, batons, etc in a world where super powered warriors fight with blades, batons, etc.” BREAKING NEWS: According to reports, J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy will be making an appearance at this year's Star Wars Celebration (on April 16-19, 2015 at the Anaheim Convention Center). The two will not only to tour the show but will also possibly unveil the second trailer. If this is true, the new trailer can potentially make its way online as well. Stay tuned! |
| You are subscribed to email updates from cityonfire.com | Movie News & Developments To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment