I am thrilled to announce that I have recently been introduced onto the website review team for brill entertainment and interview podcast 60 Minutes With. My debut review – of remastered and soon-to-be-re-released 70s rat horror Willard – went live today. Click THIS LINK to take a read of my thoughts, feelings and opinions and look out for future reviews from yours truly (as well as the rest of the 60MW team) coming soon!
18 – 105mins – 1999
HALF-BREED HEROES
“Go home if you don’t like it!”
Two years after Rainy Dog, Takashi Miike closed out his uneven and indecent Black Society Trilogy with another hard-hitting drama exposing the disreputable underbelly of his home country. Sick of being bullied and treated like outsiders, three optimistic Japanese youths of Chinese decent (among them Kazuki Kitamura, who would go on to star in Hollywood action sequel The Raid 2) move from the countryside to seek their fortune in Tokyo… and end up falling foul of the trigger-happy boss (Naoto Takenaka) of a city crime syndicate.
18 – 95mins – 1997
DAMP BOILED
Two years after his theatrical debut with the ultra-icky shock-fest Shinjuku Triad Society, Takashi Miike returned to his thematically-connected Black Society Trilogy with this precipitation-lashed middle segment, shot entirely in a washed-out Taiwan and with star Tomorowo Taguchi returning, albeit in a new and unrelated antagonist role.
THE FARCE AWAKENS
Courtesy of some generous check discs from Fabulous Films, my Smokey journey has taken in the highs and lows of the 1977 original road movie (which I reviewed HERE) and the somewhat less classic 1980 copyca– I mean, sequel (which I reviewed HERE). Now, my joyride across the newly remastered Blu-ray trilogy reaches the finish line in, err, frenzied style with the darn tootin’ crazy caper that is 1983’s Smokey and the Bandit III. Hit the link HERE to get taken directly to the 80’s Picture House website for your fix of four wheeled farce.
ATTENTION ALL YOU SOMBITCHES!
My series of reviews inspecting and dissecting the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy of action-comedies (which I started right HERE with the 1977 original) has hot-wheeled it over to the 80’s Picture House for film number two, so follow the link RIGHT HERE to ride on over to read my thoughts on the Burt Reynolds/Sally Field-starring sequel which was originally titled Smokey and the Bandit Ride Again.
PG – 95mins – 1977
PEDAL TO THE METAL
“We’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there…”
Originally conceived as a low budget B-movie by director and stuntman Hal Needham, with a little superstar clout from Burt Reynolds (at the time the world’s #1 box office draw) Smokey and the Bandit went on to become 1977’s second biggest grossing movie – behind only Star Wars.
For those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter (@crabhoward if you fancy joining my “cast”), you may have missed that my in-depth review of Fabulous Films / Freemantle Media’s brand new and immense 20 disc, 90 episode Blu-ray boxset of the entire 1982-86 Knight Rider television series was posted yesterday on The 80’s Picture House.
