ICC #09 – The Kurosawa Cliché
Akira Kurosawa is a monolith and Justin and Will nervously approach his filmography like soldier's marching through a minefield. They watch THRONE OF BLOOD, THE BAD SLEEP WELL and discuss the master's biography, his riff with Toshiro Mifune, and the reason he's the...
‘Dodsworth’ (1936): Relationships never get easy (1936)
I dived blind into Doswroth expecting it to be a Citizen Kane like tale of a buisnessman's fall. Nope. It isn't the 30's relationship drama hat the poster seems to be advertising either. Well, it is a relationship drama, but its the story of the dissolution of a long...
‘The Day of the Outlaw’ (1959): A Frozen Western Classic – Review
A gang of outlaws take over a snowy small town, confiscate all the guns, and the leader (Burt Ives) tells the townsfolk they'll be left in peace as long as they stay calm. The problem is that the old Mr. Ives is going to die from a bullet wound soon, and when he does,...
The Top 10 Films of 2015 – Justin Decloux
I talked about my top ten on the last episode of THE IMPORTANT CINEMA CLUB (which you can listen to here), but here's the list for posterity. 10. TANGERINE This is a great film. You should see it. 9. DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL No one makes coming of age tales like...
It’s Not Cranberry Sauce in ‘Blood Rage’ (1987) – Review
BLOOD RAGE is the 80's slasher at its most pure. There are teens, they hang out (for thanksgiving), and then they killed in horrific ways. That's it! There's nothing more to this 24 frames a second moving picture. Don't look for any social commentary, or a plot, or...
The Bloody Satisfaction of ‘The Black Tavern’ (1972) – Review
Endless snow. Horses. An empty tavern. Bounty hunters with deadly secrets. Shocking violence. No, this isn't THE HATEFUL EIGHT. It's the Shaw Bros should-be-a-classic wuxia THE BLACK TAVERN. THE BLACK TAVERN* is a low budget exploitation riff on King Hu's arty DRAGON...
Terminal Island (1973) – Review
Death row prisoners are banished to an island and forced to fend for themselves in this exploitation take on LORD OF THE FLIES that succeeds in it's straight forward execution - almost to the point of stark utilitarianism. Director Sophie Rothman has said in...
Billy Jack (1971) – Review
For years, the highest grossing independent film ever was Billy Jack. Made on a budget of 800,000$, it went on to gross (reportedly) over 40 million and it's not hard to see why it was such a success. It's got a bad-ass hero (who's about an inch from being a...
Brotherhood of Death (1976) – Reviews
There's nothing more satisfying then watching a racist asshole die a horrible death. I was hoping that BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH would hit that exploitation sweet spot and the synopsis really got my hopes up: "A trio of African Americans from a small town go to fight in...
The Christmas Movie Marathon: 21 – 25
And so the Christmas marathon comes to an end. Not with a bang, but with a row of comforting films in the shape of a warm blanket. I'm not going to review them, because they are unabashedly great, and I have nothing of real value on to add. Could I have forced myself...
