In the 1960s, a rather bizarre genre exploded into Japanese theatres called “Pink Films,” which were movies produced by independent studios that included nudity (hence ‘pink’) and most often dealt with sexual content. Then, in the 1970s, major studios started producing a line of what came to be known as “Pinky Violence films,” and while…
Author: Mike Brooks
Film grad who spends most his time trying to catch up on his "To Watch" pile of movies.
Branded to Kill (1967) – Review
Seijun Suzuki’s Branded to Kill is not your typical gangster film, nor is it your typical anything. This 1967 film is not just a crime thriller – though it does feature the yakuza and a variety of hitmen – it’s more a fever dream where the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur, creating a cinematic…
Tokyo Drifter (1966) – Review
Planning a career change can be tough, but it’s even tougher when your previous career was that of a yakuza hitman. With Tokyo Drifter, director Seijun Suzuki tackles this fun topic with a vibrant explosion of style and chaos, in a cinematic fever dream that eschews conventional narrative in favour of visual panache.
Black Tight Killers (1966) – Review
If you want proof that the 1960s were a weird and wonderful time, look no further than Yasuharu Hasebe’s Black Tight Killers, a dazzling slice of Japanese cinema that oozes with the stylish excesses of that era. This film is a fever dream of pop art visuals, jarring violence and quirky humour, all set against…
Xanadu (1980) – Review
With financial musical flops like Doctor Doolittle, Camelot and Hello, Dolly! losing millions at the box office, studios became wary of green-lighting more of the same, but then along came a smash hit called Grease, starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. It must have seemed like a great idea to cast Olivia in another musical,…