Mixing samurai sword action, gore and political commentary on “Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance”
Toshiya Fujita, “Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance / Shurayukihime: Urami Renga” (1974) At the
Tag: Road Movies
Thought-provoking and entertaining inquiry into animal rights in “Speciesism: the Movie”
Mark Devries, “Speciesism: the Movie” (2013) As home movies go, few possibly extend very far
Apocalypse Now (Redux): an illustration of how war fashions society and individuals in its own image
Francis Ford Coppola, “Apocalypse Now (Redux)” (2001) The actual plot is very basic: sometime during
Inside Llewyn Davis: a tricksy film that does no justice to the early 1960s American folk music scene
Ethan and Joel Coen, “Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013) Inspired by and based loosely on the
Floating Weeds: a graceful work of compassion for human frailties
Yasujiro Ozu, “Floating Weeds” (1959) In the hands of a lesser director, the soap opera
Philomena: a gentle film gingerly side-stepping the exploitation of young women and their children for profit
Stephen Frears, “Philomena” (2013) A gentle film about an elderly woman searching for the son
Tokyo Drifter: surreal pop-art gangster flick riffing on corporate loyalty and surviving in a corrupt world
Seijun Suzuki, “Tokyo Drifter / Tokyo nagaremono” (1966) A tale of larger-than-life characters grappling with
The Seventh Seal: examining a man’s crisis of faith and his quest for meaning to his existence
Ingmar Bergman, “The Seventh Seal / Det Sjunde Inseglet” (1957) Set in Sweden during the
Wild Strawberries: a road trip into self-discovery and examination that leads to redemption and self-forgiveness
Ingmar Bergman, “Smultronstället / Wild Strawberries” (1957) Few movies feature 80 or 70-something actors as lead
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: a psychedelic slapstick comedy satire on American society and its values
Terry Gilliam, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (1998) From that period of Johnny Depp’s