Tokyo Drifter (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Stylish, cool and all-out entertaining! Seijun Suzuki's classic gangster film "Tokyo Drifter" was a film ahead of its time!
In Japan, what kind of film would ever feature a stoic, cool tough former gangster that can whistle or sing a song while guns are pointed at him?

The answer is "Tokyo Drifter", the 1966 film directed by Seijun Suzuki who has earned a worldwide following of cinema fans due to his experimental visual style, humor and nihilistic coolness that his style of films were ahead of its time.

While we are graced with films with visual style, humor and coolness by Beat Takeshi, Takashi Miike, Kazuaki Kiriya to name a few... Seijun Suzuki was part of the Nikkatsu company that churned two movies a week and had to work with a low budget, be creative and churn out a film within 25 days. Needless to say, executives didn't understand Suzuki's style, they criticized him, they talked down to him but what they didn't know was that his style was not being rebellious, it was his style.

You can call his style "surreal" but what Nikkatsu wanted was traditional-style...

"Damn him and his singing...."
While not as insane a Branded To Kill (Suzuki's masterful yakuza crazy-noir), this one is just enough off-center to be considered not quite normal. The colors are bright and fantastically tantalizing (at least on blu-ray), and the mono sound is ample- love that recurring theme song (sung by the lead character) and the general goofiness which makes this film a masterful must-have for those of you who like their films to make them think (about what I have no idea). Criterion does their usual fantastic job making this one worth an upgrade over their earlier weak effort on dvd. A couple of interviews for extra features round off this necessary addition to any great film library....even if you turn the sound off, the visuals are enough to keep one's interest....this is a very well done film with masterful editing and strange colors that sometimes make it look like an early James Bond film or a Batman episode....great stuff here....

Seijun Suzuki - a master - this film - kind of odd
Seijun Suzuki crafted one of my favorite Japanese New Wave films in 'Take Aim at the Police Van' (1960 - available in the collection: Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir (The Criterion Collection)). With this film, released in 1966, Suzuki enters new territory and creates a visual feast for the eyes in color. Though 'Branded to Kill' is considered his magnum opus, Tokyo Drifter is regarded as one of his best films. It has been compared to Godard's 'Pierrot le Fou', but I think the comparison shows what Suzuki's film is lacking compared to the nearly flawless New Wave romp that was Godard's film. And compared to some other amazing Japanese New Wave, I feel this film is great but perhaps a little too flamboyant at times.

A quick summary: this film is about ex-Yakuza Tetsuya (called Phoenix) and his attempts to 'go straight'. His boss is caught up in an extortion attempt by a former rival Yakuza gang,...

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The Borgias: The First Season [Blu-ray]

The Borgias: In the Beginning
In 1492 while Columbus was sailing the ocean blue to discover the Americas things weren't so tidy in Rome. It was a time when the papacy was in disrepair with popes having wives and mistresses and all manner of scandal (sound oddly familiar...) and from this period in history highly regarded writer Neil Jordan has pasted together enough information about the infamous Borgias - 'the first crime family' according to the PR - to create what resulted in a fascinating account of world history, a fitting series whose first season of 9 episodes are tied together in this package of DVDs.

For starters, the opening title sequences are masterworks of graphics and art history albeit splatter or washed in blood. The series opens with the nefarious Spanish family taking over the important Roman power vested in the papacy: Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons in a splendid tour de force of acting), becomes Pope Alexander VI when Pope Innocent VIII dies. As Pope, the elder Borgia...

Great Acting & Cinematography; Solid Writing
There is a great deal to admire in this series. Visually it is superb. The costuming and sets manage simultaneously to be both beautiful and realistic to the period; or at least, they seem so to my untutored eye. The actors uniformly do an extraordinarily good job. So much so that it is difficult to know whom to focus upon in this review, because whatever choices I make I will be omitting mention of some truly outstanding performances.

However, I am going to begin in the obvious place: with Jeremy Irons' interpretation of Rodrigo Borgia. I do so if only because so much hinges on this pivotal character. The Telegraph critic Rachel Ray criticised this series on the grounds that it "lacks the amoral aura of a psychopathic family", and specifically criticised Irons' own performance as "disappointingly undiabolical". On a strictly literal level Ray's perception of this series is entirely accurate. However, I would argue that it also entirely misses the point.

The...

Borgiamania
I can't wait for the upcoming season (and the one following that)! We need more historical dramas like the Borgias instead of all these damn 'reality' shows and cheap 'fluff' movies flooding the television and movie screens.

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Fairy Tail: Part 2 (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

A Fresh new face in the Anime World part 2
Fairy Tail, by far, is one of the best new animes to come out in years. Fairy Tail started in Japan almost a year and a half ago. Since then, it has become one of the most popular animes in Japan and America. The Story is gripping, the animation is of the highest quality of any anime going these days, And this one is almost perfect for the whole family (I say almost because in Japanese, there are a lot of boob related jokes. I know that is not everyone's cup of tea so fair warning). If you are going to buy this series though, I would highly recommend that you buy the 1st boxset first. This can be a very hard series just to jump into. But I can guarantee you, If this is a random buy, you won't be disappointed. If you are a long term fan, can you believe the 2nd boxset is all ready coming out?! I mean that is less than a month apart. I have already ordered mine. I hope this helps your decision.

Part 2 - Enter the Iron Dragon Slayer
So Volume Two Review!
Episodes 13 - 24, ending the Galuna Island Arc and starting the Phantom Lord Arc, and the introduction of the second Dragon Slayer to the Fairy Tail universe.

The packaging is the same really as the first, As far as extras, it includes commentary on Episodes 15 and 19, the two openings and two closings so far without any text over it, and the brief trailers they had before each disc.

Episode 15 - Eternal Magic- Commentary is the Episode/Casting Director (Tyler Walker) and Gray (Newton Pittman) - This particular commentary was interesting since Newton Pittman sings a country song he wrote about Deliora.

Episode 19 - Changeling- Commentary is the Episode/Casting Director (Tyler Walker), Erza (Colleen Clinkenbeard), Happy (Tia Ballard), and Mirajane (Monica Rial) - Turns out Monica Rial is the lead writer for the show

As a whole you can buy this alone but you will be missing the beginning of one arc and the end of...

Part 2 is better than part 1
The 4 heroes are on Galuna island trying to lift a curse. The villagers are under a curse that turns them into demons. An evil wizard is resurrecting a monster that will destroy the world. The monster has a connection to Gray's past and stirs lots of anger and sorrow within him. We also find out why he's always hanging around in his underwear all the time. Later in this volume Lucy is kidnapped by the element 4 sorcerers and a huge battle erupts trying to save her.

This volume picks up where the 1st left off. It's a lot of fun. If you liked part 1 you'll like part 2. Enjoy!

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