Here it is. Because you, the people, demanded it, we review Face/Off (1997) — John Woo’s absurdly over-the-top American thriller featuring off-the-charts Cage-factor, hundreds of avian extras, and a dual wielding John Travolta in slow-motion.
What We’ve Been Watching + News (00:00)
Review (28:24)
Twitter Questions (1:22:05)
If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.
The orderly, rigid code of bushido smashes up against human feeling in Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri(1962), a stunningly trenchant piece of subversive film-making — written by Rashoman and Seven Samurai scribe Shinobu Hashimoto, and starring the great Tatsuya Nakadai — that threatens to demolish the foundational ethos all of samurai cinema is built upon.
What We’ve Been Watching + News (00:00)
Review (31:25)
Twitter Questions (1:46:05)
If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.
There’s action-packed. And then there’s Hard Boiled (1992) — John Woo’s final spectacular outing with superstar Chow Yun-Fat in which gun-toting, rough and tumble detective, Tequila (Yun-Fat) partners with undercover officer Alan (Tony Leung) to take on a villainous gang of gun-running triads.
What We’ve Been Watching + News (00:00)
Review (33:45)
Twitter Questions (1:59:52)
If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.
We review a classic that needs no introduction: Studio Ghibli’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) from director / writer Hayao Miyazaki.
What We’ve Been Watching + News (00:00)
Review (35:32)
Twitter Questions (1:55:11)
Links:
Although, this is our first episode covering Hayao Miyazaki, we previously recorded two episodes on films done by his contemporaries at Studio Ghibli: Isao Takahata’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya and Yoshifumi Kondo’s Whisper of the Heart — if you liked this podcast, be sure to check those out!
We review Takashi Miike’s 100th film, Blade of the Immortal (2017), a bloody, over the top, chambara romp, starring Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, and Sota Fukushi, based on the manga by Hiroaki Samura.
What We’ve Been Watching + News (00:00)
Review (40:05)
Twitter Questions (1:41:35)
If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.
We review Jackie Chan’s Who Am I?, his last film with Golden Harvest and nearly his last film ever after a few of these stunts – plus Major 2nd for the Three Minute Rule!
Timestamps:
What We’ve Been Watching (00:00)
Listener Mail (45:45)
News (49:32)
Review (57:34)
Twitter Questions (2:07:08)
Three Minute Rule (2:14:08)
If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.
