The Twilight Samurai

This next movie is one of my all time favorites. The Twilight Samurai is a 2002 period piece set in feudal Japan.
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This is NOT your typical samurai film. There are no armies massing, no blood baths, revenge yarns, or characters driven to ritualistic suicide or otherwise ridiculous extremes by outdated (most will say) codes of honor.
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Set in Japan's Meiji era, the last days of the samurai warriors, it follows Seibei Iguchi, a low-level samurai widower who has to look after his 2 daughters and senile mother. Most lesser samurai in that period were relegated to bureaucratic work rather than actual fighting, although Seibei does have tremendous skill with the sword.
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This movie is all about conflicts. To name a few: conflict with the parents of his late wife, with his clan, within himself whether or not to give up his samurai status to farm and spend time with his kids...
This was a huge deal in ancient Japan. Class systems ruled - the gap between the lowliest samurai and a well-to-do farmer was a really big deal. [Sidebar: this is a point missed by the movie The Last Samurai: just how much of an insult to samurai it was to all of a sudden promote peasants to warrior status.]
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This is a great drama with a little samurai swordplay, and a whole lot of insight into an every-day man of Japan long ago. Amazingly shot, acted, written, directed...
I can't possibly say enough about this movie.

Foolproof

This week's suggestion is Foolproof. A 2003 Canadian movie.

It's about 3 friends who play a game pulling off theoretical heists. Of course they'd never do this in real life...

Until they get blackmailed into doing just that.

It does have some harsh language, but it's an intellegent, well acted thriller.

If you liked Ocean's Eleven or The Heist, you'll enjoy Foolproof.

Battle Royale

This week's movie, Battle Royale, is harder to find. But you can find it on NetFlix: http://www.netflix.com/?mqso=80015652

Known as Batoru Rowaiaru in its native Japan, where it's won a ton of awards. It was deemed too controversial to be theatrically released in the US.

Indeed, this is NOT a movie for the kiddies!

It takes place in the near future. After Japan has a near apocalyptic economic crisis, they pass the "Battle Royale Act" as way to thin the herd. Every year they drop a very surprised middle school class on an abandoned island, give each kid a survival bag complete with a weapon of some sort, and let them battle it out till there's only one alive.

This movie is not as gory as your typical Hollywood slasher flick. But it is very violent.

Fun to watch if you have even the least bit of schadenfreude.

The Zero Effect

This week's suggestion is the oft overlooked 1989 movie The Zero Effect starring Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller. A dark comedy/detectve story, filled with subtle humor, great characters and a good plot.


Do not worry if you're not a Ben Stiller fan. I'm not. But he's great in this.

But this movie is driven by Bill Pullman as the reclusive PI Daryl Zero. He is both funny and desperately vulnerable. It's been whispered that this character was the insperation to create Monk. Whether or not this is true, Daryl Zero is truely a great character - afraid to be in his own skin when not working a case.

Run out today to rent The Zero Effect