Essential to all lovers of sci-fi, monster movies, and especially kaiju films. My prime example of how *anything* can be done well if you have talented people with the care and freedom to get the job done. That first movie was made for less money than The Usual Suspects, but you’d never know it. Outside of a couple of humble composites and some primitive cgi, the effects work of those first two films is incredible. The third in the series is leaps and bounds over the effects limitations of the first two. But it’s… odd. You may like its eccentricities.
Last I checked, they were on Prime. Shusuke Kaneko is a kaiju cinema god.
I don’t think Todd Haynes’ Safe has been mentioned yet, which I think is one of the all-time great horror movies. The illness at the center can be so many different things (I’ve certainly gone back-and-forth). I still think it’s Haynes’ finest work.
I saw a double feature of RUMBLE IN THE BRONX (original HK cut) and GOD OF GAMBLERS RETURN at the famed Kuo Hwa theater in Monterey Park that year. Pretty phenomenal night of HK cinema during the final stretch of their 80s-90s hot streak.
Moore is incredible in that movie, and Haynes’ use of that VERTIGO/JAWS zoom shot is seared in my brain. Probably Haynes’ best, but I really loved MAY/DECEMBER.
I wish there was a way to watch properly subtitled versions of movies like Rumble in the Bronx the way they played in Hong Kong. I would love to see all of Jackie Chan’s movies in their “real” forms..
Those HK films were never properly subtitled in their original releases (and that’s actually part of their charm). Roughly burned in pidgin English laid out below the bigger Chinese subs.
I still remember the Festival Hong Kong sold out showing of ARMOR OF GOD 2 at the Nuart Santa Monica in Dec 1992 (Tarantino was in the audience). A packed screening of mostly arthouse regulars and during the desert auction scene where JC disguises himself as a local bigwig to buy/rescue his 3 kidnapped female sidekicks, he turns to Eva Cobo and greets her w/ such wholesome childlike joy (as only JC can convey) but the English subs screamed “BLONDE PUSSY!” and the entire theater crowd just lost it.
Hard to choose between Kieslowski’s Blue or Red. I got to see the whole trilogy back-to-back-to-back at a theater a few years ago, and it was quite the experience.
Also, I’m pretty sure my aunt (alongside my cousin) took me to see Man of the House when it was first released. I barely remember anything about it.
I swear Chevy was on Letterman for this and when Dave said “What’s the name of the movie again?” Chevy said something like, “Oh, I don’t know. Homo Dad?”
The Three Colours Trilogy is exceptional. Been an age since I’ve seen them. I remember when they were a byword for intelligent cinema. Tartan Video was the main distributor. Those and the Cement Garden were signals that the girl you were interested in was not a Sharon.
