Fifteen years after "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" dazzled Western audiences with its wuxia moves, the martial arts adventure is getting a sequel -- this time, debuting on Netflix. The subscription service is teaming up for the project with arthouse veterans Bob and Harvey Weinstein. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend" will … [Read more...]
‘Throne of Blood’: Madness & ‘Macbeth’
Shakespearean hearts of darkness pump the lifeforce into "Throne of Blood," one of Akira Kurosawa's greatest films. Loosely based on "Macbeth," the movie is a blood-soaked tragedy set in feudal Japan of the 16th century. "Throne of Blood" is widely regarded as one of the most successful film adaptations of a Bard play. Kurosawa dares to edit … [Read more...]
Ghostly images: ‘Carriage,’ ‘Kuroneko’
Death can't catch a break in Hollywood. That's Death with a capital "D," the entity in black wielding a scythe. Aside from the "Final Destination" series (no screen time), "Meet Joe Black" (ugh) and "Harry Potter" (cameo), Death has been passed over in favor of the flesh-eating zombies, stylish vampires and demented serial killers of … [Read more...]
Boooo on Blu: Top 10 horror movies
There's a certain charm to watching scratchy old horror movies on Halloween, but when the going gets weird you gotta go Blu-ray. Ghosts, monsters, zombies and the rest of the gang want to look their best for the big fright night -- that means razor-sharp high definition images accompanied by blood-curdling lossless audio. Here are some of Screen … [Read more...]
‘High and Low’ and hard-boiled
Akira Kurosawa wasn't known for film noir or crime thrillers, but he did do a genre drive-by back in 1963. Of course, it's killer. The Criterion Collection has reissued to Blu-ray "High and Low," the Japanese master's tale of a hardworking factory chief whose life is ruined after his son is targeted by kidnappers. Toshiro Mifune plays shoe … [Read more...]
