In the 1970s, director Fukasaku Kinji’s Yakuza Papers films chronicled decades of gang warfare in post-war Hiroshima. Over three decades later, up-and-coming young director Kubata Takashi brings a new generation of Hiroshima motorcycle gangsters to the big screen with Badboys. Based on Tanaka Hiroshi’s hit comic series of the same name (which also spawned five animated OVAs in the 1990s), Badboys depicts a violent battle between three rival gangs in the aftermath of a gang-related murder in Osaka. A gripping, exciting gangster action drama starring some of Japan’s brightest young actors, Badboys is the kind of new blood the Japanese gangster genre needs!
Overall, Cruella stands above the other Disney retellings. Its dark and bold, and that is exactly what these retellings should be. Emma Stone continues to prove she's one of the finest young actresses working today, and Emma Thompson gives one of the best villain performances in the last decade. The fashion is stunning, the dogs are adorable, and the story is wildly vibrant and original. It's classic movie fun, and it shouldn't be overlooked.
Although Christmas is a time of year for love and cheer for all, holiday cinema has not always represented diverse communities. Being a holiday with Christian origins, much of its media consists of straight white families or straight white romances. Luckily, modern years have been bringing with them plenty of POC and LGBTQ+ representation that the holidays so desperately need.
The actions that Verity confesses to are tragic. But the way to prevent those actions isn’t to force the related emotions into the shadows.
“Reboot” can be crass and has much room to improve, but with investments of time and care, could flower out of the seed of a vision.
Him is visually stunning—all concrete cathedrals and bone-rattling impact shots that look like a nightmare highlight reel. Marlon Wayans is magnetic as this legendary quarterback who's basically selling salvation with a smile that never quite reaches his eyes. But the story keeps running in circles: more tests, more cryptic pep talks, more ritualistic drills. The sports-as-religion metaphor beats you over the head when subtlety would've been more effective. The middle drags, and that finale chooses spectacle over substance. It's undeniably stylish, but left me cold. Also worth noting: despite the Monkeypaw connection, this isn't actually a Jordan Peele film—he didn't write or direct.
"WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE?!!!!" "EVERYTHING!!!!!" This is but one of a multitude of highly emphatic questions, and subsequent answers, being asked in the newest feature film from one of the current masters of horror, Jordan Peele ("Get Out", "Us" and "Nope"). I must give Peele credit in that he continues to push the boundaries of specific genres and their associated tropes in order to provide what ends up amounting to subtly then jarringly intense, yet still character and story-driven, cinema that speaks more to indie stylings than mainstream.
