Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) -
A wonderful performance from James Spader, who delivered his lines with ingenuity and a lot of charisma. I still get the feeling the film feels way more nuanced and complicated than it really is, but the psychological traits are amazing and the atmospheric tape footage reminded me of something Hisayasu Sato would later make (although I wish the movie had more of this tape stuff, it was very atmospheric).
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012) -
Good action film. I never saw any other film of the series, but I at once got the premise and even foresaw everything that happened in this film. Some action scenes were directed and choreographed very well, but I had a problem with many of them looking like a video game - something I abhor in contemporary cinema.
2/Duo (1997) -
A pretty enigmatic movie that feels like only half of the final product, with characters behaving in a rather odd fashion. For example a guy starts demolishing the room and knocking off all the items from shelves etc., because he was asked by his girlfriend if he wants to marry her. Then she has some mental turmoil and starts crying etc. It's almost as if we only saw the results, but never the causes of their behaviour, even though nothing seems to be missing, judging from movie's continuity. Pretty weird, eh? Then there are some parts filmed in documentary hand-held style (as opposed to static shots of the rest of the film) that feel like interviews with the characters, who then speak more freely about their feelings (when in company of each other they mainly just say "I don't know", "yes" or start a sentence to never finish it). All that being said, this film is incredibly engaging and thought-provoking, especially given the ending, that just like many things here is just interrupted at some point and the titles start to roll.
Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром! [The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!] (1975) -
Best New Year's Eve movie ever (that I naturally watched on New Year's Eve) that is at times laugh-out-funny, at times very sad and of course ends the way most Ryazanov melodramas of this sort end (which is very heart-melting!). Starring Polish actress Barbara Brylska, who became incredibly famous in Soviet Union, with beautiful ballads (just like in Ryazanov's
Cruel Romance).
The Warriors (1979) -
This left me wanting more! So much more! But what I got was pretty cool. I liked the image of all these gangs and how badass The Warriors were.
Tras el cristal [In a Glass Cage] (1987) -
One of them disturbing movies, but in no way exploitative, cheap or cheesy. The subject matter is very dark and the film doesn't run away from showing it visually, although if you expect some really sickening images, you will be disappointed. However, if you're looking for a sinister plot shown handsomely in a non-sleazy way, it's the movie for you.
Дорога К Звёздам [Blazing a Trail to the Stars] (1957) -
Starts as astronomy documentary and ends with right-in-your-face science fiction with spacecraft bases and more! The very best gem of Soviet technical thought!
銷魂玉 [Return of the Dead] (1979) -
Shaw Brothers gone horror! This has ghosts, magic talismans and naked Chinese ladies. Is there anything more a man may want from a movie?
荒野のダッチワイフ [Dutch Wife in the Desert] (1967) -
The weirdest pinku eiga in the manner of Wakamatsu, but way more surreal and with a less cohesive plot.
Tampon Tango (1984) -
I really enjoyed its more abstract comedy side (even if it was overtly sexual, like a man playing guitar with his penis, or a bunch of perverts getting excited at inserting tampons into some schoolgirls' private parts), but then it went full-on porn and therefore wasn't that interesting anymore. It's cool to see a Japanese porn movie so early and yet uncensored (since released in the US), but that's about it. Thankfully, funny bits were constantly added as the sex scenes progressed, so it never became boring and the final orgy was pretty cool.
制服処女 ザ・えじき [Uniform Virgin: The Prey] (1986) - ???
This is full-fledged porn! If compared to Sato's first film
Wife Collector and his later efforts (like
Rape Climax!) this is probably his most hardcore pinku eiga film, apparently growing from Nikkatsu's wish to compete with AVs that already got extremely popular in Japan in the second half of the 80's therefore diminishing people's interest in pinku eiga. All that being said, this is quite nice for a porn film and if you know Sato's interests in all these kinks and dirty fetishes you will figure out it's not exactly your vanilla sex thing neither (and is sick as hell) . Dude, I had to take my own screencap from the very beginning of the film, cuz everything else I could find on the Internet was NSFW (even if censored). Don't really know how to rate this thing, but this without a doubt isn't anywhere near his best.
The rest:
Epileptic Seizure Comparison (1976) -
- I almost got epileptic seizure myself, but it makes sense... kinda
Agarrando pueblo [The Vampires of Poverty] (1977) -
- top notch satire, it's mind-blowing!
Ascension of the Demonoids (1985) -
- some crazy UFO rant and more incomprehensible bs, I kinda liked it
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Going to IMDB to see what Zero Days is. Feel like I have heard that mentioned a couple places.
