Stray Cat Rock: Films (1970)

Stray Cat Rock: Films (1970-71)

Dirs. Yasuharu Hasebe / Toshiya Fujita

There are five movies in Nikkatsu's Stray Cat Rock / Alleycat Rock series, but they aren't connected in any meaningful way other than being thematically similar and each one having actress Meiko Kaji in a lead role.

In the first, 01. Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss (1970 / Dir. Yasuharu Hasebe) a group of street-savvy women, really just 'chicks' with knives and razor blades, fight for a purpose when a sukeban (delinquent girl) rides into town and provides guidance.

It's interesting seeing the traditional roles of the sexes reversed in a 70s setting, and exploring how rules are applied and disregarded in the contrasting arenas of the street and the boxing ring, but, ultimately, Delinquent Girl Boss is 80+ minutes of style over substance played out to a soundtrack of funky jazz and psychedelic rock. If Dir. Hasebe had further indulged his willingness to explore a film frame's role in the telling of a story, then things might've been better.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-84)

He-Man and the MotU (1983-84)
Dirs. various | Seasons: 02 | Episodes: 130 (total), approx 23 mins each.

In theory, writing about the original MotU TV series should be a simple task because it isn't a difficult series to describe —  it's a mix of High Fantasy and Science Fiction, wrapped up in a 1980s bun — but the characters and their world have been such a defining part of my life that finding the words is proving to be difficult. It'll probably sound ridiculous, but if I could reach deep into my soul and paste that onto the page, much of what's there would be MotU-shaped.

Within the colourful blobs of joy would be identifiable forms. There'll be one that looks like a stone castle with a skull entrance. Next to it would be a jagged mountain with a giant snake wrapped around it. Elsewhere, you'd see a large cat the size of a lion, but green with orange stripes, and red armour on its back and head.

And there would be heroes, different in temperament but each one cut from the same cloth, standing together, poised to defend, strong in spirit and steadfast in purpose as they do their utmost to prevent the forces of evil from realising their selfish goals, lest the innocent suffer. A cliché it may be, but it's a cliché with a true heart, and that heart beats in time with my own. Put simply, I adore 1980s era MotU.

Perfect Blue (1997)

Perfect Blue (1997)

Dir. Satoshi Kon

PB explores the true cost of success for twenty-one-year-old Mima Kirigoe as she makes the difficult transition from beloved Japanese idol status to impressionable TV drama actress.

Eager to please, when the fiction in Mima's head overlaps with the fiction on the film set, shit gets real, with the kind of meaningful editing that Alfred Hitchcock might applaud, if he was alive.

Perfect Blue is director Satoshi Kon's début full-length movie, but it flows like it was his fourth or fifth. It's both a careful study of splintering, crumbling reality and a skilful exercise in artifice.

The result is a genre classic that's chilling, creepy, and can be uncomfortable viewing at times, but is highly recommended to fans of anime with bite.

Tactical Unit: The TV Movies (2008-09)

Tactical Unit: The TV Movies (2008-09)

Dirs. Various (see below)

Note: Five TV Movies that followed Johnnie To's PTU (2003). You don't need to have seen PTU in order to follow the story of each TU movie, but it might be helpful and it's such a good film that I feel compelled to encourage a viewing, anyhow.

Tactical Unit TV Movies in the order released:

01. In Tactical Unit: The Code (2008), directed by Wing-Cheong Law, three members of the PTU are captured on CCTV while beating up a civilian (i.e., crook), but the picture is grainy and their faces aren't clear. While an internal division that deals with corrupt cops tries to uncover the truth, the guilty trio hunt for the one man who can identify them: the man that they left bleeding in an alley. Ultimately, it's a race against time for both parties.

Star Trek: Picard - Season One (2020)

Star Trek: Picard - Season One (2020)

10 episodes, approx 44-55 minutes each.

Firstly, the important date stuff: it's set in the year 2399, which is twenty years after the tragic loss in ST: Nemesis (2002). We're told that Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has been retired from Starfleet for fourteen of those years. No longer trotting through the stars on impressive starships, he resides now at Chateau Picard, overseeing the family business. [1]

Visually, it's modern sci-fi, which means it's darkly lit, has glary lens flare (real and CGI), and periodically weighs every happy moment down with a semi-dystopian undertone. As someone who loves the bright, futuristic, optimistic look of The Next Generation era of Star Trek, it's an affront to my eyes on almost every level. Even so, I watched all 10 episodes, because there was room in my life for more Picard adventuring.

Blood into Wine (2010)

Blood into Wine (2010)

Dirs. Ryan Page + Christopher Pomerenke

A documentary about wine making, specifically the Caduceus brand wine produced by Maynard James Keenan and Eric Glomski on a vineyard in Arizona, of all places. I don't like wine, but I do like documentaries, so I gave it a try and enjoyed the majority of it.

Glomski's knowledge of geology and cultivation was thoroughly engaging, as were his feelings about our relationship with the natural world.

Maynard James Keenan, for those that don't recognise the name, is a singer / songwriter, most notably of Tool and A Perfect Circle. His contribution is equally as interesting, structured as a kind of creative journey with some deeply personal interludes. Not one for media-whoring, he doesn't succumb to ego, and doesn't come across as a typical 'Rock Star' asshole. [1]

Ju-on: Origins (2020)

Ju-on: Origins (2020)

Dir. Shô Miyake | 6 episodes, approx 29 mins each.

Despite the title, Origins isn't a prequel to the previous Ju-On films. Rather, it presents itself as something that's 'inspired by real events'.

Presumably, that's the same 'real' events that the original films were based on, which were dreamt up by Japanese filmmaker Takashi Shimizu.

The series also makes the claim that its story is "far more frightening than the movies" were.

The first falsehood enables it to benefit from the groundwork and reputation of Shimizu's works without being wholly tied to them, while simultaneously implying a level of spurious credibility by suggesting that it's more factual - more 'real world' and less 'fantasy' horror.

With regards the second half of the claim, and keeping in mind that fear is as subjective as humour, nothing in Origins came close to the horror of Ju-On: The Grudge (2002). The horror in Origins is more shock value grotesqueness than spine-chillingly supernatural happenings.