River of Blood: Light-Weight Cannibal Exploitation

Neither Margaret Mead or Napoleon Chagnon probably would have served as advisors on this film, even if they were still alive. The indigenous tribe in question is scary and it eats people. Sure, their guide talks a good game regarding the modern world encroaching and on their habitat, blah, blah, blah. Cultural relativity sounds all well and good until someone tries to eat you. That will be a real possibility when the tourists take a wrong turn in Howard J. Ford’s River of Blood, which releases this Friday in theaters and on VOD.

Ritchie and Jasmine are vacationing with AJ and Maya, even though AJ is sleeping with Jasmine. Frankly, it is a mystery why Jasmine would agree to such an affair, since Ritchie is exponentially richer and surly AJ clearly resents his success. Cheating on Maya happens to be a really bad idea too, since he works for her father. So, that is the baggage they take on their kayaking excursion with Nick an expatriate guide.

Nick is the most reasonable, level-headed character of the lot of them. Nevertheless, he finds himself stuck in the same metaphorical boat as his clients, when Ritchie gets into a snit and wanders off into cannibal territory. Of course, he makes them promise to turn back as soon as they retrieve their wayward friend, but we all know that isn’t going to work, because we’ve seen the prologue.

River of Blood is no Cannibal Holocaust. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is up to you to decide. As you might guess, Ford’s film is much tamer. Yet, there is a throwback grunginess that some cult movie fans will find refreshing. Despite the lip service to green and multicultural values, there is no getting around the fact that the indigenous people are out to eat to modern interlopers. Indeed, Ford and screenwriter Tom Boyle seem to be daring critics to label their film—gasp—problematic. So you have to salute their truly independent spirit.

Michael Jai White’s Trouble Man

His name is Jaxen, so they sometimes call him “Action.” He will also be compared to Jim Kelly, by a new associate, who also drops frequent references to Sweet Sweetback and Superfly. Indeed, it is not hard to figure out what inspired this film. Just look at the title (previously used by Ivan Dixon’s 1972 directorial debut). Jaxen might quote blaxploitation like Remington Steele quotes golden age Hollywood, but he throws down like Black Belt Jones, in Michael Jai White’s Trouble Man, which releases this Friday in theaters and on digital.

Jaxen was a cop, but now he is more or less a fixer. He starts with an abusive doctor, who definitely needs fixing, before moving on to the main event. Swerve Records’ biggest star Jahari has disappeared, presumably returning to her old heroin habit. Since they share history together, Jaxen agrees to find her—for a fee. However, he soon suspects foul play.

So does her new lover, “Money,” who admittedly models himself after blaxploitation anti-heroes, but disavows any involvement with drugs. They suspect label founder Barnes Holland and his predatory partner Yuen Song, especially when people try to kill them. All that trouble comes at an inconvenient time for Jaxen, because he was just starting to rekindle his relationship with Gina, an old flame.

Trouble Man is perfect showcase for White, which rather follows, considering he directed it. Regardless, he gets a lot of laughs with his hip blaxploitation references, while handily taking care of business during the fight scenes. Action directors Angela Jordan, Joey Min, and Stephanie Pham definitely take care of their director and cast. It is also worth noting White and screenwriter Michael Stradford give Jaxen an aversion to firearms, which often forces him to do things the hard (but highly cinematic) way.

Fantasia ’25: Juliet & the King

Instead of Anna & the King, they would be “Julie & the Shah.” He was part of the Qajar dynasty rather than the supposedly “notorious” Pahlavi dynasty. Yet, if truth be told, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was more of a reformer than Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, but at least the late 19^th Century Shah tried to open Iran up to the outside world. It is through his travels that he discovers Shakespeare. Frankly, he does not care much for the play, but the young woman playing Juliet catches his eye. Unfortunately, that often puts plucky young Julie in jeopardy during director-screenwriter Ashkan Rahgozar’s Persian animated film, Juliet & the King, which had its international premiere at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Both Julie and her Iranian expat mentor, aspiring playwright Jamal, are scuffling for Parisian theater gigs, but the Shah’s state visit could be their big break. Jamal’s services will be needed as a translator, but his request to cast Jule in the command performance of Romeo & Juliet is contemptuously declined. However, she still gets the part through the machinations of the disinterested Sarah Bernhardt-esque star. Frankly, Shakespeare seems like an odd choice for the French theatrical establishment, but the Shah probably would have found Racine even duller.

Unfortunately, boring is the only word that would not describe Julie’s performance, which takes a disastrous turn when she sees Shakespeare’s ghost in the audience. Yet, the Shah finds her charming in spite of it all, so he “invites” Julie and Jamal back to Iran to stage a production for his court. Of course, they need to punch up the downer ending, which would be a challenge, but the spectral Shakespeare reluctantly agrees to help.

There is also the business of Julie appearing on stage, which as the nasty queen mum keeps reminding the Shah, simply is not allowed in Iran. She definitely has it in for Julie, as do Naser al-Din’s harem of wives. However, the jester and the royal cat are on her side.

Visually, Juliet & the King is a rich feast, capturing the opulence of the Persian court and the sophistication of fin de siècle Paris. He also incorporates different styles to render dreams, visions, and interstitial exposition. Fans of the medium will be absolutely charmed. Indeed, Rahgozar surpasses the animation of his previous film, the more “serious” The Last Fiction (which remains noteworthy for its powerful for its depiction of resistance to oppression).

Michael Winterbottom’s Shoshana

It was a time of colonialism the “anti-colonialists” seem bizarrely nostalgic for. The indigenous Jewish people were organizing for the independence of Israel, but the British were clinging to their “Mandate of Palestine.” There were also Arab colonizers, hoping to replace the British colonizers, but they hardly factor in British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom’s Shoshana, which is now playing in New York.

Shoshana Borochov is an ardent socialist Zionist Russian émigré to Israel. She is also a member of the left-leaning underground independence group, the Haganah. Thomas James Wilkin is a Hebrew-speaking British colonial policeman tasked with disrupting the more aggressive Irgun. Their backgrounds are so different, their romance should not work, but it does, at least for a while.

Unfortunately, their relationship starts souring with the arrival of Wilkin’s new boss, Geoffrey Morton. In fact, that is true for British-Israeli relations in general. Morton intends to use the same tactics he successfully employed against Islamist insurrectionists against the Jewish independence groups. Unlike Wilkin, he makes no distinction between the moderate Haganah, the confrontational Irgun, and the “militant” (as they now say in the press, about other terrorist groups) Lehi, which split from Irgun, rejecting their de facto truce with the British for the sake of victory over Hitler.

Predictably, the more Morton cracks down, the more Israelis hate the British, especially Wilkin, because he is usually right next to his boss, wringing his hands, during torture sessions. However, Morton must resort to more forms of trickery, because recruiting Jewish informants proves much more difficult than it did when he targeted the Arab terrorist networks.

Somewhat counterintuitively, Winterbottom’s screenplay (co-written with Laurence Coriat and Paul Viragh) downplays Jewish-Arab tensions, focusing instead of British colonialist mismanagement and antisemitism. It also gives the Romeo & Juliet love affair equal footing with the political intrigue. Fittingly, Gershwin’s “The Man I Love” serves as a recuring soundtrack motif, often accompanying Borochov’s heart-achey voiceovers.

Douglas Booth and Irina Starshenbaum (the Russian-Jewish thesp, who was excellent in the Russian underground drama Leto) develop a lot of chemistry together. It is also fascinating to watch their characters evolve, especially Wilkin, who clearly understands he “is on the wrong side of history,” even though the film never uses that exact expression. Likewise, Borochov eventually accepts the level of commitment required to protect her dream of a free and independent Israel.

Et Tu, Starring Malcolm McDowell & Lou Diamond Phillips

Sure, this Shakespearean production has been rocky, but imagine how much worse it would be if they were performing the Scottish Play. They are staging Julius Caesar instead, so Brent the director cannot fault the writer. However, the lead is objectively bad and many cast and crew members just rub him the wrong way. The theater’s sinister history inspires him to make sudden personnel changes in director-screenwriter Max Tzannes’ Et Tu, which just released on VOD.

Marcus has no talent, but his father is bankrolling the production, so he is playing Brutus. It is a shame, because his understudy Terrence can actually act. Margaret, the understudy for Portia would also be a trade-up, especially since she and Terrence have some off-stage chemistry percolating.

It sure would be nice to get rid of Marcus, especially since he rough-houses with the prop daggers. To make his irresponsible behavior worse, someone has been sharpening those stage weapons. The mysterious janitor seems to understand Brent’s dilemma, He also encourages the director’s worst impulses.

Et Tu is a scrappy little macabre tale that is often quite clever. It is probably safe to label it horror, considering there is more than enough killing, as well as mild supernatural overtones. Yet, instead of scaring viewers, it invites us to take voyeuristic glee in the deadly mayhem, which admittedly gets entertainingly bloody.

Monk in Pieces

Meredith Monk has recorded extensively for ECM Records, so is she jazz or classical? Actually, kind of neither, but her music is definitely avant-garde. According to an academic in an online conference, Monk has her own dedicated genre call number at the NYPL. She was also the doting mother of a pet turtle, Neutron. As the title suggests, directors Billy Shebar & David C. Roberts focus on illuminating episodes and important compositions, rather than chronicling her life from childhood forward in Monk in Pieces, which opens today in theaters.

Perfectly suited for the era, Monk was a pillar of the grungy Downtown arts scene in the early 1980s. That is how David Byrne discovered her. Eventually, he featured her in True Stories. She mounted the first musical production held in the Guggenheim Rotunda, which got terrible reviews from the establishment press. That was a familiar experience for her, as Shebar and Roberts prove with their brutal pull-quotes. However, the internal memos exchanged by Houston Opera staffers panicking over Monk’s approach to her commission, Atlas, are even more embarrassing.

Appropriately, Monk in Pieces spends considerable time analyzing Monk’s music, focusing more on her work as a vocalist and composer than as a pianist. Arguably, she was a leader in developing wordless vocalizations for the stage, believing them more accessible than lyrics that are tied to language and culture. Of course, jazz scat-singing long predated her, but her vocalizations define extended compositions instead of merely serving as solo-spots for vocalists.

Monk’s film work is also discussed, but not in such detail. We learn Monk had to cast a new turtle for her short Turtle Dreams, because Neutron was just too handsome for the part. Disappointingly, ECM and producer Manfred Eicher are never mentioned by name, even though Monk’s records on the label are often pictured.

Code of Silence, on BritBox

When baseball players conference on the pitcher’s mound, they often hold up their gloves to foil lip-readers. They play cricket in the UK. That is a lucky break for DI James Marsh’s team, because their lip-reader helps clue them into a gang’s larcenous plans. Unfortunately, Alison Woods gets a little too enthusiastic and inadvertently involves herself with one of the investigation’s targets in creator Catherine Moulton’s six-part Code of Silence, which premieres today on BritBox.

Technically, Woods is a police employee, but she merely labors in the cafeteria at the Canterbury station. She is smart, but only works service jobs, because she is deaf and everyone underestimates her. However, when DI Marsh arranges surveillance on Helen Redman (code-named “Cruella”) and her crew, they find themselves without a department-certified lip-reader, so they call up Woods.

She does well, helping Marsh’s team identify the newcomer, Liam Barlow (code-named “Hoodie”), who has been recruited to handle the technical aspects of the heist. After another surveillance gig, the temptations of curiosity and recognition get the better of her, so Woods applies for a bar-tending job at the pub owned by the gang’s enforcer, Braden Moore (a.k.a. “Hulk”). It is there that Woods meets the lonely Barlow, who obviously takes a shine to her and vice versa, even though Woods is trying to facilitate his arrest and conviction.

Barlow emerges as a highly compelling character, whom Kieron Moore vividly brings to life with his subtle but intense performance. However, his will-they-or-won’t-they melodrama with Woods gets a bit tiresome. There is no denying the honesty of deaf thesp Rose Ayling-Ellis’s portrayal of Woods, but some of her rash courtship of danger frequently stretches believability.

The primary focus falls on Woods and Barlow, but the supporting players on both sides of the law are rock-solid. Charlotte Ritchie and especially Andrew Buchan steadily flesh-out DS Ashleigh Francis and DI Marsh. Likewise, Joe Absolom projects menace and cunning as the erratic Moore.

Unfortunately, the regular detours exploring Woods personal life often feel like dead wood. For instance, her ex-boyfriend Eithan, a local government council bureaucrat, should have had five minutes of screen-time, at most. Instead, he is a major secondary character. Yet, every time he appears, the momentum screeches to a halt.

Mstyslav Chernov’s 2,000 Meters to Andriivka

The tiny Ukrainian village of Andriivka went from obscurity to tragic notoriety in ways much like the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. For months, Ukrainian forces fought literally centimeter by centimeter to liberate the village from its Russian occupiers, only to fall back when the counter-offensive stalled. After documenting the shocking carnage of Russia’s scorched earth tactics targeting Ukrainian civilians in 20 Days in Mariupol, director-producer-cinematographer Mstyslav Chernov embedded with the Ukrainian defense forces to capture the battlefield conditions they endure in 2,000 Meters to Andriivka, which opens this Friday in theaters.

Before Putin’s illegal invasion, Andriivka was a town of no particular importance, unless you lived there. However, during the Ukrainian counter-offensive, it occupied a location strategically close to Russian supply lines. Of course, safely reaching the village was truly an ordeal. Surrounded by bombed-out wasteland, Ukrainian forces had to traverse a narrow strip of surviving forest that had been mined and fortified with fox-holes.

Many offensives had already failed when Mstyslav and his colleague co-producer-co-cinematographer Alex Babenko tag-along with the latest push. Consequently, everybody understands the punishing nature of the fighting they face. As the Ukrainians haltingly progress, Mstyslav and Babenko mark their progress: 100 meters, 200 meters and so on. It is slow going, made even more frustrating by some of Mstyslav’s editorial choices.

Chillingly, Mstyslav has a habit of rather announcing the fatal ends met (in subsequent battles) by the Ukrainian soldiers he interviews at considerable length, usually towards the end of their very personal and dramatic segments. Frankly, many in the Ukrainian military tried to dissuade them reporting on the front line—with good reason.

Although Mstyslav and Babenko certainly document the Russians’ brutal tactics, the film itself often feels demotivating. Whether intentional or not, it emphasizes the futility of the sacrifices made during the bloody assaults on Andriivka. While never pro-Putin, the messaging is decidedly mixed, which makes its release this week rather ironic, considering it comes at a time when Trump and his many of his loyalists are finally turning against Russia and endorsing support for Ukraine.

Indeed, if you can force a MAGA friend to watch one Ukraine documentary, make it Mstyslav’s previous 20 Days, which will reinforce their disgust with Putin’s bloodlust, rather than 2,000 Meters, which could lend credence to their belief Ukraine simply cannot win in the long run.

Kensuke Sonomura’s Ghost Killer

Its a ghostly buddy comedy, sort of like All of Me, but with some seriously “anti-social” behavior. Hideo Kudo was an elite hitman with a shadowy syndicate—with the emphasis on the “was.” Now he is dead, murdered by his former associates. However, he still has his deadly skills, when he borrows Fumika Matsuoka’s body. He is an extremely angry ghost, but their partnership makes him a more decent soul in Kensuke Sonomura’s Ghost Killer, which releases today on digital.

Kudo was hard to kill, but eventually they got him. The operation is perfectly executed, but the clean-up crew misses the cartridge casing. When Matsuoka, a distressed college student, picks it up, her resentments combine with Kudo’s grudge to produce a haunting. To get rid of him, she must allow him to take over her body, to extract his vengeance. However, he first spends a good deal of time beating the snot out of her would-be abusers.

In fact, things get so messy, Kudo must call in help from his protégé Toshihisa Kagehara, to tidy up all the moaning and groaning bodies. Of course, Kagehara has only one method of cleaning, which poor Matsuoka does not want to think about. Regardless, Kagehara is way too edgy to fully trust.

You often see the me-and-my-ghost premise in comedies, but Ghost Killer is surprisingly dark. It also kicks tons of butt. Sonomura served as his own fight director and he did not pull any punches. It is one gritty but spectacularly cinematic beat-down after another.

Fantasia ’25: Redman (short)

What happens when a Power Ranger-like tokusatsu hero retires? They must readjust to normal life. However, they have a lot of history out there that could come back to haunt them. The shocking murder of his former teammate precipitates an existential crisis for Akagi, a.k.a. “Red” in director-screenwriter Kim Sung-jae’s animated short, Redman, which had its Canadian premiere at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival.

In the high-jumping, butt-kicking Mega Five, Akagi wore the red costume. Now he is a workaday salaryman, but he still dons his red mask, because, presumably, it remains an indelible part of his identity. With his glory days long gone, Akagi is clearly mired in a deep malaise. Then he receives the shocking news his Mega Five comrade was murdered by a member of their former foe’s death cult remnant.

So, what does it all mean? Is it time to get heroic again, or rather to finally accept their mortality and the limits that implies? Even though he remains masked, Akagi is clearly wrestling with some heavy burdens.

Monster Island, on Shudder

The original Creature from the Black Lagoon was found in the Brazilian Amazon. That is a long way from a tiny South Pacific island, but the similarly tropical climate would logically be habitable for similar gill-man-like creatures. Based on the fin on its head, the monster in question looks like a creature cousin, but one of the Japanese soldiers recognizes it as a mythical Orang Ikan. Whatever it is, it is hard to kill and the circumstances of WWII do not help much either in director-screenwriter Mike Wiluan’s Monster Island (a.k.a. Orang Ikan), which premieres this Friday on Shudder.

Frankly, things cannot get much worse for Bronson, considering he is an Allied POW aboard a so-called Imperial Japanese “Hell Ship.” The captain decides to execute him for a failed escape attempt, along with Saito, a supposed “traitor.” However, while the officers focus on executions and torture, the U.S. Navy sinks the ship.

Ironically, Saito and Bronson survive, washing up a little speck of an island, chained at the ankles. The first thing they do is fight each other, but the monster coming out of the water convinces them to fight together. Despite the language barrier, they come to an understanding that continues to hold when a group of more violently militant Japanese soldiers reach their island paradise.

Monster island starts with a nifty concept, essentially fusing Creature from the Black Lagoon with Hell in the Pacific, which Wiluan and company execute quite well. It is a tight, tense film filled with peril. The design of the Orang Ikan is several steps up from the vintage Creature, but it looks familiar enough to pay homage.

Dean Fujioka and Callum Woodhouse (a world away from All Creatures Great and Small) are also both terrific as Saito and Bronson. They must convince viewers quickly that their characters can agree to an alliance, which they do, with great success. They also look believably haggard, beat-up, frightened, and generally wrung through the wringer. This is not a buddy-movie, it is an extreme survival film, and both thesps truly act like survivors.

Wiluan’s screenplay is not particularly complex, but it fully explores the implications of the wartime setting. Given the circumstances, this might be the most dangerous island yet, eclipsing Skull Island, because of Saito’s ex-comrades. Very highly recommended, Monster Island starts streaming Friday (7/25) on Shudder.

Kaiju Guy! in Cinema Daily US (Japan Cuts '25)

KAIJU GUY! at Japan Cuts '25 endearingly pays tribute to monster-movie fandom and the indomitable DIY filmmaking spirit. Its sweet, but never indulges in shtick, so many viewers might just see some of themselves in the characters. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Fantasia ’25: Garo: Taiga

This is sort of the Tokusatsu (Japanese genre-action series) analog to Mustafa: The Lion King. In the original Garo tv series. Taiga Seijima had already been killed by the student who betrayed him, leaving behind his son Kouga to succeed him as a Makai Knight—the mystical warriors who bravely battle the so-called “horrors,” or demons that have assumed human bodies. However, that fateful day will not be today. During this prequel, Taiga Seijima is still young, cocky, and very much alive. To celebrate the franchise’s 20^th anniversary, series creator Keita Amemiya rewinds back to the senior Seijima’s early days (which look very much like the current day) in Amemiya’s prequel feature Garo: Taiga, which had its world premiere at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival.

Sure, the basic concept of brotherhood of secret warriors sworn to protect the world from evil supernatural forces maybe sounds a little familiar, but Amemiya has been doing this for twenty years now. Before that, he created the Zeiram franchise and made significant contributions to Kamen Rider, so he knows Tokusatsu.

At this point, Seijima and his talking skull ring are tearing it up as horror hunters, but their next case (after the prologue) will be much more difficult. Evidently, a seriously powerful horror blew into town, on a mission. “Snake Way” intends to consume the four “Sacred Beasts” and take their powers, even though a horror ordinarily cannot gobble up elemental gods. Yet, they can swallow up humans. Inconveniently, Byakko, the wind deity, has a habit of breaking out of his mystical safety-deposit box to enjoy the simple joys of assuming human form.

As a prequel, Garo: Taiga is relatively accessible to newcomers, but it helps to have an appreciation of the Tokusatsu aesthetic. Basically, it is a cut above the non-Shin theatrical Ultraman movies that traditionally conclude each season. It is undeniably cheesy to watch Taiga strut through the city in his big hair and long white Adam Ant-ish duster, but it is a polished cheese.

Will Eisner: A Comics Biography

Are you a fan of superhero movies? Then thank Jewish American creators. Just about every classic DC and Marvel character was invented by artists who to some degree identified as Jewish, like Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, who created Superman, Bob Kane, who created Batman, and Jack Kirby (Joe Kirzberg) & Stan Lee (Stanley Lieber), who created the Fantastic Four and countless other Marvel heroes. Will Eisner never changed his name, but much to his regret, he passed on Siegel & Shuster’s Superman pitch. He never published their most famous characters, but Kirby was a staff artist and Kane freelanced for Eisner’s company. While his most popular character, The Spirit, might not be quite as famous, Eisner’s story really is the history of comic books. That becomes clear in Stephen Weiner’s graphic novel-bio, Will Eisner: A Comics Biography, illustrated by Dan Mazur, which is now on-sale at finer book and comic shops.

Eisner grew up poor, in and around New York City, as the son of a frustrated artist. He often heard the sort of antisemitic comments that have become shockingly resurgent on today’s university campuses. Of course, Eisner couldn’t have afforded college, even if he had graduated from high school. He had to work to support his family during the Great Depression.

Eisner did not merely work. He was an entrepreneur, who built a successful art studio for comic companies that we might describe as a packager in the current publishing vernacular. Kirby was one of the many staff artists, as was Joe Kubert (creator of Sgt. Rock).

However, Eisner eventually walked away for the chance to create a weekly mini-comic book syndicated to newspapers around the country. That character was The Spirit, who finally had a big movie treatment in 2008 that unfortunately flopped. Regardless, among real comic fans, the Spirit is considered the pinnacle of masked crime fighters.

Smurfs, in Cinema Daily US

SMURFS is Smurfy, but not super-Smurfy. There are some surprisingly clever visual gags and it is family-safe (nothing objectionable or polemical), but it never leans into nostalgia for the original Saturday morning cartoon. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Bury Me When I’m Dead

New Age hokem is always a headache, but that will be especially true for Henry Samsa. His terminally ill wife Catherine made him promise to bury her in the woods with acorns embedded within her body, so she could blossom into a tree, or something like that. Instead, he brings her back to civilization for a proper burial, so now she is apparently haunting him in director-screenwriter Seobald Krebs’ Bury Me When I’m Dead, which releases today on VOD.

Samsa has a lot to brood over and brood and brood and brood. He cheated on his wife with their floral shop employee Rebecca Gregor, but she let him off the hook for that. She only asks for her natural burial (which probably violates multiple laws, as well as health and environmental regulations). However, her powerful father, Gary Higdon, secretly lays down the law with Samsa—bring her body home, or else. So he does, but Higdon does the “or else” anyway.

Basically, Higdon financially ruins Samsa out of spite. To make matters worse, the bereaved husband starts having visions that lead him to suspect his wife is haunting him. However, it is a subtle, quiet haunting. At least Samsa never turns into a bug, like his Kafkaesque namesake.

Remember when horror movies were fun? Clearly, Krebs aimed for an “elevated” “post-horror” kind of vibe, but the results are acutely angsty and often downright dreary. This is no Don’t Look Now, not by a long shot. Honestly, watching this film felt like homework.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud

Ryosuke Yoshii is the kind of reseller who has a one-star rating on ebay (or it is fictional equivalent). Yet, people still buy from him. Big surprise—they often regret it. Unfortunately for him, some of his disgruntled suppliers and buyers start getting organized “in real life” in director-screenwriter Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud, which opens tomorrow in New York.

It is easy to see why Yoshii has so much bad karma from the first transaction Kurosawa depicts. Having commissioned a run of counterfeit medical devices, Yoshii renegotiates for a fraction on the Yen, because it would cost the small workshop more to have them carted away as rubbish. Then he sells the entire run to desperate buyers, even though they are worthless.

These sharp practices led to the creation of a large network of online haters. Starting to feel the heat, Yoshii uses his next big score to relocate to the countryside. Nevertheless, Yoshii fears some of his shadowy stalkers followed him to the boonies. Increasingly paranoid, Yoshii’s emotional withdrawal pushes away his girlfriend Akiko. He also fires his new assistant, Sano, but the former protégé remains loyal to Yoshii, for reasons that are never fully explained. Dano also happens to have a certain set of skills, honed during his previous employment as a Yakuza enforcer.

Eventually, Cloud morphs into a reasonably effective stalker-payback thriller. Nevertheless, it is remarkable how far this film coasted on Kurosawa’s reputation, including its selection as Japan’s international Oscar submission. Most viewers who are unaware of its pedigree would assume it is merely a small, grungy exploitation movie, because that is exactly how it presents itself. Indeed, this film is small in scope and rather shallow. However, the concluding action sequence is admittedly lean, mean, and relentlessly tense.

Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor

DC has the most iconic superheroes, because nobody has greater symbolic resonance than Superman—not even Batman. Yet, DC’s super-villains are even more iconic than Marvel's. Two people won Oscars for portraying the Joker, Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix. Frankly, it should have been three—Jack Nicholson was robbed. Lex Luthor is up there too. Generally speaking, Gene Hackman was not a science fiction or comic book kind of guy, but all his obits prominently mentioned his portrayal of Luthor. Alas, all good super-villainy must come to an end, apparently even for Luthor. His death appears imminent unless his virtuous nemesis finds a way to save him in Mark Waid’s Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor, illustrated by Bryan Hitch, which is now on-sale.

This Superman story is probably better than the new movie and it is certainly more daring. Yet, it addresses some of the same themes. The bald baddie’s latest mecha-suited afront to decency was really just a ruse. His true purpose was to extort Superman’s assistance in seeking a cure for his terminal condition—naturally the result of his latest round of reckless Kryptonite experiments.

Superman believes if he refuses any request for help, even from pond-scum like Luthor, he will slowly lose Earth’s trust—not immediately, but over time. At this point, only Lois Lane gets that. Regardless, off Superman goes, whisking Luthor to the Fortress of Solitude, Atlantis, Paradise Island, and the Legion of Superheroes in the 31^st Century, in search of a cure for the rare disease eating away at his sworn enemy. Of course, he still suspects this is all just a trap, which it is—but its not Luthor’s.

Japan Cuts ’25: Serpent’s Path

With this film, Kiyoshi Kurosawa joined the company of Michael Haneke (Funny Games), Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge), George Sluizer (The Vanishing), and Ole Bornedal (Nightwatch). All have helmed remakes of their films in different languages. Admittedly, Japanese can still be heard in Kiyoshi’s new take on his 1998 dark thriller, but French is the primary language—logically so, since it is set in and around Paris. Weirdly, one of the major themes was lost in translation, but human nature remains just as dark and brutish as ever in Kurosawa’s Serpent’s Path (2024), which has its East coast premiere tomorrow, as part of the 2025 Japan Cuts.

Schlubby, grieving Albert Bacheret and straight-arrow psychiatrist Dr. Sayoko Mijima are a mismatched odd couple, but they are about to pull off the daring daylight abduction of Laval, a prominent attorney. He should have been more discerning in his choice of clients.

Viewers deduce relatively quickly that Laval represented “The Circle,” an organ-trafficking cult that murdered Bacheret’s young daughter. Tormented by grief and guilt, Bacheret now only lives for revenge. However, as the trail leads the duo to high-ranking members of the Circle, Bacheret grows wary and apprehensive. He understands just how dangerous they are, because he once worked for them. Right, that’s awkward.

Aurelien Ferenczi’s adapted screenplay remains largely faithful to Hiroshi Takahashi’s original, but it transforms the distraught father’s accomplice from a math teacher into a doctor. As a result, the mathematical motifs all go out the window.

While that character change might trouble admirers of the 1998 film, Ko Shibasaki’s powerhouse portrayal of Mijima is definitely the remake’s greatest asset. She is quiet, but her presence is electric. Frankly, Damien Bonnard is completely outclassed as the basket case, Bacheret.

Guns & Moses: A Rabbi Stands Up to Corruption

In Chinatown and The Two Jakes, it is water and oil that fuel corruption. Now, money from green energy greases palms and fills dirty pockets. Except, maybe it isn’t all that green. When a solar energy magnate is assassinated, the cops assume it is an antisemitic hate crime, but his rabbi suspects government land use and energy regulation might be the true motivations for Alan Rosner’s murder in Salvador Litvak’s Guns & Moses, which releases Friday in theaters.

Rabbi Mo Zaltzman lacks a proper Temple, but he has thriving community in the southern California town of High Desert. Rosner pledged to fund a permanent home for the High Desert congregation, but he will be quickly cut down by an assassin’s bullet.

Suspicion quickly and conveniently falls on Clay Gibbons, a young, troubled skinhead, who had menaced the Rabbi’s storefront community center. It all looks pretty done and dusted to the cops but Rabbi Zaltzman really believed he was starting to reach Gibbons, so he starts digging. He finds the deceased was deeply enmeshed in schemes involving environmental impacts statements (both phony and legit), as well as contested scrub land possibly needed by the state’s eternally under-construction light rail.

Rabbi Zaltzman turns out to be a very appealing amateur sleuth and Rosner’s solar-panel farm shines as a cinematic location. However, Litvak and co-screenwriter (and wife) Nina Litvak cannot match the clever plotting of Harry Kemelman’s Rabbi David Small novels. The character is strongly drawn and relatable, but the mystery/thriller business is about as complex as an episode of a 1970s network TV detective show.

Nevertheless, the Litvaks and company make some serious points that are very much oof our current moment. Indeed,it is quite significant to watch Rabbi Zaltzman reluctantly agree to arm himself. Yet, this is a very real-life experience for many Jewish Americans, especially in light of recent attacks in DC and Boulder. The title is no joke.

In fact, Litvak stages several highly satisfying shootouts. The action is nicely realized, but the cast really lands the film. Mark Feuerstein quite charmingly portrays the Rabbi’s fatherly corniness, as well as his earnest and devout faith. He wears well over the course of the film and maybe even warrants a follow-up. He also develops nice chemistry with Alona Tal, as Hindy Zaltzman.

The Trouble with Tessa, on Screambox

What's the quickest way for a documentarian to sell out for an easy paycheck? True crime, of course. Tessa Fowler needs money to pay for lawyers, so she figures it was a lucky break when she discovers the Upstate house she rented might have been the scene of a murder. However, viewers know better right from the start of director-screenwriters Dennis Cahlo & Bethany Watson’s The Trouble with Tessa, which premieres tomorrow on Screambox.

It sounds like Fowler and her producer, Aaron Slotzsky, exposed a lot dirt on a progressive politician, because they are now taking heat, even from friends and colleagues, because their subject was supposedly “on the right side of history.” He is also suing for defamation. To get away from the constant harassment and process servers, Fowler rented a farm house in the quaint little village of Lowery, because it was the only hideout she could rent on such short notice—for good reason, we soon suspect.

Lowery is a weird place, with more rules and regulations than a Catholic boarding school. It also has an earlier curfew. The locals are also quite odd, in manners that are both intrusive and standoffish. She should be looking to leave fast. Instead, she starts nosing around the town’s buried history after a box of bizarre video and audio tapes practically leaps into her hands during the closing minutes of the pilot episode.

As Fowler starts investigating, she discovers the town is weirder than she originally thought, in profoundly suspicious ways, like the fact that the town newspaper archive in the Lowery library is heavily redacted. However, she finally gets a local to start dishing a little, thanks to the liberal application of booze.

Unfortunately, only two episodes were provided for review. That is a shame because it is really only just getting started. It is especially frustrating, because those two episodes are enormously grabby and intriguing. Frankly, at this point, it isn’t even clear if Trouble s truly horror or more of a Twin Peaks-ish mystery, but either way, Cahlo and Watson solidly establish Lowery as a strange and sinister place.

ChaO (Japan Cuts '25), in Cinema Daily US

ChaO has a much more modern sensibility than THE LITTLE MERMAID, regularly delivering surprisingly sly and outlandish visual gags. Yet it never strays too far from its central romance. Quite charming and satisfying for anime fans. CIINEMA DAILY US Japan Cuts '25 review up here.

Japan Cuts ’25: A Samurai in Time

If an Old West gunslinger traveled forward in time to 1950’s Hollywood, he would probably find steady work as a stuntman. It would be a lot harder for him in today’s film industry. That is also true for Kosaka Shinzaemon. He was, and remains a real deal samurai from the Aizu Domain, who somehow traveled forward in time to the Kyoto Uzumasa studio, where most of the Japanese entertainment industry’s Jidaigeki samurai dramas have been filmed. It is a whole new era for him, but he retains some adaptable skills in director-screenwriter Jun’ichi Yasuda’s A Samurai in Time, which screens as part of the 2025 Japan Cuts festival.

It was a dark a stormy night. Frankly, Shinzaemon really didn’t notice the stormy part until he started clashing swords with Yamagata Hikokuro, a rival from the Choshu Domain. Suddenly, a flash of lightning strikes and there he is on the Kyoto backlot. Confusingly, half the people look normal, but the rest appear to wear strange foreign garb. He is a bit of a bull in a China shop, but Yuko Yamamoto, a conscientious young assistant director looks out for the presumed amnesia case.

Thanks to her, he finds a place to stay at the nearby shrine frequently used as a location. He also starts apprenticing with Sekimoto, a master of stunt-performer swordplay. Sekimoto warns his new apprentice that Jidaigeki productions just aren’t as popular as they used to be. Nevertheless, Shinzaemon becomes a regular stunt performer on Yamamoto’s series, because he just looks so authentic. In fact, he even draws the attention of Kyoichiro Kazami, a veteran movie star, hoping to reinvigorate the Jidaigeki genre. Indeed, Kazami shows a particular interest in Shinzaemon.

Samurai in Time might remind genre fans of Ken Ochiai’s loving tribute to Jidaigeki extras, Uzumasa Limelight, with good reason. Ochiai’s star, longtime Jidaigeki bit-player Seizo Fukumoto was originally cast as Sekimoto, before his unfortunate passing. Instead, his “junior” colleague, Rantaro Mine, plays the role with the kind of dignified gravitas Fukumoto brought to Limelight. So yes, the two films would pair nicely.

Fantasia ’25: Curtain Raiser

It is that time of year again, so start boiling water for a steaming hot cup of Nong Shim noodles (the kind of sponsor a festival can be proud to have). The Fantasia International Film Festival is back, bringing plenty of cinematic weirdness to Montreal. Every year, they find out-of-the-blue discoveries as well as eagerly awaited genre releases. Once again, you can look forward to coverage here and also at Cinema Daily US.

Fantasia regularly programs wonderful and weird discoveries in science fiction, horror, and Asian cinema. However, their animation selections might be particularly of interest to many Ciinema Daily readers. For instance:

All You Need is Kill represents the first anime adaptation of the Japanese science fiction novel and manga that previously inspired Edge of Tomorrow, with Tom Cruise.

ChaO offers a fresh take on human-mermaid romance that is vastly different from The Little Mermaid, but will still charm fans of the Disney classic.

Maya, Give Me A Title is a wonderfully charming tribute to art and parenting, from Michel Gondrey.

The first four episodes of the new manga adaptation of the macabre manga Nyaight of the Living Cat also screen, because everyone loves uncanny cats and executive producer Takashi Miike.

Everyone also digs dystopian cats too, so festival-goers can partake of Tamala 2030: A Punk Cat in Dark, the long-awaited, yet unexpected sequel to Tamala A Punk Cat in Space.

Those are just a few promising selections. There is always plenty of good stuff to watch at Fantasia, so keep an eye out for reviews.

Japan Cuts ’25: The Real You

In the future, AI will take a huge bite out of psychics’ séance business. If you have unresolved questions for your late loved ones, like emotionally stunted Sakuya Ishikawa, just download their data and ask the resulting AI construct. Of course, more input results in a better model, so Ishikawa requests the data from the close friend he never knew his mother had. Ironically, the mystery woman might (or might not) also be his tragic high school crush. Consequently, Ishikawa will have a lot to process himself in Yuya Ishii’s The Real You, which had its North American premiere at the 2025 Japan Cuts.

There was something Akiko wanted to tell Ishikawa, but he was too busy to listen. Then she died, apparently throwing herself into the swelling river one stormy night. Ishikawa tried to save her, but instead, he suffered a year-long coma. When he woke up, the government cut him a check, because unbeknownst to Ishikawa, his mother enrolled in a voluntary euthanasia program, much like that depicted in Plan 75.

Tormented by guilt and uncertainty, Ishikawa uses his savings to commission a virtual figure (VF) of his mother. It is through the company’s research that he learns of Ayaka Miyoshi. Strangely, she bears an unlikely resemblance to a high school classmate, whose misfortune indirectly led to Ishikawa’s downfall (through circumstances that Ishii teases out agonizingly slowly).

Regardless, Ishikawa invites the homeless Miyoshi to temporarily move into the apartment he shared with his mother, out of filial loyalty (and perhaps other reasons). He starts to get some kernels of truth from Akiko’s VF, but it is unclear whether he can handle the truth.

Awkwardly, The Real You consists of two thematically-distinct halves, one of which is much more compelling than the other. Ishikawa’s halting attempts to better understand his late mother are often poignant and fascinating, even though they revisit some of the terrain explored in the vastly superior Marjorie Prime.

Unfortunately, Ishii devotes equal or greater time to Ishikawa’s travails as a “real avatar,” essentially a live-streaming gig-worker, who are regularly forced to humiliate themselves and possibly even commit crimes, to satisfy the whims of their clients. Frankly, these sequences violate existing laws and any remaining remnant of common sense. They are also blatantly manipulative and cringe-inducingly didactic.

Abraham’s Boys: Titus Welliver as Abraham Van Helsing

In the vintage Universal Monster movies, Dracula definitely had a daughter (Gloria Holden), but it is rather ambiguous whether Count Alucard (Lon Chaney, Jr.) in Son of Dracula was truly his son, or in fact, Dracula himself. Regardless, Joe Hill’s short story makes it clear his longtime nemesis had two sons. Unfortunately, they are both rather disappointingly not chips off the old block in Natasha Kermani’s Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story, which opens today in theaters.

After the “troubles” in London, Abraham Van Helsing relocated to California’s rural Central Valley, with his new wife, Mina, whom he saved from vampires. That is a bit of shocker, right? Imagine Lily-Rose Depp marrying Willem Dafoe in Nosferatu. Yet, for years, they made it work. Of course, Van Helsing never really gave up his undead-hunting ways. Perhaps that is a good thing, because they can both sense vampire activity in the Valley, which she would be particularly susceptible to, as a survivor of vampiric blood-sucking.

On the other hand, it will be hard to explain to their sons, Max and Rudy. It sounds crazy, perhaps even psychotically murderous. Van Helsing needs his sons’ trust, but his cold demeanor and secretive ways always kept his sons at arm’s length. Instead, most of their love was saved for their suddenly ailing mother.

Although subtitled “A Dracula Story,” the Count is only present in memory and perhaps by suggestion. Consequently, anyone hoping for a traditional vampire movie will be disappointed. Kermani intentionally capitalizes on the ambiguity of Hill’s story to create a psychological thriller rather than an undead horror movie. That approach works for a while (probably even the entire first and second acts), but there comes a time to fish or cut bait. Yet, Kermani continues to play is-he-or-isn’t-he games, well past that point.

Nevertheless, the early scenes are impressively evocative and suggestive, thanks in part to the constrained aspect ratio (more-or-less Academy Ratio) and Julia Swain’s dusty, sun-dappled cinematography, which gives the film a vibe akin to Jan Kroell’s pioneer films and Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns.

Jaws @ 50, on Hulu

This Blockbuster hasn’t aged day in the fifty years since it first released. That’s because the shark doesn’t care what kind of smart phone you carry or whether you drive an EV. You’ll still taste the same once you get into the water. It inspired one under-appreciated sequel and two truly terrible bombs, but the original will always be the greatest shark movie of all time. For the golden anniversary, cast, crew, fans, and the Benchley family look back on the film’s production and sensational reception in Laurent Bouzereau’s Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story, which premieres tomorrow on Hulu.

Surely, everyone has seen the film, or at least knows the music (duly discussed by John Williams). Unfortunately, primary cast-members Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, and Murry Hamilton (the sleazebag mayor) are no longer with us, while Richard Dreyfuss was either unavailable or considered too canceled. However, viewers hear extensively from Steven Spielberg and author Peter Benchley’s surviving family.

Fittingly, Bouzereau starts with the book, which was a hit even before the film released. In fact, the studio adapted the publisher’s jacket art for the movie poster” the iconic giant shark ominously rising beneath an oblivious swimmer paddling above the waterline. Believe me, that never happens for publishing houses.

Frankly, despite the documentary’s suggestions otherwise, Benchley’s novel was not particularly well reviewed at the time and has not critically appreciated over time. Nevertheless, Spielberg offered his services after reading a galley and accepted the job when the first director pulled out. Unfortunately, when the book became such a runaway bestseller in mass market, the studio moved up production, leaving little time for the construction of the notorious mechanical shark. According to the surviving crew, that is why “Bruce” constantly broke down.

Jaws @ 50 is considerably more fun than most behind-the-scenes docs or DVD extras (which Bouzereau is no stranger to), in large part because of the sharks, real and animatronic. It also chronicles an incredibly stressful shoot that Spielberg feared might end his career. Mind-blowingly, Bouzereau documents the set visits from his famous filmmaker friends, like George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, and John Milius, who came to offer encouragement.

The reminiscences also take on a family vibe from the Benchleys, who later became active shark conservationists, and Martha’s Vineyard locals, who played many roles on both sides of the camera. In fact, only eight cast-members came from outside the island. One of whom was Susan Backlinie, who sadly passed away last year, but fortunately Bouzereau incorporates footage of her discussing her role of Chrissie Watkins, the shark’s first victim during the memorable prologue.

Suspicious Minds, on Hulu

Wearing a cursed tiara sounds unlucky for a bride, so she ought to be grateful to a pair of thieves trying to steal it. Her gangster father doesn’t see it that way. Emilio Villegas calls himself a businessman, but his chief of security previously worked for the Russian FSB, so you do the math. They deal with thieves outside the law—fatally—so the stakes are high. Unfortunately, trust remains an issue for the former partners-turned-lovers-turned-reluctant partners again in creator-writers Veronica Marza, Pablo Roa, and Fernando Sancristobal’s six-episode Spanish-series Suspicious Minds, which premieres tomorrow on Hulu.

As she explains in flashbacks, Amber fell for Rui during their last job. That was a big no-no, but it aided their cover, as a couple participating getting hitched during an Elvis and Marilyn-themed group wedding in Vegas. They score down went like clockwork, but the getaway turned ugly. Amber assumed Rui died in a hail of bullets, so she decided to steal the “Tiara of St. Agatha” as a tribute. She invested months serving as the tutor-minder of Villegas’s entitled son Edgar, to befriend his older sister Lucia, who will be wearing the Tiara during her wedding on Esperanza, Villegas’s private South Pacific island.

Yet, just when is about to crack the safe, Rui interrupts. Instead of grabbing the tiara, Amber takes on a new, old partner. She is less than thrilled, because she knows Rui betrayed her, even though he accuses her of the same. Awkwardly, they only barely elude the seriously scary Judith Milenkovic, so she knows someone is out to steal her boss’s tiara. Consequently, they must take on further partners, including Julio, the Villegas family’s majordomo and wedding director, as well as young Edgar, who hopes to teach his inattentive father a lesson.

Suspicious Minds sometimes descends a little too far into goofiness, especially when depicting clueless Lucia and her oddball fiancé, Jaume. However, each instalment features plenty of clever scheming, conning, and daring sleight of hand. Basically, the tone hits similarly to a vintage Remington Steele episode, but slightly sillier.

Regardless, co-leads Alex Gonzalez and Silvio Alonso make it all quite watchable, as eye-candy with decent rom-com chemistry. Alonso’s charismatic screen presence sometimes outshines Gonzalez, but they generally play off each other well.