Zombi 2 [aka Zombie aka Zombie Flesh-Eaters] (1979)

It was years before I’d seen more than a single Lucio Fulci film: I ended up throwing The Beyond at my first film club and I saw The New York Ripper earlier this year. But I saw Zombie¹ first. I don’t recall how or when exactly I first saw it, though it was undoubtedly with […]

座頭市血笑旅 (Zatōichi kesshō-tabi, lit. Zatoichi: Bloody Journey) [Fight, Zatoichi, Fight] (1964)

Wasn’t sure what to expect after the one-two punch of Kazuo Ikehiro’s more visually inventive and experimental Zatoichi films (the previous two, Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold and Zatoichi’s Flashing Sword), but we’re brought back to the series’s original director, Kenji Misumi with this one. On the road as ever, Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) is […]

座頭市あばれ凧 (Zatōichi abare dako) [Zatoichi’s Flashing Sword] (1964)

This is Kazuo Ikehiro’s second helming of a Zatoichi film (after the previous, from the same year, Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold), and his last until 7 films later (which, shockingly, is only two years later), when he filmed his true swan song. Zatoichi (Shinatro Katsu, of course) is shot from behind by Seiroku […]

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

I remembered there was some reason this was met with mixed feelings at and after its release, but couldn’t recall what those reasons were. I’ve liked Kathryn Bigelow’s work quite a bit over the years (she did, after all, direct my favourite ever vampire movie: Near Dark), so I figured, especially in finding a $3 […]

座頭市千両首 (Zatōichi senryō-kubi, lit. Zatoichi’s Thousand-Ryo Neck) [Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold] (1964)

I’m still in a weird space on watching these. What other series ran for this long? I’m sure there are a few others in existence, but the only English-language one I can think of is James Bond. But it wasn’t an endless series of James Bond and… or other usages of his name in the title. […]

座頭市喧嘩旅 (Zatōichi kenka-tabi, lit. “Zatoichi Fighting Journey”) [Zatoichi on the Road] (1963)

This gets me five deep into the Zatoichi series. After five movies, my normal habit of introduction seems a bit superfluous–they’re all from a single box-set, so that part doesn’t change a whole heck of a lot. Ichi (Shintaro Katsu, as ever, and for another 21 movies) is already on the road when the film […]

座頭市兇状旅 (Zatōichi Kyōjō tabi, lit. “Zatoichi Riding Trip¹”) [Zatoichi the Fugitive] (1963)

I just realized it’s been almost three years since I watched the first three Zatoichi movies. Oopsie. I blame distractions… Ichi (Shintaro Katsu, as he shall remain for another 22 movies) is simply wandering Japan, meandering into a sumo match when there’s an offer of prize money, before being accosted by a man named Kisuke […]

続・座頭市物語 (Zoku Zatōichi Monogatari) [The Tale of Zatoichi Continues] (1962)

Woah, what an ending. I’ve been too distracted to continue with the Zatoichi series that I started watching a little while ago, but I’ve hit it back up with my short night and found myself into the rapidly produced sequel to the original. How rapidly? Six months to the day after the original was released. Dang. I’m not […]

座頭市物語 (Zatoichi monotogari) [The Tale of Zatoichi] (1962)

So far as I can tell, the archetypal “blind person who’s actually incredibly lethal, but intensely gentle and humble” was originated, or at least most emphatically popularized, with the series of stories about Zatoichi told across 26+ films (plus, because there are spin-offs, reboots…), and a one hundred episode TV series. I remember bumping into Blind […]