NYAFF, week 2.

Takashi Miike's Like a Dragon is the rare film that is actually improved by its fundamental incoherence," writes David Austin at Cinema Strikes Back, where, on the same page, he also reviews Assembly. Plus, Charlie Prince on The Rebel and The Butcher.

Updated through 6/30.

At Twitch:

• Todd Brown on Always: Sunset On Third Street 2: "All of the ingredients that made the first film such a rousing success are also in full effect here and while the sequel might lose a little something simply due to the audience now knowing the formula and what to expect it more than makes that up in the pleasure of seeing our favorite characters continue to develop and grow. There is, after all, something to be said for a director that knows what his audience wants and then proceeds to give them exactly that." So what makes the first one so terrific? Todd'll tell you.

• "Kala isn't just a noir crime thriller," writes The Visitor. "It has elements of horror, fantasy and political intrigue. It's a nice mix, with gorgeous visuals and a creepy and disturbing atmosphere, but it also has a huge problem towards the end."

• Andrew Howitt talks with Tokyo Gore Police director Yoshihiro Nishimura.

• Rodney talks with Butcher director Kim Jin-Won.

"Lee Myung-se (Nowhere to Hide, Duelist) is, for better or for worse, building a reputation as being one of contemporary cinema's preeminent stylists," writes Daniel Kasman in the Auteurs' Notebook. "The successes and failures of the director's approach can be seen in his newest film, M."

Update, 6/27: Online listening tip. John Lichman and Vadim Rizov talk NYAFF with Grady Hendrix.

Updates, 6/28: At Twitch:

• "Dai Nipponjin is an absurdist treat, a sly parody of both day to day working class life and the Japanese television superheros of yore all played with a deliciously dry—almost arid—sense of humor," writes Todd Brown.

• Also: "Bright, brash, violent, and intentionally camp Sukiyaki Western Django is that rarest of things: an intentional cult film that succeeds on all fronts."

• Ardvark: "Accuracy of Death is by no means a masterpiece and will not floor you with new stunning insights into human nature, yet it still manages to be quite a pleasant little movie. Takeshi Kaneshiro steals the show and is worth the price of admission all by himself."

Updates, 6/29: Twitch's Todd Brown on Lee's M: "[T]he highly structured form obscures the emotional core of the story resulting in what is arguably his least accessible film thus far."

"Sasori, a remake of the classic Japanese surreal exploitation series, Female Convict Scorpion, is a throwback to the trashy Hong Kong films of yesteryear," writes David Austin at Cinema Strikes Back.

Updates, 6/30: "And slowly but surely a disturbing picture arises. That of a Japan in which a large group of people act polite but have nothing but a deeply ingrained disdain for anything which is non-Japanese." Ardvark at Twitch on Yasukuni.

Daniel Kasman in the Auteurs' Notebook on Shamo: "Believe it or not, Chinese genre director Cheang Pou-soi has miraculously dedicated an entire movie to the Kubrick Stare, with an unbridled, truly brilliant lead performance of desperation by Shawn Yue."

Posted by dwhudson at June 26, 2008 11:08 AM