Youth of the Beast: (1963) – a Yakuza movie that is mercifully unlike many others from that time – or even of the more recent vintages. Very fast moving, great colors, and a kind of double-cross by way of Last Man Standing / Yojimbo. But it also has the frustrations of trying to figure out a friend’s murder ala The Big Sleep, complete with a crushing ending. It also features a gay pimp with a switchblade, a sadist gangster wearing horn rimmed glasses cradling a cat as if he was a James Bond villain, and a zillion other stylish visual features. I’d recommend this very highly.
Short Cuts: (1993) – I was curious how this would hold up. When I last saw it, I had just moved to Los Angeles, and its depictions were nothing at all the city that I was living in – other than the helicopters.
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