Yakuza Crazy

THE FUTURIST! was elated yesterday upon hearing of the new Kino DVD release of Seijun Suzuki's 1963 crime film DETECTIVE BUREAU 2-3: GO TO HELL,BASTARDS. After seeing the near insane TOKYO DRIFTER and the visually stunning YOUTH OF THE BEAST, THE FUTURIST! can only think of Mr. Suzuki's detective/crime/gangster cinema selections with a smile on his countenance. Watching these films, one can see where Mr. Tarantino swipes his "ideas". THE FUTURIST! read hungrily of this new release and its plot that involves scenes of violence involving men in suits and ties firing scattered gunshots and bright orange/yellow explosions such as this:


... and then it will careen into flamboyant night club singing and dancing, which even involves the tough as nails detective played by the chipmunk cheeked Suzuki cast regular Jo Shishido:


Delightful!

Life can suck, as little 8 year old Jason Endicott told THE FUTURIST! the other day. THE FUTURIST! merely nodded and told the boy that liquor and cinema will help lift the doldrums in later years. Yes, Jason, it can suck, but as long as there are Spanish olives and vodka and Suzuki film potboilers, well, Life can have its high points.

Kino Home Video, THE FUTURIST! loves you.



And even more news to make one leap into the air and click their heels like a happy German soldier (oh, but not to imply a Nazi, more like a soldier wearing the uniform of an imaginary Teutonic country from an Ernst Lubitsch film). The Eclipse series (an offshoot of The Criterion Collection DVD library) announced the August release of their Series 17: NIKKATSU NOIR. Nikkatsu Studios produced crazy crime thrillers from the late 1950s through the 1970s that blended different action genres into a puree of thick tasty fun. One of the 5 films included is a Suzuki with the title TAKE AIM AT THE POLICE VAN. THE FUTURIST! is about to start filming his new film POURING A FINGER OF VERMOUTH INTO GLASS.