Ol' Coffin Joe has filed a report with FATHER GEEk all the way from Sao Paulo, Brazil and their wonderful film festival on Shynia Tsukamoto's kickass BULLET BALLET. Now, Tsukamoto is Father Geeks second most favorite living Japanese director right behind Seijun Suzuki. Shynia's TOKYO FIST is absolutely fantastic and a real favorite of Father Geek's. However, I still prefer the great "B" crime flicks of Suzuki's like SATAN'S TOWN, TOKYO DRIFTER, THE NAKED GIRL AND THE GUN, and my personal fave BRANDED TO KILL. But enough of me and on to Coffin Joe...

Hey Harry it´s the man formerly known as Gris , but from now on call me
Coffin Joe . Well , some cool stuff all the way from São Paulo , Brazil .
The São Paulo film festival is going on as I type this , and yesterday I was
lucky enough to catch Shynia Tsukamoto´s Bullet Ballet . For those of you
who are not familiar with the guy I think the best way to describe his stuff
is saying that he is the japanese David Lynch . His movies are weird ,
frantic , dizzying , and they all basically deal with the same themes . I
think in the Tetsuo movies he played with the body alteration theme that
Cronenberg and Lynch handle so well ; in Tokyo Fist he still dealt with that
issue , but adding heavy doses of alienation in modern society ; Bullet
Ballet furthers the alienation theme to places that are not always very
comfortable . Tsukamoto himself plays the lead , in a performance that
resembles his character in Tokyo Fist , but he seems more distant , and the
film´s beginning , with a major tragedy happening in his character´s life ,
sets that tone of detachment . Just like in Tokyo Fist , the lines between
reality and fantasy are a messy blur for him . After the beginning , he
establishes the character´s tragic existence , which besides his loneliness
,
includes : a gang of punks that constantly beat the living shit out of him ,
his quest for a gun ( that´s right a gun , not one particular gun , any gun
whatsoever ), and a crush on a girl who is part of the punk gang but who
doesn´t give a damn about him .
The movie goes deeper and deeper into places of his life that are often
pathetic , other times endearing , but never boring . The last twenty or so
minutes of the flick you get hammered in the head with a truly cool ending .
It´s poignant , but not corny . I had a ball with this , highly recommended
.

In video stores over here Dario Argento´s Phantom of the opera is about to
arrive , and I got me a bootleg copy . The film is cool , stylish and
everything ( like most of Argento´s stuff ) , but it just doesn´t come
together . Don´t get me wrong , I love Argento , I have both Phenomena and
Tenebre on DVD , but I think this one is a miss , not a total waste tough ,
it has its moments . If you´re a fan , go for it , you will not be
disappointed , if you are not , stay away . I´m buying me a copy of the DVD
,
just for the visuals and Ennio Morricone´s ass-kicking score . Long live
Dario .

Another film I saw at the São Paulo festival was Ghost Dog , with Forrest
Whitaker , which is a Jim Jarmusch pic . I´m not a big fan of Jarmusch´s
work , I saw that western flick with Johnny Depp , didn´t do much for me ,
but I have to say Ghost Dog is quite a slice of Americana . In a strange
tale of a hit man who follows the code of honor of the samurais , Mr.
Jarmusch shows a diverse bunch of characters that are all interesting in
their own way . Really cool , also highly recommended .
All the way from Brazil Coffin Joe (still looking for a bride) says : see ya
.

Coffin Joe