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Law and Order Toronto- Criminal Intent - (May 3rd)
Building Off the Grid - (May 3rd)
Next Level Chef - (May 3rd)
Greys Anatomy - (May 3rd)
9-1-1 - (May 3rd)
So Help Me Todd - (May 3rd)
Down Home Fab - (May 3rd)
Sugar - (May 3rd)
Franklin - (May 3rd)
The Young and the Restless - (May 3rd)
The Price Is Right - (May 3rd)
Law dis-Order - (May 3rd)
The Beat with Ari Melber - (May 3rd)
The ReidOut - (May 3rd)
Lets Make a Deal - (May 3rd)
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Young Sheldon - (May 3rd)
Station 19 - (May 3rd)
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Drop Dead. Hana-bi (AKA: Fireworks) is written and directed by Takeshi Kitano. It stars Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi and Susumu Terajima. Music is by Joe Hisaishi and cinematography by Hideo Yamamoto. Yoshikata Nishi (Kitano) is a loose cannon police detective who quits the force after a tragic incident results in his partner, Horibe (Osugi), being confined to a wheelchair. His retirement brings him the time to care more for his seriously ill wife Miyuki (Kishimoto). Nishi can find no peace, though, more so as he has borrowed money from the Yakuza to pay for his wife's needs, and they are growing impatient for the repayment... Very early in Kitano's superb slice of Japanese neo-noir there is a piece of graffiti on the wall, it says "Drop Dead", while Hisaishi's music is a devilish accompaniment to the scene. It's ominous and foreboding, setting the tone for what is to follow. Pic is deliberately paced, beautifully so, with the opening nonlinear approach and scattergun shifts in time adding a sort of psychological maelstrom to the impending narrative darkness. Yet to suggest it as a perpetually bleak picture is doing it a small disservice, for Kitano (himself working from a damaged psyche that occurred in real life) has this adroit eye for poetic beauty and human tenderness that marries up with bursts of violence and emotionally shattering passages of play. And it works brilliantly, with stabs of humour also filtering in via the outer frames. Nishi the character is a force of nature and a walking - brooding - contradiction, a man pained behind his sunglasses, his expressionless visage amazingly still saying so much. When he explodes the impact is doubly strong, mainly because dialogue is so sparse, but the interwoven visuals - very much a Kitano speciality - strike an almighty chord for the story. To which we edge towards the finale, which unsurprisingly brings beauty and infinite sadness. Unfussy camera work, sabre sharp editing (Kitano & Yoshinori Oota), elegiacal musical arrangements, art, kites and Kitano's intense performance, this rounds out as film making greatness. In fact, a masterpiece. 10/10
There's greatness in there, for sure, but 'Fireworks' (or, the better title, 'Hana-bi') drags on for too long. I was with it for the first 45-55 minutes, but the final portion of the film really dragged for me; aside from a few moments, it kinda just repeats the same sorta scenes over and over. Like, personally, I got it... needed a bit more to it, in my opinion. There are some very good performances, no doubt. Takeshi Kitano is the obvious star of the show, though I was also impressed by Ren Osugi - who is just as excellent as the aforementioned writer, producer and director of this 1997 flick. The support cast are solid, while everything onscreen looks neat too. I did like this overall, but I can't say it hit me as much as it evidently has for others. Worth a watch, either way.
1936 was a different world in Newfoundland - the bigotry and the unexpected ending will give you plenty to talk about and think about in this forgotten masterpiece of human drama.
A fatally ill mother with only two months to live creates a list of things she wants to do before she dies without telling her family of her illness.
An assassin is shot by her ruthless employer, Bill, and other members of their assassination circle – but she lives to plot her vengeance.
Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers and supposedly Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.
Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.
A River Runs Through It is a cinematographically stunning true story of Norman Maclean. The story follows Norman and his brother Paul through the experiences of life and growing up, and how their love of fly fishing keeps them together despite varying life circumstances in the untamed west of Montana in the 1920s.
Danny Ocean and his gang attempt to rob the five biggest casinos in Las Vegas in one night.
A Japanese Yakuza gangster's deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother's gang.
An epic mosaic of many interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.