The Mosaic Church 2025 - Movies (Apr 3rd)
Under the Crystal Sky 2025 - Movies (Apr 3rd)
Lady Like 2024 - Movies (Apr 3rd)
A Working Man 2025 - Movies (Apr 3rd)
Wellwood 2025 - Movies (Apr 3rd)
Faith of Angels 2024 - Movies (Apr 2nd)
Soundtrack to a Coup dEtat 2024 - Movies (Apr 2nd)
Y2K 2024 - Movies (Apr 2nd)
Babezilla vs. the Cyber Skanks Rise of Mechababezilla 2024 - Movies (Apr 2nd)
Not Not Jazz 2024 - Movies (Apr 2nd)
One of Them Days 2025 - Movies (Apr 1st)
Love Me 2024 - Movies (Apr 1st)
Bangkok Dog 2024 - Movies (Apr 1st)
Better Man 2024 - Movies (Apr 1st)
Between Borders 2025 - Movies (Apr 1st)
Shiver Me Timbers 2025 - Movies (Apr 1st)
October 8 2025 - Movies (Apr 1st)
The Last Supper 2025 - Movies (Apr 1st)
The Actor 2025 - Movies (Apr 1st)
Black Bag 2025 - Movies (Apr 1st)
Opus 2025 - Movies (Apr 1st)
Tonight - (Apr 3rd)
Married at first sight - (Apr 3rd)
Katy Tur Reports - (Apr 3rd)
In The Hope Of - (Apr 3rd)
Piers Morgan Uncensored - (Apr 3rd)
Chateau DIY - (Apr 3rd)
The Cruise - (Apr 3rd)
Chris Jansing Reports - (Apr 3rd)
Kamen Rider Backwards-Kiva- Queen of the Demonic Castle - (Apr 3rd)
Homes Under the Hammer - (Apr 3rd)
NCIS- Sydney - (Apr 3rd)
Bollywed - (Apr 3rd)
Stadium Lockup - (Apr 3rd)
Taskmaster - (Apr 3rd)
Canadas Ultimate Challenge - (Apr 3rd)
The Kelly Clarkson Show - (Apr 3rd)
Gogglebox Australia - (Apr 3rd)
The Chase Australia - (Apr 3rd)
The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle - (Apr 3rd)
Pawn Stars - (Apr 3rd)
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.
You wouldn't want to be policeman "Nishi" (Takeshi Kitano). His young child died a few years earlier, his wife is terminally ill in hospital and his partner at work takes a bullet that renders him paraplegic. Unsurprisingly, he hits the skids a bit and his priorities become compromised. When his wife is told she can come home, he is determined to make that happen - but where will the money come from to facilitate her? Well he goes and borrows some money from some unsavoury types he has encountered in his career. With his sole raison d'être now being to spend as much time as he can with his ailing wife, some of his other decisions become more and more dubious and requiring of increasingly dangerous and violent action as his creditors demand repayment - in cash or in kind. This is really quite an effective mix of the romantic and the brutal. It illustrates the vulnerability of even the most robust of human beings when touched by tragedy and despair - and when that person is a cunning and capable killer, these risks for all become ever more exacerbated. There's not a great deal of dialogue here, it's mostly Kitano reacting to and dealing with the scenarios he faces trying to sustain that sense of stability and to deal with his crescendo of guilt and it's quite enthralling at times to watch. It does plod along a little at times, and can also be repetitive but it's a different style of dark drama that shows us an human side of someone not motivated by power, or money, or revenge.
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.
On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story.
Kamagasaki is an "invisible" slum of Osaka that attracts day laborers and prostitutes since WW2. When the local gang has its treasured cauldron stolen, a war to find it begins involving the thugs, a 12 years old kid, a prostitute and a pickpocket, including the giant cauldron used to feed the destitute: The symbol of Kamagasaki.
A new salesman named Kosuke Okuda happens to meet Mao Watarai, a friend from his middle school days. Back then, Mao was called stupid and bullied, but now she is an attractive woman. Kosuke and Mao fall in love and decide to marry, but Mao has a secret.
Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer.
Lili, a pouty and voluptuous 14-year-old, is caravan camping with her family in Biarritz. She's self-aware and holds her own in a café conversation with a concert pianist she meets, but she has a wild streak and she's testing her powers over men, finding that she doesn't always control her moods or actions, and she's impatient with being a virgin. She sets off with her brother to a disco, latching onto an aging playboy who is himself hot and cold to her. She is ambivalent about losing her virginity that night, willing the next, and determined by the third.
Shipped off to a Romanian orphanage to finish his sentence, a British criminal finds romance but also discovers corruption inside the facility.
John Shaft is back as the lady-loved black detective cop on the search for the murderer of a client.
In early-1970s Las Vegas, Sam "Ace" Rothstein gets tapped by his bosses to head the Tangiers Casino. At first, he's a great success in the job, but over the years, problems with his loose-cannon enforcer Nicky Santoro, his ex-hustler wife Ginger, her con-artist ex Lester Diamond and a handful of corrupt politicians put Sam in ever-increasing danger.
A family reunites after 15 years. They each have a story to tell as they have not forgotten what happened years ago.