It is an absolute joy to be able to catch some of these films on the big screen finally. The privilege of our position here is that we have seen some of these via screeners but nothing can really compare to the real thing. Kim Ji-woon’s The Good, The Bad, The Weird played Friday night to a good crowd; they were certainly very receptive of the oriental western.

Sang Kang-woo absolutely stole the show. That is pretty much a given considering he has all the best lines and stunts in the film. The crowd loved him! This is his film. The other two actors, Jung Woo-sung and Lee Byung-hee were not given too much to work with as character takes a seat behind explosive action sequences. Still they are both good in their roles, Bung the calm and cool bounty hunter, Lee the smooth and deadly train robber and gang leader. Anything in the story that develops the character any further happens mostly at the end of the film and by then there is no need for any of them to make any considerable changes. It is more of a character reveal if anything.

The film looks gorgeous on the big screen and the print was clear as a bell. I heard that the length of the film was the main gripe about it. Not that it wasn’t entertaining; because it was. Not that it wasn’t exciting; the thrills come at you fast. Not that it wasn’t action packed; apart from brief moments needed to further the plot. It was just too long. I had already seen this film a couple times so I have to assume that my familiarity with the film helped as far as the length of it was concerned. I can understand that though. I’m sure I felt the weight of the film’s length the first time I watched it but it does get better with repeat viewings.

Tokyo Gore Police – It really is amazing what you can accomplish in 2 weeks with 4 tones of blood and phallic prosthetics designed for every orifice of the body. That is all the time and props that director Yoshihiro Nishimura needed to accomplish this utterly bizarre, irreverent, gross and incredibly entertaining film Tokyo Gore Police.

I loved the look of this film. His lighting was very creative; making sure and any and all blood was backlit to bring out that rich red color. He also drenches his backgrounds in other warm colors from the spectrum eliminating any cold atmosphere and making his film feel more organic- a accompaniment to his fleshy prosthetics. Any imaginable sexual organ of the human body will be warped, contorted and possibly used as a weapon in Yoshihiro's movie. Case in point, the penis gun. I kid you not.

His lead actress, Eihi Shiina, has been absent since Miike’s Audition. I tell you what. I would gladly get my hands cut off by her. She has been sorely missed from the Japanese genre scene and if this could secure her more work then we are all better for it. Her character is cool, sexy and deadly. I should have asked Yoshihiro how he convinced her to come back from such a long absence from film and star in his. Tak Sakaguchi, a bit of a darling around these parts lends his fighting and acting skills to this project hiding himself behind a mess of dreadlocks in a cameo role right at the beginning of the film. After he is dispatched his presence is still felt in the fight choreography for the rest of the film.

Tokyo Gore Police lives up to its name. It takes place in Tokyo. It sure is gory. And its got police in it. It really plays out like a love letter the better Paul Verhoeven and David Cronenberg films with a dash of Heinlein dystopia added for just the right amount of flavoring but a distinct style that few can do better than the Japanese.