I've taken a few years off from this list, but I'm back...
2/03/23
Goncharov
The 1973 Martin Scorsese classic gangster movie with an all star cast. Al Pacino, Cybil Shepard, Gene Hackman, Robert DeNiro, and Harvey Keitel. Set in Naples, it has male and female homoerotic substories, but is primarily the story of a Moscow hitman who 'retires' to Naples to run a nightclub.
What? You say you have never heard of Goncharov? Really?...That is probably because the movie was never made. It was an Internet inside joke (i.e. a meme) from an obscure social media site. Legend has it that someone bought some "off brand" boots, and the label mentioned the 1973 Scorsese movie Goncharov. The nerds ran with it and came up with outline of a plot, a cast, and other details of the film. It got enough traction what Scorsese got in on the joke with a November 2022 tweet: "While Goncharov (1973) never got its full debut like I wanted, it warms my heart to see the younger generations embracing my film, and what it could have been. Seeing it trending gives me a special happiness that I cannot describe."
9/15/23
Samurai Cop
This classic from 1991 has the Joe Bob Briggs seal of approval. It's got gun fu, sword fu, and kung fu. There is also plenty of gratuitous nudity. The production values make you long for the high quality of Dolemite. This is a movie with aspirations of being a B-Movie, which made it so fun to watch. One plus is Gerald Okamura, he raised the value of the acting and the martial ars scenes. In the days of the local video store, it would have been well worth the rental. Check it out.