JERRY'S LATEST FAVORITE MOVIE
The following movie is one of the latest that I have seen,
enjoyed and would like to share with my readers.
ICHI: The Movie (Japanese 2008) This is a remake along the lines of the classic Japanese TV series named Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman, with the exception that the gender is switched. This movie is about a blind musician, a girl named Ichi; played by the Japanese bikini model Ayase Haruka. Ichi is brought up by a group of blind performers but for illogical reasons she becomes exiled and begins wandering from village to village during the Edo period of Japan with her traditional Japanese shamisen, or three-stringed Japanese guitar and a walking stick, which conceals a razor sharp katana. Yes, Ichi may be totally blind but she is also a skilled swordswoman. In her quest to find her blind father who had raised her and taught her how to defend herself, before disappearing from her life, she comes across swindlers, gangsters and horny would-be rapists; all of whom try to take advantage of her disability and who underestimate her; partially due to her shabby attire and soft looks. But she is no push over. She fights back with remarkable sword fighting skills which are very cool to watch as she dispatches her assailants with quick thrusts and stabs, backhanded hacking and slashing, complete with very nice posturing which provides for good eye candy. It is during her travels that she meets up with a cowardly, dishonored samurai named Toma whom she ends up saving from an angry mob of gamblers affiliated with the Banki Gang. The pair unwittingly become entangled in both a budding relationship and in a turf war between the Shirakawa and Banki clans; both of whom are battling for supremacy in the inn town of Bitou. Inevitably Ichi finds the answers as to the whereabouts of her father from the leader of the Banki group of cutthroats but sadly, the resolution of the conflict between the two gangs also reveals a tragic end to a great love story.
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ABOUT MY MOVIES
I have been asked about my preoccupation with bad movies and why I post such on my blog and website. I guess it’s rooted in my childhood. Growing up in the early fifties my weekends were often spent by the family piling into the car and heading off to the local drive-in to see the latest release. This was a really big fifties thing - the drive-ins with the big outdoor screen. I grew up on movies like It Came From Outer Space, Godzilla, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Giant Tarantula, Rodan, Frankenstein Meets Dracula, Curse of the Demon, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Incredible Shrinking Man, The Blob, The Fly, Gorgo and hundred others whose titles filled my youthful memories. Anyway, I had become so engrossed in ‘bad monsters movies’ during this period that I carried the yearning into my adulthood. In fact, I collected hundred of bad B-Movies in the early seventies to the mid-1980s. The crazier, the better. However, I’ve gotten rid of all my videos in recent years but I still collect an occasional DVD as long as it reminds me of my tackier days of youth spent watching monster movies that were supposedly filmed seriously but had so many holes in the plot that Godzilla could slip through unnoticed. I don’t find America movies having this gift anymore but to me, the Asians can still keep a straight face while acting in a tacky movie that always makes you smile while watching them and asking – “What?”
THE MOVIE ABOVE WILL BE ADDED ONTO THE LAST PAGE
OF THE INDEX OF MOVIES WHEN I POST A REVIEW OF A NEW MOVIE.
IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE ALL OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES
AND READ ALL MY OLD REVIEWS,
CLICK HERE.
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