The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion (1992)

The Crit Club has decided to take an extended summer vacation to Japan. This week we’re watching 1963’s High and Low from director Akira Kurosawa. It’s a procedural thriller slash morality play about class tensions, kidnapping, and detective work. When a rich man’s chauffeur’s son gets abducted, the kidnapper insists he still must pay the ransom, setting in motion a whirlwind of events to bring the criminal to justice. What did the club think of this Kurosawa classic? Listen in and find out! Next week our Japanese holiday continues with a Peter Pick. He has chosen the acclaimed 1953 movie Tokyo Story from director Yasujirō Ozu. Will this be the end of our Japanese sojourn? Probably not! Watch along with us and join us next week! You can follow the whole of our podcast, aided by ⁠this helpful spreadsheet⁠ which documents all the scores we gave to the movies we have watched. And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram, Threads, or Bluesky with the handle @critclubpodcast. Crit Club's theme song and art were made by co-host ⁠⁠Peter Allen Clark⁠⁠.

Back to Japan we go as the Crit Club watches the 2014 family drama from director Nobuhiko Obayashi Seven Weeks. This epic-length movie seeks to lay out everything from generational lessons in one family, the continuing fallout of postwar Japan, and old man meditations on dying. It’s really a whole lot. But what did we think? Well, you’ll have to listen to that hot, hot conversation.  Next week we’re staying in Japan with a Coire Pick! We’ll be watching Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic High and Low. Watch along with us! You can follow the whole of our podcast, aided by ⁠this helpful spreadsheet⁠ which documents all the scores we gave to the movies we have watched. And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram, Threads, or Bluesky with the handle @critclubpodcast. Crit Club's theme song and art were made by co-host ⁠⁠Peter Allen Clark⁠⁠.

This week, the Crit Club is on quite the drug-filled, electroclash journey as we watch the 1982 nihilistic sci fi overdose called Liquid Sky. What would it be like if orgasms attracted aliens? How would one break into the punk fashion world? What would it be like to live so close to the Empire State Building in the '80s? How much shrimp is too much? Liquid Sky inspired us to answer some of these questions and much more. So much more.  Join us next week for an Angela Pick! We’re going back to Japan for a family drama with 2014’s Seven Weeks from director Nobuhiko Obayashi. Watch along with us! You can follow the whole of our podcast, aided by ⁠this helpful spreadsheet⁠ which documents all the scores we gave to the movies we have watched. And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram, Threads, or Bluesky with the handle @critclubpodcast. Crit Club's theme song and art were made by co-host ⁠⁠Peter Allen Clark⁠⁠.

Happy Pride, everyone! So much love to you all. In celebration, this week the Crit Club has watched 1991’s Young Soul Rebels, a movie that explores various queer and counter cultures in late-70s England. The movie follows two friends who operate a soul music pirate radio station as they deal with tragedy, hatred, ambition, and the realities of an intolerance mainstream. It’s an interesting counterposition to another movie we watched (Jubilee) and a notable depiction of communities that rarely have their stories told. Come listen to what we thought!  And join us next week for a Wizard Pick™, where we’ll watch the psychedelic looking Liquid Sky from 1982. It’s fresh off of the Criterion Channel’s Synth Collection, and hopefully will be a fun ride. Watch along with us! You can follow the whole of our podcast, aided by ⁠this helpful spreadsheet⁠ which documents all the scores we gave to the movies we have watched. And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram, Threads, or Bluesky with the handle @critclubpodcast. Crit Club's theme song and art were made by co-host ⁠⁠Peter Allen Clark⁠⁠.

This week, Crit Club returns to our home away from home: France. We watched the 1995 crime drama La Haine, which follows three young men from the Parisian slums in the day after an explosive riot that landed one of their friends in the hospital. La Haine deals with the ongoing issues of French xenophobia, police brutality, and the choices left for those trying to survive on the fringes. Come listen to our thoughts on this gripping movie! And come back next week for a Peter pick! He’s celebrating Pride month with the 1991 coming of age queer drama Young Soul Rebels. Watch along! You can follow the whole of our podcast, aided by ⁠this helpful spreadsheet⁠ which documents all the scores we gave to the movies we have watched. And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram, Threads, or Bluesky with the handle @critclubpodcast. Crit Club's theme song and art were made by co-host ⁠⁠Peter Allen Clark⁠⁠.

This week, Crit Club gets a remarkable education from Spike Lee’s 1988 joint School Daze. In the vein of, and making light of, such rollicking college films as Animal House, et. al., School Daze follows various social groups at an HBCU over Homecoming weekend. They struggle with each other, expectations, and politics both local and global, in hopes of realizing some vision of themselves, however compromised such visions may be. The movie also features Crit Club’s official song of summer 2024. Come hear what we took away from this master class! And join us next week for a very special Coire pick as we watch the 1995 drama La Haine. It’s special because Coire picked a French movie. Can you imagine?? You can follow the whole of our podcast, aided by ⁠this helpful spreadsheet⁠ which documents all the scores we gave to the movies we have watched. And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram, Threads, or Bluesky with the handle @critclubpodcast. Crit Club's theme song and art were made by co-host ⁠Peter Allen Clark⁠.

If a Yakuza has ever threatened you into free lasagna, then this week’s Crit Club is up your alley. We watched the 1992 dark comedy The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion (aka Minbo) from director Juzo Itami. It tells the story of a group of hotel employees dedicated to ridding their hotel of Yakuza bullies, led by one fearless lawyer. Come listen to what we thought and how much protection money we had to pay! Next week, we’re having an Angela pick! She’s chosen Spike Lee’s 1988 joint School Daze. Watch it along with us! You can follow the whole of our podcast, aided by ⁠this helpful spreadsheet⁠ which documents all the scores we gave to the movies we have watched. And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram, Threads, or Bluesky with the handle @critclubpodcast. Crit Club's theme song and art were made by co-host ⁠⁠Peter Allen Clark⁠⁠.

This week the Crit Club is slowing things down a little with Kelly Reichardt’s 2016 movie Certain Women. This film tells three moderately overlapping stories of women in various stages of life going through their motions in rural Montana. It’s small and quiet, like Reichardt’s other films, and we had a lot to say about it. Like what, you ask? Come listen! And join us next week for a Wizard Pick™! We’ll be watching the 1993 satire The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion. Join us for that! You can follow the whole of our podcast, aided by ⁠this helpful spreadsheet⁠ which documents all the scores we gave to the movies we have watched. And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on social media with the handle @critclubpodcast. Crit Club's theme song and art were made by co-host ⁠Peter Allen Clark⁠.

Never one to shy away from masochism, this week the Crit Club is watching the 1985 Soviet anti-war movie Come and See. This film, directed and co-written by Elem Klimov, follows a young boy as he is swept up into the hell that is war, specifically rural Belarus during the Nazi invasion of 1943. While it borders on surrealism, the dogged pace and devoted honesty of Come and See never lets a viewer have too much distance from the horrors humans can unleash. If that didn’t scare you away, then you should listen to the Crit Club’s full discussion! Next week, we’re slowing things down a bit (a LOT), by watching Kelly Reichardt’s 2016 drama Certain Women. Watch along and join us! You can follow the whole of our podcast, aided by ⁠this helpful spreadsheet⁠ which documents all the scores we gave to the movies we have watched. And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram or Threads with the handle @critclubpodcast. Crit Club's theme song and art were made by co-host ⁠Peter Allen Clark⁠.

Surprise, surprise, the Crit Club is watching a French movie this week. The 1973 post-new wave drama The Mother and the Whore follows a young man named Alexandre as he talks, meets women, talks to them, and meets more. Written and directed by Jean Eustache, this movie is highly regarded as one of the best films of the 1970s and a unique meditation on youth, romance, and relationships. Come and hear what we thought! Join us next week for a Coire pick, where we’ll watch the 1985 anti-war drama Come and See, directed by Elem Klimov. You can follow the whole of our podcast with ⁠this helpful spreadsheet⁠, which documents all the scores we gave to the movies we have watched. And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram or Threads with the handle @critclubpodcast. Crit Club's theme song and art were made by co-host ⁠Peter Allen Clark⁠.