BAD CITY (Kensuke Sonomura, 2022)

(***+ / *****): Deliciously pulpy Yakuza flick rife with excellent characters – each member of the Special Division crew, especially, stood out and had a unique story – anchored by Hitoshi Ozawa channeling a perfect Eastwoodian fury. That being said, the film could’ve done with more imaginative direction: felt like it wanted to be more throughout – but you could do a lot worse on a Saturday night.

Started in earnest on the second Fiction release and, as a way to open things up, riffled through my ideas folder and found precisely fuckall that felt right: amazing how everything I jotted down back in the days of yore has no bearing whatsoever on where I am now, mentally and/or creatively – if it doesn't get used in the moment, it seems, it won't be used at all. Probably a wise decision, then, to focus solely on writing short monthly releases instead of big, long-term projects, especially given (what passes for) my process.