SIX FOUR (I)

Nearing the 400 page mark of Hideo Yokoyama’s much-lauded crime novel and I'm a.) pretty sure that I like it and b.) not quite sure what I was expecting. It certainly wasn't an INSIDER-esque look at the relationship between the Japanese police and the media; perhaps something more along the lines of DRAGON TATTOO or even HIGH AND LOW (a favorite film; mem: still need to watch Spike Lee's HIGHEST 2 LOWEST). Expectations aside, I know like it well enough to have picked up Yokoyama’s other books in English translation (SEVENTEEN and THE NORTH LIGHT) – I'll just be sure to never read the back or anything about any of his work before diving in. Marketing copy expectations are a cruel temptress and, now that I'm over waiting for the kidnapping part to take over, I realize that I should've known better. Even though I did write my own copy for my own book all those years ago but hey, whatever works.

12 favorite films, currently

  • ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (Sergio Leone, 1968; 20+ year reign at the top continues)

  • HEAT (Michael Mann, 1995)

  • THE MALTESE FALCON (John Huston, 1941)

  • ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (Peter Hunt, 1969)

  • PARASITE (Bong Joon-ho, 2019)

  • REAR WINDOW (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)

  • CHILDREN OF MEN (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)

  • PARIS, TEXAS (Wim Wenders, 1984)

  • CHUNGKING EXPRESS (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994)

  • HIGH AND LOW (Akira Kurosawa, 1963)

  • PERSONA (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)

  • ALPHAVILLE (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)