Kyla's Blog

Kyla Likes Movies June 23, 2023

Sometime in the last year I got an IMDb account. (That’s the Internet Movie Database) It’s a site with information about movies and actors and crew, where you can keep track of movies you’ve seen and want to see, and you can leave reviews, and give a film a rating out of 10 stars. I’ve long used IMDb to look up movies, or to see why that actor is so familiar etc. and my husband has had an account for decades, but for some reason, it only just recently occurred to me that I could have my own account. I often find myself at odds with the IMDb rating. Movies that I love seem to fall between 4 and 6 stars, while movie that I thought were complete drivel seem to get 8-10 star ratings. I decided for the sake of those films, I’d best get my two cents in.

I’ve spoken of film from time to time here, and of course my song The League is based on Salute of the Jugger (AKA Blood of Heroes, and some folks who’ve watched it after hearing the song felt it deserved it’s 4 rating on IMDb. I think it’s a 10) I was recently looking back over the reviews I’ve written, and there are already films I enjoyed but forgot about, so I’ve decided to start reprinting some of my reviews on this blog.

LET IT BE KNOWN! I don’t care about cinematography. I don’t care about special effects. I do enjoy good fashion and decor. I prefer movies to have a plot and natural sounding dialogue, BUT! I tend to pick movies based on who the fight choreographer is, and if there are no fight scenes in your movie, I’m likely not interested in watching it. (Unless there’s dancing!) Which brings me to this week’s review.

Tokyo Tribe (2014)

10/10

I’m giving this 10 stars

Date Watched: 16 January 2023

I didn’t realize that what was missing from my life was Japanese hip hop opera.

This was like a stage play. The sets and the blocking were very like a stage play, which made sense when I realized it was a musical. (I had no idea what I was about to see. I may have watched a trailer, added it to a to-watch list, and then forgot about it.)

There were martial arts, weird costumes, rival gangs, break dancing, rapping, moments of art film, villains who made no sense whatsoever, all culminating with a completely ridiculous moral to the story.

I suspect this film would be enhanced by the taking of drugs prior to watching it. It reminded me in many ways of a Peter Greenaway flick.

Meanwhile, what a bizarre career Riki Takeuchi has had.