LE SAMOURAI

This film is described as the "epitome of cool" with Alain Delon staring as Jef Costello, a hitman who needs an alibi after he's seen leaving the scene of the crime after his most recent hit. Honestly, I'm not much for french films and I'd much rather take Chow Yun-Fat 22 years later in the Hong Kong adaptation of THE KILLER. 6/10

JIGOKU

A visually stunning and at times, gory and graphic Japanese horror film. The film was made in 1960 and prior to that, this type of film wasn't released as Japanese horror cinema prior to this was mostly physiological and not physical. I truly tip my hat to director Nobuo Nakagawa for having the conviction of putting this film out as it was during the period it was released. 7/10

THE MAGICIAN

What I love most about this film is it's basically a big F U to all the critics of Ingmar Bergman's work prior to this point. This is now my fifth Bergman film that I've seen recently and I think I prefer his work prior to 1960 as opposed to later than. Prior to 1960, he did a lot of period pieces while his work post 1960 was more modern. This has the usual ensemble of Bergman actors such as Max von Sydown, Ingrid Thulin, Bibi Andersson and Birgitta Pettersson. 6.5/10