Classic Movies: Stray Dog (1949)

By Paco McCullough

It's summer in post-war Japan. Young cop Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) has his pocket-picked, with the criminal stealing Murakami's gun. Murakami is determined to find the gun before it is used in a crime, and begins prowling Japan's underworld. One of the first Japanese film noir's I've ever seen, Stray Dog owes a debt to the hardboiled stories coming out of Hollywood at the same time, yet retains a strictly Japanese feel. It certainly feels like a forerunner to the Japanese gangster cinema of the 60s and 70s.

Cult Films: A Dirty Carnival (2006)

By Paco McCullough

A Dirty Carnival is the third film by South Korean direction Ha Yu, following perhaps his most popular film, Once Upon A Time In High School (Youtube the end fight scene, it's great). Released in 2006, it tells the story of Byung-doo (In-Seong Jo), a young gangster trying to support his ill mother and high school age siblings. As financial pressures mount, he agrees to take out a pesky DA, setting off a chain of murder and betrayal. At the same time, Byung-doo also has an old friend hanging around, now a director who is trying to see how gangsters really act. Byung-doo is also attempting to romance an old flame from his youth.

Classic Movies: The Godfather (1972)

By Jason Haskins

There are a lot of great examples of classic American cinema, but the one gem that comes to mind immediately is Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 classic, The Godfather, which changed the entire genre of gangster film. Growing up, my biggest exposure to gangster films were Martin Scorsese's crasser brand of criminals and characters and I seem to think there are two sides--those who dig Goodfellas and those who enjoy The Godfather. I have to find a middle ground, because both films are tremendous efforts. If you've never seen this you are in dire need of catch up.