SLOW WEST(by John Maclean) Is a Real Gem of a Western. It's like finding a diamond while unsuccessfully mining for gold.

You are on a personal journey in search of true love. You left your homeland far behind, crossed an ocean, and entrusted your life to a mysterious gunfighter as guide across unknown territory. Everyone has a sense of personal destiny but what about cosmic destiny? Did the stars choose you to be the guide to your guide? Absurdly romantic.

Rating: 5/5.

THE WORLD OF KANAKO(by Akio Fukamachi & Tetsuya Nakashima) Is a Sicko Movie with Something to Show If Not Say.

A rancid movie. Ugly and degenerate. A like-father-like-daughter tale of amorality, cruelty, and hypocrisy.
Innocent-looking cutie is rotten to the core. More fille-fatale than femme-fatale. Yet, its complete lack of soul is a kind of purity. Zen of degeneracy or dezeneracy.
Reminds us of the amoral homo-samurai of GOHATTO by Nagisa Oshima. Amorality that never blinks first. Portrait of a vapid and insipid society, it shows how the cult of beauty paradoxically turns into celebration of ugliness. If beauty is license to do anything, then it can do the ugliest things, and the world will be an ugly place. Often sickening to watch but striking as directorial effort, with some brilliant passages.

Rating: 3/5.

STEVE JOBS(by Aaron Sorkin & Danny Boyle) Is Compulsively Watchable but Most Likely Full of Baloney

Compulsively watchable. Sorkin is a first-rate hack. Boyle is a pro's pro. Instead of trying to tell the whole story, which would be futile in two hours, the movie highlights a few key themes of Jobs' life and mythology via the backstage shenanigans of Jobs' hype campaigns. Expertly done but no surprises. Intelligence and talent in the service of trite truisms about success in career and failure in life.

Rating: 3/5.