Alright, time to trim the bracket to an even 300 films. Based on my observations
here, I'm kicking out seven films and designating two other as alternates in case
The Puppetmaster and
A Borrowed Life don't materialize as hoped:
OUTChizuko's Younger Sister (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1991, Japan) — I never got around to including this in the bracket. It'll stay that way.
Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind 2 (Ricky Lau, 1990, Hong Kong) — This is currently assigned to duder, and I've told him he can overrule me when he gets back, but I'm pretty sure I'm doing him a favor here.
Jose Rizal (Marilou Diaz-Abaya, 1998, Philippines) — I would have loved to have had a film from the Philippines in the bracket, but this just looks like a complete slog.
Junkers Come Here (Junichi Sato, 1995, Japan) — Just doesn't look interesting or entertaining enough. Unless you're five.
Lee Rock II (Lawrence Ah Mon, 1991, Hong Kong) — I'm anti-sequels, clearly.
Something About Secret (Huang Jianxin, 1999, China) — Ran into availability issues, but this didn't look all that good anyway.
Will to Live (Kaneto Shindo, 1999, Japan) — Like with
Chizuko's Younger Sister, this is a film I never officially added into the bracket. I'm efficient like that.
ALTERNATESSupermarket Woman (Juzo Itami, 1996, Japan) — Looks like it'll be halfway in between good Itami (
Minbo) and bad Itami (
The Last Dance). First alternate.
Tsugumi (Jun Ichikawa, 1990, Japan) — Still nervous about this one, but it looks like proto-Iwai, which intrigues me. Second alternate.
I've updated
the master list of bracket films to reflect these exciting changes.
pixote