Society- The directorial debut of genre producer Brian Yuzna strains mightily against its limited budget and slow first two acts to deliver total surrealist chaos in its big finale. It’s decidedly a film whose ambitions exceed its resources, but given how many bigger-budget films play it safe, it’s hard begrudge it for that. It’s an intelligent piece of caustic social commentary, and if it’s reach exceeds its grasp, you have to admire Yuzna’s wild imagination and attempt at saying something.
13 Assassins- Cult provocateur Takashi Miike’s remake of a 1960 film (To my knowledge, one never released in America) as a sort of kinetic Kurosawa homage. It’s a bit generic, particularly in its rather slow first half and the characterization is occasionally thin, but Miike has lots of fun with the extended battle sequence finale. It’s flirts with social commentary but mostly just wants gory thrills as only Miike can deliver them, and does so with lots gusto and style.