10.) Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

 – It’s about time we received the final installment of the new Evangelion mini-series. That’s all I ‘ll say. Go see them.

9.) Brand New Cherry Flavor
 – An underrated mini-series on NETFLIX  based on the novel of the same name by Todd Grimson. The cast includes Rosa Salazar, Catherine Keener, Eric Lange, Manny Jacinto and Jeff Ward. The series premiered on Netflix on August 14, 2021. A mix of Clive Barker, Gregg Araki and David Cronenberg. Plenty of Body Horror and pyschological suspense and gore. It’s LA at night and drenched in neon candy. I was surprised by this a lot. A great throwback to 80’s horror when creators threw everything they could afford into the pot and unknowingly strike gold. I kind of wish there was a season 2.

8.) Midnight Mass (mini-series)
– Created and directed by Mike Flanagan and starring Zach Gilford, Kate Siegel, Hamish Linklater, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli and Henry Thomas. The plot centers on an isolated island community that experiences supernatural events after the arrival of a mysterious priest. It was released on Netflix on September 24, 2021. The best Stephen King mini-series not written or made by Stephen King. Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep, Oculus, Haunting of Hill House) is one of the best Horror directors we have here in the United States. The perfect alternative to all the trash coming out of blumhouse and such an homage of Classic Stephen King tropes. I highly recommend this. For fans of Salems Lot, Fright Night and 30 Days of Night.

7.) Godzilla vs Kong
 – directed by Adam Wingard. A sequel to Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), it is the fourth film in Legendary’s MonsterVerse. One of the highlights of the year. Basically, Kong is your protagonist and Godzilla your anti-hero. They are Kaiju beasts with motivations and conflicts. The humans are there only to progress the storyline. The fights are great and what you expect, a Godzilla movie with creature battles and destruction. I loved it.

6. )Blade Runner: Black Lotus 
 – If you want to explore the Cyber Noir world of Blade Runner then I suggest you watch this bridge between the original film by Ridley Scott and its sequel Blade Runner 2049. Animation is similar to REBOOT but, the environments and and lighting make up for the limitations of the animation choice. It is a co-production between Crunchyroll and Adult Swim. Black Lotus takes place in Los Angeles in 2032, 10 years into the aftermath of the Black Out, and centers on a female replicant protagonist.

5.) KATE
 – A marvelous modern cyberpunk action film filmed in Japan. A good time. Better action scenes than MATRIX 4. Yes, I said it.
directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan and written by Umair Aleem (Atomic Blonde). The film stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim, Death Proof), Miku Martineau, Woody Harrelson, Tadanobu Asano, Michiel Huisman, Miyavi, and Jun Kunimura. The film follows Kate (Winstead), an assassin, whose mentor and handler (Harrelson) assigns her to kill a high-ranking yakuza boss. During Kate’s final mission, she finds out that she has been poisoned and has at most a day to live, so she uses her last hours to get revenge and find out who set her up. SO CYBERPUNK.

4.)You’re Watching Video Music Box (documentary) 
 – A documentary directed by NAS and showcases the greatest HIPHOP tv show that still exists. The untold story of the world’s longest running video show, Video Music Box. A hip hop mainstay since 1983, VMB gave a platform to artists like Jay-Z, Nas and Mary J. Blige before they hit it big. Host Ralph McDaniels’ archives — amassed over 40 nearly years — reveal the show’s importance to numerous big-name musicians, as well as to the kids that grew up watching.Now streaming on SHOWTIME.

3.) Tokyo Revengers 
 – A mix of BACK TO THE FUTURE, and The Warriors. A young man with no motivation and no ambition goes back to 1990s Japan to save the people he loves by joining a juvenile delinquent Bōsōzoku gang in the past before they evolve into a major criminal syndicate. Lots of fighting, lots of delinquency and lots of heart.  I love it.

2.) DUNE
 – Although only 1/3 of a complete story. The scale and world building combined with exceptional acting and cinematography is out of this world. So far the best adaptation of FRANK HERBERTs vision and proof that director Denis Villeneuve is a master of cinema. I ‘m impatient and eager for them to complete PART 2.
For an in-depth assessment of DUNE go read my Movie Review here on New Retro Wave. directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, and Eric Roth. It is the first of a planned two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert, primarily covering the first half of the book. Set in the far future, it follows Paul Atreides as his family, the noble House Atreides, is thrust into a war for the deadly and inhospitable desert planet Arrakis. The ensemble cast includes Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem.

1.) VERZUZ: THE LOX vs DIPSET
 – The number one nostalgic event that happened this year was the Verzuz between THE LOX vs DIPSET. Nothing was talked about and hyped after the fact than this. Local radio stations across the country started playing LOX and Jadakiss songs in their rotation. More people actually started looking at bars and what it really means to be an MC after the dust was settled. And Nothing recaptured the feeling of being young in the late 80’s -90’s & 2000’s like this battle. At first glance it seemed mismatched when it was announced however, worthy of a viewing.
It was hosted in Madison Square Garden the mecca of HipHop with a packed house and streamed online for thousands. Dipset being the expected winners were easily dissected by The Lox; each member of D-block playing their parts like pieces on a chess board with no lip syncing with hit after hit after hit and the presence and energy that embodied NYC. The Lox and more importantly JADAKISS reminded the world who they were and what HIP HOP, especially NY Hiphop, is as a culture and artform.
A FLAWLESS victory and truly better than any movie, show, concert or event that happened in 2021.  

Seems like the people that brought us Atomic Blonde (2017) teamed up with some other folks and dipped their hands into buckets of Netflix cash to give us – KATE.

A one word title for a simple story that could be wrapped up in just one word –
“No-nonsense”. Yes, technically that’s two words but, you get the point.

• “Directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan and written by Umair Aleem. The film stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead
  (Death Proof, Scott Pilgrim, Fargo: the series) , Miku Martineau, Woody Harrelson (Venom 2, NBK), Tadanobu Asano, Michiel Huisman, Miyavi and Jun Kunimura (The Wailing, Shin Godzilla). The film follows Kate (Winstead), an assassin, whose mentor and handler (Harrelson) assigns her to kill a high-ranking Yakuza boss. During Kate’s final mission, she finds out that she has been poisoned and only has 24 hours to live, so she uses her last hours to get revenge and find out who set her up.”
• Wikipedia.org

This is a no-nonsense, hyper stylized, female revenge film set in Japan. No, not KILL BILL. No; not HAYWIRE. Kate is more obviously inspired by anime and video games. 

It’s more anime than you’d expect and more video game than John Wick. The injections she takes to extend her life-bar that reminded me of Metal Gear Solid 4 (Every time she was on the verge of dying I called out, “snake?” “Snake?”, “ Snaaaaaaake?”). Another nod to video-game/anime culture being the car chase that sounds like the opening credits to some new racing themed Shonen  anime similar to Initial –D, and don’t forget the tons and tons of Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner inspired scenery.  Yes, this movie is CYBERPUNK as fuck.

More low life than Hi-Tech and cyberpunk from the prospective of a High-rolling mercenary caught in the middle of a Yakuza clan war in the nocturnal underbelly of Tokyo, Japan after being poisoned by radioactive material. Kate is determined to weave, stab and shoot her way through the back streets of Japan and eliminate any Yakuza responsible or in the way of her wrath. You can easily create a character based on Kate for your next table-top cyberpunk RED campaign in cooperation or in secrecy subverting your friends.  

Soundtrack is serviceable to the overall setting of the film piece. Band-maid, Okinawa Electric Girl Saya, OOIOO, Sakurako Ohara, MoNa a.k.a. Sad Girl, and one of my favorite j-pop groups Aural Vampire.

Kate was released on Sept 10^th, 2021 and received mixed to not so flattering reviews and reactions from audiences. Some film critics were dismissive of Kate. In my opinion, this is a better film than Gunpowder Milkshake. Gunpowder with all this style and flash and star power failed to engage me with its action set-pieces. Action scenes need to have emotional content. If the film doesn’t keep your interest with its story (regardless of its originality or lack of) and the fight scenes aren’t edited or filmed well then, you might as well watch a televised ballet; it doesn’t matter if they are choreographed superbly. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times may disagree with me since he enjoyed Gunpowder’s flashy fantastical acrylic gloss dripping all over its shallow exterior. Kate to me is what a live-action retro cyberpunk OVA would look like (OEDO 808 (1990), ANGEL COP (1989)). Like I said, this whole piece feels like a gumbo of video-game and anime. I enjoyed it. It was simple and at its core the story although unoriginal was acted well-enough for me to be engaged. The visuals alone is worthy of a blu-ray or 4K purchase. I liked it and can’t wait to own it.

Stay sleek, stay free, stay safe, stay healthy and always keep your finger on that REWIND Button.