From a writerly (and teacherly) perspective, Ryan Gattis's Punching On Paper blog examines representations of physical violence in Literature, Film, and Art.

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Film // Top 5: Samurai Flicks (#2)

Sanjuro is simply a beautiful story beautifully told. From its ‘a stranger comes to town’ beginning where we are dropped right into the middle of a meeting in a forest temple, to the heart-stopping duel with Tatsuya Nakadai’s villain at the... Read The Rest →

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Film // Top 5: Samurai Flicks (#3)

This one might surprise a few folks.  “Wow, Seven Samurai all the way down at number three?!”  My answer is simply: yup. Look, I’m not here to argue historical relevance, only to say what hits me, and for me, this film... Read The Rest →

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Film // Top 5: Samurai Flicks (#4)

Oh, Tatsuya Nakadai.  (Seated on the right in the picture.)  You are quite possibly the finest actor of your (or any) generation, and people would actually know that if you chewed the scenery once in a while and didn’t fully inhabit... Read The Rest →

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Film // Top 5: Samurai Flicks (#5)

If you enjoyed the town-destroying finale of Miike’s 13 Assassins, check out The Blind Swordsman. You’ll see a good chunk of its inspiration in Shintaro Katsu’s last Zatoichi film, which rates very well on The Howard Hawks Good Movie Scale®, which... Read The Rest →