Dear Watchers,And the Oscar went to genre movies! With the action drama “One Battle After Another” taking best picture, the vampire thriller “Sinners” collecting multiple awards and even the “Weapons” villain Aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan) getting a trophy, the Academy celebrated some of last year’s most breathtaking genre work. Our recommendations on this Genre Movie Wednesday don’t include any Oscar winners, but we do have plenty of romping stomping action to keep you entertained. Our expert in the action field, Robert Daniels, recommends the latest installment in a smartly-executed Japanese assassin franchise and a Taipei-set thriller with plenty of tricks up its sleeve. Read what Robert has to say about each pick below, then head here for more of his recommendations. Happy Watching. ‘Baby Assassins: Nice Days’
Where to watch: Stream “Baby Assassins: Nice Days” on Amazon Prime Video. In the third installment of this endearing murder-for-hire series from the writer-director Yugo Sakamoto, Mahiro (Saori Izawa) is turning 20, but she and her partner, Chisato (Akari Takaishi), are already burning out. Their malaise is intensified when Fuyumura (Sosuke Ikematsu), an unhinged freelance assassin, attempts to take their target. Their embarrassed bosses dispatch the efficient Iruka (Atsuko Maeda) and the jolly Riku (Mondo Otani) to help Mahiro and Chisato kill Fuyumura. While “Nice Days” delivers on the rest of the trilogy’s exceptional choreography and camera work — a hand-to-hand fight between Chisato and Fuyumura is a highlight — the latest installment is more comedic and heartwarming. And Izawa and Takaishi share such beautiful chemistry, you could be just as happy watching them in a shaggy hangout film. ‘Weekend in Taipei’
Where to watch: Stream “Weekend in Taipei” on MGM+. A surprisingly funny romp, this latest film from the director George Huang, written with Luc Besson, has the D.E.A. agent John Lawlor (Luke Evans) drawn to Taiwan by the promise of taking down Kwang (Sung Kang), a drug kingpin. Upon arriving, John learns the informant is Kwang’s teenage stepson, Raymond (Wyatt Yang), whose mother, Joey (Gwei Lun-mei), was once John’s lover. Fearing Kwang’s wrath, Joey and Raymond take refuge with John in Joey’s tiny, secluded seaside village. The film has plenty of bruising sequences, including elaborate car chases and a hotel shootout that moves like a wrecking ball. But this charming thriller is primarily about Kwang’s and John’s fights to keep their families. Fun flashbacks featuring Evans in bad wigs lighten the mood, while an expertly staged final fight in a movie theater playing “House of Flying Daggers” puts a crowd-pleasing cherry on top.
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