PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND

• why didn't "ye fucking haw" make it on the movie poster? that's the most accurate tagline possible for this movie

• so they blur there porn but not there severed testicles?

• i wonder what kind of eyeliner Nic Cage's accomplice uses. asking for a friend....

• This whole movie feels like that rock opera Todd was working on

• "Bernice" was a strange choice for the name of this movies leading lady

this might just look like more Nick Cage trash to the naked eye (or to my naked eye at first), but if you know about this movies director Sono Shion, it might help you better prepare for for this surprisingly awesome movie.

園 子温, Sono Shion is a Japanese filmmaker, author, and poet. Best known on the festival circuit for the film Love Exposure (2008), he has been called "the most subversive filmmaker working in Japanese cinema today". In December 2018, it was announced that Sion Sono was working on his first overseas production and English-language debut, Prisoners of the Ghostland, starring Nicolas Cage. In February 2019, Sono underwent emergency surgery following a heart attack, halting pre-production on the film. i cant say i have ever seen one of his movies before, but knowing how highly regarded he is over seas, i was excited to see his first English language movie.

In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber gets sprung from jail by a wealthy warlord whose adopted granddaughter has gone missing. He offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct in five days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman -- and his own path to redemption.

i instantly fell in love with this movies production design. it feels straight out of Cowboy Bee-bop or BIG HERO SIX's San Fransokyo, and i love a good horror movie with a comic book/anime style color pallet. its a strange mix of thee familiar and the bizarre in the best way possible, and it makes the whole movie feels like a bonus level in Super Mario 3D world. the movie and the production design share a similar sense of humor, and you can tell this movie is perfectly aware of how crazy its concept is. every single setting in this movie is hypnotically beautiful, and even when nothing is really happening plot wise i couldn't take my eyes of the screen. it almost feels like a play with impossibly massive and detailed sets and costumes, and its impossible not to feel immersed in this fairy tale western world.

plot wise, this movie is fairly basic. Nic Cage is no stranger to the "i'm a bad-ass dude who doesn't give a fuck but secretly i do give a fuck" character, and everyone's performance in this movie can be described as good enough. no one really stands out in a positive or negative way, but i couldn't care less since these characters are just a vehicle for more gorgeous settings and costumes. its fast paced enough to keep you from getting bored, Nic Cage enough to keep you laughing, and beautiful enough to bring you back for more.

i mean who couldnt love Bill Mosley as Doug Dimmadome (owner of the Dimsdale Dimmadome)

10/10