Japan's deadliest hit woman is sent to shut down the mob-run black market in human organs and winds up the reluctant bodyguard to the government's chief witness, the sneering mistress of the head man. The Zero Woman formula is closely followed: gratuitous nudity, soft-core sex scenes, and brutal violence abound. In the precredits kickoff, a mad doctor maniacally cackles while fondling the organs of a dissected corpse until Zero puts a stop to the party games, executing the doctor and his gun-toting associates with cold efficiency. She's less enthusiastic about her babysitting assignment, but true to formula her icy heart is melted by her flirty female charge and they engage in steamy female bonding. Such bliss is short lived for the doomed-to-loneliness Zero Woman, however, as a corrupt politician and the kinky, cross-dressing mob boss plot to remove the witness. Long, lean, sphinxlike Chieko Shiratori makes a fine Zero Woman in this installment. She moves more like a model than a warrior, but her cool intensity gives her the façade of impersonal professionalism. This quirky low-budget video series has never been a bastion of high style or meaningful drama-it's downright cheap, often clumsy, and utterly exploitative-but the sleek austerity, nihilistic edge, and world-weary cynicism continues to contribute to the fascinating mythology with each succeeding chapter. -Sean Axmaker.

During an unusual chapter in the career of director Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon), the filmmaker went to Russia because he found working in his native Japan to be too difficult. The result was this striking 1975 near-epic based on the turn-of-the-century autobiographical novels of a military explorer (Yuri Solomin) who met and befriended a Goldi man in Russia's unmapped forests. Kurosawa traces the evolution of a deep and abiding bond between the two men, one civilized in the usual sense, the other at home in the sub-zero Siberian woods. There's no question that Dersu Uzala (the film is named for the Goldi character, played by Maxim Munzuk) has the muscular, imaginative look of a large-canvas Soviet Mosfilm from the 1970s. But in its energy and insight it is absolutely Kurosawa, from its implicit fascination with the meeting of opposite worlds to certain moments of tranquility and visual splendor. But nothing looks like Kurosawa more than a magnificent action sequence in which the co-heroes fight against time and exhaustion to stay alive in a wicked snowstorm. For fans of the late legend, this is a Kurosawa not to be missed. -Tom Keogh.

This underrated 1964 film directed by Martin Ritt (Sounder, Norma Rae) features Paul Newman in a story influenced by the classic multiple-perspective film Rashomon, with an American spin. Newman (The Hustler, Hud) plays a Mexican bandit in the Old West accused of raping a frontier woman (Claire Bloom), but conflicting stories from the bandit, the woman, her husband, and others soon complicate matters and make finding the truth elusive. Newman has fun with his daring, over-the-top portrayal, and Ritt's socially conscious streak is in evidence here as he investigates whether the truth is left up to whoever defines it. The Outrage is a chance both to see a terrific cast of classic actors and yet another prime example of the influence of great international films. -Robert Lane.

Akira Kurosawa's first color film is a spellbinding tribute to humankind's ability to overcome adversity by holding on to dreams. Brilliant colors flood the screen as Kurosawa illuminates the grim world of Tokyo slum dwellers who, to escape the pain of poverty, have taken refuge in illusion. Made in 1970, this film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1972. This is Kurosawa's first color film, and there seems to be an almost psychedelic overlay to his production palette. The story revolves around a collection of characters held together only by the frayed thread of poverty. Rokkuchan (Yoshitaka Zushi), a teenager with the mind of a boy, is obsessed with trolley cars. He draws them from every angle in vivid colors. His despondent mother (Kin Sugai) hangs them lovingly on the walls and windows of their simple home. Every morning Rokkuchan goes out to his imaginary trolley car and makes his way through the surrounding slums. His neighbors include a humble man with a terrible limp and an unforgiving wife, two couples who color-coordinate their husband-swapping, and a sad derelict man with an adoring but doomed little boy. [+]