Split Picks looks at an absolute masterwork of horror and a later haunted romance from Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

Split Picks continues its special October series on Japanese Horror with a look at two films from Kiyoshi Kurosawa. After a string of seemingly unrelated murders with undeniable similarities, Detective Takabe begins to link the odd details of the killings together. It leads him to Mamiya, a man who claims to have no memory, no idea who he is, or even what he looks like. He speaks almost exclusively in question, and his nonchalance proves to be the entrance to his unique form of hypnosis.

In 2016's Daguerrotype, Jean is hired to help Stephane operate a daguerreotype, an obsolete form of photography that requires subjects to remain motionless for hours to capture the image. Jean falls in love with Stephane's daughter, Marie, but their romance raises questions of whether Marie is actually alive.

Together, we get a look at what many deem to be Kurosawa's masterpiece, and a later film that features many of the hallmarks of his style. Bennett, Craig, and Lucille also weigh in on if they believe in ghosts, what it means to ask questions, and whether great art truly does equate to immortality.

Japanese Horror

Split Picks: Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 'Cure' (1997) Vs. 'Daguerrotype' (2016)

What is a bad movie? When does the fun start? How did David Cronenberg make a room full of nineteen-year-olds cry? Who *really* killed Abraham Lincoln? Why do birds suddenly appear every time Tippi Hedren is near? The Cinesthesia Boys answer virtually none of these questions, in any way, at all. Who are the Cinesthesia Boys? They’re Jim Hickcox and Jason Michelitch! That was an easy one.

THE CINESTHESIA PODCAST

CHAPTER ONE: TOMMY WISEAU'S LINCOLN

Time travel, mouths covered in plastic, fish-based revenge and another drive-by Cronenberg mention. Join the Cinesthesia Boys, Jim Cine and Jason Sthesia, as they get more talking done about bad movies, ironic appreciation, which Nolan brother is Mama Nolan’s favorite and the ideal iteration of Jaws V: Sharks Hold a Grudge. It’s another certified classic fresh from the presses (we call our mouths “presses” because we press them against each other, when we kiss!)!!

CHAPTER TWO: KILL ME WITH YOUR FISH

The Boys have been missing in action — wandering through the submerged depths of spacetime, the dead zones of material consciousness — but they ride the bathyscaphe up through the cracks in reality's sidewalk and surface with brain bubbles full of hot takes on Cyborgs and Spielbergs. Welcome back to Cinesthesia. Get your surfboards ready: This tide is only rising. Coming Monday, Feb. 24: HALLOWEEN HANGOVER!

CHAPTER THREE: MUCH LOVE, THE SLOPPY JUSTICE ROBOTS

"Some people never got over Vietnam or the night their band opened for Nirvana. I guess Cinesthesia never got over Halloween." 
- Rob Fidelity
They just can't stop! Jim and Jason could talk about literally anything they want, but their brains are permanently trapped in the world of tricks and treats. This week, The Boys take a scattershot look at the convoluted history of one Michael "Halloween is my middle name" Halloween Myers, the once and future king of slashers, who is also maybe a puppet of Celtic witchcraft and an absentee father? Carve those pumpkins, kids, it's time for a Halloween Hangover. NEXT EPISODE: More Halloween Hangover!!! Part 2 of [??!?] WHEN WILL THE MADNESS STOP P P PPP

CHAPTER FOUR: MICHAEL MYERS SHEDS A TEAR

Split Tooth Media is an independent publication based in Portland, Oregon, that still believes in long-form journalism and in-depth podcasts about music and film. Home of "Split Picks," a head-to-head showdown series about the career trajectories of filmmakers and musicians, created by Craig Wright; Jim Hickcox and Jason Michelitch's film criticism series "Cinesthesia;" and Rob Delany and 'T' Trimble's guide to exploring the world of art cinema with "Arthouse Drive-In."

Split Picks: Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 'Cure' (1997) Vs. 'Daguerrotype' (2016)

Split Tooth

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