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on Ready to kill some Nazis? New poster for Guy Ritchie’s ‘Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’ starring Henry CavillNo, Henry Cavill has plenty of time on the frontlines. Cary Elwes stays behin…
on Ready to kill some Nazis? New poster for Guy Ritchie’s ‘Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’ starring Henry CavillThis is the third time in a row that Cary Elwes has been sidelined in a spy t…
on ‘Enter the Fat Dragon’ helmer rounds up Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Jeeja Yanin and Yayan Ruhian for ‘The Furious’Yeah, with that cast and with Kenji in the director’s chair…this should rock.
on Virtual Recall (2010) ReviewOkay, this movie sounds abysmal, but makes for a witty review. Thanks, Paul.…
on Acclaimed ‘Versus’ filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura is getting into the amusement park business with ‘Thrill Ride’One good movie: Midnight meat train. The rest: crap.
on Lama Avenger, The | aka The Three Avengers (1979) ReviewWell, hopefully they can squeeze this one on the next Volume with "The Man, T…
on Lethal Combat: Techno Warriors 2 | aka Digital Warriors (2000) ReviewCheers Scott. To assist with some total recall, you commented on my review of…
on Bruce Lee protege Dan Inosanto is getting a Hollywood BiopicThey got Dan Inosanto's name wrong in the films credits: calling him DAM INOS…
on John Travolta and Nicolas Cage to return for a sequel to John Woo’s ‘Face/Off’?The original film is currently free on YouTube.
on Quentin Tarantino has dropped his 10th and final project: does this mean a ‘Kill Bill Vol. 3’ is back on the table?as was released in 2 parts... yes. But as part of the 4hr cut he screened to…
on Shadow Fist Hunter | aka The Shadow Chaser (1973) ReviewCan you please upload this film?!
Category Archives: Japanese
Score (1995) Review
Director: Atsushi Muroga Cast: Shu Ehara, Hiroshi Miyasaka, Ryushi Mizukami, Hitoshi Ozawa, Kazuyoshi Ozawa, Miyuki Takano, Takashi Ukaji, Masahiro Yamashita, Ryuji Minakami Running Time: 88 min. By Paul Bramhall While Japanese cinema in the 1990’s was already a far cry from its golden age, one of the best genres to come out of this era was that which would become known as V-Cinema. Kicked off by Toei’s 1989 feature Crime Hunter, … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Hitoshi Ozawa
Sleeping Beast Within, The (1960) Review
Director: Seijun Suzuki Writer: Ichiro Ikeda Cast: Hiroyuki Nagato, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Shinsuke Ashida, Kinzo Shin, Kojiro Kusanagi, Keisuke Noro, Hisano Yamaoka, Ko Nishimura, Shoichi Ozawa Running Time: 85 min. By Kelly Warner After two years away on business, Mr. Ueki returns home on a ship from Hong Kong to meet his family at the Yokohama pier. None of his business partners are there to meet him and the family thinks this suspicious. After … Continue reading
Osaka Badass: Snake of Violence (2013) Review
Director: Takahiro Ishihara Writer: Takahiro Ishihara Cast: Tak Sakaguchi, Maya Fukuzawa, Rikiya Kaido, Takashi Nishina, Tomoko Tabata, Taichi Suzuki Running Time: 110 min. By Paul Bramhall The yakuza movie is my favorite of all the Japanese genres, and while its heyday of the 1970’s has long since passed, they are still being made, albeit in more of a trickle than the constant stream of a bygone era. With this in mind, Osaka Badass: Snake … Continue reading
Vampire Clay (2017) Review
Director: Soichi Umezawa Producer: Yoshihiro Nishimura Cast: Ena Fujita, Asuka Kurosawa, Yuyu Makihara, Ryo Shinoda, Momoka Sugimoto Running Time: 80 min. By Kyle Warner Horror fans like to convince themselves that they’ve seen it all. ‘That new horror film everyone loves is actually a more mainstream take on a similar horror movie made 20 years ago that nobody paid attention to at the time, don’tchaknow?’ But then something like Vampire Clay … Continue reading
Eight Hours of Terror (1957) Review
Director: Seijun Suzuki Cast: Nobuo Kaneko, Harue Tone, Sumiko Minami, Kenjiro Uemura, Minako Katsuki, Kan Yanagiya, Hiroshi Kondo, Hideaki Nitani, Masao Oda, Taizo Fukami, Ryutaro Nagai, Fumiko Fukuda, Keiko Shima, Eiko Misuzu Running Time: 78 min. By Kelly Warner Now this is more like it. I enjoyed watching Seijun Rising, the first Arrow Video box set showcasing five of Seijun Suzuki’s earlier films. As a big fan of the director, … Continue reading
Born Under Crossed Stars (1965) Review
Director: Seijun Suzuki Cast: Ken Yamauchi, Yumiko Nogawa, Masako Izumi, Masao Mishima, Ruriko Ito, Chikako Miyagi, Michio Hino, Michi Azuma, Yoko Benisawa, Keisuke Noro Running Time: 98 min. By Kelly Warner Filmed just two years later, featuring the same leading man in Ken Yamauchi, and based on a book by the same author in Toko Kon, Born Under Crossed Stars is something of a spiritual sequel to the angst-driven youth … Continue reading
Third Murder, The (2017) Review
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda Cast: Masaharu Fukuyama, Koji Yakusho, Suzu Hirose, Yuki Saito, Kotaro Yoshida, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Mikako Ichikawa, Isao Hashizume, Izumi Matsuoka Running Time: 124 min. By Martin Sandison Director Hirokazu Koreeda has gone from strength to strength in the last ten years, with a strong following thanks to films such as Still Walking and Our Little Sister. His most recent, The Third Murder, swept the Japanese Academy Prize last week … Continue reading
Soul of Chiba | aka Soul of Bruce Lee (1977) Review
Director: Chan Tung-Man, Noda Yukio Cast: Sonny Chiba Shinichi, Luk Chuen, Shiomi Etsuko, Bolo Yeung Sze, Fong Yuen, Kong Chuen, Tadashi Yamashita, Lau Nga-Ying, Peter Chan Hoh-San, Krung Srivilai, Naowarat Yooktanun, Somjit Sapsamruey Running Time: 94 min. By Paul Bramhall At the risk of blacklisting myself from ever writing for an Asian cinema site again, I’ll admit I initially wasn’t very enamoured with Sonny Chiba. When I first got into … Continue reading
Posted in All, Bruceploitation, Chinese, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Bolo Yeung (Yang Sze), Krung Srivilai, Noda Yukio, Peter Chan Ho Sun, Sonny Chiba, Tadashi Yamashita
Incorrigible, The | aka The Bastard (1963) Review
AKA: The Young Rebel Director: Seijun Suzuki Cast: Ken Yamauchi, Masako Izumi, Midori Tashiro, Chiharu Kuri, Emiko Azuma, Mieko Takamine Running Time: 95 min. By Kelly Warner The Taisho era, named after Emperor Taisho, was a period in Japan sandwiched between the rapid modernization of the Meiji period and the ultimate push to war of the Showa era. Director Seijun Suzuki was born in the final years of the Taisho period but … Continue reading
Junk Head (2017) Review
Director: Takahide Hori Writer: Takahide Hori Animator: Takahide Hori Running Time: 115 min. By Martin Sandison Dystopian Science Fiction has a prerequisite to be po-facedly serious in tone and downright depressing at times (see genre stalwarts Blade Runner and Brazil), and it’s about time a movie came along that alters this. Enter Takahide Hori’s Junk Head, a one-man show labour of love that manages to be an endlessly inventive, hilarious entrant … Continue reading
Gintama (2017) Review
Director: Yuichi Fukuda Cast: Shun Oguri, Masaki Suda, Kanna Hashimoto, Masaki Okada, Masami Nagasawa, Tsuyoshi Muro, Kankuro Nakamura, Yuya Yagira, Ryo Yoshizawa Running Time: 130 min. By Kelly Warner It’s the age of the comic book movie in Hollywood. And though you can argue that there is an oversaturation of such films at the theatres, I don’t really think there’s much debate that the filmmakers have gotten better at making … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Hirofumi Arai, Masaki Okada, Shun Oguri, Takayuki Yamada, Yuichi Fukuda, Yuya Yagira
Teenage Yakuza (1962) Review
Director: Seijun Suzuki Cast: Tamio Kawaji, Noriko Matsumoto, Keiko Sugiyama, Kayo Matsuo, Asao Sano, Midori Tashiro, Kotoe Hatsui, Tatsuya Fuji, Toshio Sugiyama, Kaku Takashina Running Time: 72 min. By Kelly Warner Listen kids, I know that your teenage years can be rough. Your body is um, changing. You have, uh, urges. And sometimes your emotions are out of control. But you’re a good kid. You know the difference between right … Continue reading
Wind-of-Youth Group Crosses the Mountain Pass, The (1961) Review
Director: Seijun Suzuki Cast: Koji Wada, Mayumi Shimizu, Shin Morikawa, Arihiro Fujimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Kotoe Hatsui Running Time: 85 min. By Kelly Warner Charming and sweet aren’t phrases I’d usually use to describe a Seijun Suzuki film, but The Wind-of-Youth Group Crosses the Mountain Pass is not the typical Seijun Suzuki film. Occasionally reminiscent of the Yasujiro Ozu film Floating Weeds, The Wind-of-Youth Group Crosses the Mountain Pass (from here on … Continue reading
Blade of the Immortal (2017) Review
Director: Takashi Miike Cast: Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, Sota Fukushi, Hayato Ichihara, Erika Toda, Kazuki Kitamura, Chiaki Kuriyama, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Ken Kaneko, Yoko Yamamoto, Ebizo Ichikawa Running Time: 140 min. By Kyle Warner Takashi Miike, one of today’s most prolific filmmakers, celebrated his 100th film as a director with Blade of the Immortal. And it’s tough to imagine a more perfect film for Miike by which to hit that amazing 100. … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Chiaki Kuriyama, Ebizo Ichikawa, Kazuki Kitamura, Takashi Miike, Takuya Kimura, Tsutomu Yamazaki
Boy Who Came Back, The (1958) Review
Director: Seijun Suzuki Cast: Sachiko Hidari, Akira Kobayashi, Ruriko Asaoka, Toru Abe, Makiko Aoi, Akemi Ebata, Shoki Fukae, Ayako Fukuda, Akinori Hanamura, Ikuhiro Hashiguchi,Eiko Higashitani, Kaoru Higuchi, Akira Hisamatsu, Kyoko Hori Running Time: 99 min. By Kelly Warner Famed director Seijun Suzuki was fond of saying that his films “made no sense and made no money” and indeed we know him best for the bizarre action movies that led to his … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Akira Kobayashi, Jo Shishido, Seijun Suzuki
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