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on WTF? Watch the blood-soaked U.S. Trailer for Joko Anwar’s Indonesian martial arts-horror-comedy ‘Ghost in the Cell’fun flick, tho.
on Heaven and Hell | aka Shaolin Hell Gate (1978) ReviewJust saw Heaven and Hell on youtube, and while it's pretty damn strange in so…
on HEAD’d your way! Jimmy Wang Yu’s kung fu classic ‘Master of the Flying Guillotine’ arrives newly restored on Blu-rayAbout freakin time!
on James Lew, martial artist, actor and stuntman in films such as ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ and ‘Timecop’, passes away at 73The Luke Cage guy paid tribute to him. https://www.instagram.com/p/DcbK2ZExau…
on James Lew, martial artist, actor and stuntman in films such as ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ and ‘Timecop’, passes away at 73James Lew was a very influential person in my life. I first discovered him wh…
on THE FURIOUS PART II? A sequel to ‘The Furious’ already in the works as producer promises a bigger follow upWell almost 4 decades ago, there was this little movie about a cop who fights…
on Anybody seen Richie? Okay, wrong movie. But Steven Seagal’s ‘Above the Law’ is coming to 4K Ultra HD this NovemberNoice. Happy Arrow/Toy Robot are releasing Warner Bros action classics. I'm c…
on THE FURIOUS PART II? A sequel to ‘The Furious’ already in the works as producer promises a bigger follow upWhat would even a part 2 be about, literally every bad guy in the first film…
on HEAD’d your way! Jimmy Wang Yu’s kung fu classic ‘Master of the Flying Guillotine’ arrives newly restored on Blu-rayFrank Djeng talks too fast, and with his accent I find him very hard to liste…
on The Fall of Ako Castle | Blu-ray (Eureka)Is this blu-ray available to purchase anywhere in the U.S. in Region A, Regio…
on FURIOUS director Kenji Tanigaki returns to work on Soi Cheang Pou Soi’s ‘Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In’ sequelRaymond Lam said that filming for the sequel has been officially completed (c…
on Second Life | aka Son of a Punch (2024) ReviewBetween the hype machine Lionsgate put behind the movie and Jet Li glazing th…
on Second Life | aka Son of a Punch (2024) ReviewDefinitely a good idea! I'll leave the suggestion with our colleague Zack sin…
on The Bodyguard (2024) Reviewi enjoyed this film.
on Heaven and Hell | aka Shaolin Hell Gate (1978) Reviewi'm glad i'm not the only person that thought Chang Cheh (and possibly others…
on Anybody seen Richie? Okay, wrong movie. But Steven Seagal’s ‘Above the Law’ is coming to 4K Ultra HD this NovemberI'd certainly agree that revelations about Steven Seagal's character have cer…
Category Archives: All
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
Mimic, The (2017) Review
Director: Huh Jung Cast: Yum Jung-Ah, Park Hyuk-Kwon, Shin Rin-Ah, Heo Jin, Lee Joon-Hyuk, Kil Hae-Yeon, Lee Yool, Noh Susanna, Lim Jong-Yun, Jung Ji-Hoon, Hwang Jae-Won Running Time: 100 min. By Paul Bramhall Director and screenwriter Huh Jung made a strong impression with his 2013 debut Hide and Seek (which received a Chinese remake of the same name), a claustrophobic horror that posed the question – what if someone else was … Continue reading
Ghostly Face, The (1973) Review
Director: Yang Shih-Ching Cast: Polly Shang-Kuan, Chan Wai-Lau, Chan Bo-Leung, To Wai Wo, Lenny Marlina, To Man-Bo, Chan Chue Running Time: 85 min. By Paul Bramhall There’s something undeniably alluring about stumbling across obscure slices of kung fu cinema from the past, and The Ghostly Face could easily be categorized as one such example. In the 1970’s the practice of Hong Kong and Taiwan filming (or in many cases co-producing) with their South East Asian neighbours … Continue reading
Seven Years of Night (2018) Review
Director: Choo Chang-min Writer: Jung Yoo-Jung Cast: Ryoo Seung-Ryong, Jang Dong-Gun, Song Sae-Byeok, Ko Gyung-Pyo, Moon Jeong-Hee Running Time: 123 min. By Paul Bramhall The theme of a parent seeking to avenge a wrong doing against their child has been one that’s gained plenty of mileage since the beginning of the Korean wave. From Park Chan-wook’s Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance in 2002, through to more recent entries such as Lee Kyoung-mi’s The … Continue reading
Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews
Tagged Choo Chang-min, Jang Dong Gun, Ryoo Seung-Ryong
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
Wine War (2017) Review
Director: Leon Lai Writer: Succeed Be Cast: Leon Lai, Zhang Hanyu, Nan Fulong, Lily Ji Li, Du Juan, David Wang, Huang Shang-Ho Running Time: 80 min. By Paul Bramhall Out of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop – Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, and Leon Lai – it’s always been youngest member Lai that’s had the most difficulty transitioning his onstage pop star charisma to the silver screen. Ladened with … 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
Outlaws, The (2017) Review
Director: Kang Yoon-Sung Cast: Ma Dong-Seok, Yoon Kye-Sang, Jo Jae-Yun, Choi Gwi-Hwa, rk Ji-Hwan, Hong Ki-Joon Running Time: 121 min. By Z Ravas I walked away from 2016’s smash hit Train to Busan with a distinct impression that supporting actor Ma Dong-seok had stolen the movie – no small feat in a film about a train full of rabid zombies! Although I’d caught the actor in plenty of parts before, including Kundo: Age of … Continue reading
Battleship Island, The (2017) Review
Director: Ryoo Seung-wan Cast: Hwang Jung-Min, So Ji-Sub, Song Joong-Ki, Lee Jung-Hyun, Kim Soo-Ahn, Kim In-Woo, Kim Joong-Hee, Lee Kyoung-Young, Shin Seung-Hwan, Ahn Se-Ho Running Time: 132 min. By Z Ravas Although director Ryoo Seung-wan has engaged in big-budget spectacle in the recent past – 2013’s The Berlin File felt like the filmmaker’s attempt to top the Bourne trilogy, and long before that he’d dabbled in the superhero (Arahan) and spoof (Dachimawa … 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
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