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on HEAD’d your way! Jimmy Wang Yu’s kung fu classic ‘Master of the Flying Guillotine’ arrives newly restored on Blu-rayI hope they would do Blood of the dragon 1971 .
on Arrow gains some street cred! ‘Street Gangs of Hong Kong’ Shaw Brothers set arrives on Blu-ray in NovemberIt's always great to see Chan Koon Tai, Wong Chung and Danny Lee in contempor…
on THE PERFECT WEAPON IS BACK! Martial arts star Jeff Speakman returns to action with ‘Lost Echoes’Great to be soon be seeing Jeff Speakman back in films,as the connection with…
on HEAD’d your way! Jimmy Wang Yu’s kung fu classic ‘Master of the Flying Guillotine’ arrives newly restored on Blu-raymike leeder doesn't do commentaries anymore, so thats a win win! I do not min…
on ‘Lone Wolf and Cub’ star shines bright! Watch the Trailers for the ‘Wicked Priest’ collection arriving on Blu-ray in SeptemberMissing the spin off film, Whipmaster: Ballad of Murder? I could have sworn I…
on THE FURIOUS PART II? A sequel to ‘The Furious’ already in the works as producer promises a bigger follow upIn the mainland chinese cut, the villain who killed his wife in the lionsgate…
on Jackie Chan and Tony Leung Ka Fai return for Round 2! ‘The Shadow’s Edge II’ to begin filming in OctoberI liked the first movie until I hated it for being too overstuffed and that t…
on The Bodyguard (2024) ReviewGreat review, as ever, and really glad you're shining a light on these underr…
on James Lew, martial artist, actor and stuntman in films such as ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ and ‘Timecop’, passes away at 73He will be missed. It was awesome to watch almost any action film, and he’d a…
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…
Category Archives: Japanese
Stray Dog (1949) Review
Director: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Awaji, Eiko Miyoshi, Noriko Honma, Isao Kimura, Minoru Chiaki, Ichiro Sugai, Gen Shimizu, Noriko Sengoku Running Time: 122 min. By Matthew Le-feuvre At a time when social or political ambivalence wasn’t an option to explore or express through art – or by any other visual medium – acclaimed Japanese filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa, then under contract with the Toho film studios, was … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune
Happiness of the Katakuris, The (2001) Review
Director: Takashi Miike Cast: Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Shinji Takeda, Naomi Nishida, Kiyoshiro Imawano, Tetsuro Tamba, Naoto Takenaka, Tamaki Miyazaki, Takashi Matsuzaki Running Time: 113 min. By Kelly Warner When Takashi Miike agreed to do a remake of Kim Jee-woon’s directorial debut The Quiet Family, he wanted to give the story his own “personal stamp” to make his version worthwhile. And Miike did exactly that, turning the dark comedy into … Continue reading
Zebraman (2004) Review
Director: Takashi Miike Cast: Show Aikawa, Kyoka Suzuki, Teruyoshi Uchimura, Yui Ichikawa, Koen Kondo, Naoki Yasukochi, Makiko Watanabe, Keisuke Mishima, Yu Tokui, Yoji Tanaka Running Time: 115 min. By HKFanatic With the massive success of 2010’s 13 Assassins it’s easy to forget that, oh, just a year ago director Takashi Miike was more well known for his typically surreal cinema efforts, which have included such feats as a woman shooting … Continue reading
20th Century Boys: Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End (2008) Review
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi Producer: Nobuyuki Iinuma Cast: Toshiaki Karasawa, Etsushi Toyokawa, Takako Tokiwa, Teruyuki Kagawa, Takashi Ukaji, Kuranosuke Sasaki Running Time: 142 min. By HKFanatic 20th Century Boys is a live-action film based off the immensely popular and award-winning manga by Naoki Urasawa, who also created Monster. I’m not familiar with the source material but it must be pretty damn epic – it’s taken three movies, each over 2 hours … Continue reading
Rurouni Kenshin (2012) Review
Director: Keishi Ohtomo Cast: Takeru Satoh, Emi Takei, Koji Kikkawa, Yu Aoi, Munetaka Aoki, Gou Ayano, Genki Sudo, Taketo Tanaka, Eiji Okuda, Yosuke Eguchi, Teruyuki Kagawa Running Time: 134 min. By Martin Sandison One of the most successful and critically acclaimed manga and anime’s of all time, Rurouni Kenshin’s fans were understandably worried about a live action version. Thankfully, those fans were in for a treat, and it works just … Continue reading
Retaliation (1968) Review
Director: Yasuharu Hasebe Writer: Yoshihiro Ishimatsu, Keiji Kubota Cast: Joe Shishido, Meiko Kaji, Hideaki Nitani, Tamio Kawachi, Eiji Go, Tatsuya Fuji, Jiro Okazaki, Shoki Fukae, Shoki Fukae, Kaku Takashina Running Time: 94 min. By Kyle Warner There are two primary types of yakuza film. The genre began with films about chivalrous gangsters. These classics depicted yakuza as outlaws, yes, but they lived by a code, they were often romantic, and … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Akira Kobayashi, Jo Shishido, Meiko Kaji, Tatsuya Fuji, Yasuharu Hasebe
Rainy Dog (1997) Review
Director: Takashi Miike Writer: Seigo Inoue Cast: Show Aikawa, Blackie Ko, Xianmei Chen, Zhang Shi, Jianqin He, Tomorowo Taguchi Running Time: 95 min. By Martin Sandison Part of director Takashi Miike’s Triad society trilogy, Rainy Dog is a revelation; a quiet, slow moving meditation on innocence and the consequences of violence. Miike is of course synonymous with extreme cinema, especially his masterpieces Ichi The Killer and Audition. As much as … Continue reading
Incident at Blood Pass | aka Ambush (1970) Review
AKA: Ambush Director: Hiroshi Inagaki Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Yujiro Ishihara, Ruriko Asaoka, Shintaro Katsu, Kinnosuke Nakamura, Chusha Ichikawa, Ichiro Arishima, Mika Kitagawa, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Jotaro Togami, Chieko Nakakita, Ryunosuke Yamazaki Running Time: 117 min. By Kelly Warner Toshiro Mifune has played many great characters but perhaps his most popular and influential role was born in the 1961 samurai action comedy Yojimbo. After the success of that film, Toho wanted more … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Hiroshi Inagaki, Kinnosuke Nakamura, Shintaro Katsu, Toshiro Mifune, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Yujiro Ishihara
Massacre Gun (1967) Review
Director: Yasuharu Hasebe Writer: Yasuharu Hasebe, Ryuzu Nakanishi Cast: Jo Shishido, Tatsuya Fuji, Jiro Okazaki, Ryoji Hayama, Takashi Kanda, Hideaki Nitani, Ken Sanders, Tamaki Sawa, Yoko Yamamoto Running Time: 89 min. By Kyle Warner One look at the credits of popular Japanese action movie tough guys like Jo Shishido, Ken Takakura, and Bunta Sugawara lets you know that we in the West have only seen but a sampling of their … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Jo Shishido, Tatsuya Fuji, Yasuharu Hasebe
Blind Woman’s Curse (1970) Review
AKA: Black Cat’s Revenge Director: Teruo Ishii Cast: Meiko Kaji, Hoki Tokuda, Makoto Sato, Hideo Sunazuka, Shiro Otsuji, Toru Abe Running Time: 85 min. By Kelly Warner Teruo Ishii was an incredibly prolific filmmaker, directing nearly fifty movies in the 1960s alone. Referred to in Japan as “the King of Cult”, Ishii dabbled in many genres: he made exploitation films such as the Joys of Torture series, a large collection … Continue reading
Ran (1985) Review
AKA: Chaos Director: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, Masayuki Yui, Kazuo Kato, Peter, Hitoshi Ueki, Jun Tazaki, Mieko Harada, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Norio Matsui Running Time: 160 min. By Kelly Warner Throughout Akira Kurosawa’s illustrious career the director often adapted classic literature from overseas and transformed the stories into tales about Japan. Some of his favorite writers that he took the most inspiration from were … Continue reading
Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles (2013) Review
Director: Takanori Tsujimoto Cast: Mitsuki Koga, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi, Masanori Mimoto, Kentaro Shimazu, Kazuki Tsujimoto, Ema, Kensuke Sonomura, Masaki Suzumura, Naohiro Kawamoto, Marc Walkow, Yasutaka Yuuki, Takashi Tanimoto Running Time: 88 min. By Kelly Warner Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles kind of surprised me. I wasn’t expecting much from the film — the average ratings are weak, the title is silly, and the plot description is somewhat generic. However, less than … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Kensuke Sonomura, Masanori Mimoto, Mitsuki Koga, Takanori Tsujimoto
Ace Attorney (2012) Review
Director: Takashi Miike Cast: Hiroki Narimiya, Takumi Saito, Mirei Kiritani, Akiyoshi Nakao, Shunsuke Daito, Akira Emoto, Rei Dan, Mitsuki Tanimura, Takehiro Hira, Eisuke Sasai Running Time: 135 min. By Paul Bramhall Anyone with even a passing interest in Asian cinema will most likely be familiar with the name of director Takashi Miike. From the early-90’s, all the way up to the mid-2000’s, Miike was responsible for some of the most … Continue reading
Colt is My Passport, A (1967) Review
Director: Takashi Nomura Cast: Jo Shishido, Chitose Kobayashi, Jerry Fujio, Akiyoshi Fukae, Zenji Yamada, Hideaki Esumi, Jun Hongo, Akio Miyabe, Toyoko Takechi, Kojiro Kusanagi, Ryotaro Sugi, Takamaru Sasaki, Asao Uchida, Zeko Nakamura Running Time: 84 min. By Kelly Warner In the 1960s, the Japanese studio Nikkatsu was cranking out action films at a rapid pace. They were often made fast and cheap, but they were also wildly inventive, and gave … Continue reading
Graveyard of Honor (2002) Review
AKA: New Graveyard of Honor Director: Takashi Miike Cast: Narumi Arimori, Yoshiyuki Daichi, Hirotaro Honda, Harumi Inoue, Renji Ishibashi, Goro Kishitani, Takashi Miike, Ryosuke Miki, Yasukaze Motomiya, Mikio Osawa, Daisuke Ryu, Harumi Sone, Shun Sugata Running Time: 131 min. By HKFanatic “A Yakuza without honor isn’t worth sh*t.” So says a Yakuza Godfather towards the end of Graveyard of Honor, and the entire movie puts this notion to the test … Continue reading
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