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on The Furious (2026) ReviewRon Smoorenburg was good in Fighting Fish and Triple Threat. While I didn’t c…
on Can Iko Uwais deliver the next THE FURIOUS? ‘The Raid’ star teams with ‘Menace II Society’ director for ‘Jakarta’For some reason, I'm never excited when I hear the word "series." I was reall…
on The Furious (2026) ReviewThanks for the insights! I know nothing of Smoorenburg other than his appeara…
on This one makes people FURIOUS… Grab a Limited Edition Blu-ray for ‘Citizen Vigilante’ before it gets cancelled!And i still love you Andrew..... even though we had our differences. Just rem…
on This one makes people FURIOUS… Grab a Limited Edition Blu-ray for ‘Citizen Vigilante’ before it gets cancelled!finally!!! someone with critical thinking skills!
on This one makes people FURIOUS… Grab a Limited Edition Blu-ray for ‘Citizen Vigilante’ before it gets cancelled!It's just hearsay! The entire internet knows that Leeder has been jealous of…
on This one makes people FURIOUS… Grab a Limited Edition Blu-ray for ‘Citizen Vigilante’ before it gets cancelled!The Tao of Mike Leeder Bey Logan is accused of sexual misconduct - outrage, h…
on Wandering Earth II, The (2023) Review“Wandering Earth 2” Movie Review: A “very Chinese” disaster science fiction f…
on This one makes people FURIOUS… Grab a Limited Edition Blu-ray for ‘Citizen Vigilante’ before it gets cancelled!The narrative has been floating around the internet but the movie is not bann…
on Move over, FURIOUS! Martial arts star Tony Jaa is back, and he’s bringing Dan Chupong and Jeeja Yanin along for the rideThe simple fact is that Tony's first 3/4 films were awesome , terrific films.…
on Move over, FURIOUS! Martial arts star Tony Jaa is back, and he’s bringing Dan Chupong and Jeeja Yanin along for the rideJaa is an interesting case. While 'Ong Bak' and 'Tom Yum Goong' launched him…
on The Furious (2026) ReviewTrue, true all agreed. Just alot of hype surrounding The Furious made it soun…
on Move over, FURIOUS! Martial arts star Tony Jaa is back, and he’s bringing Dan Chupong and Jeeja Yanin along for the rideI'm so glad that Jeeja Yanin is making a comeback. I bet Jaa has something to…
Category Archives: Japanese
Gamera Trilogy (1995-1999) Review
Director: Shusuke Kaneko Cast: Shinobu Nakayama, Ayako Fujitani, Yukijiro Hotaru, Ai Maeda, Toshiyuki Nagashima Running Time: 100/100/108 min. By HKFanatic In the mid-90’s, director Shusuke Kaneko (later responsible for the live-action “Death Note” films) was tasked with rebooting the “Gamera” franchise. Gamera originally appeared in the 1960’s as a giant monster, or kaiju, to rival Godzilla: a space turtle who was known as “The Friend of All Children.” Although Gamera … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Reviews
Tagged Shusuke Kaneko
Hidden Fortress, The (1958) Review
Director: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Misa Uehara, Susumu Fujita, Takashi Shimura, Misa Uehara, Eiko Miyoshi, Toshiko Higuchi Running Time: 139 min. By Numskull The titular location isn’t much of a “fortress”… more like a couple of shacks tucked away in a canyon… but the adventure that stops there along the way is highly entertaining. This Akira Kurosawa film takes its time getting where it’s going … Continue reading
Godzilla | aka Gojira (1954) Review
AKA: Godzilla: King of the Monsters Director: Ishiro Honda Cast: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Takashi Shimura, Fuyuki Murakami, Sachio Sakai, Ren Yamamoto, Toyoaki Suzuki Running Time: 96 min. By Woody Ishiro Honda was a great director. As Akira Kurosawa’s assistant director and right hand man, Honda no doubt learned a lot from the man, and it shows, particularly in this 1954 effort. Gojira is a stark and uncompromising film, filled with nightmarish imagery, but, … Continue reading
Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge (2008) Review
Director: Takuji Kitamura Writer: Tatsuhiko Takimoto, Hirotoshi Kobayashi Cast: Megumi Seki, Hayato Ichihara, Yosuke Asari, Itsuji Itao, Haruma Miura, Maho Nonami, Hiromi Shinjo, Aya Kiguchi Running Time: 109 min. By HKFanatic Don’t let the title fool you: “Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge” is not a film that would fit in with the Sushi Typhoon catalog. There’s no blood, no gore, no strangely appendaged women. The second coming of “Machine Gun Girl” … Continue reading
Shogun Assassin (1980) Review
AKA: Lone Wolf and Cub Director: Kenji Misumi Co-director: Robert Houston Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Kayo Matsuo, Minoru Ohki, Akiji Kobayashi, Shin Kishida Running Time: 89 min. By Joe909 Shogun Assassin is one of those films that demands a recounting of its history, before you can actually review it. In 1980, a pair of producers with ties to Roger Corman got hold of the first two films in the Japanese Baby … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Ninja, Reviews
Tagged Kenji Misumi, Tomisaburo Wakayama
Pulse | aka Kairo (2001) Review
AKA: The Circuit Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa Cast: Haruhiko Kato, Kumiko Aso, Koyuki, Kurume Arisaka, Masatoshi Matsuo, Show Aikawa, Jun Fubuki, Shinji Takeda, Koji Yakusho, Shun Sugata Running Time: 119 min. By Numskull What Kairo sets out to do, it does superbly. However, not everyone will be happy with what it does, which is to sustain an eerie mood for two hours rather than simply tell a scary story. That’s not … Continue reading
Drop (2009) Review
Director: Hiroshi Shinagawa Writer: Hiroshi Shinagawa Producer: Taiichi Inoue Cast: Hiroki Narimiya, Hiro Mizushima, Yuika Motokariya, Yusuke Kamiji, Noriko Nakagoshi, Kazuki Namioka, Junichi Komoto, Yuji Ayabe Running Time: 122 Min. By HKFanatic “Drop” is a live-action filmed based on the autobiographical novel by Japanese comedian Hiroshi Shinagawa. Shinagawa also stepped behind the camera for this, his directorial debut. I’m not sure how true-to-life this story is since the characters continually … Continue reading
Cold Fish (2010) Review
Director: Sion Sono Cast: Makoto Ashikawa, Denden, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Asuka Kurosawa, Megumi Kagurazaka Running Time: 145 min. By HKFanatic Japanese director Sion Sono first caught the attention of the international film community with 2001’s “Suicide Club,” a movie that remains a J-horror cult classic, notorious for its opening scene in which a cadre of schoolgirls leap in front of an oncoming train. Since then Sion Sono has been putting out … Continue reading
Twilight Samurai (2002) Review
Director: Yoji Yamada Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Min Tanaka, Nenji Kobayashi, Ren Osugi, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Keiko Kishi, Tetsuro Tanba, Takako Miyashima Running Time: 129 min. By Alexander This isn’t your traditional samurai action flick. There’s only a couple of fight scenes, and while both are well-filmed and suspenseful, they’re short and with only a fraction of blood you would expect from a movie with the word “samurai” in the … Continue reading
Ju-On 2 (2003) Review
Director: Takashi Shimizu Cast: Shin’ya Egawa, Takashige Ichise, Kunio Kawakami, Yoshinori Kumazawa, Hiroki Numata Running Time: 95 min. By Mighty Peking Man They should have called this movie Ju-On II: Overkill – not only would this title sound cool, but it’s one hell of a double-pun. Like most people, I never expect sequels to be as good as their originals, but Ju-On 2 is too much of the same sh*t, … Continue reading
Ju-On (2002) Review
AKA: Ju-On: The Grudge Director: Takashi Shimizu Cast: Megumi Okina, Misaki Ito, Misa Uehara, Yui Ichikawa, Tomomi Kobayashi, Takashi Matsuyama Running Time: 92 min. By Mighty Peking Man Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and the first thing you see standing over your bed is Linda Blair’s character from The Exorcist staring right at you and coming closer and closer – that’s how creepy this damn film … Continue reading
Ring 2 | aka Ringu 2 (1998) Review
AKA: Ringu 2 Director: Hideo Nakata Writer: Hiroshi Takahashi, Koji Suzuki Cast: Daisuke Ban, Kyoko Fukada, Kenjiro Ishimaru, Nanako Matsushima, Katsumi Muramatsu, Miki Nakatani Running Time: 95 min. By Numskull STOP!!! Read this review ONLY if you have already seen Ring 2, if you have seen Ring and want to know more about the sequel before you see it (or decide whether or not to see it), OR if you … Continue reading
Ring 0 | aka Ringu 0 (2000) Review
AKA: Ringu 0: Happy Birthday Director: Norio Tsuruta Writer: Koji Suzuki Cast: Yuki Nakama, Kumiko Aso, Daisuke Ban, Chinami Furuya, Masami Hashimoto, Kazue Kadokae Running Time: 99 min. By Numskull Here we have both the last and the first installment of the highly successful Ring sequence, rewritten for the screen by creator/novelist Koji Suzuki and directed by Norio Tsuruta, a newcomer to the series. Taking place three decades before the … Continue reading
Ring | aka Ringu (1998) Review
Director: Hideo Nakata Cast: Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rikiya Otaka, Miki Nakatani, Yuko Takeuchi, Hitomi Sato, Rie Ino, Masako, Yoichi Numata, Yutaka Matsushige Running Time: 91 min. By Numskull “Frolic in brine, goblins be thine.” Doesn’t make much sense sitting up there all by itself, does it? Well, it may not make much sense after watching the movie, either, but it’s still kinda catchy, I think. Certainly not the only … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, Reviews
Tagged Hideo Nakata, Hiroyuki Sanada (Henry Sanada)
Alien vs. Ninja | aka AVN (2010) Review
Director: Seiji Chiba Cast: Shuji Kashiwabara, Ben Hiura, Mika Hijii, Donpei Tsuchihira, Masanori Mimoto Running Time: 83 min. By HKFanatic “Alien vs. Ninja” arrived on Western shelves just in time to capitalize on the DVD/blu-ray release of 2010’s “Predators.” And glancing at the title and box art, you’d think this movie was a cheap knock-off of the “Aliens vs. Predator” franchise. I know that was my first impression. Turns out … Continue reading
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