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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
Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 2: Hiroshima Death Match (1973) Review
AKA: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima Director: Kinji Fukasaku Cast: Kinya Kitaoji, Sonny Chiba, Bunta Sugawara, Meiko Kaji, Mikio Narita, Hiroshi Nawa, Asao Koike, Shingo Yamashiro, Hideo Murota, Tatsuo Endo, Yoshi Kato, Kinji Nakamura, Gin Maeda, Nobuo Kaneko, Toshie Kimura Running Time: 100 min. By Kelly Warner After the huge financial success of Battles Without Honor and Humanity in January 1973, two sequels were fast-tracked and released that same year. Based … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Bunta Sugawara, Kinji Fukasaku, Kinya Kitaoji, Meiko Kaji, Nobuo Kaneko, Sonny Chiba
Battles Without Honor and Humanity Vol. 1 (1973) Review
AKA: The Yakuza Papers Vol. 1 Director: Kinji Fukasaku Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Hiroki Matsukata, Kunie Tanaka, Eiko Nakamura, Tsunehiko Watase, Goro Ibuki, Nobuo Kaneko, Toshie Kimura, Tamio Kawaji, Mayumi Nagisa, Asao Uchida, Shinichiro Mikami, Hiroshi Nawa Running Time: 99 min. By Kelly Warner Throughout the 1960s, yakuza were typically depicted as honorable outlaws in Ninkyo eiga, or “chivalry films.” Often starring fan-favorites like Ken Takakura or Koji Tsuruta, these films … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, Reviews
Tagged Bunta Sugawara, Kinji Fukasaku, Kunie Tanaka, Nobuo Kaneko
Yakuza Apocalypse (2015) Review
Director: Takashi Miike Cast: Hayato Ichihara, Riko Narumi, Lily Franky, Reiko Takashima, Sho Aoyagi, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Yayan Ruhian, Mio Yuki, Masanori Mimoto Running Time: 125 min. By Kelly Warner Even in the wild and diverse filmography of director Takashi Miike, Yakuza Apocalypse is one weird movie. What’s interesting is how it keeps its lunacy hidden away like a dirty secret until you feel like you’re settled in for a crime/horror … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Masanori Mimoto, Takashi Miike, Yayan Ruhian
Seoul (2002) Review
Director: Masahiko Nagasawa Cast: Tomoya Nagase, Choi Min-Soo, Hoon Jang, Sung Choi, Jin-myung Go, Shim-young Hahm, Hun-suk Jung, Ki-won Kang, Dong-wook Kim, Ji-youn Kim, Chan-young Lee, Do-hyung Lee, Kyung-hwan Park Running Time: 110 min. By Paul Bramhall Seoul is an interesting curiosity of a movie. It looks, feels, and sounds like an early 2000’s Korean action flick, however it is in fact a Japanese production. Distributed by the legendary Toho … Continue reading
Attack on Titan: Part 1 (2015) Review
Director: Shinji Higuchi Cast: Haruma Miura, Hiroki Hasegawa, Kiko Mizuhara, Kanata Hongo, Takahiro Miura, Nanami Sakuraba, Satoru Matsuo, Satomi Ishihara, Pierre Taki, Jun Kunimura, Rina Takeda, Shu Watanabe, Ayame Misaki Running Time: 98 min. By Paul Bramhall Attack on Titan was a production which had the odds stacked against it from the start. Putting aside the fact that it’s a Japanese mainstream blockbuster, which in itself is normally an indication … Continue reading
Matango | aka Attack of the Mushroom People (1963) Review
AKA: Fungus of Terror Director: Ishiro Honda Cast: Akira Kubo, Kumi Mizuno, Kenji Sahara, Hiroshi Koizumi, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Kenji Sahara, Kenji Sahara, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Miki Yashiro, Hideyo Amamoto Running Time: 89 min. By Kelly Warner Before 1954, director Ishiro Honda worked in multiple genres, including romantic dramas, documentaries, and war pictures. After directing the original Godzilla in 1954, Honda became Toho’s go-to man for their kaiju films and special effects … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Akira Kubo, Hiroshi Koizumi, Ishiro Honda, Kenji Sahara, Kumi Mizuno, Yoshio Tsuchiya
Stray Cat Rock: Beat ’71 (1971) Review
AKA: Alleycat Rock: Crazy Riders ’71 Director: Toshiya Fujita Writer: Tatsuya Asai, Hideichi Nagahara Cast: Meiko Kaji, Takeo Chii, Tatsuya Fuji, Yoshio Harada, Takeo Chii, Yoshio Inaba, Bunjaku Han, Michiko Tsukasa Running Time: 87 min. By Kyle Warner Director Toshiya Fujita returns to the Stray Cat Rock series for the fifth and final installment, Stray Cat Rock: Beat ’71 (aka Stray Cat Rock: Crazy Rider ’71). While I thought that the previous … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Meiko Kaji, Tatsuya Fuji, Toshiya Fujita, Yoshio Harada
Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal (1970) Review
AKA: Alleycat Rock: Machine Animal Director: Yasuharu Hasebe Writer: Ryuzo Nakanishi Producer: Masami Kuzu Cast: Meiko Kaji, Tatsuya Fuji, Bunjaku Han, Jiro Okazaki, Toshiya Yamano, Eiji Go, Yasuhiro Kameyama By Kyle Warner The Stray Cat Rock series continues with the fourth entry, Machine Animal. Like the films that came before it, Machine Animal was a quick production, filmed over just two weeks and released a little over two months after … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Bunjaku Han, Meiko Kaji, Tatsuya Fuji, Yasuharu Hasebe
Asia-Pol | aka Asiapol Secret Service (1967) Review
AKA: Asiapol Director: Ma Chi Ho Writer: Gan Yamazaki Producer: Kenzo Asada, Run Run Shaw Cast: Jimmy Wang Yu, Ryoriko Asaoka, Wong Hap, Cheung Pooi Saan, Yuen Sam, Jo Shishido, Takashina Kaku, Chan Sing, Gam Tin Chue Running Time: 97 min. By Matthew Le-feuvre When Sean Connery announced of his unexpected departure from the James Bond franchise in early ’67, and that You Only Live Twice would be his final … Continue reading
Posted in All, Chinese, Japanese, News, Reviews, Shaw Brothers
Tagged Chan Sing, Cheung Pooi Saan, Jimmy Wang Yu, Jo Shishido, Matsuo Akinori (Ma Chi Ho), Wong Hap
Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (1970) Review
AKA: Alleycat Rock: Sex Hunter Director: Yasuharu Hasebe Producer: Masayuki Takagi Cast: Meiko Kaji, Rikiya Yasuoka, Tatsuya Fuji, Jiro Okazaki, Yuki Arikawa, Tomoko Aki, Yoko Takagi, Akemi Nara Running Time: 93 min. By Kyle Warner I first saw Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter almost a decade ago. At the time, I was totally unaware that it belonged to a series of films (Part 3 of 5, in fact). When I … Continue reading
Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo (1970) Review
AKA: Alleycat Rock: Wild Jumbo Director: Toshiya Fujita Producer: Toshiya Fujita, Shuichi Nagahara Cast: Meiko Kaji, Bunjaku Han, Takeo Chii, Tatsuya Fuji, Yusuke Natsu, Soichiro Maeno, Akiko Wada Running Time: 94 min. By Kyle Warner After the success of Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss, a follow-up film was rushed into production and released just three months later. Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo is a messier, cheaper looking film than … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Bunjaku Han, Meiko Kaji, Takeo Chii, Tatsuya Fuji, Toshiya Fujita
Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss (1970) Review
AKA: Alleycat Rock: Female Boss Director: Yasuharu Hasebe Writer: Hideichi Nagahara Cast: Akiko Wada, Meiko Kaji, Koji Wada, Bunjaku Han, Yuka Kemari, Hanako Tokachi, Yūko Shimazu, Yuka Ohashi, Miki Yanagi, Toshimitsu Shima Running Time: 80 min. By Kelly Warner After Roger Corman’s 1966 outlaw biker film The Wild Angels (which starred Peter Fonda pre-Easy Rider) became a surprise hit in Japan, Japanese studios were quick to cash in and make … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Bunjaku Han, Meiko Kaji, Tatsuya Fuji, Yasuharu Hasebe
World of Kanako, The (2014) Review
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima Cast: Koji Yakusho, Nana Komatsu, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Joe Odagiri, Fumi Nikaido, Hiroya Shimizu, Hiroki Nakajima, Ai Hashimoto, Asuka Kurosawa, Miki Nakatani, Hitoshi Hoshino, Mahiro Takasugi, Jun Kunimura Running Time: 118 min. By Paul Bramhall While Japanese mainstream filmmaking has arguably been in a creative slump for a long time, there remains a few directors out there who are worth watching. Sono Sion, Miike Takashi, and Takeshi ‘Beat’ … Continue reading
100 Yen Love (2014) Review
Director: Masaharu Take Writer: Shin Adachi Cast: Sakura Ando, Hirofumi Arai, Miyoko Inagawa, Saori Koide, Shohei Uno, Tadashi Sakata, Yozaburo Ito, Osamu Shigematu, Toshie Negishi, Ruka Wakabayashi Running Time: 113 min. By Martin Sandison As well as being a beautiful and cultural place, my home city of Edinburgh, Scotland has one of the longest-running film festivals in the world, this year being the 69th. This time the festival has been … Continue reading
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
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