Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Die Fighting (read our review), starring Fabien Garcia (Merantau), Laurent Buson (Silver Hawk), Didier Buson and Jess Allen.
When a team of Shaolin-trained kung fu actors is about to get their break in Hollywood, a mysterious and sadistic director forces them to run a gauntlet through Los Angeles. The director films their every move as they prove their prowess by provoking a rogues’ gallery of underworld thugs and martial artists.
The premise is similar to the Thai movie BKO, in which highly trained fighters wake up after being drugged and are forced to fight each other for the whims of madman.
It’s been 3 years since fifth generation alumni Chen Kaige made his ill-advised wuxia caper Monk Comes Down the Mountain, however far from looking like a director licking his wounds, Kaige’s latest storms out the gates as his most commercially ambitious production yet. Legend of the Demon Cat is a rare co-production between China, Hong Kong, and Japan, with all three well represented either in-front or behind the camera. Considering the elements that make a movie marketable in each territory vary significantly, it’s fair to say Kaige had a lot on his plate to bring LOTDC (as I’ll refer to it from here on in) to the screen, but then it’s good to be remember that this has been a personal project of his for a number of years already.
Set in the capital of the Tang Dynasty in the 8th Century, it was reported that Kaige and a team of designers spent over 6 years constructing a replica set of the city, eschewing the CGI cityscapes that period pieces in recent times tend to resort to. As an interesting aside, the set is so large and elaborate, that even before filming began it was negotiated that once production wrapped, it would be maintained and developed into a theme park. In China, they don’t make movies based on theme parks, they make theme parks based on movies. Pirates of the Caribbean take note.
LOTDC is an adaptation of a four volume Japanese novel, written by Baku Yumemakura, who notably stated he was “moved to tears” when he came to visit the spotlight stealing sets. A prolific sci-fi and historical fantasy writer, Yumemakura’s tale playfully reimagines two revered characters in Asian history – the Japanese monk Kukai, who founded the Shingonshu school of Buddhism, and Bai Juyi, a Chinese poet held in the same regard as Shakespeare. In LOTDC, Kukai visits China to exorcise a mysterious curse that’s kept the emperor from sleeping for over 2 weeks, and while there he meets the palace scribe, in the form of Bai Juyi. Forming a mutually respectful bond, when they discover the presence of cat hair in the palace grounds, the pair become a sort of Tang Dynasty version of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and begin to investigate the origins of this apparent ‘demon cat’.
The combination of Japanese supernatural mystery meets Chinese blockbuster certainly makes for an interesting tone, and could almost be argued to come across as a kind of Kwaidan meets the Detective Dee series. The Japanese investment seems to have allowed for several supernatural elements, and even a little gore, to bypass the dreaded Mainland censorship restrictions, allowing for a lavish tale of palace intrigue the type of which we haven’t seen for quite some time. Proceedings are suitably anchored by the pairing of Shota Sometani and Huang Xuan, as monk and poet respectively, in an equally rare case of a Japanese actor sharing co-lead status in a predominantly Mainland influenced production.
Sometani, a Sono Sion (Himizu, Tokyo Tribe) and Takashi Miike (Lesson of the Evil, As the Gods Will) regular, is almost unrecognizable with a completely shaved head, and makes for an appealing lead as the monk hoping to find enlightenment during his time in China. Xuan similarly makes for a likeable lead, having come hot on the heels of his stellar turn in Extraordinary Mission, as a poet who finds himself questioning the truth behind the events that influenced his character Juyi’s masterpiece, ‘Song of Everlasting Regret’. While historical revisionism is often frowned upon, when done correctly it can also be a lot of fun, and here the integration of historical facts blended with fantastical fiction work well. While it’s certainly not a prerequisite to know the characters that Sometani and Xuan are playing to enjoy LOTDC, knowing the context of who they are makes the experience that little bit more rewarding.
The cat itself of course is also a central player, and any questions of its demonic nature are addressed almost immediately in the opening scene, when it appears armed with a fluent Mandarin vocabulary, and an affinity for eating fish (and later human) eyeballs. A mix of both real cat and CGI, thankfully we’ve come a long way since the kung fu fighting animatronic feline found in Lam Nai-Choi’s The 1000 Years Cat, which came as a huge relief. In fact all the CGI work in LOTDC is of a high level, perhaps indicative of Kaige looking to redeem himself after the ropiness of 2005’s The Promise, but also of the quality that the various Japanese FX houses tasked with creating the effects have produced.
Ultimately the appearance of the titular cat leads Sometani and Xuan deeper into the past, as they look to reassess the death of a beautiful consort (played by French Taiwanese actress Sandrine Pinna), who was believed to have sacrificed herself for the greater good 30 years ago on the emperor’s orders. However the deeper they dig, it becomes increasingly clear that there was more at play than how history has remembered her, and LOTDC begins to become increasingly populated with a variety of characters, each with their own motivations and interests. Indeed the latter half of the 125 minutes runtime largely consists of an extended flashback to 30 years prior, during which both Pinna is introduced for the first time, along with a Japanese courtier, played by Abe Hiroshi (Chocolate).
While the flashback allows for various moments when Kaige can go all in on the visual splendour, particularly at a lush birthday celebration, which almost tilts into sensory overload with its displays of decadence, it also feels somewhat disconnected from the first half. It’s a bold move by Kaige, as essentially we go from following Sometani and Xuan as a third-party spectator, to seeing things from their perspective, learning the truth at the same time as it unfolds for them. On a first time viewing the introduction of new characters at the half way point may seem a little jarring, but it’s easy to see how LOTDC would make for a more rewarding watch on subsequent viewings. The most interesting element of the narrative structure though is how it’s not only a whodunnit murder mystery, but also places equal emphasis on how Xuan can reconcile the poem he considers to be his masterpiece, with the actual truth of what’s behind it.
Kaige and his co-writer Wang Hui-Ling (a regular collaborator with Ang Lee and John Woo) have crafted an interesting script, one which I struggle to think of another production as a comparison point, at least from the perspective of the period LOTDC takes place in. The way Xuan is forced to face the reality, that the facts the work he’s most proud of are based on may all be a lie, is conveyed as a relatable dilemma onscreen. It would be easier to go by the motto that ignorance is bliss, and while the plot naturally dictates that he’ll eventually decide to uncover the truth, it’s still effectively realised thanks to Xuan’s nuanced performance. Plus of course, when you have a demon cat in your corner, there’s always that extra little bit of motivation.
LOTDC is a confident return to form for Kaige, and while it may not be the return that the fans of his 80’s and 90’s masterpieces want, it’s reflective of a director that’s proven capable of adapting to the times. It’s likely to be a tricky movie to market overseas, since it’s neither an outright action movie in the vein of League of Gods, or a spectacle driven mystery like Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon, however LOTDC certainly deserves an audience. Proving that spectacle doesn’t need to always be created by CGI (Crystal Zhang’s Uighur dance is a highlight), nor require the presence of screen filling fantastical beasts or demons, LOTDC shows that sometimes all you need is a well told story. Well, that, and a talking feline.
Plot details are currently non-existent, but with the popularity of military-type actioners (i.e. Wolf Warrior 2, Operation Red Sea, Operation Mekong), expect Hark to give Dante Lam a run for his money.
We’ll keep you updated as we learn more. Until then, here’s a look at its preliminary poster, courtesy of AFS.
Jailbreakbreakout star Jean-Paul Ly will soon be showing more of his amazing martial arts skills in 14 Fists, which starts filming later this year from director Bart Ruspoli (Clash of the Dead).
Ly recently took to FB with the following message regarding 14 Fists: “I am finally able to bring international team members for this one. Let’s make an insane action party!” Word on the street (via FCS) is that 14 Fists will be a “full blown martial arts action film,” which is what we’d expect from its striking title.
14 Fists also stars John Hannah (Spartacus), and actress Bai Ling (Maximum Impact).
We’ll keep you updated on 14 Fists as more news arrives. Until then, be on the lookout for Ly in the soon-to-be-released Nightshootersand The Division.
Later this month, director Han Yan (Dream Breaker) will unleash Animal World, a new film loosely adapted from Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s manga, Ultimate Survivor, which was previously adapted into two successful films in Tokyo.
Animal World stars Li Yifeng (The Founding of an Army), Zhou Dongyu (The Thousand Faces of Dunjia) and the one, the only, Michael Douglas (Black Rain, Romancing the Stone).
Animal World stars Yifeng as an imaginative teenager who gets lured into a dangerous game of wits overseen by an icy arch-villain played by Douglas.
Animal World is getting a domestic release on June 29, 2018.
Updates: Netflix has acquired global digital rights to the title for all territories outside of China, according to industry sources with knowledge of the deal (via THR).
Director: Ding Sheng Cast: Wang Kai, Ma Tian-Yu, Darren Wang Ta-Lu, Yu Ai-Lei, Lam Suet, Wu Yue, Vivien Li Meng, Zhang Yi-Shang, Jiang Pei-Yao, Mario Li Mincheng, Ning Hao Running Time: 140 min.
By Paul Bramhall
If you ask any fan of Hong Kong cinema what their opinion is on remaking the 1986 John Woo classic, A Better Tomorrow, then the likely answer will be that it’s a bad idea. Woo’s seminal classic, popularly considered to be the title that kicked off the Heroic Bloodshed genre, was itself a remake of the 1967 melodrama Story of a Discharged Prisoner. However more so than the plot, what most remember A Better Tomorrow for is how Woo’s trademark style and balletic violence came to the fore for the first time. That didn’t stop Korea from trying though, and in 2010 director Song Hae-seong had a stab at a remake, which was met with a justifiably lacklustre reception.
In a logical world, Hae-seong’s misfire should have been enough to scare off anyone else attempting to remake A Better Tomorrow, but as Wu Jing has been telling us in his Wolf Warrior franchise, nobody tells China what to do. So it is, 2018 brings us a Mainland remake. The announcement was greeted by understandable scepticism from most, after all, making a Heroic Bloodshed movie under Mainland restrictions is a bit like expecting a steak in a vegan restaurant. For myself at least, when the announcement came that the remake was going to be helmed by Ding Sheng, I actually felt a glimmer of hope.
Sheng is an interesting director, with his 2015 crime thriller Saving Mr. Wu, being a stellar example of the genre. He’s also one of the few directors giving Jackie Chan a platform to act his age, with Little Big Soldier, Police Story 2013 (an early indicator of his penchant for adding the year of production to his titles), and Railroad Tigers being some of the best work the aging star has put out in the last 10 years. So in short, if any Mainland director could make a A Better Tomorrow remake work, my money would be on Sheng.
A Better Tomorrow 2018 takes a leaf out of Hae-seong’s remake (which took place in Busan) and also transfers proceedings to a bustling port city, this time to the wind battered shipyards of Sheng’s hometown Qingdao, in Shandong Province. It’s an aesthetically pleasing decision, with the Old Town area and its German architecture giving the latest incarnation a unique feel, complimented by frequent visits to the bright lights of Tokyo (which, much like Woo’s own recent Manhunt, allows for the Japanese to be the drug kingpins). Beyond the new setting though, A Better Tomorrow 2018 is an unfortunate train wreck, not only realising the worst fears of those who felt concerned about a Mainland remake, but frequently surpassing them.
Here the iconic gangster duo of Ti Lung and Chow Yun Fat are replaced by Railroad Tiger co-stars Wang Kai and Darren Wang, with Ma Tian-Yu barely registering in Leslie Cheung’s role as Kai’s cop brother. The plot is transferred largely intact, with Kai and Tian-Yu on opposite sides of the law while still sharing a mutual respect, until Kai’s actions lead to their dementia ridden father being murdered. Kai ends up in prison, while Wang seeks to get revenge on those responsible, and ends up a cripple. Upon his release, Tian-Yu wants nothing more to do with Kai, despite his insistence that he’s going straight. However when the gangster (Yu Ai-Lei, in the role Waise Lee originally played) who double crossed them re-enters the scene, now a celebrated mob boss, all three of our protagonists find themselves on a collision course with the past.
It could be argued that by sticking so closely to John Woo’s original, Sheng’s remake sticks out even more as a watered-down version of its source material (at least the Korean take put its own spin on the plot), but this is the least of its problems. Sheng ruthlessly insists on hammering our ears with A Better Tomorrow nostalgia at every opportunity, with Leslie Cheung’s famous theme song being overplayed to the point of absurdity. Depending on the scene, we get an electric guitar rendition of it, in another an acoustic version, then a lounge version, did I mention there’s also an orchestral version? When characters turn on the radio its playing, a scene on the street has buskers singing it, and the vinyl LP of it even makes an appearance. I was half expecting a scene to open with a beatbox version.
The self-referential winks reach a crescendo when, in the same bar that the LP shows up, Wang asks a customer why he’s chewing on a toothpick, to which the customer points at a framed picture of Chow Yun Fat from the original. It’s a face palm moment (and means Ti Lung is the only one of the original trio whose image doesn’t show up in the remake), although I admit it has some stiff competition from Masaharu Fukuyama’s line in Manhunt, when he declares “It’s almost time for a better tomorrow”. At least in Woo’s latest though his themes remain intact, whereas in A Better Tomorrow 2018 the constant references to brotherhood and loyalty seem forced and awkward, as if they’ve been shoehorned in out of obligation rather than being a natural part of the script.
In fact everything about A Better Tomorrow 2018 feels oddly tensionless. Characters suddenly point guns at each other seemingly to match a musical cue, and a scene which has Kai dare a yakuza to stick a toothpick in his eye was so overdramatically done it drew a laugh. When we’re not listening to a Leslie Cheung-variation, moments of supposed tension are introduced via inappropriately bass heavy electric guitar strumming, which became increasingly comical the more it happened. However the biggest crime that Sheng commits is the complete lack of commitment on display in the action scenes. They’re not only pedestrian, but put bluntly are plain bad in their lack of competent execution and excitement.
Like in Saving Mr. Wu, handheld cameras are utilized for the action, however unlike the documentary style approach of his best work, here the technique betrays the bombast of the story, and instead of adding to the realism such shots only serve to look cheap and digital. In particular, a boat chase early on involving the Chinese coast guard is so amateurish in its execution it feels embarrassing (where are the guys from Operation Red Sea when you need them?). The iconic revenge shootout doesn’t fare much better, which is surprisingly bloodless, and stupidly interrupted by an earthquake. The restrictions on screen violence hurt the worst here (no pun intended), as the constant cutaways, which only allow us to see the aftermath of a gunshot, almost make it feel like a montage rather than a chronologically flowing action scene.
I don’t like including spoilers in my reviews, so I’ll resist any mention of the finale, other than to say it contains a car chase through a CGI warehouse (it has to be seen to be believed), and Tian-Yu calling the police in the middle of the “shoot-out”. I wish I had something better to say about A Better Tomorrow 2018, but the whole thing feels so poorly judged that it’s difficult to do so. I do respect the fact that instead of trying to recreate Chow Yun Fat’s suave gangster, we get a character completely the opposite in Wang’s Taiwanese street punk, but his constant singing in every scene quickly overrode any goodwill. That summarises A Better Tomorrow 2018 quite well, in that whenever it threatens to become enjoyable, another annoyance will come along and quickly put paid to any glimmer of hope.
In one scene Kai and Tian-Yu’s father is talking to them from his hospital bed, but because of his dementia he mistakes them for his doctors rather than his sons, and begins to mumble about how he only wishes he could meet them to say sorry for the past. Instead of getting a lump in my throat though, it made me wish there was a way I could mistake A Better Tomorrow 2018 for a good movie, but by that point even a beatbox version of Leslie Cheung’s theme wouldn’t have helped. Featuring an abundance of seagull footage, a cameo by Eric Tsang even more worthless than his one in Kung Fu Yoga, and a bizarre closing scene dedication, if anything, sometimes its best if tomorrow never comes.
On November 21, 2018, audiences will be entering the stadium for Creed II, the upcoming sequel to Ryan Coogler’s 2015 Rocky spinoff, Creed. For Round 2, Steven Caple Jr. (The Land) takes over as director.
In the first film, Adonis (Michael B. Jordan of Fruitvale Station), the grandson of Apollo Creed (portrayed by Carl Weathers in the Rocky films) is mentored by Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) – now a retired fighter-turned-trainer who takes him under his wing.
In Creed II, newly crowned light-heavyweight champion Adonis faces off against Viktor Drago (played by Romanian boxer Florian Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago from Rocky IV. Stallone and Dolph Lundgren (Female Fight Squad) return as Rocky and Ivan, respectively.
Daniel Pinder has joined the cast of the independent supernatural movie Sarah with shooting starting in Los Angeles in late summer.
The film centers on a teen harboring a dark secret as she visits her relatives for the summer. The Sarah cast includes Academy Award nominee Virginia Madsen, The Florida Project star Valeria Cotto, D.B. Sweeney, Ava Allan, Spencer List, Youtube star Andy Schrock and Tallulah Evans. Pinder will portray the character Brett.
The Screenplay was written by Alexander Garcia, who will also be directing and producing under Multi-Valence productions alongside his producing partner Anne Stimac and Stuart Arbury.
Pinder’s credits include NBC’s Chicago PD, We Are Your Friends, and his upcoming films, Paved New World, Garrison 7: The Fallen and Skate God.
Pinder is repped by The Michael Abrams Group and Central Artists Agency.
“Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons” Japanese Theatrical Poster
Chinese superstar Stephen Chow is developing an animated version of The Monkey King for the Shanghai-based animation company Pearl Studio. It will feature a script penned by Ron Friedman and Steve Bencich, who cowrote Brother Bear and Chicken Little.
Monkey King is described by the Studio as “one of China’s most mythical, mystical and mischievous superheroes.”
“It’s one of China’s most enduringly popular heroes of all time. Every child in China grows up knowing the epic tale,” said studio chief creative officer Peilin Chou. “Stephen is the perfect creative partner to bring the character to the world. We know that he will bring all the comedy and scope that makes this adventure legend so special and translate The Monkey King into an enchanting and exciting global animated event.”
The story of the Monkey King from the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West is of course not new to Chow. He previously played the character in A Chinese Odyssey 1 and 2, directed Journey to the West and produced the Tsui Hark-directed Journey to the West 2: The Demons Strike Back.
In Michio Yamamoto’s Bloodthirsty Trilogy, The Vampire Doll was like a fever dream of a vampire movie and Lake of Dracula was a social anxiety thriller disguised as a vampire movie, so where could the director go for the final film? Well, back to school of course! Evil of Dracula, the third and final Bloodthirsty film, replaces the spooky house with a spooky girl’s college and unleashes vampires on a staff of teachers and a bunch of young women with poorly buttoned blouses. If this sounds a tad campier than the first two films, that’s because it definitely is.
Professor Shiraki (Lady Snowblood’s Toshio Kurosawa) takes a train to the countryside for his new gig as a teacher of psychology at an all girl’s school. He’s young, he’s handsome, he has a shaggy Sonny Chiba hairstyle, and all the girls basically start falling in love with him the moment he steps through the door. His first night there, Shiraki is drawn from his room by the sound of singing, and is subsequently attacked by a vampire lady. He wakes up the next day, certain that it was only a dream. But a dream is never really just a dream in these movies. Shiraki’s in for another surprise when the school principal (Shin Kishida) announces that he plans for Shiraki to take over as principal of the school. Something’s just not right about this place. And when most the girls—with the exception of three who stay behind—go home on school break, Professor Shiraki makes it his mission to get to the bottom of things.
While most movies with this setup would have the kids learn of vampires and try to tell their disbelieving (and potentially evil) teachers, Evil of Dracula flips that on its head. Here it’s the adults who are quick to believe the notion of vampires hidden among us, whereas the students generally see a vampire bite victim as someone with a bad case of the flu. The school’s doctor (Cops vs Thugs’ Kunie Tanaka) takes Shiraki on a mystery tour around town, telling him the story of the principal’s dead wife and also about the Christian missionary who became a vampire before being buried here 200 years ago. Strangely, the town doesn’t pick up its trash and nobody seems at all bothered by this. The car wreck that claimed the principal’s wife still sits on the side of the road and the coffin which previously held the vampire Christian is left unburied in the old cemetery. When Shiraki opens the coffin and expresses surprise that it’s empty it’s like well no shit it’s empty, it’s been left rotting in the grass for 200 years and Kunie Tanaka probably takes every out-of-towner he meets to come look at it, dude.
Shin Kishida is back playing the vampire in a white scarf previously seen in Lake of Dracula. There appears to be no connection between the two movies beyond him playing a similar vampire, though, and no mention is made of the events of the previous film. Though the vampires have more of a villainous plot this time around, they come across as less threatening than before. Yamamoto doesn’t set up the scenes with slow reveals of fangs and danger. From the first act onward, the vampires are an accepted presence in the film’s world and when they multiply it’s no real surprise. Perhaps it’s also about the way they attack their victims. Yes, there’s biting, but more often the vampires just push people around in a back-and-forth shoving match while rolling around in leaves and set furniture. Also, regarding the biting, the vampires curiously miss the throats of their female victims and accidentally bite them on the bosoms instead. There is considerably more nipple action in the third film of the trilogy.
Compared to the first two Bloodthirsty films, Evil of Dracula seems to have spent more getting a cast of recognizable faces in front of the cameras. Toshio Kurosawa makes for a likable intellectual hero and I enjoyed Kunie Tanaka’s supporting role. The relatively unknown actresses playing the students are fine but their parts are so interchangeable and unmemorable that it’s difficult to keep the characters straight, let alone care about them. Shin Kishida gives another spirited performance as the vampire principal. Toho regulars Yunosuke Ito (Sanjuro) and Katsuhiko Sasaki (Terror of Mechagodzilla) provide strong work in supporting roles.
There’s something halfhearted about the final film of The Bloodthirsty Trilogy compared to the genre creativity seen in the first two movies. All the same, it is a fun, campy time. There is one shocking scene towards the end – these films tend to keep their most extreme stuff for the final act – that is super surreal and disturbing, involving some very bloody surgery. One wishes the entire movie had been so willing to shock and disturb.
The Bloodthirsty Trilogy is a trio of films that, as a longtime fan of Toho’s science fiction and fantasy movies, I have always wanted to see. And now after watching them all, I can say I don’t consider any one of the movies to be a disappointment. In fact, for as much as they are touted as Hammer-inspired horror, I really think they manage to escape the Hammer shadow and stand on their own as a trio of interesting, weird movies. One wishes that Michio Yamamoto had directed more films in his life, if these three are any indication of his talents. For Toho and Japanese cinema at large, the trilogy exists more as an oddity today, but it is definitely an entertaining oddity. The new Blu-rays from Arrow present the films with more care than I frankly ever expected to see in the West. Included on the disc is a new appreciation from author Kim Newman. Also included is a roughly 25-page booklet with writing by Jasper Sharp. Evil of Dracula is easily my least favorite of the trilogy, but I still enjoyed it and would definitely recommend the trilogy to curious viewers.
Hong Kong star Ekin Chen (The Storm Riders, Full Strike, Tokyo Raiders) is back in CGI territory with Legends of the Three Kingdoms, an upcoming action fantasy from director Lv Kejing.
So what can you expect from the film’s plot? Watch the New Trailer below and see for yourself. We’re wondering if the film was actually produced in 1999…
Legends of the Three Kingdoms hits domestically later this year.
On July 10, 2018, Milestone Films will be releasing the Blu-ray & DVD for Hirokazu Koreeda’s 1995 film Maborosi, starring Takashi Naito (Samurai Pirates), Tadanobu Asano (Away with Words), Akira Emoto (Shin Godzilla), Mutsuko Sakura (Tokyo Story), and Minori Terada (Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo). Check out the official details below:
One of the finest films of Japanese cinema, Hirokazu Koreeda’s first feature film Maborosi is a story of love, loss, and ultimately, regeneration.
Haunted by the mysterious loss of her grandmother many years ago, a beautiful young mother (Yumiko, played by Makiko Esumi) struggles to come to terms with the sudden loss of her husband. Yumiko remarries and with her young son moves to her new husband’s home in a remote village on the wild, untamed Sea of Japan. There, she is haunted by the past, but with time and the natural wonders around her, she awakens to find love, understanding, and a sense of peace.
Perhaps the finest Japanese director working today, Koreeda has gone on to create such masterpieces as After Life, Nobody Knows and Still Walking. His feature films reflect back on his beginnings in documentary with a regard to truth and a incredibly humane sense of his characters’ strength and fallibilities.
Working with almost entirely natural lighting, Koreeda’s remarkable and elegent camerawork makes Maborosi one of the most striking visual works in cinema.
Special Features/Specs:
Audio Commentary by Linda Ehrlich, independent film scholar and Associate Professor Emerita from Case Western Reserve University with special thanks to Yuki Togawa Gergotz
Birthplace – a video documentary with actress Makiko Esumi
NEW! English subtitles by Linda Hoaglund with Judith Aley, and the assistance of Linda Ehrlich
On June 22, EJ Entertainment will be releasing E.oni’s The Accidental Detective 2: In Action, a South Korean Action Comedy, to theaters in the U.S. and Canada on June 22. Check out the official details below:
A comic book storekeeper, Dae-man (Kwon Sang-woo of Chinese Zodiac), and the legendary homicide detective, Tae-su (Sung Dong-il of RV: Resurrected Victims), who met on a previous case quit their jobs to open the very first private detective agency in Korea. Despite their high hopes, they soon find themselves with only trivial cases such as spouse infidelity, unpaid debt, and missing cats. Then one day, a woman walks into the office, wanting to find the truth behind the death of her fiancé. Not only that, she also offers them a handsome reward of 50,000 dollars. Dae-man and Tae-su see it as an opportunity to put their true detective skills to work. They bring onboard a third member, Hopper (Lee Kwang-soo of Confession), a Mensa genius and a small-time online private eye, and together they launch a full-fledged investigation on the case. As they dig into what initially appeared to be a straightforward case, disturbing new evidence turns up.
On September 25, 2018, MVD Rewind will be releasing a Special Edition Blu-ray for Angel Town(read our review), the 1990 feature debut of French World Kickboxing Champion Olivier Gruner (Nemesis, Showdown in Manila).
Trouble is the rule in Angel Town, the heart of Los Angeles, where once peaceful streets surrounding a major university have become a cauldron of urban chaos and fear. Gang fights by day – full scale war by night. No one is safe, not even the police. When Jacques Montaine (Gruner), an exchange student and champion kickboxer, tries to protect an innocent family from whom he rents a room, he becomes a target of the psychotic gang leader…
Directed by cult action filmmaker Eric Karson (Black Eagle, The Octagon), Angel Town also stars Peter Kwong (Big Trouble in Little China) and Theresa Saldana (Raging Bull).
Blu-ray Details:
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the main feature
Original 2.0 Uncompressed PCM Stereo Audio
Audio Commentary from Director Eric Karson
NEW 2018 Interview with Director / Producer Eric Karson
NEW 2018 Interview with Frank Aragon (“Martin”)
NEW 2018 Interview with Cinematographer John LeBlanc
Archival “Making of Featurette
Archival Interview with Director Eric Karson
Archival Interview with star Olivier Gruner (“Jacques”)
Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji | Blu-ray (Arrow Video)
RELEASE DATE: September 4, 2018
On September 4, 2018, Arrow Video/Arrow Academy will be releasing the Special Edition Blu-ray for Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji, from acclaimed director Tomu Uchida (A Fugitive From the Past). Read on for the official release details below:
Praised by Japanese film critics and much admired by his contemporaries Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu, Tomu Uchida nonetheless remains a little-known in the west. His 1955 masterpiece Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is an excellent entry point for the newcomer.
Set during the Edo period, Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is a tragicomic road movie of sorts, following a samurai, his two servants including spear-carrier Genpachi (Chiezo Kataoka) and the various people they meet on their journey, including a policeman in pursuit of a thief, a young child and a woman who is to be sold into prostitution.
Winner of a prestigious Blue Ribbon Award for supporting actor and Kurosawa regular Daisuke Kato, Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is a film deserving of much wider international recognition.
Special Edition Contents:
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original uncompressed mono audio
Optional newly translated English subtitles
Brand-new audio commentary by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp, recorded exclusively for this release
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Corey Brickley
First Pressing Only: Illustrated collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic and filmmaker James Oliver
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