Shogun’s Samurai | Blu-ray (Discotek Media)

Shogun’s Samurai | Blu-ray (Discotek Media)

Shogun’s Samurai | Blu-ray (Discotek Media)

RELEASE DATE: September 27, 2022

On September 27, 2022, Discotek Media is releasing a Blu-ray for Shogun’s Samurai (aka Yagyu Clan Conspiracy or Intrigue of the Yagyu Clan), a 1978 film from Kinji Fukasaku (The Green Slime, Battle Royal).

The film stars Yorozuya Kinnosuke (Lone Wolf and Cub), Sonny Chiba (Fighting Fist) and Hiroki Matsukata (Cops vs. Thugs).

Read the details:

Following the death of the second Tokugawa shogun, it is revealed that he was poisoned by retainers of his son Iemitsu in hopes of gaining him the shogunate despite the stammer and birthmark which undermine his respect. Iemitsu and his brother Continue reading

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Martial Arts Titles, News |

Roundup, The | aka The Outlaws II (2022) Review

"The Roundup" Theatrical Poster

“The Roundup” Theatrical Poster

Director: Lee Sang-yong
Cast: Ma Dong-Seok, Son Suk-Ku, Choi Gwi-Hwa, Park Ji-Hwan, Heo Dong-Won, Ha-Joon, Jeong Jae-Kwang, Eum Moon-Suk, Nam Moon-Chul, Park Ji-Young
Running Time: 106 min.

By Paul Bramhall 

Burly Korean actor Ma Dong-seok’s popularity skyrocketed after his supporting turn as a zombie bashing protective husband in 2016’s Train to Busan, leading to him featuring in a whopping 13 productions from 2017 – 2019, over half of which he was the star. While many hoped (myself included) to see a combination of Korea’s love for violent and gritty gangster flicks combined with Dong-seok’s powerful physical presence, it turned out not to be a given, with Dong-seok’s own admittance that he’s not really a fan of overly violent cinema. So while movies like Unstoppable, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, and Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos may have all been perfectly serviceable, there was always the nagging thought of how much more entertaining they’d be if Dong-seok really got to let loose. 

Thankfully in 2017 director Kang Yoon-sung got the balance just right with The Outlaws, casting Dong-seok as a roguish detective in a story based on the real life Heuksapa Incident from 2007 (although The Outlaws is notably set in 2004), in which axe wielding Chinese-Korean gangsters went on the rampage throughout the Garibong area of Seoul. Dong-seok’s character played to all of his strengths – his obvious physical power, a gift for comic timing, and a quietly affecting charm underneath all of the machismo. In a period that arguably risked Dong-seok becoming overexposed, The Outlaws easily stands out as his best movie, and after a couple of years out of the spotlight (save of course, for his Hollywood debut in Marvel’s The Eternals) it’s appropriate that his return Continue reading

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Deal on Fire! World of Wong Kar Wai Collection | Blu-ray | Only $99.89 – Expires soon!

World of Wong Kar Wai | Blu-ray (Criterion)

World of Wong Kar Wai | Blu-ray (Criterion)

Today’s Deal on Fire is for Criterion Collection’s 7-film collection World of Wong Kar Wai, which includes the New 4K Restorations of As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love and 2046 – all approved by director Wong Kar Wai.

Read on for the the full official details:

With his lush and sensual visuals, pitch-perfect soundtracks, and soulful romanticism, Wong Kar Wai has established himself as one of the defining auteurs of contemporary cinema. Joined by such key collaborators as cinematographer Christopher Doyle; editor and production and costume designer William Chang Suk Ping; and actors Tony Leung Chiu Wai Continue reading

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Righting Wrongs | Blu-ray (Vinegar Syndrome)

Righting Wrongs | Blu-ray (Vinegar Syndrome)

Righting Wrongs | Blu-ray (Vinegar Syndrome)

RELEASE DATE: July 26, 2022

On July 26, 2022, Vinegar Syndrome is releasing a Blu-ray (Region A) for Righting Wrongs (aka Above the Law), a 1986 Hong Kong film directed by Corey Yuen (No Retreat, No Surrender II) and starring Yuen Biao (Circus Kids) and Cynthia Rothrock (Shanghai Express).

Note: 88 Films is also releasing a Deluxe Limited Collector’s Edition Blu-ray (Region B) in September 26, 2022.

The film also stars Melvin Wong (Run and Kill), Wu Ma (Showdown at the Cotton Mill), Fan Siu Wong (Attrition), James Tien (The Tattooed Dragon), Karen Sheperd (The Shinobi Ninja), Roy Chiao (The Protector) and Peter Cunningham (No Retreat, No Surrender).

Yuen Biao is a prosecutor Continue reading

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Martial Arts Titles, News |

Andy Lau re-teams with ‘Chasing the Dragon’ filmmaker for ‘Sneak’ co-starring Eddie Peng, Simon Yam and Gordon Lam

"Chasing the Dragon" Teaser Poster

“Chasing the Dragon” Teaser Poster

Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau (The White Storm 2: Drug Lords) is re-teaming with director Jason Kwan (A Nail Clipper Romance) for Sneak, an upcoming crime thriller that tells the story of an undercover cop who gets wrapped up with a high-tech narcotics crime ring in Hong Kong.

Kwan is perhaps best-known for co-directing 2017’s Chasing the Dragon, as well as its 2019 “unconnected” follow up, Chasing the Dragon II: Wild Wild Bunch, with legendary Hong Kong director, Wong Jing (The Saint of Gamblers).

Sneak also stars Eddie Peng (Hidden Man), Simon Yam (Black Cat), Gordon Lam Ka Tung (Hand Rolled Cigarette), Kent Cheng (Ip Man 4: The Finale), and features action by noted Hong Kong heavies, Dion Lam (League of Gods) and Continue reading

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5 Great Games Adapted into Movies

Movies and games are an enormous part of popular culture, so it makes sense that games have made their way onto the big screen – and vice versa. There have been tremendous successes and a couple of unadmirable flops, but what do you expect when you’re turning mindless FPS games into movies (Doom)? With this in mind, we dive into five great games adapted into movies. 

Poker

Okay, so poker itself hasn’t been turned into a movie – although it would make for a fun animated movie similar to Sausage Party. However, there are plenty of movies entirely based around poker, with our favorite being Molly’s Game. The film is based on Molly Bloom, who was an Olympic skier turned high-stakes poker game runner who quickly became an FBI person of interest. If you haven’t watched it already, you should put it on your list. You can get in the mood for the game by practicing your poker face – Gamble Online will tell you where you can play the world’s favorite card game safely. 

Tomb Raider

Your favorite rock climbing, villain fighting, and treasure hunting protagonist, Lara Croft, is the reason for Tomb Rader’s enormous commercial success. The game was first released on PlayStation back in 1996, and only five years later, Angelina Jolie brought Croft to life on the big screen, which was a raging success. The Tomb Raider reboot turned Alicia Vikander into Lara Croft in 2018. A sequel is in the works, but significant delays mean it won’t be arriving anytime soon.  

Doom

Doom is a fantastic game franchise that involves mindlessly shooting hordes of aliens. In 2005, Doom was turned into a movie with a budget of $65 million. Unfortunately, the film bombed hard at the box office and couldn’t even make a profit, which is disappointing despite the involvement of Karl Urban and Dwayne Johnson. 

Sonic The Hedgehog

Whether you enjoy gaming or not, there’s no denying that Sonic the Hedgehog is a huge hit. The game franchise is enormous, with a staggering estimate of 90 games of speedy fun. In February 2020, after a series of meme-spawning design flaws, live-action Sonic raced onto the big screen for the first time in history. If you enjoyed the first movie and you’re ready for more, you will be happy to know that Sonic 2 is due to release on 1st April 2022, and he’s bringing Tails and Knuckles along for the ride. 

Mortal Kombat

No game-to-movie list would be complete without Mortal Kombat, which was first turned into a move back in 1995. Unfortunately, the movies weren’t that great despite the commissioning of a second movie. Fortunately, after years of licensing-related trauma, the franchise was rebooted, and the first new movie released in 2021 – a must-see for fans of Scorpion and Sub-Zero.

Games have been turning into movies for around 30 years, and there are no signs of it slowing down, with Uncharted just around the corner. Whether you enjoy gaming or not, you should make sure you put most of these titles into your watchlist. 

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Paramount and Stallone’s Balboa Productions are developing a U.S. remake of ‘The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil’ with Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee) reprising his role from the original

"The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil" Theatrical Poster

“The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil” Theatrical Poster

Paramount Pictures is developing a U.S. remake of the 2019 South Korean crime thriller The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (read our review), with original star Ma Dong-seok, aka Don Lee (Derailed, Unstoppable), reprising his lead role from the original film, which was directed by Lee Won-Tae (Man of Will).

The original film centered around a crime boss Jang Dong-su (Lee), who – after having barely surviving an attack by an elusive serial killer – finds himself forming an unlikely partnership with local detective Jung Tae-seok (Kim Moo Yul, Illang: The Wolf Brigade) to catch a sadistic killer.

Lee, whose acting credits also include Disney/Marvel’s Eternals and Korean blockbusters Train to Busan and The Roundup, is also producing under his U.S banner Gorilla 8 Productions; and alongside Chris Continue reading

Posted in News |

Sadness, The (2021) Review

"The Sadness" Theatrical Poster

“The Sadness” Theatrical Poster

Director: Rob Jabbaz
Cast: Berant Zhu, Regina Lei, Tzu-Chiang Wang, Emerson Tsai, Wei-Hua Lan, Ralf Chiu, Ying-Ru Chen
Running Time: 99 min.

By Paul Bramhall 

Taiwan may not be the first country that you think of when discussing the zombie genre, but it has thrown its hat into the ring a couple of times in recent years. In 2012 director Joe Chien made his debut with Zombie 108, a low budget affair that saw Taipei overrun by a zombie outbreak, and in 2020’s Get the Hell Out director Wang I-Fan has the countries parliament turned into a pack of rabid zombies for a dose of blood-soaked political satire. Following hot on the heels of the latter is 2021’s The Sadness, although interestingly its not a Taiwanese director at the helm, but Canadian filmmaker Rob Jabbaz, a creator of animated shorts who’s been living and working in Taiwan for the past 10 years.

Born out of commercial opportunity, the production company Jabbaz works at as a scriptwriter for hire saw a gap in the market. With the COVID-19 pandemic putting most countries film industries on ice in 2020, Taiwan had things remarkably under control at the time, so the decision was made to make a horror movie, partly based on the fact that by default, the lack of competition should see it get plenty of attention. While initially reluctant to pen the zombie genre piece that had been requested, Jabbaz took inspiration from the Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows created comic book series Crossed, which ran from 2008 – 2010. Essentially a spin on the zombie genre, the story for Crossed involved a pandemic that causes its victims to carry out their most evil thoughts, and proved Continue reading

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Tomu Uchida’s 1965 Japanese thriller ‘A Fugitive from the Past’ coming to Blu-ray from Arrow

A Fugitive from the Past | Blu-ray (Arrow)

A Fugitive from the Past | Blu-ray (Arrow)

On September 25, 2022, Arrow is releasing the Blu-ray (Region A) for A Fugitive from the Past, a classic 1965 Japanese thriller from Tomu Uchida (Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji, The Mad Fox).

Read the official details:

Considered the magnum opus of the five decades-long career of Tomu Uchida, the epic crime drama A Fugitive from the Past was voted third in the prestigious Kinema Junpo magazine’s 1999 poll of the Top Japanese Films of the 20th Century.

In 1947, a freak typhoon sends a passenger ferry running between Hokkaido and mainland Japan plunging to the ocean depths, with hundreds Continue reading

Posted in News |

Deal on Fire! Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits | Only $61.47 – Expires soon!

Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits | Blu-ray (Criterion)

Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits | Blu-ray (Criterion)

Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Criterion Collection’s Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits, a 7-disc set that includes The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon and Game of Death, plus a load of New and previously released features.

Read the official details below:

In the early 1970s, a kung fu dynamo named Bruce Lee side-kicked his way onto the screen and straight into pop-culture immortality. With his magnetic screen presence, tightly coiled intensity, and superhuman martial-arts prowess, Lee was an icon who conquered both Hong Kong and Hollywood cinema, and transformed the art of the action film in the process. This collection brings together the five films that define the Lee legend: furiously exciting fist-fliers propelled by his innovative choreography, unique martial-arts philosophy, and whirlwind Continue reading

Posted in Deals on Fire!, News |

How to Vet Someone if You’re Considering Dating Them

In years past, you might meet someone at school and start dating them. Perhaps you’d meet them in high school and eventually marry them. Maybe you’d meet in college and stay with that person after you both graduated.

You might meet someone if a friend set you up with them, or maybe you’d encounter someone at your job who you found attractive. You could meet someone at a bar or a party.

You can still start a relationship with someone in one of these ways, but now, dating apps and websites are all the rage. You might sign up for one of them and match with a person. After chatting with them for a while, you’ll decide you want to meet in person.

Before you do, you might want to try a free person search. You can also do one if you’ve dated a person for a while but want to learn more about them.

Why Should You Vet a Person You’re Dating?

You might feel like you’re paranoid if you check up on a person before you date them or after you have gone out with them a few times. It’s never a bad idea to learn more about a person before you trust them, though.

An information.com free person search can help you if you want to learn more about someone before you date them or once you’ve hung out with them once or twice. All you’ll need to do is type in their first and last name, plus any additional information you can find out about them.

If you don’t bother learning about a person, you won’t know if they have anything in their background that suggests you should watch out for them. For instance, maybe you’ll find out they went to jail for fraud. If you’re a wealthy individual, you might suspect that this person wants to get close to you because they know you have money, a nice home, cars, etc.

What Else Can You Find Out When You Vet Someone?

You can learn that the person you’re dating has a family already. Maybe they married someone years ago, and they’re still together. If so, this individual might want to use you for sex, but they don’t intend to have a serious romantic relationship with you.

You may discover that they lied about graduating from a particular college. Maybe they said it to seem smarter or more worldly. You should know that this person lied to you because if they misrepresented themselves about one thing, they might do it in other areas as well.

You might find out that this person has an extensive criminal record. They may be on the sex offender registry. If they abused children in the past, and you have kids of your own, maybe they’re dating you to try to get close to them.

You may find out this person spent time in jail for killing someone. Maybe they have several drunk driving arrests on their record, and you find that information troubling. There’s no limit to what you may discover if you do a simple person search before allowing yourself to develop deeper feelings for this individual.

What Should You Do After the Person Search?

Once you’ve conducted the free person search and looked at the results, you can decide what to do based on what you find. If you learn there’s nothing troubling about this individual, then presumably, you can continue dating them if you feel there’s a spark. If you find out something you don’t like, but you don’t feel like it’s bad enough to simply cut the person off with no preamble, you might give them a chance to explain themselves.

They might ask why you conducted the person search, but you don’t have to get defensive about that. Just about anyone reasonable would understand why you did it. You’re trying to keep anyone toxic from entering your life, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

If the person speaks frankly about what you found, and the explanation satisfies you, you’re probably fine to keep dating them to see if you’re compatible. If you feel like you can’t get past what you learned, even after this person’s explanation, you might terminate the relationship right there.

You should be with someone who doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable or afraid. You can find out whether the new person in your life fits those qualifications when you do a free person search.

Posted in News |

Broker (2022) Review

"Broker" Theatrical Poster

“Broker” Theatrical Poster

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda 
Cast: Song Kang-ho, Gang Dong-won, Bae Doona, Lee Ji-eun, Lee Joo-young, Park Ji-yong, Im Seung-soo, Kang Gil-woo, Lee Moo-saeng, Ryu Kyung-soo
Running Time: 129 min. 

By Paul Bramhall 

There are those filmmakers out there whose cinematic identity feels distinctly attached to the country that they hail from. Akira Kurosawa will always be associated with Japanese cinema much the same way Jean Luc-Godard will always be associated with French cinema. So it’s always interesting when we see such filmmakers venture further afield. In the Asian film industry, such ventures tend to inevitably involve an excursion into Hollywood, whether it be Wong Kar-Wai’s My Blueberry Nights from 2007, or Park Chan-wook’s Stoker from 2013.

What makes Broker unique in this world of cross-cultural pollination, is that it sees a Japanese director at the helm of a Korean production. While there have been examples of Japanese and Korean collaboration before in recent years, 2016’s Colonel Panics springs to mind directed by Cho Jin-seok with an all-Japanese cast, it remains a rare occurrence. Here it’s Hirokazu Kore-eda (The Third Murder, Still Walking) in the director’s chair, an auteur already firmly established as a master of meditative family themed dramas in his homeland, and still hot off walking away with the Palm D’Or prize at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival for Shoplifters. Interestingly Broker isn’t the first time for Kore-eda to venture outside of Japanese language cinema following Continue reading

Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged , , |

Universal’s ‘Green Hornet and Kato’ reboot to be helmed by ‘The Invisible Man’ and ‘Upgrade’ director Leigh Whannell?

"The Green Hornet" Japanese Poster

“The Green Hornet” Japanese Poster

The Green Hornet and Kato will once again be buzzin’ and kickin’ in an entirely new Green Hornet movie that’s currently in high pre-production stage from Universal Pictures.

Leigh Whannell, who is perhaps best-known for 2018’s Upgrade and 2020’s The Invisible Man, is in negotiations to direct off a script by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible). The upcoming film is being produced by Amasia’s Michael Helfant (The Road Within) and Bradley Gallo (Them That Follow).

“Our goal is to make a film that existing fans will love, and new fans will love to discover. With Universal, it feels like we are merging the past and the future, creating a contemporary version of the franchise that is fresh and exciting while respecting its long legacy Continue reading

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‘Mandalorian’ star Gina Carano is back with the ‘Straw Dogs’-like Western thriller ‘Terror on the Prairie’

"Terror on the Prairie" Poster

“Terror on the Prairie” Poster

Michael Polish, director of Mel Gibson’s 2020 thriller Force of Nature, has teamed up with yet another controversial star for an upcoming Western titled Terror on the Prairie, which will be led by MMA star-turned actress, Gina Carano (Blood and Bone, Kickboxer: Vengeance).

The film is about a pioneering family that fights back against a gang of vicious outlaws that is terrorizing them on their newly built farm on the plains of Montana (via Deadline). Judging from this plot, we’re getting some strong Straw Dogs-vibes.

Co-stars include MMA star Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone (Spenser Confidential), comedian Tyler Fischer (StartUp), Heath Freeman (Skateland) and Samaire Armstrong (The O.C.), Travis Mills (Counting Bullets) and cult action Continue reading

Posted in News |

Cruel Gun Story (1964) Review

"Cruel Gun Story" Theatrical Poster

“Cruel Gun Story” Theatrical Poster

Director: Takumi Furukawa
Cast: Jo Shishido, Chieko Matsubara, Tamio Kawaji, Shobun Inoue, Yuji Odaka, Minako Kazuki, Hiroshi Nihonyanagi, Hiroshi Kondo, Saburo Hiromatsu
Running Time: 87 min.

By Henry McKeand

In the 1960s, the Japanese studio Nikkatsu made a string of hard-edged crime thrillers that became known as “borderless action” films. They received this distinction because they borrowed from international influences, combining classic American noir and French New Wave gangster cool with elements of Japan’s own chambara samurai films to create an incendiary new subgenre. 

There’s a cold, uncaring cruelty in the Japanese crime cinema of the time that sometimes borders on sadistic. In a way, it was a sister movement to the then-burgeoning spaghetti western revolution taking place in Italy, and it was a precursor to the Italian Poliziotteschi films of the 70s. American noir could be vicious, sure, but it rarely reached the bloody heights of Nikkatsu’s 60s output. In fact, movies such as A Colt Is My Passport have more in common with the most nihilistic and hard-boiled American crime literature; it’s easy to imagine Jim Thompson and Donald Westlake getting a kick out of Joe Shishido’s countless son-of-a-bitch protagonists. Classic samurai films are talked about more today, but borderless action directors such as Takashi Nomura and Seijun Suzuki Continue reading

Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews | Tagged , |