BACKMASK Review: A Terrifying, Devilishly-Tuned Proof Of Concept
BACKMASK is written and directed by Fitch/Baker stars David Shields and Charlie Rix.
Reviews
JFF Theater: MY BROKEN MARIKO Review: The Everlasting Bond of True Friendship.
Shiino is a sullen office worker exploited by her boss, who discovers through the news that her best friend, Mariko, has just committed suicide. After the initial shock, Shiino decides to steal her friend’s ashes from her abusive father, to embark on a journey with her and discover the reasons behind her death. Based on the manga of the same name written by Waka Hirako, My broken Mariko is an emotional story of friendship in the form of road movie, which delves into the complicated intricacies of the human psyche, showing the strong bond of friendship between the two main characters through multiple flashbacks, which lead us through the unstable fractures in Mariko‘s soul, after a life of suffering, towards that fatal outcome that not even the strong bond of friendship that united her to Shiiro could avoid. “My Broken Mariko” ends up being a moving story to which its […]
Streaming Sleepers: In FACELESS, True Justice Hangs In The Balance
Michihito Fujii’s new crime thriller, FACELESS, is now streaming on Netflix.
CREATION OF THE GODS II: DEMON FORCE Review: Wuershan’s Propulsive Franchise Continuation
CREATION OF THE GODS 2: DEMON FORCE is now playing in theaters and IMAX!
A LEGEND Review: Jackie Chan’s Long-Awaited Sequel Is The Equivalent Of Lukewarm Coffee
A LEGEND is now available on Digital, Blu-Ray and DVD from Well Go USA
JFF Theater: KIMBA, THE WHITE LION Review: The Tezuka´s classic that inspired The Lion King
The Japanese foundation continues spreading Japanese culture on their free streaming platform, offering from February, 1 until May, 1, a wide variety of films that comes from intimate dramas such as “My Broken Mariko” or “I am what am”, to stories with gluttony as their central axis, such as “The God of Ramen” or “School´s meals time of graduation” or delicious tales as “Bread of happiness” to funny comedies as “Project Dreams- How to build Mazinger Z´s hangar“, this month including animes such as Ozamu Tezuka´s classic, “Jungle Emperor Lion aka Kimba, the white Lion.” The movie I will comment on in this review The success of Osamu Tezuka‘s manga and its subsequent animated adaptation for television led to Kimba making the leap to the big screen in Japanese cinemas with this adventure that is basically a montage in the form of a 70-minute feature film of the television series. […]
Streaming Sleepers: In AD VITAM, Guillaume Canet Thrills As An Ex-Cop On The Edge!
Guillaume Canet, Stéphane Caillard, and Nassim Lyes star in the Netflix action thriller about an ex-cop framed for a crime he didn’t commit.
I, THE EXECUTIONER (1968) Review: Tai Kato’s Unrelenting Profile Of A Murderer
I, The Executioner comes to VOD, Digital, and Film Movement Plus on January 31. TW: This movie review discusses sexual assault and battery. This is all in my head at the moment, but I’m really curious as to the influence of classic Japanese films on a certain Korean filmmaker favorite of mine whose latest completed film I’m yet to capture. For now though, I’m happy to continue my own growth in that direction as I get to examine a little bit of the post-war cinematic work of Tai Kato these days. This time, it’s I, The Executioner, also known as Requiem For A Massacre depending on the marketing. Chalk this one up as another masterpiece by one of the most revered filmmakers of his time – and ours – gathering a cast of characters who are as complex as they are compelling in their deconstruction. That’s really what pulls you […]
Streaming Sleepers: In DON’T MESS WITH GRANDMA, Michael Jai White Saves The Day By Sunset!
DON’T MESS WITH GRANDMA stars Michael Jai White and Billy Zane, and is directed by Jason Krawczyk
BY A MAN’S FACE SHALL YOU KNOW HIM (1966) Review: A Gangster’s Tale Of Unwavering Resolve
By A Man’s Face Shall You Know Him comes to VOD, Digital, and Film Movement Plus on January 31. Late filmmaker Tai Kato is the latest centerpiece of Film Movement Classics’ VOD and digital releases for the first month of 2024. First up among a pair of titles forthcoming is By A Man’s Face Shall You Know Him, Kato’s 1966 crime drama starring Noboru Ando as a post-WWII medic-turned-doctor who reflects on his life of turmoil, heartache, and violence when an old friend is admitted as his patient. Fans of Showa-era productions like these might be more than familiar with Kato’s work, or even that of Ando or the actor’s own history as a former gangster in his heyday. The same can likely be stated with respect to the distinguishable scar Ando bares on his left cheek, which certainly makes Ando’s performance here an inspired one, it not enhanced. Optically, […]
RUNNING ON KARMA (2003) Eureka Blu-Ray Review: A Myriad Of Bewildering Excellence
Eureka Entertainment’s Running On Karma arrives on Blu-Ray on January 28. Order it today at the MVD Shop. Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai’s Running On Karma hit me differently twenty years ago, so I wasn’t too keen on it. Nowadays my mind is more open to different types of films in the field I cover, and I’ve come to realize that it’s a film that holds a little something for several kinds of audiences. Andy Lau wears an albeit convincing muscle suit in his second role after donning a similar suit for a portly character in Love On A Diet, a 2001 rom-com from the same directing duo. The muscular build for the role Lau plays this time around takes a life on its own as an aspect to the inherently transformative nature of the story To and Wai proffer to viewers. The long and short? Lau stars along with […]
DEAD BEFORE THEY WAKE Review: Nathan Shepka Infiltrates Evil Sex Traffickers In A Near-Lifeless Crime Drama
Dead Before They Wake is now available on Digital Download I’ve come across the work of director Nathan Shepka prior to this year but his latest, Dead Before They Wake is my first real dive into his work. Shepka stars in the film which he also shares co-directing duties with Andy Crane, from a script Shepka wrote as well as produced under his own banner. The film is much ado with the kind of real world-driven storytelling in which human and sex trafficking is the underpinning that propels the story forward. Shepka plays Alex, a nightclub bouncer who is also known for doing favors for the right price, and people. Evan (Sylvester McCoy) is one such individual who approaches Alex one evening with a job offer: To search for a missing 14 year-old girl who is believed to have been enveloped into the city’s labyrinthine underworld of child sex trafficking. […]
THE DEVIL AND THE DAYLONG BROTHERS Review: A Revenge-Fueled Southern Gothic Fable That Hits All The Right Notes
The Devil and The Daylong Brothers opens in North American January 31, 2025 from Quiver Distribution. Brandon McCormick’s new film, The Devil And The Daylong Brothers, took me by surprise. It’s definitely one of those films I blindly went into a little bit, save for what I got from the trailer released last month from Quiver Distribution, and I can gladly assert how pleased I am from this latest watch. A Biblical dark fantasy fable in the American South lands us in the throes of three brothers, Ishmael (Brendan Bradley), Enoch (Nican Robinson), and Abraham (Jordan Bolden), sworn to damnation in the years since their father, Nehemiah (Keith Carradine), made a deal with the devil. In an effort to redeem their own souls, the Daylongs are contracted to kill their own extensive list of the Damned, traveling via their loyal Grace (a 1958 Chrysler Imperial), and leaving a trail of select bodies […]
JFF THEATER: UNDER THE OPEN SKY Review: Inspiring tale about the importance of a second chance.
After 13 years of imprisonment for murder, Misao Mikami, a middle-aged former yakuza, is released from jail, finding himself in a hostile society that treats him like a left-over, however, Misao will gather all his determination to put in good use this new opportunity that he has been granted in order to reach his redemption. “Under the Open Sky“, is an inspiring tale about the importance of second chances and the good use we put on them. The director and writer, Miwa Nishiwaka, lures the audience into the story of a conflicted man aware that the wasting time will never be retribuited, but who has been graced with a second chance to make the most of the time he has left. The film navigates into the dark instincts of someone who has been cursed by a past of violence, who this new opportunity will teach to be blessed by the […]
JFF THEATER: KEY OF LIFE: A touching trip of laughs and emotions
Since August 1, 2024, Japanese film fans are in luck as the Japan Foundation has launched a new streaming website, “JFF Theater,” through which they distribute Japanese films and other works worldwide, with multilingual subtitles and free of charge, with the intention of promoting Japanese culture and language learning. “Key of Life” is one of the films included in the platform, which will be available until February 1, 2025 and is part of a new collection on the platform that´s been called: “The twist and turns of life” that includes other films such as “Under the Open sky”, or “Her love boils water”, in a collection that according to the site, explores the unpredictable journey of human existence marked by moments of joy, sorrow, struggle and acceptance. The film, released in 2012, and directed by Kenji Uchida, with a cast made up of Masato Sakai, Teruyuki Kagawa and Ryoko Hirosue, […]
KINGDOM: RETURN OF THE GREAT GENERAL Review: Shinsuke Sato’s Latest Rages On In An Extant Tale Of High Drama And Heroic Bloodshed
Kingdom: Return Of The Great General is now streaming on Netflix in the U.S. Imaginably, if the rest of us outside of Japan got to see Shinsuke Sato’s Kingdom: Return Of The Great General, the film would have easily listed for many of us somewhere in our top favorite action titles of 2024. Interest be damned, however, the obligatory window still applies for titles like these, and now the film is finally streaming on Netflix as of Wednesday. Sato’s continued adaptation of Yasuhisa Hara’s celebrated manga-cum-anime fave re-establishes the cast of the franchise thusfar, led by Kento Yamazaki, Ryo Yoshizawa, Kanna Hashimoto, and Takao Osawa, as well as Nana Seino. Additionally, the film also brings back actors Koji Kikkawa and Oguri Shun whose characters are introduced in the outro sequences of the previous chapter, Kingdom: The Flame Of Destiny. As Ohki (Osawa) prepares to lead the Qin army into its […]
Jackie Chan’s Last Dance At Action Comedy With PANDA PLAN Review
On 17th January the Martial Arts action legend Jackie Chan’s final outing in an action comedy film “Panda Plan” hits cinemas in the UK. I was honoured to be invited to the UK Premiere at the Vue West End and here is what I thought of JC’s last dance in action comedy. The film starts out with a bang indulging us with high tempo action sequences which leave you with hopeful thoughts for the remainder of the film. However, your bubble is burst when it is revealed this is just a movie set and Jackie is playing another re- incarnation of himself in the film. The plot is quickly explained in that he is adopting a social media famous Panda, however a rich Arab has other plans and enlists a group of mercenaries to capture the Panda for his own gains. Jackie arrives at the Zoo and has the opportunity to […]
MAN WITH NO PAST Review: A Tale Of Cyclic Vengeance That Checks Some Boxes, But Not All
Man With No Past will be available to buy on digital on January 14 by Republic Pictures (a Paramount Pictures Label). With thirty years of stunt work in the rear view, James Bamford has already begun the staunch effort toward directing, having already etched in a number of television shows next to his extensive stunt resumé. On the film front, fans of his work have been keeping tabs of Bamford whose debut at the helm heretofore was Shaina West starrer, Jade, which got its day in the UK last June. As of this publication, that film is nowhere to be seen in the states, which is a little bewildering to say the least, although his latest, Man With No Past, is a clear and pretty cool indicator that the man newly at the helm these days is still going strong. The concept executed is something of a different story depending […]
THE PROSECUTOR Review: Donnie Yen Knuckles Up And Adjudicates For A Winning Verdict
The Prosecutor opens in theaters on January 10 from Well Go USA. It is an exciting time to be a Donnie Yen fan – specifically for anyone who has kept up with the 61 year-old martial arts film star post-Wilson Yip’s Sha Po Lang, which hailed a resurgence of Hong Kong action full of gumption and bravado. It was the era of Flash Point as well, as Yen took to his team to showcase a performance of technique and dexterity that remains as fresh as it did to this day, building enough momentum for the actor to branch out a little further to other different roles on both sides of the lens. Fast forward to 2025 with the last few weeks signaling more local success with his latest project, The Prosecutor, which transitions to U.S. audiences this week from Well Go USA. Mixing action-packed crime thriller with courtroom procedural, The […]
MEGALOPOLIS Review: Was it worth it?
The pillars of the history of the seventh art have been cemented by dreamers with a vision doomed to failure. Men and women who persevered in bringing their vision forward so that their ideas would become reality, even at the cost of great sacrifices. Throughout the more than one hundred years since the creation of cinema, the industry has been nourished by these stories of overcoming and perseverance that have enriched the epic and legend surrounding the films. Without a doubt, Francis Ford Coppola belongs to a generation of filmmakers where taking a vision forward was synonymous with great deeds and sacrifices. The director has written his name in gold letters in the Olympus of filmmakers, and despite having achieved the immortality that only the world of cinema can grant to mortals, his image in the modern world has been left as that of a filmmaker from the past, who […]