Reviews

LVD4

THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER: Out Now on UK DVD, Blu-Ray & 4K- Review

  Courtesy of Dazzler Media UK Film fans have the opportunity to support physical media and purchase the latest Horror/Action offering of the Dracula saga “The Last Voyage Of The Demeter” out now on DVD, Blu-Ray and HD. Based on the one chapter 7 in Bram Stoker’s Dracula “Captains Log” tells the story of the cursed ship and it’s passengers who transported the blood thirsty count to Whitby, London. Which is a breath of fresh air, a new story that hasn’t been done before on the screen. I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the film alongside my Horror fan dad and this is what we had to say about it.    The opening of the film shows the aftermath of the shipwreck of the Demeter and the finding of the captains log. The cut to a much brighter second scene is somewhat a surprise taken that there […]

More

Pasted-12

JFF Theater: PROJECT DREAMS: HOW TO BUILD MAZINGER Z’S HANGAR Review: An ode to enthusiasm driven by Go Nagai´s legacy

Based on true events, this crazy film tells us in a light-hearted and comedic tone the story behind the Japanese construction company Maeda, and the project they carried out to design the hangar to store the Mazinger Z robot and replicate his epic exit to the surface. Showing a lot of love for Go Nagai’s legacy, and featuring a multitude of references to it, the film moves at a frenetic pace, even allowing itself to include a shy little romance between two of its characters, giving the plot large doses of comedy and a few touches of inevitable nostalgia, gradually building up an ode to enthusiasm so energetic and contagious that it makes you feel like Koji Kabuto at the controls of Mazinger Z. Along with the characters, we participate in the gestation of the project and the many obstacles they had to overcome to turn their crazy idea into […]

More

2c097cfaf3

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 […]

More

maxresdefault

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. […]

More

wp-17345376935518145587763317936406

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 […]

More

wp-17345377271193147244700725494533

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, […]

More

54052050243_37b835d5fc_k

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 […]

More

53889_1_DEAD_BEFORE_THEY_WAKE_3840x2160

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. […]

More

wp-17366387600407274813526388769817

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 […]

More

Load More