Arrow Video’s V-Cinema Essentials: Bullets & Betrayal Review – Part Two: STRANGER, and CARLOS
Part two of five covers the next two titles of this article series covering Arrow Video’s upcoming V-Cinema Essentials boxset.
Retro Reviews
PLAY IT COOL – Arrow Video Review: Mari Atsumi Looks Out For Number One In Yasuzo Masumura’s Erotic Coming-Of-Age Drama
Yasuzo Masumura’s 1970 erotic coming-of-age drama has stood the test of time and will make its home release debut in English-speaking territories in March!
LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI Eureka Blu-Ray Review: Early Fukasaku At His Fantastic Finest
Hiroyuki Sanada, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi and more star in this incredible blockbuster classic from Eureka Entertainment!
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. […]
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 […]
THE PROJECT A COLLECTION – 88 Films Review: A Treasure Trove Of Action Comedy Delight, Memorabilia, Stories And More!
Tap the following for anchors: • INTRODUCTION • STORY • REVIEW • PROJECT A Features (Taiwanese Cut – Extras) • PROJECT A2 Features (Extras) • Conclusion INTRODUCTION: I remember first setting eyes on Project A a long time ago before Blu-Rays would exist. It was on TV, it was dubbed in English, and I didn’t even know who Yuen Biao was at the time. It was post Jackie Chan 2.0 in the mid 2000s though, and I had already become enamored by Hong Kong cinema’s revival via home media, and having turned away Miramax’s dubbed version, I always hoped I would be able to see the original in its Cantonese audio. I was obsessed with seeing these titles as intended in their regional output, and lo and behold, 88 Films has packaged one hell of a gem for U.S. fans. The bundle comes in a Blu-Ray box-set, as well as […]
THE CHAMPIONS Blu-Ray Review: An Underrated Classic That Scores Big For Hong Kong Film Fans
THE CHAMPIONS is now available from Eureka Entertainment.
BEAST FIGHTER – Eureka Blu-Ray Review: A Double-Fisted Dose Of Karate-Crazy Sonny Chiba Cinema
The BEASTFIGHTER box set is now available from Eureka Entertainment
MIRACLE FIGHTERS – Eureka Blu-Ray Review: A Miraculous Incarnation For Yuen Clan Fans
MIRACLE FIGHTERS is now available from Eureka Entertainment.
THE CRIPPLED MASTERS Is A Kung Fu Classic For All The Right Reasons
These days, if a film were to heavily feature, say, someone in a wheelchair (besides, perhaps, Charles Xavier), it wouldn’t be long before it was bombarded with cries of “woke!” or “leftism gone mad!”. Back in 1980, this wasn’t the case. In fact, in 1980, exploitation cinema was still thriving. These films often toed the line, highlighting more taboo subjects, such as sex crimes, racism, homosexuality and, of course, extreme violence, as well as many more. Exploitation became its own genre, despite being comprised of several other genres. There’s action exploitation, horror exploitation, Blaxploitation, exploitation porn (which seems redundant, I suppose)… The list goes on. Kung fu cinema has always been mildly exploitational. Or at least it’s gently held hands with exploitation throughout its existence. Sammo Hung often liked to make his films gritty with the inclusion of a rape scene or two, many martial arts films feature animal cruelty, […]
HEROES SHED NO TEARS Review: Early John Woo At His Burgeoning Best
Heroes Shed No Tears has been restored in 2k and streams on Film Movement+ on June 7. The Hollywood appeal for a director like John Woo is something that never should have lapsed after Paycheck. Indeed it wasn’t his best, and still his work warrants longer consideration for industry progression. His most recent return with Silent Night was a blast, and 2024 is looking to keep the energy up some as Film Movement Classics antes up its streaming library with the 1986 war thriller, Heroes Shed No Tears. A cursory scan of the film’s Wikipedia page alludes to the film’s rough history, coupled with Woo’s apprehension to seeing the finished product. I don’t know if that’s still the case and I can’t blame him for moving on. Although, apart from some of the film’s perceived flaws, it’s worth noting Woo’s tactful handling of many areas of the story, including the […]
THE PRISON WALLS TRILOGY Eureka Classics Blu-Ray Review
This was a pretty big task to take on in the past week, but I really wanted to dive into some classic Japanese cinema. Eureka Entertainment remains on the ball as one of the foremost niche outlets priming throwback titles out of banners like Toei, including the Prison Walls Trilogy culminating the first three movies of the “Abashiri Bangaichi” franchise. The trilogy is now available in a box set containing the first three films on two blu-ray discs. The movies are presented in original Japanese Mono with optional subtitles, and commentaries from experts on the stars and subject matter, and much more. I had a blast with these, and if you didn’t pre-order these discs yet, I highly recommend ordering them now. It’s a must-have for anyone in the western world who discovered actor Ken Takakura in Tony Scott’s Black Rain like I did, and is purely keen on venturing […]
THE HOUSEMAID Review: Kim Ki-Young’s Debut Message Allegory Deals In Sex, Lies, Tragedy, And Moral Quandry
My early summer dive into the work of late auteur Kim Ki-young continues with a look at The Housemaid. The 1960 thriller was Kim’s debut, restored nearly half a century later for posterity, and is one of two Kim titles screening between now and July at the Metrograph in New York City. The Housemaid preambles its scintillating tale with a discussion over a man’s affair with a housemaid as reported in a newspaper. The conversation then pans over to a game of Cat’s Cadle between the Kims’ children Ae-soon (Lee Yoo-ri), and Chang-soon (Ahn Sung-ki) as the opening credits role. I instantly caught onto that little bit of optical foreshadowing which goes well in hand with composer Han Sang-gi’s score, which instantly gave me an idea of what to expect after going into this film without seeing any prior footage or reading up. Kim definitely piles up on this aspect […]
Streaming Sleepers: Sammo Hung’s HEART OF DRAGON Delivers Endearing Drama With Hearty Classic Action
The mid-80s delivered peak Hong Kong action. It marked an era of post-Bruce Lee film fandom that helped pave the way for stars to rise and become some of the biggest influences and staples of their industry. This inevitably included Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, whose careers would explode from the 70s and onward with the two joining up once more for 1985 action drama, Heart Of Dragon. The story kicks off with an explosive action sequence that later reveals Chan’s role as Ted, a freshly-minted police detective. His job is one thing though, while it’s another to maintain not only his teetering relationship with his girlfriend Jenny and chasing his real dream as a sailor, but also the care and oversight of his brother, Danny, who has the mental capacity of a child and is often taken advantage of by his younger peers, and abused by adults as a […]
OSKFF 2023 Review: Chang Peng-I’s NIGHT ORCHID (1983)
Taiwanese cinema is something else. To say the least, my proximity to this particular market has been scant in the twenty-seven years since Asian genre cinema gained its second foothold in the mid-nineties, so when I talk about just how fucking lit a film like Chang Peng-I’s Night Orchid is, it’s about as raw a reaction as you’ll get from me. The film sort of dives right into the middle of nowhere, during a deep conflict pitting swordsmen and warlords against one another in a story penned by none other than screenwriter and literary legend Gu Long, which takes off from a pre-existing TV series featuring Robin Hood-like character Chu Liu-xiang, played by Adam Cheng. Cheng takes the mantle once more, here joining actress Brigitte Lin who plays Su-su, a mysterious damsel he saves from a ritualistic sacrifice. There’s an air of foul play in the midst as Chu and […]
OSKFF 2023 Review: Chen Hung-Min’s VENGEANCE OF THE PHOENIX SISTERS (1968)
Chen Hung-Min’s 1968 directorial debut lends another poetic treat for curious audiences sitting in for this year’s Old School Kung Fu Festival spotlighting Taiwanese classics. Vengeance Of The Phoenix Sisters is the name with eighty-seven minutes of straightforward action and drama with just a few frills and snags but nothing that takes too much away from the institutionalized efforts to revitalize and restore this bygone action adventure. Chinese opera and silver screen stars Yang Li-hua, Liu Ching, and Chin Mei take on the respective roles of Xieufeng, Qingfeng, and Zhifeng in a story that leaps forward fifteen years following the deadly massacre of a former sheriff and his wife at the hands of three criminals he once jailed. Chen’s story takes off with Xieufeng front and center as she desperately begs her master and uncle, Zhenhai, for his blessing after years of training, hereby promising not to waste the skills […]
DOG TAGS Review: Vinegar Syndrome Relives the Vietnam Trauma in an Uncut 4k Spectacular Release
Following their quest for dusting off shelves in abandoned videostores in search of gems buried in the sands of oblivion, the guys from Vinegar Syndrome, have brought back from the swamps of a lost vietnam jungle, Romano Scavolini´s cult classic, “Dog Tards”, a violent and twisted vietnam war feature that drags the audience to a hostile jungle to accompany a special unit of the american army in the rescue of a group of POW soldiers, however, things gets complicated when a mysterious captain assign them a new mission: locate a downed helicopter within enemy lines, that contains classified information, but once the soldiers reach the helicopter they find out that is really filled with gold, that´s when what started as a rescue mission, turns into a descend to hell paved by greed and betrayal. Dog Tags is a fascinating violent tale that captivates the audience with its suffocating and desperate […]
OSKFF 2023 Review: Joseph Kuo’s THE SWORDSMAN OF ALL SWORDSMEN (1968)
While I’ve known the name Joseph Kuo, his 1968 wuxia feature, The Swordsman Of All Swordsmen, is a freshman venture for me into classic Taiwanese cinema. It delves into the time-honored revenge tale of a child orphaned at a young age when his parents are murdered by a quartet of killers looking to acquire his father’s sword, all leading up to our protagonist’s key story kicking off twenty years later when he arrives in a village and ultimately acquires his first of four targets who just happened to be harassing a street performer and his daughter at the time. Accommodating the film’s pristine digital restoration, the cinematography is fantastic from top to bottom, and with a story and pacing steady enough to keep the viewer interested. Tien Ping’s portrayal of Tsai Ying-Jie lends the audience an anti-hero you can root for and empathize with, and who emotes really well on […]
Streaming Sleepers: Knuckle Up With Sammo Hung’s KNOCKABOUT
Kung fu cinema may be far and away from its heyday glory, but its enduring fandom remains adherent to its ties to the genre with unrelenting fervor through rigorous preservation and re-releases of these considerable classics in various selections. To date, you can look toward companies like Arrow Films’ genre specialty imprint, Arrow Video, with the recent launch of its streaming platform currently beholden to numerous titles in cult cinema, including and especially martial arts classics like Sammo Hung‘s 1979 hit, Knockabout. Hung joins the cast in a major co-starring role, with cinema legends Yuen Biao and Bryan Leung starring as two brothers – sibling conmen whose daily shenanigans for quick cash and a meal find themselves hustling hard to earn the favor of a silver-haired traveler who reluctantly takes them in, equipping them with his kung fu teachings as useful subordinates. The man’s fugitive past surfaces along with the […]