cleopatra entertainment

LION-GIRL Review: Come For The Spills, Thrills And Gratuity, Stay Because Kurando Mitsutake Is Worth It

Lion-Girl is releasing on Digital and on special Blu Ray and DVD beginning November 7 from Cleopatra Entertainment. Filmmaker Kurando Mitsutake is no stranger to pushing boundaries with his work, specifically targeting niche audiences with viewing experiences as old as my own, or even older than that. That particular work ethic brings with it the kind of ferocious, gritty, laissez faire approach that’s usually characteristic of independent film, and ultimately, par for the course for a project like Mitsutake’s newest and bold effort, Lion-Girl. Unabashed and gratuitous nudity, violence and gore all topped off by a mix of practical and lo-fi visual effects are on the menu for this particular venture – a visual throwback to Showa-era tokusatsu and J-Sploitation, topped off by Shonen manga inspiration with a mostly western cast leading the charge. Making this endeavor all the more possible is the reunion of Mitsutake and producer Mami Akari […]

LION-GIRL Roars In The U.S. And U.K. From Cleopatra Later This Year!

Lee B. Golden III

If you’re new to director Kurando Mitsutake, I recommend to warming up with some of his previous works. The official trailer for Lion-Girl starring Tori Griffith was finally revealed back in March for the dystopian action sci-fi co-created in association Toei Video and legendary manga artist Go Nagai, and it delivers in full, exploitively festive genre fashion as per what Mitsutake is known for with previous films like Gun Woman and Karate Kill and the more recent Giallo-inspired Maniac Driver. I’ll leave an embedded link below, but if you’re reading this and you’ve at all managed to attend the film’s premieres in Australia and Slovenia this year, all I ask is please don’t spoil it. In the interim, film fans in the U.S. and the U.K. can expect to catch the new flick on Blu-Ray, DVD and on-Demand this November from Cleopatra Entertainment. Alas, click here for the trailer, and then […]

SHIN ULTRAMAN Supersizes It In The Official U.S. Trailer Ahead Of VOD And Disc Release!

Lee B. Golden III

Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno did the fans some major justice with last year’s kaiju hit, Shin Ultraman. Japan loved it. Festival goers the world over loved it. I loved. Edward loved it. As of this July, though, it’ll be your turn to share the love as well, and Cleopatra Entertainment is here to remind us all exactly that with an official trailer to stir things up again. As Shin Ultraman begins, we learn the appearance of giant unidentified life forms known as “S-Class Species (Kaiju)” has become commonplace in Japan. The Japanese Government formed a Kaiju defense taskforce known as the SSSP, led by Kimio Tamura (played by Drive My Car’s Hidetoshi Nishijima). After a particularly challenging encounter, a silver giant descends from the sky to rescue the country. Dubbed Ultraman, this giant’s identity and purpose are a mystery. Shin Ultraman is a delightful reimagining of one of Japan’s […]

SHIN ULTRAMAN Brings The Epic Kaiju Battlefront To The U.S. From Cleopatra Entertainment

Lee B. Golden III

Shinji Higuchi’s Shin Ultraman has been hard at work in the past year, running the gamut with every major and minor news outlet and film reporting site since taking off in Japan last summer. The film has especially been a treat for both me and contributing writer Edward Orndorff during its festival run leading up to its limited theatrical run this week via Fathom Events, and is now on track for a Spring rollout including theatrical and VOD, followed by a Deluxe Home Entertainment Blu-Ray and DVD from Cleopatra Entertainment. Written by Hideaki Anno (Shin Godzilla) and directed by Shinji Higuchi (Shin Godzilla, Attack on Titan), the film stars Takumi Saitoh (Shin Godzilla, 13 Assassins), Hidetoshi Nishijima (Drive My Car, The Wind Rises), Masami Nagasawa (Before We Vanish, Mother), Daiki Arioka (Innocent Curse), and Akari Hayami (Gintama, Forget Me Not). As Shin Ultraman begins, we learn the appearance of giant […]

FROST: Chill Out With A Raft Of First Stills From Brandon Slagle’s New Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

First look stills are now making the rounds for Frost, the new thriller from director Brandon Slagle (Crossbreed, Attack Of The Unknown). Cleopatra Entertainment is announcing picture wrap following a 2020 Winter shoot on location in the San Bernardino mountains in southern California, with an October 11 release following its forthcoming festival run. Slagle directs from a screenplay storied by James Cullen Bressack penned by Robert Thompson. The film stars Vernon Wells (Mad Max II: The Road Warrior, Commando), Devanny Pinn (The Dawn, Crossbreed) and Venus DeMilo Thomas (Life, Sister Sister), and tells the story of a young woman and her estranged father who have to fight to survive after being stranded on a remote mountainside during a winter storm. Bressack recently wrapped production on upcoming Glen Danzig film Death Rider In The House Of Vampires. A full motion picture soundtrack for Frost is scheduled for both the CD and […]

KISS KISS: Don’t Miss The Official Trailer For Dallas King’s Sultry And Savage Tournament Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Following a raft of shortfilms back in 2011 and 2012 and shooting behind the scenes on Mitsutake Kurando’s Karate Kill, filmmaker Dallas King chose to grow his craft from then on. He has several features already in his resumé, including Ink & Rain which has since garnered a fair release in China through IQIYI, and now another on the way titled Kiss Kiss which has since released an official trailer and release plans through Cleopatra Entertainment. After a glorious night at the strip club, the film follows dancers, Kiss (Hopkins), and her best friends Treasure (Dae) and Kurious (B) as they are led by newcomer Tia (Castellon) to an exclusive wine tasting. A beautiful day turns tragic when they wake up having been seduced by their captor and special forces veteran, Gibson (Wagner), as he orchestrates a fight night that has each girl to battle against Fortune (Rae) and Dream […]

CHINA SALESMAN: Tyson And Seagal Take Their Brawl To The States On June 15!

Lee B. Golden III

The past several months surrounding director Tan Bing’s latest, China Salesman, has seen a pretty interesting conversation surrounding its appeal. Critics at the Hollywood Reporter apparently had some positive things to say about it; I didn’t, and in some capacity, I still don’t. That Mike Tyson still gets to do movies is beyond me and even though he can’t act, although I can respect his hustle – which is slightly more than I can posit for the appearance of Steven Seagal. The one fight scene that stems from this movie – leaked unapologetically by freebooters and torrenters on social media last year, has been the one thing selling this film to cult fans, sans context. Not to be outdone by better-faring screenfighters around him – Tyson included – Seagal just downright ruins that fight sequence (as great as it could have been) with his lanky, sluggish brood and his obtuse […]

TAM CAM: THE UNTOLD STORY: Veronica Ngo’s Freshman Fantasy Adaptation Scores A U.S. Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

You can expect to catch her briefly in this December’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In the meantime, The Rebel and Clash actress Veronica Ngo’s latest directorial debut is making the rounds ahead of a limited theatrical U.S. release this September for fantasy drama adventure, Tam Cam: The Untold Story. Adapted from a Vietnamese fairy tale, Tam Cam: The Untold Story is similar in narrative structure to Cinderella: kind and beautiful Tam is ill-treated by her stepmother and stepsister, but a fairy guardian watches over her. A demon pretending to be a faithful servant to the king waits for an opportunity to become human. The intrepid prince is asked to marry politically but he declares that he is going to marry the woman whose feet fit the silk shoes, hoping it’s Tam, whom he met by chance. The official trailer is live as of July and a date is still pending from […]

Salamat Mukhammed-Ali’s DIAMOND CARTEL To Release Early Next Year In English-Speaking Territories

Lee B. Golden III

Award-winning actor Peter O’Toole passed away in 2013, but that’s not stopping his film legacy from keeping him relevant. His final film to date, Salamat Mukhammed-Ali’s The Whole World At Our Feet is gearing up for a release early next year from Cleopatra Entertainment under the new title, Diamond Cartel, according to Deadline earlier this week. Not much is known about the plot of the Kazakh-produced Russo-English language film save for a vaguely descripted story of a series of criminal acts stemming from the impasse of a woman caught between three men who love her, including a criminal kingpin who takes her under his wing to appease his own lust for her, thus setting on an explosive and action-packed tale. Mukhammed-Ali wrote the script alomg with producer Dauren Mussa and co-scribe Magamet Bachev with a cast that joins O’Toole with an international mix of local stars and notables rounding out […]