Devil May Cry: The Animation – vol. 3, Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage, vol 1, Glass Fleet Vol. 6, Shuffle! vol 5. — anime dvd reviews

And, we’re back. I’ve finally had time to sit down and watch a few of the anime titles sent us, and you know what? There were actually some great shows this time around. Some shows I’ve reviewed previously only continued to derail, but the vast majority of the others surprised me with their quality. [...]

The Wolves (aka: Shussho Iwai) — dvd movie review

Director: Hideo Gosha
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Noboru Ando, Tetsuro Tamba, Kyoko Enami
Genre: Yakuza
To be completely honest, I’ve about worn myself out on Yakuza films. In fact, I really had to push myself to finally sit down and watch The Wolves (aka: Shussho Iwai). Sure, I knew it was a Hideo Gosha picture, and starred [...]

Found Links - Sept 26, 2008

I haven’t had much time for films or reviews these past few weeks, due to my ever increasing workload. Most of my free time’s been spent either watching TV on DVD, or simply researching stuff on the web. And, since I haven’t done a link blowout in a while, I figured I might as well [...]

Starship Troopers 3 — Highlander 2 — The Devil Dared Me To — Rogue — movie reviews

You know, I’m kinda digging these shorter reviews. I’ll have a third Summer round-up in the next few days, complete with blurbs on everything from The Mummy 3 and The Visitor to Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder. Also stay tuned for coverage of Uwe Boll’s Seed, Hideo Gosha’s The Wolves, and a few other surprises [...]

Freesia — Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea — movie reviews

So, I figured some of you guys might be wondering what’s going on with our coverage of Japanese films. Well, I’ve got you covered. Read on for brief reviews of Freesia and Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea.
Freesia: Icy Tears (aka: Freesia: Bullets over Tears) . It’s the old samurai-western feedback-loop, [...]

Chris’s Summer Catchup 2008 Part 2: The Revenge

While most people look toward Summer as a period of relaxation, my Summer has been anything but. So, in another effort towards cleaning house, I bring you Summer Catchup 2008 Part 2: The Revenge. What follows is the briefest of brief looks at numerous films, books, and shows I’ve tackled over the Summer, but [...]

Shuffle! vol. 4 — School Rumble - Extra Class — Batman: Gotham Knight — One Piece Season 1 — anime — dvd reviews

I’ve been meaning to get these out of the way for quite a while now, but just haven’t had the chance (see upcoming Summer update article). Since the capsule format was so popular last time, and since my review stack has grown so large, here are brief reviews of Shuffle vol. 4, School Rumble - [...]

Shogun Assassin 5: Cold Road to Hell (aka Kozure Okami: Jigoku e Ikuzo! Daigoro) — dvd movie review

Director: Yoshiyuki Kuroda
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa, Junko Hitomi, Renji Ishibashi, Koichi Sato
Genre: Japan, Samurai, Action
So, after our reviews of the previous four Shogun Assassin DVDs, I’m pretty sure you know what to expect with Shogun Assassin 5: Cold Road to Hell: loads of awesome swordfights, tricked out machine gunning baby-carriage antics, and more arterial [...]

Hana (aka: Hana yori no maho) — dvd movie review

Director: Koreeda Hirokazu
Starring: Junichi Okada, Rie Miyazawa, Susumu Terajima, Tadanobu Asano
Genre: Japan, Samurai, Drama
Koreeda Hirokazu is the master of the saccharine. The man has managed to tackle such subjects ranging from dealing with the suicide of a spouse (Maborosi) to the prospect of life after death (After Life), and in each instance, rather than depressing [...]

Chris’s Summer Catchup — Theatrical films and DVDs

It’s been a while since my last update, so here goes. Kris and I’ve seen quite a few films this summer – far more than we can hope to cover even in a capsule format. In an effort to weigh in on these titles (both theatrical and DVD), I’ll simply provide a one to [...]

Tokyo Gore Police movie review

Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura
Starring: Eihi Shiina, Itsuji Itao, Shoko Nakahara
Genre: Japan, Horror
This film will be given it’s West Coast Premiere at SF Indie’s Another Hole in the Head 2008, June 22. Click here for showtimes.
Wow. I’m at a loss for words. What can I say about Tokyo Gore Police? Well, first off, I guess [...]

Machine Girl movie review

Director: Noburo Iguchi
Starring: Minase Yashiro, Asami, Honoka
Genre: Japan, comedy, horror
This film will be screening at SF Indie’s Another Hole in the Head 2008, June 6, 12, and 14. Click here for showtimes.
Former AV director Noburo Iguchi’s latest picture will undoubtably be compared to Yudai Yamaguchi’s Meatball Machine — at least by those attending SF’s [...]

Black Blood Brothers vol. 3, Baldr Force EXE, Shin Chan Season 1, Hell Girl vol. 4 anime reviews

Kris and I just got back from a short vacation, and some of the review titles have piled up quite a bit (I just received 4 more titles yesterday). So, in an effort to clean house, here are a few short capsules for Black Blood Brothers vol. 3, Baldr Force EXE, Hell Girl vol. 4, [...]

Vexille — dvd movie review — Early!

Director: Fumihiko Sori
Genre: Japan, action, action, sci-fi
Release Date: May 27, 2008
As interested as I was in watching Baldr Force EXE (review later this week), I was completely ambivalent about Vexille. I’d seen the ads on all the geek sites, but its comparisons to Appleseed weren’t winning me over. You see, to be completely honest, I’m [...]

Exte: Hair Extensions (aka Ekusute) movie review

Director: Sion Sono
Starring: Chiyaki Kuriyama, Ren Osugi, Tsugumi
Genre: Horror, Supernatural
This film will be screening at SF Indie’s Another Hole in the Head 2008, June 5, 10, and 14. Click here for showtimes.
Sion Sono’s latest picture has been covered on so many other sites that I’m afraid this review might be a bit superfluous. As [...]

Bohachi Bushido Code of the Forgotten Eight — dvd review — Early!

Director: Teruo Ishii
Starring: Tetsuro Tanba, Yuriko Hishimi
Genre: Japan, action, action
Release Date: May 21, 2008
Now, I’m no stranger to Kazuo Koike or Teruo Ishii. I’ve seen the films (and in cases television series) based off of Koike’s Lone Wolf and Cub, Crying Freeman, Demon Spies, Lady Snowblood (even read the manga), and have seen a bit [...]

Shinobi no Mono 2 - Vengeance dvd review

Director: Satsuo Yamamoto
Starring: Raizo Ichikawa, Shiho Fujimura, Mikiko Tsubouchi, Tomisaburo Wakayama, So Yamamura
Genre: Japan, action, action, educational
Release Date: May 13, 2008
If you read my review of the first Shinobi no Mono, you probably remember I was more than a bit smitten with its tale of clan intrigue and ninja heroics. Shinobi no Mono 2: [...]

Shuffle!, vol. 3 anime review

Episodes: 9-11
Genre: romance, comedy, educational
Release Date: May 6, 2008

And the Shuffle! coverage continues. If you haven’t already, check out my reviews of volumes 1 and 2.
At the end of the last volume I was finding my interest in Shuffle! to be waning. Episodes 5 through 8 were interesting bits of animated relationship education, [...]