Aquarion: Season 1, Part 1 — anime review

Episodes: 1-13
Genre: Anime, Action

I really wanted to like Aquarion. The first episode was visually dazzling and confusing, and you were just thrust into this other world, an alternate post-apocalyptic future where an inexplicable threat continues to plague humanity and a small group pilots who command three jets that can merge into the legendary [...]

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 (aka: Bekushiru: 2077 Nihon sakoku) — 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, 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 not that big a [...]

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: [...]

Iron Man — movie review

Iron Man was so good that I went into a Comic Book shop directly after our viewing just to find out more (and to appease my curiosity concerning the portended sequel). Already a huge fan of Robert Downey Jr (whom I have to say vintaged quite nicely and looks even better now than he did pre-prison), I didn’t even need to see a trailer to predict this was a must-see. Robert Downey Jr and robotics? I’m there. [...]

School Rumble vol. 6 — Glass Fleet vol. 5 — Wizards — anime — dvd reviews

I just received another big batch of titles (Shuffle, Black Blood Bros, and more), so I’ll just take care of some of my pending reviews in one fell swoop. I’ll be back with a full review of Glass Fleet vol 6 in the coming weeks. On to the reviews.
School Rumble vol. 6
After seeing the [...]

Black Kiss — AVP: Requiem — Species: The Awakening — Timber Falls — movie reviews

So I’ve seen a few titles over the past month, but just haven’t had any time to review them. So, rather than let them fall to the wayside, here are a few quick capsules. As for regular film/dvd reviews, I’ve just received a flood of titles, including Bohachi and Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance. Look [...]

Witchblade, Vol. 6 anime review

Episodes: 21 - 24
Genre: ANIME, action, Animation, Asian, Bad Ass Chicks, Japan, Manga, supernatural,
Release Date: April 29, 2008
(If you haven’t already, please check out my previous reviews of the Witchblade Anime, volumes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)
First off, I made a mistake. Looking at the number of discs [...]

Operation Pussycat movie review

Director: Ryuichi Honda
Starring: Kei Mizutani, Nao Iguchi
Genre: Indie, Bad Ass Chicks, Japan, Action
Let’s start with the positives first. I think, outside of experimental art and music DVDs, Operation Pussycat boasts THE best DVD cover art of the past few years. It’s simple, clean, instantly catches your eye… It just pops. Cult DVD distributors would [...]

Sukiyaki Western Django movie review

Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Kaori Moimoi, Hideaki Ito, Yoshino Kimura
Genre: Indie, Bad Ass Chicks, Japan, Action
This film has been covered ad-nauseum on other websites, so I’ll make this relatively short. For those of you not in the know, Sukiyaki Western Django is Takashi Miike’s Japanese western. Now, each and every film student knows about the [...]

New Tarsem!!! The Fall trailer now online!

This looks amazing. Simply amazing. I’ll definitely be looking forward to this one. Check out the trailer.

April in San Francisco - Nikkatsu Action Cinema, Zombie Strippers, and more!

Just received this Dead Channels press release in the mail, and figured a good number of you would be interested. Heck, I was already planning on writing up something about the Nikkatsu films myself. And, provided work and school calm down enough for me to take a daylong break, I might just be able [...]

Black Blood Brothers, Chapter 2 - Emergence anime review

Episodes: 5-8
Genre: vampire, supernatural, action
Release Date: March 25, 2008
So, maybe I spoke too soon. After the somewhat derivative and forgettable first installment, Black Blood Brothers has turned into something fresh, original, and quite possibly something good. If you haven’t already, go on and check out my review of Black Blood Brothers Chapter 1.
This second [...]

Nightmare Detective — movie review

Director: Shinya Tsukamoto
Starring: Hitomi, Ryuhei Matsuda, Shinya Tsukamoto, Yoshio Harada, Ren Osugi
Genre: Japan, Horror, Supernatural, Splatter

Note: This was originally going to be an “in-brief” review, but it soon ballooned out of control. It’s not as polished as I would like, but it is what it is. Enjoy.
Taking cues from Nightmare on Elm Street, The [...]

10,000 B.C. — Doomsday — The Hammer — movie reviews

We’ve seen a number of films in the past few weeks, but just haven’t had the time to write them up. As such, here are a few quick catchup reviews. Stay tuned over the coming week for brief looks at Margot at the Wedding, Nightmare Detective, and more. On to the reviews.
10,000 B.C. . So [...]