Classic Albums: The Doors dvd review

Starring: Jim Morrison and crew
Genre: Rockumentary, rock
“Is he writing about death? Do people write about that?! It’s not like Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da!” - Henry Rollins on The End by The Doors
When the Doors came out in the late 60s, it was clear that they were a different kind of rock band, one that was [...]

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. [...]

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, [...]

Forget The Dark Knight. It’s all about Turkish Batman

I dunno about you, but the latest Batman film’s looking a bit too serious and grounded in the everyday realm for the likes of me. But this Turkish Batman doesn’t look so bad. If anyone knows where to track down the full video, drop me a line.

And, as a bonus, some Turkish Star Wars for [...]

School Rumble vol. 6, Glass Fleet vol. 5, Wizards anime 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 [...]

Absolut Mexico - Drunk Designers? ad alarm

We took it from them (lots of land after the Mexican-American War), they want it back. Apparently, graphic designers for Absolut feel the same way. Sketchily distributing them in Mexico, oddly believing their neighbor would not catch wind of it, Viva Mexico! was the message, drunken or not. What do you think [...]

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 [...]

Chapter 27 movie review screener!

Director: J. P. Schaefer
Starring: Jared Leto, Lindsay Lohan
Genre: Indie, Drama
Opens in San Francisco April 18th, 2008
I wrote the bulk of this review in March 2007 and am surprised at how neutral I was about the &%(@! subject matter. In light of the Beijing Olympics protests, this might be proper timing to remember someone [...]

Funky Forest: The First Contact movie review

Directors: Katsuhito Ishii, Hajime Ishimine (aka: Aniki),and Shunichiro Miki
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Susumu Terajima, Kazue Fukiishi, Rinko Kikuchi
Genre: Japan, Comedy
I’ve come to dig the works of Katsuhito Ishii over the course of his three previous theatrical releases. Sharkskin and Peach Hip Girl was endlessly hilarious. Party 7 was a bit of a nosedive, but [...]

Zigeunerweisen dvd review

Director: Seijun Suzuki
Starring: Toshiya Fujita, Yoshio Harada, Naoko Tani
Genre: Japan, Drama
Believe it or not, I think I have just witnessed my favorite Seijun Suzuki film. And this isn’t an idle claim of a Suzuki newbie. I’ve seen a good number of them (close to 8, plus or minus a few), but Zigeunerweisen has to [...]

Shuffle!, vol. 2 anime review

Episodes: 5-8
Genre: romance, comedy, educational
Release Date: March 25, 2008
Those of you who read my review of the previous volume of Shuffle! will recall that I liked the series, but wasn’t able to put my finger on an exact reason why (If you haven’t already, check out my Shuffle! vol.1 Review). This time out, though, [...]

Zoo (2007) movie review

Director: Robinson Devor
Starring: John Paulsen, Coyote, Russell Hodgkinson
Genre: documentary, indie
Release Date: April 27, 2007 (NY)

Okay, you’re going to think I’m a sicko, but when Chris told me there was a documentary made circumscribing events involving a richie being humped to death by a horse, I asked him to track the sucker down. Morbid curiosity [...]