Punk Samurai, also known as Punk Samurai Slash Down (a title still retained on the main menu screen of this Blu-Ray release), is a title that evokes mental images of Jidaigeki or Chanbara epics, but with a modern twist, and in many ways that is exactly what it is… and […]
Japan
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Japanese cinema carries with it a certain gravitas in the minds of many. It evokes images of great chivalry (Seven Samurai), dreams and heartbreak (Ikiru), honour and justice (Hara-Kiri) and the importance of family (Tokyo Story). Names such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujirō Ozu loom large over its […]
Big Time Gambling Boss (1968) An Essential for anyone with a penchant for Yakuza Cinema (Review)
Adrift In Tokyo (2007) – An understated gem thankfully rediscovered (Blu-Ray Review)
Writer/Director Satoshi Miki opens his film with a curious moment, as law student Fumiya Takemura (Joe Odagiri) hopes buying three-colour toothpaste will save him from his rock-bottom circumstances. The situation reveals itself when loan shark Aiichiro Fukuhara (Tomokazu Miura) bursts in, demanding the debt he’s owed be paid back in […]