Between Social Media and Marketing agencies, Japanuary is one of these traditions that happen every year, in which people portmanteau months to programme month long sessions into a particular movement – or, in this case, national cinema – into their cinematic diet. Giallo January is another common theme that people […]
Takashi Miike
First Love (2019) Miike’s Fountain of Gonzo Youth (Review)
First Love is film number 103. Back in 1991, however, Takashi Miike directed a film called “Toppuu! Minipato tai – Aikyacchi Jankushon“, a comedy about a daring policewoman dressed in a leotard who defeats criminals using gymnastics. An odd subject for a debut but such is the Japanese studio system. […]
4-Panel 138 – He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Lens Flare
After some Thanos-based finger-snapping shenanigans only two-thirds of us are available for this episode, so join Mick and Producer Rob as they discuss J.J. Abrams’ new and “subversive” superhero movie, DC’s plans for another TV adaptation Swamp Thing, and a strange case involving Superman, Lois Lane, the Church of Scientology […]
London Film Festival, Part 1: Pre-Gaming
Doberman Cop (1977) A peculiar Sonny Chiba character in an endlessly odd police thriller (Review)
Once upon a time, it was instantly apparent when a film was based on a comic or graphic novel as those films concerned themselves with the super-powered and the otherworldly, then around the mid-1990s there was a paradigm shift and the nature of these titles became indistinguishable from the more […]
Cinema Eclectica 109 – Moon-Faced Super Mario
Cinema Eclectica 66 – The Biscuits for Movies Initiative
Everything can be justified if you’re rewarded with biscuits. Off The Shelf features the new (and classic), Takashi Miike film “Yakuza Apocalypse”, Akira Kurosawa’s Japanese Shakesperean epic “Ran”, and “Innocence of Memories” – an essay film from Grant Gee. We also have a minority report on “Captain America: Civil War” […]
Yakuza Apocalypse (2015) The Best Punk Rock Kaiju Movie (Review)
Cinema Eclectica 57 – Post-Oscar S&M Tea Party
This week we examine the Oscars for 2016 and their lame-duck cousins the Razzies. In a classy example of counterprogramming, Off The Shelf unfolds with Graham tackling the amazingly-titled absurd Czech new-wave comedy “Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up And Scald Myself With Tea”, Rob waxes lyrical about Jafar Panahi’s “Taxi Tehran” […]
Cinema Eclectica 57 – Post-Oscar S&M Tea Party
This week we examine the Oscars for 2016 and their lame-duck cousins the Razzies. In a classy example of counterprogramming, Off The Shelf unfolds with Graham tackling the amazingly-titled absurd Czech new-wave comedy “Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up And Scald Myself With Tea”, Rob waxes lyrical about Jafar Panahi’s “Taxi Tehran” […]