Incoming: Blade of the Immortal
Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless …
Incoming: Lu Over the Wall
Following his parent’s divorce, high schooler Kai (Shōta Shimoda) moves to his father’s home in a rural fishing village, whose superstitions about mermaids force the young man to repress his desire to make music. When his classmates force him to join their band however, their melodies attract the affections of Lu (Kanon Tani), a mermaid …
Film Review: Vampariah
Horror is a genre which likes to borrow liberally from folklore and myth. Most famously in the guise of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but vampires and the undead have been prevalent in legends from all over the world. Asia is by no means an exception. Indeed, spirituality and tales of the dead are plentiful across several …
Incoming: Happy End
When her mother falls ill under mysterious circumstances, young Eve (Fantine Harduin) is sent to live with her estranged father’s relatives in Calais. The Laurent family – wealthy, neurotic and self-obsessed – own a lucrative construction company and live in a sprawling mansion house, waited on by servants. But trouble is brewing, as a series …
Blu-Ray Review: Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter
No film studio can claim to possess the wonder and magic that Studio Ghibli manager to inject into everything they do. Not even Disney or Pixar. They’ve created a raft of unforgettable films including Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbour Totoro, The Tale of Princess Kaguya and Grave of Fireflies. However, they’ve never previously …
DVD Review: England is Mine
If you ask a group of people who their favourite band of all time is, it’s likely that a fair few will respond with ‘The Smiths’. Whilst Morrissey is now a sad parody of his former self, there’s no denying that, regardless of your thoughts on the man, they produced some cracking songs. Indeed, there’s …
Film Review: Most Beautiful Island
There are few feats more difficult for a director than to instil a real sense of fear into their films. To build-up tension until the audience is at almost breaking point. One false move can easily break even the most intricately crafted pacing. There are many ways to do this. However, far too often filmmakers …
Blu-Ray Review: The L-Shaped Room
For a few years around the beginning of the 1960s, British new wave cinema burned fast and fierce. Shot in black and white, and with an emphasis on portraying real people, it produced some of the most creative and powerful films of the era. The likes of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, This Sporting Life, …
Incoming: The Man Who Invented Christmas
In 1843, Dickens was a literary rock star, but struggling financially after the slow sales of his previous novel, Martin Chuzzlewit. Seized with the vision of a story that would fire the hearts of humanity, Dickens pitched his publishers A Christmas Carol, but they passed. Desperate, Dickens declared he would publish it himself. Slipping into …
Incoming: Wonder
Wonder tells the inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman. Born with facial differences that, up until now, have prevented him from going to a mainstream school, Auggie becomes the most unlikely of heroes when he enters the local fifth grade. As his family, his new classmates, and the larger community all struggle to find …