Asian Cinema Thread

HWR said:
Some great titles coming out soon. Looking forward to the Takeshi Kitano boxset especially. Thanks for collating everything into that list Grav!
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No problem. One thing I noticed from BFI is that a while ago they had a teaser on what's to come for 2020 and one of them was a Japan season. Kitano and Ozu's name were referenced (henceforth those titles in the schedule) but what also caught my eye were Takashi Miike and Naomi Kawase so I wonder if we may see a title or two appear under BFI during this Summer (the latter did make a film for Tokyo 2020 it seems).
 
NormanicGrav said:
No problem. One thing I noticed from BFI is that a while ago they had a teaser on what's to come for 2020 and one of them was a Japan season. Kitano and Ozu's name were referenced (henceforth those titles in the schedule) but what also caught my eye were Takashi Miike and Naomi Kawase so I wonder if we may see a title or two appear under BFI during this Summer (the latter did make a film for Tokyo 2020 it seems).
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More Miike is always welcome. He has so many films (over 100) that any number of releases would be great to have. A boxset of his earliest works would be awesome.
 
HWR said:
More Miike is always welcome. He has so many films (over 100) that any number of releases would be great to have. A boxset of his earliest works would be awesome.
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I have lost track of how many of his works have been released on Blu-ray over here.
 
I've got Come Drink with Me on order. It was the first King Hu film that I saw, and you'd be hard pressed to find a more entertaining 90 minutes anywhere. It has an early lead role for Cheng Pei-pei, who would later go on to play Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon over 3 decades later.
 
NormanicGrav said:
I have lost track of how many of his works have been released on Blu-ray over here.
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Yeah it’s mainly Arrow Video doing the work on getting his filmography out at the moment. I think I have all of their Miike titles except the upcoming One Missed Call trilogy.
 
Parasite is now available to pre-order on Amazon UK. This is currently scheduled for 1st June 2020 and will also have a steelbook.

Blu-ray Steelbook Designs:
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Regular Blu-ray & DVD artwork:
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(Disclaimer: Amazon link is affiliated to help support me financially)
 
88 Films have added two more Asian films to the upcoming release schedule.

Armour of God II: Operation Condor - 1991 film directed by Jackie Chan - 15th June - Pre-order on Amazon
Clan of the White Lotus - 1980 film directed by Lo Lieh - 20th April - Pre-order on Amazon

In addition here's the finalised artwork for Jackie Chan's Heart of Dragon slipcover:
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(Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliated to help support me financially)
 
Criterion (in the US side) has announced plans to release Bong Joon-ho's award-winning film Parasite as well as his 2003 classic Memories of Murder for the collection.

In the UK, Memories of Murder was released by Studio Canal's older label Optimum Releasing alongside The Host (which is still available) and Mother (Blu-ray version is out of print). At the time of this post, it seems Memories of Murder is no longer in print.
 
Arrow Video has revealed its contents for their upcoming release of Gamera.

It's a limited edition film collection that will offer the following:
  • All of the films uncut in Japanese audio with English subtitles.
  • 4K restorations for the Heisei trilogy in Japanese & English audio with English subtitles.
  • The US theatrical film version Gammera The Invincible.
  • Hardback 120-page comic including a full-color reprint of the four-issue Gamera comic series (was released by Dark Horse), and the first-ever English-language printing of the prequel comic The Last Hope by Matt Frank and Joshua Bugosh.
  • Perfect-bound 80-page book including a new retrospective on the series by Patrick Macias, kaiju X-ray illustrations by Jolyon Yates, and more.
  • On-disc bonus features including expert commentaries (including August Ragone, David Kalat, and Steve Ryfle & Ed Godziszewski) and interviews with cast and crew.
Currently scheduled for July 2020 and will be at a high SRP price point for both US & UK.
 
Third Window Films has provided a few updates to their line-up.

New licenses include the following:
  • Ujicha's The Burning Buddha Man
  • Nobuhiko Obayashi's Hanagatami
  • Seiji Tanaka's Melancholic
  • Ujicha's Violence Voyager
The Blu-ray films below have been confirmed to be out of print:
  • Tetsuya Nakashima's Confessions
  • Takashi Miike's For Love's Sake
  • Lee Su-jin's Han Gong-ju
  • Tetsuya Nakashima's Kamikaze Girls
  • Takashi Miike's Lesson of Evil - Going OOP by the end of 2020
  • Tetsuya Nakashima's Memories of Matsuko
  • Shin Su-won's Pluto - Going OOP by the end of 2020
  • Shūichi Okita's The Story of Yonosuke
  • Pang Ho-cheung's Vulgaria
  • Shūichi Okita's The Woodsman and the Rain
Love Exposure is still in print despite the price spikes, this is caused by the recent distribution issues and will be back in retailers soon.

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UPDATE/EDIT: So after DragonBlaze mentioned he found a copy of Bong Joon-ho's 2009 film Mother on Blu-ray, I did some quick research and to my surprise it seems Studio Canal have reprinted it - HMV will have more stock soon according to its website, and Amazon third party sellers are offering £7-8 for a copy.

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UPDATE/EDIT 2.0: Eureka Entertainment have announced plans to release the 2004 Hong Kong film Throw Down from director Johnnie To as part of the Masters of Cinema brand for May 2020.
 
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Time for an update on the Asian Cinema UK schedule!
9th March:
  • Antonio Gaudi [Blu-ray]
    Distributor: Criterion
16th March:
  • Dragons Forever [Blu-ray]
    Distributor: 88 Films
  • Pink Films Volumes 1 & 2 [Blu-ray & DVD]
    Films included: Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands, Gushing Prayer
    Distributor: Third Window Films
20th April:
  • Clan of the White Lotus [Blu-ray] New Addition
    Distributor: 88 Films
  • Heart of Dragon [Blu-ray] Date Updated
    Distributor: 88 Films
  • Zu Warriors From The Magic Mountain [Blu-ray]
    Distributor: Eureka Entertainment
27th April:
  • Kwaidan [Blu-ray]
    Distributor: Eureka Entertainment
  • Tsukamoto: Killing / Haze / Denchukozo [Blu-ray]
    Films included: The Adventures of Electric Rod Boy, Haze, Killing
    Distributor: Third Window Films
18th May:
  • The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice [Blu-ray & DVD]
    Distributor: BFI
  • Funeral Parade of Roses [Blu-ray & DVD]
    Distributor: BFI
  • Throw Down [Blu-ray]
    Distributor: Eureka Entertainment
1st June:
  • Parasite [Blu-ray] Date Updated
    Distributor: Curzon Artificial Eye
15th June:
  • Armour of God II: Operation Condor [Blu-ray] New Addition
    Distributor: 88 Films
  • Tokyo Story (4K Restoration) [Blu-ray & DVD]
    Distributor: BFI
29th June:
  • Takeshi Kitano Three-Film Collection [Blu-ray]
    Films included: Boiling Point, Sonatine, Violent Cop
    Distributor: BFI
27th July:
  • Gamera: The Complete Collection (Limited Edition) [Blu-ray] Date Updated
    Films included: Gamera the Giant Monster, Gamera vs. Barugon, Gamera vs. Gyaos, Gamera vs. Viras, Gamera vs. Guiron, Gamera vs. Jiger, Gamera vs. Zigra, Gamera: Super Monster, Gamera the Brave, plus 4K restorations for Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris
    Distributor: Arrow Video
Coming Soon:
  • The Burning Buddha Man & Violence Voyager [Third Window Films] New Addition
  • Hanagatami [Third Window Films] New Addition
  • Melancholic [Third Window Films] New Addition
  • Pink Films Volumes 3 & 4: Abnormal Family & Blue Film Woman [Third Window Films]
  • Pink Films Volumes 5 & 6: Women Hell Song & Underwater Love [Third Window Films]
 
Has anyone seen a reason as to why Dragons Forever keeps getting delayed? I'm sure it was due in Oct/Nov but has had about 4 push backs.
 
A heads-up for those who like to collect, I was venturing through Eureka Entertainment's website and noticed they have listed Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata as 'discontinued' so if you are interested in the director's work or the film, in particular, it might be worth acquiring it sooner than later.

Eureka Entertainment still has Kiyoshi Kurosawa's other films in print - Creepy, Cure, and Journey to the Shore.
 
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