Asian Cinema Thread

Pleased Summer Wars made the list. Easily my favourite Hosoda film. Though A Silent Voice and Your Name being muscled out for 2016 is surprising.
 
I refuse to believe Villain is better than The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya! I've not seen it though...
 
New titles from 88 Films now available to pre-order on Amazon that are part of Asian Cinema:
  • Dragon Lord (龍少爺) - 1982 film by Jackie Chan - 24th August
  • Fearless Hyena (笑拳怪招) - 1979 film by Jackie Chan - 24th August
  • Bonus: Street Fighter: The Ultimate Battle - 1994 film based on Capcom's video-game by Steven E. de Souza - 28th September
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliated to help support me financially)
 
A couple more 88films releases popped up on Amazon:

The Master (Jet Li?)
Replicant (Van Damme & Ringo Lam)
Knock Off (Van Damme & Tsui Hark)
Schizoid
Avenging Force

Seems like they're doing a Van Damme collection which I'm all for!
 
Armour of God II - Operation Condor is available to pre-order from 88Films.
I read yesterday that 88 Films have made a statement saying that both Amazon and Zavvi took a chunk of the 3000 units stock so there is a chance that ordering directly through 88 Films may end up being the second print.
 
I read yesterday that 88 Films have made a statement saying that both Amazon and Zavvi took a chunk of the 3000 units stock so there is a chance that ordering directly through 88 Films may end up being the second print.
I saw that statement though hopefully I’m lucky on the slipcover front. Stock is meant to be coming in next week so I’ll find out around then.
 
I read yesterday that 88 Films have made a statement saying that both Amazon and Zavvi took a chunk of the 3000 units stock so there is a chance that ordering directly through 88 Films may end up being the second print.
Currently No. 6 best seller on Amazon so outselling Bad Boys 3 and Parasite!
 
The latest updated release schedule.

June 2020:

DateNameLanguageDirectorFormatDistributor
1stParasiteKoreanBong Joon-hoBlu-rayCurzon Artificial Eye
15thArmour of God II: Operation CondorCantoneseJackie ChanBlu-ray88 Films
15thTokyo Story (4K Restoration)JapaneseYasujirō OzuBlu-rayBFI
22ndThe Mad FoxJapaneseTomu UchidaBlu-rayArrow Academy
29thTakeshi Kitano Three-Film Collection:
Boiling Point / Sonatine / Violent Cop
JapaneseTakeshi KitanoBlu-rayBFI

July 2020:

DateNameLanguageDirectorFormatDistributor
6thHanagatamiJapaneseNobuhiko ObayashiBlu-rayThird Window Films
6thInferno Of TortureJapaneseTeruo IshiiBlu-rayArrow Video
6thZombie For SaleKoreanLee Min-jaeBlu-rayArrow Video
13thHiroshimaJapaneseHideo SekigawaBlu-rayArrow Academy
20thMaborosiJapaneseHirokazu Kore-edaBlu-rayBFI
20thMr. VampireCantoneseRicky LauBlu-rayEureka Entertainment

August 2020:
DateNameLanguageDirectorFormatDistributor
10thFish StoryJapaneseYoshihiro NakamuraBlu-rayThird Window Films
17thGamera: The Complete CollectionJapaneseVariousBlu-rayArrow Video
24thBlack Test Car & The Black ReportJapaneseYasuzo MasumuraBlu-rayArrow Video
24thDragon LordCantoneseJackie ChanBlu-ray88 Films
24thThe Fearless HyenaCantoneseJackie ChanBlu-ray88 Films

September 2020:

Date:NameLanguageDirectorFormatDistributor
7thMelancholicJapaneseSeiji TanakaBlu-ray & DVDThird Window Films
28thThe MasterCantoneseTsui HarkBlu-ray88 Films

Coming Soon (No Scheduled Date Yet):

NameLanguageDirectorDistributor
The Burning Buddha Man & Violence VoyagerJapaneseUjichaThird Window Films
The H-Man & Battle in Outer SpaceJapaneseIshirō HondaEureka 'Masters of Cinema'
Kwaidan (Standard Edition release)JapaneseMasaki KobayashiEureka 'Masters of Cinema'
Pink Films Vol. 5 & 6: Women Hell Song & Underwater LoveJapaneseWatanabe Mamoru
Shinji Imaoka
Third Window Films
Ran (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)JapaneseAkira KurosawaStudio Canal
Untold StoryCantoneseHerman Yau88 Films
 
WoW. Untold Story getting release. That film is so bizarre with it's tone. One minute people are being chopped and one minute later you got some wacky Chinese humor.
 
Criterion are releasing Hideo Gosha's Three Outlaw Samurai on July 20th and Abbas Kiarostami's Taste of Cherry on August 24th. They also came out with Satyajit Ray's landmark Apu Trilogy last week and it's phenomenal.
 
88 films may have just leaked another upcoming Eureka release on facebook (they previously said Eureka had Mr. Vampire about a month before it was announced).
Someone asked if they'd be releasing the Lucky Stars films or Twin Dragons to which they responded 'Lucky Stars isn't coming from us'.
Read into that what you will 😂 smart money is on Eureka and does that mean they have got Twin Dragons? We'll have to wait an see 🤷‍♂️
 
Heads up, Third Window Films has confirmed that both Pink Films collections are going out of print with limited stock remaining. This was a 500 unit print run (with the other 500 units released in Germany by Rapid Eye Movies).

Vol. 1 & 2 contains Inflatable Sex Dolls of the Wasteland and Gushing Prayer - Available on Amazon for £15.99.
Vol. 3 & 4 contains Abnormal Family and Blue Film Woman - Available on Amazon for £14.99.

Vol. 5 & 6 is coming later this year which contains Women Hell Song and Underwater Love, the latter of which TWF did release on DVD many years ago.

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliated to help support me financially)
 
Can you recommend these titles? They look to be quite...intriguing based on their descriptions.
 
Last edited:
Can you recommend these titles? They look to be quite...intriguing based on their descriptions.
It's a mixed bag to be honest. I quite liked Inflatable Sex Dolls. Gushing Prayer has some issues. Abnormal Family is just weird (a parody & homage of Yasujiro Ozu's works as well) and Blue Film Woman has a good premise. I have my thoughts in the Ratings thread if you're curious.
 
Third Window Films has confirmed they were able to acquire the rights to Shinya Tsukamoto's 1999 film Gemini, which is estimated to arrive on Blu-ray around October/November time. All the on-disc bonus features from the US/CA version will be included.

Worth noting that Gemini is not one of the titles that were featured in Arrow's Solid Metal Nightmares.
 
My Novamedia imports of Edward Yang's Taipei Story and Shunji Iwai's April Story and Love Letter arrived yesterday after a month long journey from Korea. They're my first purchases from Novamedia and they're really beautiful releases, Taipei Story in particular - they even unexpectedly threw in a Taipei Story fridge magnet!

Edward Yang might be my favourite filmmaker, and my choice for greatest film ever made is whichever out of A Brighter Summer Day and Yi Yi I watched most recently. Taipei Story is his second feature and doesn't quite reach the heights of either of those films but comes awfully close, beautifully depicting the tensions and anxieties that develop in a relationship with the passing of time and how these are influenced by the forces that are pushing apart modernity and tradition, Taiwan and its history, east and west, the classes...groupings that aren't directly opposed to one another but nevertheless need to compromise in order to peacefully co-exist, much like the romantic relationship of the main couple. The main character, Lung, is played by Yang's fellow New Taiwanese Cinema icon Hou Hsiao-Hsien in a rare acting role; he also re-mortgaged his house to finance the film.
 
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New update on the Jackie Chan Dragon Lord 88 Films release.

First Print edition:
  • Limited Edition Gloss O-Card slipcase. New artwork from R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien
  • Limited Edition 44 page Picture Booklet featuring rare stills, posters, lobby cards, behind- the-scenes photos, production stills and more.
Versions of the film:
  • New 2K restoration from the Original 35mm Negatives in 2:35:1 Aspect Ratio.
  • 96 minute Hong Kong Theatrical Cut - "Jackie Chan's final approved edit of the film".
  • 103 minute Work-In-Progress Cut - "An earlier cut of the film, released in limited territories, featuring approximately 15 minutes of exclusive extended/alternate footage"
Audio & Subtitles:
  • Original Theatrical Cantonese Mono.
  • Alternate Home Release Cantonese Mono Mix.
  • 1982 English Export Dub [approx. 5 min presented in English-subtitled Cantonese for undubbed portions]
  • 2003 English 5.1 mix
  • Newly translated English subtitles
  • A simplified subtitle track [Applies to the “Jianzi” shuttlecock match only, this subtitle set simplifies the dialogue in that scene, allowing you to focus on the action.]
Extra Notes:
  • English Trailer
  • The Insider: Interview with Louis Sit
  • The Fall Guy: An Interview with Mars
  • The Master Returns: An interview with Whang In-Sik
  • Behind-The-Scenes Teaser
  • Hong Kong Trailer
  • Reversible sleeve with alternative Hong Kong poster artwork
 
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