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Posted on 05.21.12 by David @ 9:11 am
The Secret World of Arrietty Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi is practically a baby by Ghibli standards – not even 40 – though he has worked on every major Miyazaki film since Princess Mononoke, along with other major works like Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. However, despite this being his directorial debut, Secret World of Arrietty shows the firm hand and confidence of an accomplished talent and well deserves its success. Filed under: General and Movie Reviews and Movie Reviews: Japan and DVD Reviews and DVD Reviews: Japan and Contributors: David and People: Hayao Miyazaki and Production Company: Studio Ghibli Comments: None |
CSB previously reviewed Disney’s DVDs of a number of Hayao Miyazaki classics (see |
Posted on 05.10.12 by David @ 9:05 am
AKA: Kiseki; Miracle Review By: David Austin [I Wish opens on Friday, May 11 at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and Angelika Film Center]
The kids at the center of I Wish, brothers Koichi and Ryunosuke, also face parental problems, though problems far more prosaic than those faced by the abandoned siblings in Nobody Knows. The brothers have been separated – relocated to different parts of Kyushu by divorcing parents. (Click Here To Read More…) Filed under: General and Movie Reviews and Movie Reviews: Japan and Rating: Good ★★★ and People: Hirokazu Koreeda Comments: None |
I Wish, or Miracle (the more accurate translation of the film’s Japanese title), is Hirokazu Koreeda’s first film about children since his devastating, powerful Nobody Knows in 2004. While the intervening years and/or fatherhood have lightened his tone, Koreeda again pulls terrific performances and great emotion out of his child actors, even while lowering the stakes.|
Posted on 05.02.12 by David @ 4:36 pm
Snake Prince
Filed under: General and Movie Reviews and Movie Reviews: Hong Kong and DVD Reviews and DVD Reviews: Hong Kong and Studios: Shaw Brothers and DVD Companies: Celestial and People: Ti Lung and Movie Reviews: Capsule Reviews Comments: None |
The Snake Prince is another wild ride from the Shaw Brothers. On its surface, it is the tale of an enchanted snake prince (played by Ti Lung, always raising the class level of even his silliest projects) who falls in love with cutie-pie Lin Chen-chi (Spiritual Boxer). When her slutty sister tries to seduce him and the local townspeople try to destroy him, the film works its way towards down to a fiery and extremely bloody conclusion, filled with flailing actors and tons of giant snake action. However, on closer inspection, Snake Prince is more of an intriguing variant on the story of Beauty and the Beast (most recognizably in its Cocteau iteration) than it is based on any Chinese myths or legends. Ti is clearly the Beast and Lin the Beauty, complete with beholden father and two spoiled sisters. Of course, this being a Shaw Brothers film, events are more apocalyptic and the gore and nudity are copious.|
Posted on 05.01.12 by David @ 7:07 pm
Filed under: General and Movie News and Movie News: Japan and Venues: The Japan Society Comments: None |
This Saturday, May 5, the Japan Society will be hosting two free screenings that you won’t want to miss. First up is the original Godzilla (not the Raymond Burr version), and if you’ve never seen it, it is a far more sobering experience than the wild and wacky kaiju films of the 60s and 70s might lead you to believe. Next is Fish Story - a genuinely unique film that feels like what Guillermo Arriaga might make if someone hadn’t shot his dog when he was a kid. |
Posted on 04.26.12 by David @ 1:16 pm
Country and Year: India/USA (2008) Review By: David Austin
Liu has had something of a resurgence recently, following his appearance in the Kill Bill films, but I thought Chakraborty had been lost in the mists of time – to see them together is to see vastly separate film universes collide. Liu has a sizable role here as Hojo, a villain of the old school oppressing a small Chinese town. Chakraborty’s role is smaller, but he is an imposing presence as the mentor of the film’s hero, Sidhu, a street chef played by action star Akshay Kumar. Filed under: General and Movie Reviews and Contributors: David and Rating: Average ★★ and Movie Reviews: India and People: Gordon Liu Comments: None |
Before I get any further, I have to salute CC2C for giving me something I never thought I would ever see – Gordon Liu and Mithun Chakraborty on the screen together. Each is a legend in his own way and in his own milieu. Gordon Liu, of course, is familiar to many as one of the preeminent Shaw Brothers martial arts stars – an incredibly talented man who acted in many of CSB’s favorite kung fu films of the 1970s, like 36 Chambers of Shaolin and Eight Diagram Pole Fighter. Chakraborty, while less of a recognizable face in the West, carved out a long career for himself in a series of incredibly cheesy, and incredibly fun, films like Disco Dancer, Commando and Dance, Dance. |
Posted on 04.13.12 by David @ 8:46 am
Now Hollywood seems to be catching on, with news that up-and-coming horror auteur Ti West has been signed on to write the screenplay. (Click Here To Read More…) Filed under: General and Movie News and Movie News: USA Comments: None |
Ben Winters has been doing some great stuff with Quirk Press, first following in the footsteps of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies with the follow-on Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and Android Karenina, but then moving into the genre of original horror with his recent creepy-crawly Bedbugs, which strikes home for a New York seemingly plagued by the pestilent creatures (journalistic integrity alert: I know Ben). |
Posted on 04.12.12 by David @ 10:20 am
The first teaser poster for the new Quentin Tarantino movie, Django Unchained, set for release on December 25, 2012. A nicely iconic image for one of our most anticipated films of the year (Tarantino is Tarantino, but add in Kurt Russell and I’m sold already). Filed under: Movie News and People: Quentin Tarantino and Movie Image and People: Kurt Russell Comments: None |
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Posted on 04.05.12 by David @ 3:10 pm
Beware Film Forum, BAM and others, the Alamo is looking to drink your milkshake. An Upper West Side location is slated to open in 2013. Filed under: General and Movie News Comments: None |
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Posted on 11.28.11 by David @ 10:47 am
One of the truly great directors and one of the great dirty old men of cinema, Ken Russell, has died at 84, leaving behind a legacy of brilliant oddities like The Devils, Lair of the White Worm and Liztomania. An equal opportunity perv, Russell was happy to intersperse his hysterical naked nuns with a naked Oliver Reed wrestling a naked Alan Bates in one of the first English-language commercial films to feature full frontal nudity. Check out CSB’s coverage here of a Halloween appearance by Russell from a few years back to get a full taste of Russell’s sensibilities. Filed under: General and Movie News and Movie News: UK and Movie News: Obituaries and People: Ken Russell Comments: None |
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Posted on 11.04.11 by David @ 9:20 am
A rare action shot of John Woo’s early martial arts film from our archives. Filed under: People: John Woo and People: Jackie Chan and Movie Image and Genre: Martial Arts Comments: None |
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Posted on 10.27.11 by David @ 6:17 pm
Filed under: General and Movie News and Venues: BAM Cinematek Comments: None |
Starting on Halloween, October 31st, BAMCinematek is launching a sixteen-month celebration of Brooklyn films titled Brooklyn Close-Up. Beginning, appropriately enough with a special screening of Walter Hill’s fantastic 1979 actioner The Warriors with David Patrick Kelly (Warriors! Come Out and Play-ee-ay!) in attendance, the series will span nine decades and countless neighborhoods, and feature free beer from Brooklyn’s own Brooklyn Brewery.|
Posted on 10.17.11 by Administrator @ 9:52 am
Cinema Strikes Back has finally opened a Facebook page, so please check it out. We are just getting started but will have additional links, photos, and information for our readers up soon. Thanks for supporting the site. Filed under: General and Movie News and Site News Comments: None |
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Posted on 10.12.11 by David @ 11:15 pm
Filed under: Movie News and Venues: The Japan Society Comments: None |
The 3rd Annual Friars Club Comedy Film Festival (co-founded and organized by CSB’s own Charlie Prince) started today and runs from October 12 to October 16, with screenings from all over the world. Highlights include the Danish action-comedy All for One with the always-entertaining Rutger Hauer, Adventures in Plymptoons, and a screening of Almost Perfect with special guests Edison Chen and Kelly Hu, among others.|
Posted on 10.11.11 by David @ 9:49 am
Filed under: Movie News and Movie News: South Korea and Contributors: David and Venues: Korean Cultural Service Comments: None |
The Korean Cultural Service of New York is continuing their free Korean Movie Night series with a series on “Hidden Gems of Korean Cinema, Part II,” featuring three movies that received critical acclaim but for one reason or another never made it out of Korea. The series started with a September screening of Bleak Night (2011), Yoon Sung-Hyun’s debut feature about a father trying to piece together the reasons for his son’s suicide. Not at all the detective story that the plot summary suggests, the majority of the film takes place in flashback and focuses on the complicated relationship between the suicide and his two closest friends as a series of misunderstandings and social conflicts drove a wedge between them. Bleak Night more closely resembles Shunji Iwai’s All About Lily Chou-Chou with its focus on turbulent teenage emotions and bullying, but more grounded and less prone to cinematic flights of fancy. 
Tonight, October 11, the KCS will be taking a left turn into the supernatural with End of Animal (2011), an enigmatically apocalyptic film that plays like a bizarro universe version of the 2009 killer angel dud Legion - with half the budget (really more like a hundredth) but twice the brains. |
Posted on 10.06.11 by David @ 10:09 am
I just heard some very sad news - Bill Barounis of Onar Films has passed away after a long battle with cancer. I first got in touch with Bill when he started up Onar Films - his scrappy DVD label devoted to his dream (onar) of releasing all the wonderful and bizarre films from the golden age of Turkish cinema in the 50s, 60s and 70s - and we had a chance to chat about his plans and goals (see interview link below). (Click Here To Read More…) Filed under: General and Movie News and Movie News: Turkey and Movie News: Obituaries and DVD Companies: Onar Films Comments: 4 Comments |
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