It's the holiday weekend y'all. If you've taken some time away from family get-togethers to catch up on action related news then we've got something for you right here. We're giving away three (3) copies of Hugo Sakamoto's slacker action comedy, Baby Assassins 2, on Blu-ray to give away to our readers in the U.S. After being suspended from their agency due to a rules violation, two highly skilled teenage assassins are forced to get “real” jobs to make ends meet. But while the elite duo is forbidden from executing targets or enemies under any circumstances, two aspiring rival hitmen decide to eliminate the competition while they’re vulnerable—leading to a lightning-fast showdown between trained killers. Baby Assassins 2 comes out on Blu-ray and digital next...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 3/29/2024
- Screen Anarchy
Brazil’s Fantaspoa film festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and the festival is breaking numerous records, presenting an impressive total of 114 feature films, 22 of these as World Premieres, marking the largest number of feature films in Fantaspoa’s long history.
The final selection of feature films for Fantaspoa’s highly-anticipated 20th edition has been exclusively presented to Bloody Disgusting, so read on for everything you need to know!
The festival tells us this week, “With a diverse selection, the feature films screening at Fantaspoa Xx have been divided into seven distinct competitive categories: International, Ibero-American, National, Documentary, Animation, All-Nighter, and Low Budget, Great Films. These categories promise audiences a variety of cinematic experiences, from the fringes of horror and fantasy to the depths of the human imagination.
“In addition to feature films, Fantaspoa will screen 123 short films, totaling 237 participating works, making this edition of the festival the largest in its history.
The final selection of feature films for Fantaspoa’s highly-anticipated 20th edition has been exclusively presented to Bloody Disgusting, so read on for everything you need to know!
The festival tells us this week, “With a diverse selection, the feature films screening at Fantaspoa Xx have been divided into seven distinct competitive categories: International, Ibero-American, National, Documentary, Animation, All-Nighter, and Low Budget, Great Films. These categories promise audiences a variety of cinematic experiences, from the fringes of horror and fantasy to the depths of the human imagination.
“In addition to feature films, Fantaspoa will screen 123 short films, totaling 237 participating works, making this edition of the festival the largest in its history.
- 3/28/2024
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Yugo Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins, which screened at the Glasgow Film Festival in 2022, told the story of two highly skilled but nevertheless adorable young assassins whose lives fall apart when their agency forces them to share a flat. The moment that we see Chisato (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro (Saori Izawa) again in this film, which screened as part of the 2024 festival, it’s obvious that the bond they formed back then has really blossomed. They are living in a gloriously untidy, candy-coloured paradise whose tables are piled high with sweets and desserts in which they indulge at every opportunity – but they’re still in good shape, of course, because they still work as contract killers.
They need to. Outside of their work, their disorganisation extends beyond the domestic sphere. An unpaid gym membership results in massive penalties from accrued fines and interest, landing them in hot water, and...
They need to. Outside of their work, their disorganisation extends beyond the domestic sphere. An unpaid gym membership results in massive penalties from accrued fines and interest, landing them in hot water, and...
- 3/6/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
"You can bet on me." Well Go USA has revealed an official trailer for an action comedy sequel from Japan titled Baby Assassins 2, once again written and directed by Japanese action filmmaker Yugo Sakamoto. This is a follow-up to the 2021 film Baby Assassins, about two high school girls who also just so happen to be highly trained assassins. Apparently it was enough of a success they had to come back and make a sequel - with everyone returning for more. After the agency suspends its top assassins, aspiring hitmen decide to eliminate them—leading to a lightning-fast showdown between trained killers. Baby Assassins 2 brings back Akari Takaishi and the rising star and Snake Eyes and Rurouni Kenshin franchise stuntwoman Saori Izawa as the two leads - who try to stay alive. With Atomu Mizuishi, Tomo Nakai, Tsubasa Tobinaga, Tetsu Watanabe, Joey Tee, Oto Abe, and Tatsuomi Hamada. This played at...
- 2/23/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
As we have mentioned many times before, the most successful product of Asian cinema towards the US market (apart from anime) are the action/martial arts movies, and as such, it is by no surprise that the biggest industries of the continent and particularly S.Korea have invested heavily towards the particular category, with China following close by, in a genre that, most of the time, budget is the most crucial element. In that fashion, ultra violent and stylistic is the path S. Korea productions follow (this year), while China seems to be going more towards the sci-fi now that the Ip Man franchise has become somewhat preterit. Japan choose live-action adaptation or its rather famous franchises, while the duo of Tak Sakaguchi and Yudai Yamaguchi continue their effort to produce as realistic martial arts scenes as possible. China follows the stylistic martial arts approach, while India has come up...
- 12/30/2023
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
Stars: Saori Izawa, Akari Takaishi, Tatsuomi Hamada, Iwanaga Joey, Junpei Hashino, Atom Mizuishi, Tsubasa Tobinaga | Written and Directed by Yugo Sakamoto
Two years ago, Yugo Sakamoto’s quirky action comedy Baby Assassins came out of nowhere and blew me away with its story of Mahiro and Chisato two high school girls who live secret lives as assassins.
Now the girls are back in Baby Assassins 2 Babies, and they haven’t gotten any better at dealing with day-to-day things like paying their bills. A gym membership that’s been collecting late fees for five years and their insurance needs to be paid immediately. But when robbers strike the bank as they’re trying to, they intervene and get suspended from the Assassin’s Guild for using their skills off the clock.
But finding another job to pay the bills is the least of their problems. Makoto and Yuri are looking...
Two years ago, Yugo Sakamoto’s quirky action comedy Baby Assassins came out of nowhere and blew me away with its story of Mahiro and Chisato two high school girls who live secret lives as assassins.
Now the girls are back in Baby Assassins 2 Babies, and they haven’t gotten any better at dealing with day-to-day things like paying their bills. A gym membership that’s been collecting late fees for five years and their insurance needs to be paid immediately. But when robbers strike the bank as they’re trying to, they intervene and get suspended from the Assassin’s Guild for using their skills off the clock.
But finding another job to pay the bills is the least of their problems. Makoto and Yuri are looking...
- 11/22/2023
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Before being widely known through his two “Baby Assassins” movies, Yugo Sakamoto has also shot a grittier, somewhat darker movie, “The Janitor”, who still implements, though, the chaotic narrative approach his later movies included.
on Hi-Yah!
The titular character is actually Akira Fukami, a man whose father was murdered and was taken in by his sworn blood brother, Majima, a yakuza leader who trained Fukami into becoming his most formidable assassin. As the movie begins, and as a side job, the young man poses as a janitor in a high school where Majima’s daughter, Yui is attending, secretly functioning as her bodyguard. Despite some issues here and there, his life proceeds smoothly, until Majima announces that he wants to take his business to Hong Kong. This enrages one of the underbosses, Nishimori, who immediately starts plotting to have him killed, using Fukami, to whom he reveals...
on Hi-Yah!
The titular character is actually Akira Fukami, a man whose father was murdered and was taken in by his sworn blood brother, Majima, a yakuza leader who trained Fukami into becoming his most formidable assassin. As the movie begins, and as a side job, the young man poses as a janitor in a high school where Majima’s daughter, Yui is attending, secretly functioning as her bodyguard. Despite some issues here and there, his life proceeds smoothly, until Majima announces that he wants to take his business to Hong Kong. This enrages one of the underbosses, Nishimori, who immediately starts plotting to have him killed, using Fukami, to whom he reveals...
- 10/20/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
With over 50+ films, Camera Japan Festival is proud to announce its full and diverse programme, combining films ranging from de newest and best Japanese arthouse, animation, documentaries, short films and classic cinema.
The 18th edition of the festival will be opened at Rotterdam based LantarenVenster on September 21st with a festive screening of Takahashi Masaya's European premiere of The Dry Spell. One day prior, the festival unofficially kicks off at Worm with a very special screening of Spaghetti Ramen. From 28 September – 1 October, the festival moves to Amsterdam's LAB111.
With three international and ten European premieres, the festival consists of a very special and exclusive film programme. Films such as Tsugaru Lacquer Girl, Firing the Lighter Gun and The Rest of Our Lives, will have their first screenings outside of Japan, here, at Camera Japan Festival.
As if the international premieres were not special enough, the festival is honored to welcome...
The 18th edition of the festival will be opened at Rotterdam based LantarenVenster on September 21st with a festive screening of Takahashi Masaya's European premiere of The Dry Spell. One day prior, the festival unofficially kicks off at Worm with a very special screening of Spaghetti Ramen. From 28 September – 1 October, the festival moves to Amsterdam's LAB111.
With three international and ten European premieres, the festival consists of a very special and exclusive film programme. Films such as Tsugaru Lacquer Girl, Firing the Lighter Gun and The Rest of Our Lives, will have their first screenings outside of Japan, here, at Camera Japan Festival.
As if the international premieres were not special enough, the festival is honored to welcome...
- 9/3/2023
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The eighteenth edition of the genre festival Fantastic Fest is set to be held at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas from September 21st – 28th (badges are available now at FantasticFest.com), and this time around the festival is going to feature 29 world premieres, 24 North American premieres, and 18 U.S. premieres! Among the films in the lineup, which you can look over below, are The Toxic Avenger remake and the Pet Sematary prequel Pet Sematary: Bloodlines. The first two episodes of the Mike Flanagan Netflix series The Fall of the House of Usher will also be screened at the festival.
Festival Director Lisa Dreyer had this to say: “The Fantastic Fest team is ready to take you on a journey you won’t ever forget. We’ve taken the best week of the year and supercharged it: more movies, more parties, more fun. If you want to see...
Festival Director Lisa Dreyer had this to say: “The Fantastic Fest team is ready to take you on a journey you won’t ever forget. We’ve taken the best week of the year and supercharged it: more movies, more parties, more fun. If you want to see...
- 8/15/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Fantastic Fest, the genre film festival that takes place in Austin, Texas every fall, has unveiled its 2023 lineup, which includes a new take on Troma’s classic “The Toxic Avenger” from Blumhouse, Prime Video’s time travel slasher “Totally Killer,” episodes of Mike Flanagan’s new Netflix series “The Fall of the House of Usher” and the latest film by South Korean auteur Kim Jee-woon (“Cobweb”) as the festival’s reputation for bringing film fans the most adventurous offerings remains unchallenged.
The opening night movie for the festival is the new “Toxic Avenger,” produced by Legendary alongside Troma, and written and directed by the great Macon Blair (recently seen as Oppenheimer’s put-upon lawyer in Christopher Nolan’s film). Peter Dinklage plays the title character with a supporting cast that includes Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Elijah Wood and Kevin Bacon.
Other highlights include “Always Be My Maybe” director Nahnatchka Khan...
The opening night movie for the festival is the new “Toxic Avenger,” produced by Legendary alongside Troma, and written and directed by the great Macon Blair (recently seen as Oppenheimer’s put-upon lawyer in Christopher Nolan’s film). Peter Dinklage plays the title character with a supporting cast that includes Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Elijah Wood and Kevin Bacon.
Other highlights include “Always Be My Maybe” director Nahnatchka Khan...
- 8/15/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
In an interview I had with Dean Fujioka, director of “Pure Japanese” back in August 2022, he mentioned: “I started working in Japan about 10 years ago and as I spoke with the stunt crews on site, I learned that there are less opportunities for them to play an active part in recent years, which simply led me to think that we should make more action movies in Japan”. It seems that his wish gradually was heard, with a number of action movies coming out from Japan during the last few years, in a trend that actually seems to pick up, as Netflix seems particularly interested in streaming this type of movies. Granted, a number of the titles are rather low-budget and some of them are mediocre in terms of quality, and a number of cast and crew (Tak Sakaguchi and Yuji Shimomura in particular) tend to te the same, but considering...
- 8/10/2023
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
One might be forgiven for being a bit confused at the opening of Sakamoto Yugo's Baby Assassins 2 Babies. There are indeed a pair of scrappy young killers casually approaching a murder for hire gig, they do handle it in a rather haphazard but ultimately effective and entertaining way, and they do share a witty repartee that definitely feels a part of the series. However, these two assassins are men, not the cutesy teen odd couple of Mahiro (Izawa Saori) and Chisato (Takaishi Akari) that we met in the vivacious first film. These two opposite pairs will battle for the duration of the film in spectacularly choreographed fight scenes, sometimes with and among each other, in this briskly paced, delightful sequel to Sakamoto's 2021 Japanese...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 8/1/2023
- Screen Anarchy
Hot off the Japanese action-comedy hijinks of 2021's "Baby Assassins" is writer and director Yugo Sakamoto's "Baby Assassins 2" (alternately titled "Baby Assassins: 2 Babies"). No, this isn't about toddlers with katanas accepting mercenary contracts. Sakamoto continues his story about an odd couple of trained assassins who'd rather be gorging on ice cream sundaes than pulverizing gangsters with a very slacker-humor vibe. Action can feel like an "afterthought" earlier on, but that's not a forever choice nor a detriment. "Baby Assassins 2" is as much a commentary about Japanese youths struggling to find work and nonsense bureaucracy as a flurry of furious fists, both of which find their place in this offbeat, uptempo, and quite funny sequel.
Returning as Sakamoto's "Babies" are Chisato (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro (Saori Izawa), roommates with contradictory personalities shaped into expert killers. The excessively cutesy and squee Chisato discovers they haven't paid their gym membership in roughly four years,...
Returning as Sakamoto's "Babies" are Chisato (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro (Saori Izawa), roommates with contradictory personalities shaped into expert killers. The excessively cutesy and squee Chisato discovers they haven't paid their gym membership in roughly four years,...
- 7/28/2023
- by Matt Donato
- Slash Film
It’s July, so you know what that means… Fantasia International Film Festival time! Kicking off our Summer of film festival coverage, Fantasia is Always packed with a vast variety of films, from action to horror, drama to comedy, the festival covers the gamut of genres and offers films that [I think] no other festival does. With that in mind, here are five of my “must-see” picks from this year’s line-up.
Blackout – Genre veteran Larry Fessenden goes back behind the camera for another genre film following the likes of Wendigo, The Last Winter and Beneath. This time around Fessenden brings us the tale of a painter (Alex Hurt) who, convinced he is a werewolf, creates chaos in a small town at each full moon. Suitable Flesh – Director Joe Lynch returns with his first feature after a 4-year absence to helm Suitable Flesh, which not only stars Scream Queen Barbara Crampton but comes from writer Dennis Paoli,...
Blackout – Genre veteran Larry Fessenden goes back behind the camera for another genre film following the likes of Wendigo, The Last Winter and Beneath. This time around Fessenden brings us the tale of a painter (Alex Hurt) who, convinced he is a werewolf, creates chaos in a small town at each full moon. Suitable Flesh – Director Joe Lynch returns with his first feature after a 4-year absence to helm Suitable Flesh, which not only stars Scream Queen Barbara Crampton but comes from writer Dennis Paoli,...
- 7/14/2023
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Highly skilled assassins lying in wait and trying to live a normal life have recently been portrayed to commercial success in cinema of late. When it comes to Japanese cinema, two such recent productions that immediately come spring to mind are “The Fable” and “Baby Assassins”. Since the former did get a sequel, which was also well received by the audience, it was only a matter of time that Yugo Sakamoto's action comedy about two young female assassins also got a sequel of its own. Two years since the release of the first and we are back in the world of our awkward but highly skilled pair of killing machines.
Tokyo Uber Blues is screening at Nippon Connection
Since we last saw them fighting and winning against the Yakuza, Mahiro and Chisato have become elite, high-ranking killers within the Guild but most importantly, they have learnt to live with...
Tokyo Uber Blues is screening at Nippon Connection
Since we last saw them fighting and winning against the Yakuza, Mahiro and Chisato have become elite, high-ranking killers within the Guild but most importantly, they have learnt to live with...
- 6/13/2023
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
The first highlights of the 23rd Nippon Connection Film Festival are set! From June 6 to 11, 2023, Frankfurt am Main in Germany will once again become the capital of Japanese cinema. For six days, you can immerse yourself in art and cinema from Japan at eight venues. There are around 100 exciting short and feature-length films to discover – from the latest blockbusters and anime to independent and documentary films. A varied supporting program with more than 50 workshops, concerts, lectures and exhibitions as well as a wide range of culinary specialties invite you to experience Japan with all your senses. The two festival centers with cinemas, bars and Japanese market stalls are again the Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm and the Produktionshaus Naxos in Frankfurt am Main. The complete program and tickets will be available on NipponConnection.com starting May 12, 2023.
Nippon Rising Star Award Goes To Toko Miura!
The star guest of this year’s festival is Toko Miura,...
Nippon Rising Star Award Goes To Toko Miura!
The star guest of this year’s festival is Toko Miura,...
- 4/9/2023
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
It’s the first full week of February 2023 and we’re getting another Ten brand new horror movies this week, with the first four of them already put up for grabs at home beginning today.
Here’s all the new horror released on Tuesday, February 7, 2023!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
First up, Screambox Original horror movie Yellow Dragon’s Village is now streaming exclusively on the Bd-powered Screambox, directed by Japanese filmmaker Yugo Sakamato.
The film follows a group of travelers who unwittingly become the prey of a homicidal family. After a flat tire derails their trip, a group of campers stumble upon a secluded village where they encounter a homicidal cult looking for their next sacrifice.
Yellow Dragon’s Village features a stellar young cast including Yuni Akino (My Favorite Girl), Itsuki Fujii (Cosmetic DNA) and Masayuki Inô (Green Bullet).
Written and directed by...
Here’s all the new horror released on Tuesday, February 7, 2023!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
First up, Screambox Original horror movie Yellow Dragon’s Village is now streaming exclusively on the Bd-powered Screambox, directed by Japanese filmmaker Yugo Sakamato.
The film follows a group of travelers who unwittingly become the prey of a homicidal family. After a flat tire derails their trip, a group of campers stumble upon a secluded village where they encounter a homicidal cult looking for their next sacrifice.
Yellow Dragon’s Village features a stellar young cast including Yuni Akino (My Favorite Girl), Itsuki Fujii (Cosmetic DNA) and Masayuki Inô (Green Bullet).
Written and directed by...
- 2/7/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Screambox Original Yellow Dragon’s Village follows a group of travelers who unwittingly become the prey of a homicidal family. After a flat tire derails their trip, a group of campers stumble upon a secluded village where they encounter a homicidal cult looking for their next sacrifice.
Gritty and grisly, the film conjures memories of horror classics The Hills Have Eyes and Hostel; films that were unafraid of pushing the cinematic boundaries of the genre.
With an hour of claustrophobic terror, Yellow Dragon’s Village was featured in festivals around the world including the Asian Film Festival of Dallas and the 32th Horror and Fantasy Film Festival.
The film features a stellar young cast including Yuni Akino (My Favorite Girl), Itsuki Fujii (Cosmetic DNA) and Masayuki Inô (Green Bullet).
Written and directed by Yugo Sakamoto (Baby Assassins), the buzz surrounding Yellow Dragon’s Village has grown steadily since its festival release.
Yellow Dragon’s Village...
Gritty and grisly, the film conjures memories of horror classics The Hills Have Eyes and Hostel; films that were unafraid of pushing the cinematic boundaries of the genre.
With an hour of claustrophobic terror, Yellow Dragon’s Village was featured in festivals around the world including the Asian Film Festival of Dallas and the 32th Horror and Fantasy Film Festival.
The film features a stellar young cast including Yuni Akino (My Favorite Girl), Itsuki Fujii (Cosmetic DNA) and Masayuki Inô (Green Bullet).
Written and directed by Yugo Sakamoto (Baby Assassins), the buzz surrounding Yellow Dragon’s Village has grown steadily since its festival release.
Yellow Dragon’s Village...
- 2/7/2023
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
Love is in the air this February, particularly regarding horror. The month is packed with theatrical darlings finding new homes on streaming, brand-new originals, and unearthed deep cuts. February has everything from polarizing indie darlings to sleeper hits and beyond.
Here are ten noteworthy horror titles available for streaming in February 2023 on some of the most popular streaming services, along with when/where you can watch them.
The Loved Ones – Paramount+
What’s February without horror romances? This brutal feature introduces Lola, who wants to be a princess and find Prince Charming. She decides that Brent is the one and invites him to the school dance. When he rejects her offer, and she sees him with another girl, Lola decides she’ll get what she wants. Lola doesn’t take rejection lightly, and things get downright brutal. The truth is that maybe no one will love her as much as daddy,...
Here are ten noteworthy horror titles available for streaming in February 2023 on some of the most popular streaming services, along with when/where you can watch them.
The Loved Ones – Paramount+
What’s February without horror romances? This brutal feature introduces Lola, who wants to be a princess and find Prince Charming. She decides that Brent is the one and invites him to the school dance. When he rejects her offer, and she sees him with another girl, Lola decides she’ll get what she wants. Lola doesn’t take rejection lightly, and things get downright brutal. The truth is that maybe no one will love her as much as daddy,...
- 2/1/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Considering that action/martial arts movies is the biggest exporting product of Asian cinema towards the US market, it is no surprise that the biggest industries of the continent and particularly S. Korea has turned extensively towards this path, as it eloquently highlighted in this list. Indonesia continues on the legacy of “Raid” with Malaysia following in the same brutal martial arts direction. The surprise this year, however, comes both from the Philippines, with “Leonor” being a mashup of genres that also entail impressive action in 70s style, and Kuwait, with the abundance of money the Arabic countries are able to spend at the moment ending up in a Hollywood level action movie, courtesy of Zeyad ( Z ) Alhusaini, who even managed to cast Ron Perlman in it. Lastly, the tribute to Michelle Yeoh’s career (among a million other things) that is “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and the...
- 1/2/2023
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
Although Kensuke Sonomura has started his career doing stunt work for various productions, such as John Woo’s “Manhunt” and Yugo Sakamoto’s “Baby Assassins”, ever since his debut feature “Hydra” (2019) he has also made a name for himself as a director. Given the level of skill in the action and martial arts-scenes of “Hydra”, there are many indicators Sonomura has gained quite the knowledge about genre filmmaking, blending storytelling, character development and hard-hitting action. While his second project, “Bad City” also incorporates martial arts, the story goes in a somewhat different direction, blending thriller and yakuza drama, following a plot dealing with the connection of organized crime and politics.
Bad City is screening at Camera Japan
For many years, Kaiko City has been a place defined by crime, violence and corruption. The latest events, however, a massacre at a bath house and the acquittal of a local businessman named...
Bad City is screening at Camera Japan
For many years, Kaiko City has been a place defined by crime, violence and corruption. The latest events, however, a massacre at a bath house and the acquittal of a local businessman named...
- 9/22/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
"May the syrup be tasty!" Well Go USA is releasing this Japanese action comedy on VOD & DVD starting tomorrow - this trailer dropped a few weeks ago but we're only catching up with it now. Baby Assassins is a hitwoman action comedy from Japan directed by filmmaker Yugo Sakamoto. Chisato and Mahilo are two high school girls who are about to graduate. They also happen to both be highly skilled assassins. When the organization they work for orders them to share a room, the relationship between them turns sour. This "badass new martial arts action-comedy" is directed by Hugo Sakamoto and it stars the inimitable Akari Takaishi, the rising star and Snake Eyes and Rurouni Kenshin franchise stuntwoman Saori Izawa, and the lightning-fast Masanori Mimoto—now available to watch early, exclusively on Hi-yah! - if you prefer streaming. This definitely looks like fun, but it really does have a direct-to-video vibe about it.
- 8/15/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
What do assassins do in their downtime when they are not taking contract hits? This is a question that has often perplexed viewers and now, director Yugo Sakamoto attempts to answer it in “Baby Assassins”, surprisingly one of his three directing credits from last year.
on Amazon
Mahiro and Chisato are two high school graduates who, like every other girl their age, are on the lookout of securing and surviving at a part-time job. Unlike most girls their age though, they’re both assassins for hire, working as a team for an organisation that insists that they share an apartment with each other till they turn twenty. The two work well as a duo on assignments but living together is a different game altogether, as Mahiro is a self-confessed sociopath whereas Chisato is a bubbly, cheery extrovert. While the two try to work their differences out and make their living situation work,...
on Amazon
Mahiro and Chisato are two high school graduates who, like every other girl their age, are on the lookout of securing and surviving at a part-time job. Unlike most girls their age though, they’re both assassins for hire, working as a team for an organisation that insists that they share an apartment with each other till they turn twenty. The two work well as a duo on assignments but living together is a different game altogether, as Mahiro is a self-confessed sociopath whereas Chisato is a bubbly, cheery extrovert. While the two try to work their differences out and make their living situation work,...
- 7/26/2022
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
(l-r) Akari Takaishi and Saori Izawa take down a target in Baby Assassins. Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment
Due to a recent Supreme Court decision, one might be oriented towards assuming the Baby Assassins title denotes a right-to-life documentary. Not even close. This is a subtitled Japanese dramedy about two teenaged girls who moonlight as hit persons. Upon graduation from high school, their bosses make them share an apartment and find regular jobs to appear like normal members of society, deflecting suspicions about how they really make a living. That sets up a Felix-and-Oscar type of pairing for sharing quarters. Awkward, with a mild touch of humor.
Akari Takaishi plays an upbeat brunette with enough charm to work at a themed restaurant that requires its waitresses to exude all the giggly girlish energy one could generate for the patrons. It makes the pressure on Jennifer Aniston to display “flair...
Due to a recent Supreme Court decision, one might be oriented towards assuming the Baby Assassins title denotes a right-to-life documentary. Not even close. This is a subtitled Japanese dramedy about two teenaged girls who moonlight as hit persons. Upon graduation from high school, their bosses make them share an apartment and find regular jobs to appear like normal members of society, deflecting suspicions about how they really make a living. That sets up a Felix-and-Oscar type of pairing for sharing quarters. Awkward, with a mild touch of humor.
Akari Takaishi plays an upbeat brunette with enough charm to work at a themed restaurant that requires its waitresses to exude all the giggly girlish energy one could generate for the patrons. It makes the pressure on Jennifer Aniston to display “flair...
- 7/22/2022
- by Mark Glass
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
We’ve been fortunate to cover Fantasia multiple times over the years and it, along with Frightfest and Grimmfest, are staples of Nerdly’s genre festival coverage. What’s so great about Fantasia is the eclectic nature of the films they screen – new films, old films, international films, weird films, documentaries… Fantasia films run the gamut of genres, tastes and subject matter. And it’s now in its 25th(!) year of doing so!
With that in mind here are a few films that stood out to me from the announced schedule and, hopefully, a few we’ll get to bring you reviews of in the near future! You can also check out Alain’s preview of Fantasia right here.
Final Cut (Coupez!) After opening this year’s Cannes, Final Cut (Coupez!), Michel Hazanavicius’s riotous remake of Shinichirou Ueda’s One Cut Of The Dead, is coming to North America.
With that in mind here are a few films that stood out to me from the announced schedule and, hopefully, a few we’ll get to bring you reviews of in the near future! You can also check out Alain’s preview of Fantasia right here.
Final Cut (Coupez!) After opening this year’s Cannes, Final Cut (Coupez!), Michel Hazanavicius’s riotous remake of Shinichirou Ueda’s One Cut Of The Dead, is coming to North America.
- 7/15/2022
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
The full programme for the 2022 edition of Fantasia International Film Festival, Quebec’s premiere genre film festival which runs this year from July 14th to August 3rd, has been announced and as always, it features a vast and varied selection of Asian titles right across its programme. In addition to a Korean Animation Spotlight, showcasing an amazing variety of excellent works, Asian films also populate their flagship juried competition Cheval Noir, the best of genre cinema in Selection 2022, the experimental and audacious Camera Lucida, animation segment Axis and the Fantasia Retro section, while also having a presence in their Documentaries from the Edge and Fantasia Underground section.
Here is a list of all the Asian titles, feature and shorts, at Fantasia International Film Festival 2022:
Features:
Alienoid
Alienoid: In medieval Korea, in the final days of the Goryeo Dynasty, two Taoist warrior-mystics—clumsy swordsman Mureuk and gunslinging Lee Ahn—strive...
Here is a list of all the Asian titles, feature and shorts, at Fantasia International Film Festival 2022:
Features:
Alienoid
Alienoid: In medieval Korea, in the final days of the Goryeo Dynasty, two Taoist warrior-mystics—clumsy swordsman Mureuk and gunslinging Lee Ahn—strive...
- 7/5/2022
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Working the cash register at a convenience store? Cooking food at a nondescript diner? Serving up sweets and smiles at a maid café? For cheerful Chisato and mopey Mahiro, two teenage girls with opposing personalities, the options for the part-time work they seek aren’t all that appealing. After all, they’re already making good money as a pair of ruthlessly efficient killers for hire. The policy of their shadowy employer, however, requires that upon graduation from high school, they each develop a cover story. That means sharing an apartment and finding menial jobs. At the same time, they’ve run afoul of a psychopathic yakuza boss and his bratty son and daughter. As the conflict escalates and the blood starts to flow, will Chisato and Mahiro get the job done?
As startling and ferocious as it is hilarious and endearing, the second feature film from writer/director Hugo Sakamoto...
As startling and ferocious as it is hilarious and endearing, the second feature film from writer/director Hugo Sakamoto...
- 7/5/2022
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
Fantaspoa 2022 Announced: "After two years of successful online editions, the 18th edition of the beloved Brazilian genre festival Fantaspoa will return to the cinemas from April 15th through May 1st. This year, attendees will discover a very different Fantaspoa from its last on-site edition (a very distant 2019): instead of its usual two venues, the fest will take place simultaneously in five cinemas, with part of its program also being available online, geo-blocked for viewers within Brazil.
The poster for this year’s festival was conceived by the festival’s art director Thalles Mourão, with the drawing from local artist Fernanda Moreira. The striking image is a mashup of two centenary anniversaries: The Modern Art Week, one of Brazil’s greatest art movements, and F. W. Murnau’s 1922 masterpiece of cinema, Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror.
Nosferatu will also have a very special screening on the opening night of the festival,...
The poster for this year’s festival was conceived by the festival’s art director Thalles Mourão, with the drawing from local artist Fernanda Moreira. The striking image is a mashup of two centenary anniversaries: The Modern Art Week, one of Brazil’s greatest art movements, and F. W. Murnau’s 1922 masterpiece of cinema, Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror.
Nosferatu will also have a very special screening on the opening night of the festival,...
- 3/23/2022
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Baby Assassins is a gleeful bit of nonsense, and for all its inventive and well executed bloodshed it's also a well observed comedy about very early adulthood. The perils and problems of flat-sharing and service industry jobs are only magnified when you might have accidentally left a pistol magazine in the washing machine. With a few recurring themes, including a ringtone piano version of Wagner's Walkurenritt, its episodic nature puts it in the company of works like TV sitcom Spaced or Reservoir Dogs.
Writer/Director Yugo Sakamoto has also created a parallel "making of gone wrong" mockumentary Legendary Hit-man, Kunioka which is in effect a comedy of errors about his research into the underworld to inform this comedy of ennui set in and around a (doubly?) fictionalised underworld. While the fight scenes owe a debt to John Wick which include what I believe to be wholly CG muzzle flash and firing,...
Writer/Director Yugo Sakamoto has also created a parallel "making of gone wrong" mockumentary Legendary Hit-man, Kunioka which is in effect a comedy of errors about his research into the underworld to inform this comedy of ennui set in and around a (doubly?) fictionalised underworld. While the fight scenes owe a debt to John Wick which include what I believe to be wholly CG muzzle flash and firing,...
- 3/15/2022
- by Andrew Robertson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Centenary screening of Nosferatu, world premiere of stoner comedy The Smoke Master bookend event.
Brazil’s Fantaspoa genre festival, billed as the largest of its kind in Latin America, is returning to an in-person event for the first time since 2019 and has unveiled its first wave of titles.
This year’s International Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre will take place in five cinemas around the southern city from April 15-May 1. It is bookended by a special opening night centenary screening of F. W. Murnau’s vampire classic Nosferatu accompanied by a live soundtrack performed by Carlos Ferreira and Brazilian...
Brazil’s Fantaspoa genre festival, billed as the largest of its kind in Latin America, is returning to an in-person event for the first time since 2019 and has unveiled its first wave of titles.
This year’s International Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre will take place in five cinemas around the southern city from April 15-May 1. It is bookended by a special opening night centenary screening of F. W. Murnau’s vampire classic Nosferatu accompanied by a live soundtrack performed by Carlos Ferreira and Brazilian...
- 3/14/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
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