Nicely spotted by Sanjuro at KFCs forum. There’s two nice figures of Oh Dae-soo (i can’t remember if that spellings correct...) out in Korea. So, unless you speak Korean it’s off to eBay with you, and your fingers firmly crossed.

Like the famously highly-detailed “Hot Toys” figures and various other vinyl collectables you will see (like Kakihara from Ichi The Killer), this is really nicely produced “Adult Toy”. It doesn’t take batteries or anything, as far as i can tell, but it’s a great looking piece to slap on the old DVD shelves.

There are two version. Firsly “with hammer” here. And “kicked in” here. Anyone manages to find one or the other elsewhere, let us know.

So after the recent disappointing news that the Japanese DVD will not have english subtitles, we get to hear the cinema release in America comes at around the same time.

So, it is anyone’s guess as to when the American DVD will come out, if the artwork will be any good, whether it will have DTS, or in fact a dub on it. Anyhow, I am glad that at least we now know how long to wait before a chance of seeing it on the big screen (if you live stateside). Personally, it’s nothing more than a hint at the disc release in probably about a years time. Oh well.

So now it’s time for Robert DeNiro in “Hide and Seek” to lose a wife, have a freaky little daughter who makes an imaginary friend who doesn’t seem to be friendly at all and battle a ghost or some supernatural being in his house.  Nothing like just completely saturating the market with crap thrillers directed by the guy who did “Swimfan” eh?

“Hide and Seek” seems about as thrilling as “CandyMan 3” and makes me wonder why people don’t seem to realize that when you come across a bath tub full of water in your creepy house there’s usually something scary in it.  Don’t put your arm in. Seriously.  Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen and Elizabeth Shue round out the cast but what’s Dylan Baker doing in this (an unfortunate choice for him)?

See the trailer for “Hide and Seek” for yourself here and see why it’s better to hide from this thing than viewing it.

Well, the first footage from The Fantastic Four has found it’s way online at JoBlo - the download is here, but their server is pretty much swamped so expect to have to try a few times before getting it - and it looks like ass.  Seriously.  I’ve had a bad feeling about this film for a while and this is validating every single one of my doubts ... The Human Torch and Thing effects are just horrible and Alba looks pretty out of place as Sue.  Check it out and let us know what you think ...

Can’t say I saw this coming ... Kartooner is reporting that a third Bill and Ted film is in the works, this one catching up with the duo in their forties and having a mid-life crisis.  Call me crazy, but I’d actually pay to see that.

Hallelujah!  Born To Fight will release on VCD in Thailand on November 7th, with the DVD expected to follow later in the month.  No firm word yet on whether the DVD will include English subtitles as the film has apparently been purchased by a western company and their rights agreement may include subs being with held, which was the case with Ong Bak.  But, really, does it matter?

For those who don’t already know Born To Fight is the latest film by the director and fight choreographer of Ong Bak.  This time out they cast a group of Thai national sports heros and built the action sequences around their unique skills.  Once again there are no wires, no body doubles and they claim the film includes the most dangerous stunt ever put on film.  Head to the official site for the trailer.  Right now.  Stop reading this.  Go.

Oooh!  Oooh!  They’ve added a six minute reel of behind the scenes footage since last time I was there!  There’s a shot in there that may not beat the truck scene, but it comes pretty close ... download it here.

I’ve just had word from the folks at Japan’s Grasshoppa Productions that Katsuhito Ishii’s acclaimed Taste of Tea will be hitting DVD in early 2005 and that, yes, it will include English subtitles.

Ishii is best known in the west as the key animator on the anime sequence in Kill Bill but has also directed a trio of live action films, the highly acclaimed Taste of Tea being the most recent.  Check out the trailers here, and a hugely positive review over at Midnight Eye.  Canfield caught this at the Chicago Film Festival - under threat of physical violence from me if he missed it - and swears it’s one of the best things he’s seen in years.  Maybe he’ll even review it one day.

**** UPDATE ****

I just got a note pointing out that Taste of Tea won the Best Feature award at the just completed Hawaii Film Festival ... details are here.

MGM has just released a pair of still shots from The Woods, Lucky McKee’s follow up to the raved about cult-horror flick May.  I’ve yet to see May, but hey!  That girl’s got a great big axe!  And Bruce Campbell has a major role!  That’s enough for me to trot out and see this one ... the film’s official site is here.

Via Dread Central

With his bid to have Fahrenheit 9/11 aired on pay-per-view television prior to the US election apparently hung up in a contract dispute, Michael Moore has turned to alternate means to get the film out there. 

Fahrenheit will be available online, on a pay-per-view basis, at CinemaNow.com on November 1st.  It’s an interesting idea, but really - why would anybody pay ten bucks to for a lousy streaming video viewing on their computer monitor when they can go out and rent the DVD for much less?  If he really wants to get an audience that hasn’t already seen the film he needs to be giving it away, or at least charging far less than he is. 

Via Coming Soon

Kung Fu Cinema has posted a very detailed synopsis of Yoji Yamada’s The Hidden Blade.

Yamada’s previous film - The Twilight Samurai - won a best foreign film nomination at last year’s Oscars and is one of the most acclaimed films to come out of Japan in recent years, and for good reason.  Yamada is a master story teller, incredibly skilled at using genre conventions - in this case the samurai film - to tell universal stories.  If the trailer for The Hidden Blade is any indication this one will be just as strong as his previous work ...

Via Opus

New still shots from Sha Po Lang have turned up online here and here.  All the images that have released so far are looking amazing and this film should be right up near the top of any martial arts fan’s ‘must-see’ list.  Why?  It’s the first significant starring role for the incredible Donnie Yen since Hero and he co-stars with old school icon Sammo Hung and new school phenom Wu Jing in what Yen himself is describing as an old-school kung fu film.  What does he mean by that?  Tight choreography, no body doubles and no wire work.  It’s been a while since Hong Kong turned out a film where the fighters were actual fighters rather than quickly trained pop stars and I’m itching for some good old fashioned kung fu ...

There’s no official site or trailer yet, but we’re keeping our eyes open ...

Via Monkey Peaches

Sure, his previous film - House of a 1000 Corpses - was about as kitsch as you could get yet Rob Zombie still succeeded in creating a fun 70’s throwback bloody horror, no matter what crazy things Dave says about it. 

This time, comic artist and musican Zombie is back with a sequel to “House” called “The Devils Rejects”.  It basically starts where “House” left off and turns into a gritty highway murder rampage.  Most of the lead cast is back in this one (with the exception of Karen Black) with a few surprises (Rosario Dawson is listed in the cast, though, with no title).  Will it be fun - watch the teaser trailer for “The Devils Rejects” yourself here and decide. Also, you can go and mess around on the offical “The Devils Rejects” website here.

Chan Wook Park shows his understanding of psychological horror in a way that’s very reminiscent of the 1970’s work of noteable Italian directors such as Dario Argento in this short, twisted tale.

It’s all here: the very long swooping camera shots, the bright vibrant primary colours, the terror of real-life melted with the terror of the extreme and illogical. Though it’s not a pastiche, it’s a very individual piece with many Park trademarks and twists of his own.

Continue Reading "Three Extremes. “Cut”. by Chan Wook Park. R3 HK DVD. Review."...

Miike briefly decended into relatively light-hearted David Lynch mode in 2003’s Gozu, and returns here with a much more sober, subtle and confusing short film : the first part of the “Three...Extremes” anthology from 2004. All that’s missing to let us know when we are reality and when we are not is something so out of the ordinary as a goat-headed man, or something similar.

That’s only the beginning…

Continue Reading "Three Extremes. “Box”. by Takashi Miike. R3 HK DVD. Review."...

Yes. This is my openly blatent attempt to increase our female readership on this site. But then again one of my favorite episodes of SNL in recent memory was the one hosted by Justin and he didn’t have to come to Toronto to perform during the SARS benefit concert, but he did. And I like tattoos. Bah!

Justin Timberlake topless and tattooed 1
Justin Timberlake topless and tattooed 2
Justin Timberlake topless and tattooed 3
Justin Timberlake yadda yadda you get the idea 4

Doesn’t he look dreamy? I mean manly. Manly! Yeah that’s it.

via Dark Horizons.