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Does Downey hit a “Holmes” run as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective? Comparing the original Victorian Holmes with the new DARK KNIGHT-inspired Holmes portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in the SHERLOCK HOLMES is like contrasting the early Dr. Who portrayals by William Hartnell and Tom Baker (1963-1981) to the subsequent new millennium Dr. Who incarnations embodied by Christopher Eccleston, David Tenant, and now Matt Smith.

Talk about being disarmed: one of the fantastically far-out and freaky frightening films at this year’s San Diego Asian Film Festival.

This film offers further proof, as if any were needed, that Western filmmakers cannot do justice to their Easter counterparts when it comes to retooling anime and/or Fant-Asia for Occidental consumption. DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION is loaded with special effects and stunts that look good in the trailer, but when stitched together they do not add up [...]

Zhang Yimou’s HERO (2002) is the centerpiece of Miramax’s new Ultimate Force of Four martial arts Blu-Ray box set (which also includes the American re-edit of DRUNKEN MASTER II, IRON MONKEY, and Takeshi Kitano’s remake of ZATOICHI) and is probably the best known of the films to Western audiences. The internationally acclaimed film was famously [...]

1986 saw director John Carpenter at the height of his career; a string of staggering successes charting back to HALLOWEEN and including THE FOG, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THE THING and CHRISTINE represent a creative peak that any director would be jealous of. 1984’s STARMAN not only buoyed the streak; it gave Carpenter the critical raves [...]

Slashing swords, splashing blood, and flashy CGI – not to mention a hot chick in school uniform – sound like a cool combination, but the life bleeds out of BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE long before the final reel.
Hey, you! Mr. CGI development guy - I’m talking to you! The one who created the software that renders [...]

A look at a lovely pair of import DVDs from Japan
CHANBARA BEAUTY (Onechanbara, Japan, 2008) is geek paradise: two gorgeous babes and a fat dude wander around the countryside killing zombies. One is a gorgeous sharpshooter who never misses. The other is a samurai in Western hat and serape – and little else save for a [...]

BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE is a live-action horror film based on the 2001 anime short subject of the same title. Shot in the style of a Hong Kong fant-asia film, with lots of martial arts swordplay choreographed by Corey Yuen (THE ONE, X-MEN), BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE is a Chinese-French co-production, with a French director [...]

In this video clip from the live-action adaptation of the popular anime title, Saya (Gianna Jun) fights off a horde of blood-thirsty demons while Allison (Alice Mckee) tries to avoid getting in the way.

Here is a newly released clip from BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE: Vampire-hunter Saya (Korean actress Gianna) battles winged demon atop a jeep wedged percariously over a ravine. If you enjoy over-the-top Fant-Asia-style martial arts, you will get a kick of out this sequence, which is one of the better scenes in the film.

Read more about Blood: [...]

Subway Cinema has announced a slate of interesting science fiction, fantasy, and horror films for their eight annual New York Asian Film Festival, which is scheduled to run from June 19 through July 5 at the IFC Center in New York. Genre titles include:

 THE FORBIDDEN DOOR (”Like a 19th century gothic novel adapted by Alfred Hitchcock [...]

THIRST – a new “vampire romance” from Korean writer-director Park Chan-wook (LADY VENGEANCE, THREE EXTREMES) – is the first Korean production completed with Hollywood financing (courtesy of Universal Pictures). The film (which is about a priest who is turned into a vampire when an experiment goes wrong) will be screening in competition at the Cannes Film Festival [...]

The weekend’s one fantasy film debut, DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION, was a dud at the box office. Directed by James Wong (FINAL DESTINATION), the adaptation of the popular anime franchise failed to ignite despite the presence of Chow Yun-Fat (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) and James Marsters (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER). Making its debut in 2,181 North American theatres, [...]