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Also known as “Angel Guts: Red Lightning” and “Angel Guts 6”, “Angel Guts: Red Flash” is the sixth installment in the series based on Takashi Ishii‘s manga. Ishii wrote the scripts for all entries and directed the last two.

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The story here is notably labyrinthine. Nami, a photographer for a magazine, is assigned to capture stills from an erotic movie that features intense rape scenes. During one sequence involving a teacher and a schoolgirl, she becomes increasingly disturbed, recalling a similar trauma from her past. She flees the set after Muraki, the editor of the movie, tries to comfort her, only for her to realize he resembles her past assailant. She seeks solace with her lesbian bartender friend Chihiro, and the two sleep together. The next day, however, Nami visits her again and finds another woman in her apartment.

"One of the most exquisite spectacles ever made." Rialto Pictures has unveiled a new trailer for the 40th anniversary re-release of the Japanese medieval epic called Ran, one of the final films made by Japanese master Akira Kurosawa. Ran originally premiered and hit theaters in 1985, playing at the Tokyo, San Sebastian, and New York Film Festivals. Now it will debut again in theaters as a 4K restoration starting in May - playing at art house cinemas during the summer. "A grand and visually breathtaking reimagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear, Ran explores themes of power, betrayal & the devastating consequences of human folly. Set against the backdrop of feudal Japan, Kurosawa employs sweeping landscapes, intricate battle sequences, and vivid color symbolism to create a world teetering on the edge of chaos." Ran considers the disastrous consequences of Lord Hidetora Ichimonji’s decision to split his kingdom among his three sons. Starring Tatsuya Nakadai,...

The 4K remaster of Angel's Egg is officially coming to North American theaters in 2025. Angel's Egg doesn't have a specific date for its theatrical release. The film, though less known than Mamoru Oshii's other works, has a loyal fanbase and the confirmation of a US release is great news.

Recently, it was announced that Angels Egg, a cult classic film by Mamoru Oshii of Ghost in the Shell fame, would be getting a 4K remaster for its 40th anniversary, with Oshii, himself, even overseeing the production. While not as well-known as Oshiis other works, the film has still maintained a loyal fanbase over the years, so theres a lot of excitement to be had following the announcement.

Angels Egg receiving a 4K remaster is great to see, and fortunately, American fans wont be missing out. While an American release wasnt part of the original announcement, it was recently announced...

Exclusive: Animation-focused sales company Gebeka International has acquired world sales rights to an upcoming 4K remastered version of Japanese animation director Mamoru Oshii’s 1985 animated feature Angel’s Egg.

Oshii is best known internationally for 1995 breakout Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, which world premiered in Competition in Cannes in 2004, and the Patlabor sci-fi franchise.

Angel’s Egg was first released on video by Japanese publishing and media company Tokuma Shoten in 1985, and, with time, it has come to be regarded by anime fans as a masterpiece that holds keys to Oshii’s later works.

The surreal, allegorical work is set against the backdrop of an underwater city and revolves around a young girl who takes scrupulous care of a large egg in the belief it is an angel’s egg. When a boy with a gun arrives in search of a bird he saw in a dream,...

A 4K remastered edition of the classic Ova Angel's Egg , written and directed by Mamoru Oshii ( Ghost in The Shell ), will be produced to commemorate its 40th anniversary in 2025. As Oshii's first original Ova work and collaboration work with internationally acclaimed illustrator Yoshitaka Amano, Angel's Egg was released from Tokuma Shoten in Japan on December 15, 1985. In addition to co-working on the original concept with Oshii, Amano was also in charge of art direction, including character design, image boards, art settings, and color settings. The 71-minute Ova was an avant-garde and fantastical work based on the Noah's Ark episode from the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, with only two characters — Boy (CV: Jinpachi Nezu) and Girl (Mako Hyodo). The story is about a young girl who holds an egg in her arms in a submerged city. She believes that it is the egg of an angel. One day, she...

Anime isn't a genre. It's a medium, one that's still fighting for mainstream acceptance in the West. Its hold on American audiences is stronger than ever, with Studio Ghibli blockbusters and franchises like "My Hero Academia" earning critical acclaim and global adoration. However, too many people still associate animation with children's viewing. While there are plenty of great anime films that parents can show to their kids, this attitude still leads to confusion. Not only is some anime emphatically not child-safe, but if you dismiss it as kids' stuff, you're missing out on some great movies.

If you've never watched an anime film before, rest assured that it's not all sailor uniforms and jiggly bits, just like how action movies aren't all gravelly-voiced men and sexy ladies. There's something for everyone, although we also confess that you're going to see a lot of Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii here, and for good reasons.

Japan Society is pleased to announce its fall lineup for Monthly Classics and Monthly Anime, kicking off on September 2, 2022 with a 35mm screening of Kihachi Okamoto’s satirical chambara, “Kill!”. 2006 anime classic “Tekkonkinkreet” will screen on September 16, featuring a Q&a with screenwriter Anthony Weintraub (“The Animatrix”). For October, Hideo Nakata’s 90s J-horror classic “Ringu” screens on October 7th followed by Mamoru Oshii’s rarely-screened 1985 ethereal masterpiece “Angel’s Egg” on October 14th. Monthly Anime continues on November 4th with a 35mm screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved “My Neighbor Totoro”.

Tickets: 15/12 students and seniors /5 Japan Society members.

Lineup and other details are subject to change.For complete information visit japansociety.org.

Kill!

Friday, September 2, 2022 at 7:00 Pm

Dir. Kihachi Okamoto, 1968, 114 min, 35mm, b&w. With Tatsuya Nakadai, Etsushi Takahashi, Yuriko Hoshi.

Kihachi Okamoto’s darkly satirical chambara opens in the midst of a pummeling windstorm on the outskirts...

“Man is born crying. When he has cried enough, he dies.”

From legendary director Akira Kurosawa comes his sweeping action epic Ran. Ran arrives November 16th on 4K Ultra HD Steelbook from Lionsgate, exclusively at Best Buy.

From legendary director Akira Kurosawa comes his sweeping action epic Ran. Ran arrives November 16th on 4K Ultra HD Steelbook from Lionsgate, exclusively at Best Buy. Akira Kurosawa’s Ran is a visually dazzling samurai epic that blends King Lear, 16th-century feudal Japan, and Kurosawa’s own notions of loyalty and honor to tell the story of aging Lord Hidetora, whose decision to bequeath his kingdom to his three sons sparks a power struggle that leads to chaos and madness. Hailed as a masterpiece by filmmakers and cinephiles alike, and winner of the 1985 Oscar® for Costume Design, Ran is a sumptuous 4K feast. Featuring all new artwork from artist Zi Xu, Ran will...

Akira Kurosawa's Ran (1985) and Chris Marker's A.K. (1985) are showing April and May, 2020 on Mubi in the United Kingdom in the series In Front and Behind the Scenes: Kurosawa & Marker.“It is King Lear, yet it is not King Lear.” This statement, made by Chris Marker during the course of his 1985 documentary, A.K., which records the making of Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, is a noteworthy point when discussing the venerated Japanese master’s 1985 epic, as preliminary conversation concerning the film often centers on the seeds of influence found in the Bard’s 17th century drama. But while that story only entered Kurosawa’s mind after he had already conceived of Ran in the mid-1970s, he also drew inspiration, arguably more significant, from a parable about Mōri Motonari. In that account, the Sengoku-period warlord also had three children—three sons—who were admirably loyal to their father. Kurosawa took...

Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryû, Mieko Harada, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Hisashi Igawa, Masayuki Yui, Kazuo Katô, Norio Matsui | Written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Masato Ide | Directed by Akira Kurosawa

When aging warlord Hidetori Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) decides it is time for him to retire, he divides the lands he rules between his three sons. This causes a bitter power struggle between his eldest sons, and his youngest being banished for his warning of the impending doom. As the reality of retirement his Ichimonji war breaks out, with the banished son being the only one who could possibly save his father from the warring brothers.

Ran starts off showing the epic landscape of Japan, teasing at what to expect from the film, and this location is used to full effect in the film. There are many huge battles that feel truly impressive, but the real magic is...

Chicago – The master director Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) gave us a treasure trove of cinematic wizardry, to savor and revisit for years to come. Rialto Pictures is distributing the latest 4K restoration of one of his greatest pictures, “Ran” (1985). As part of a nationwide road show, it’s currently at the Gene Siskel Film Center of Chicago.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

The story is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” if the kingdom were present in 16th Century Japan. This is part of Kurosawa’s fascination and film journey (“Throne of Blood,” “Seven Samurai”) with the Japanese warrior culture, in the days of the samurai rule. This is his epic, the color film adaptation that is spectacularly rendered, so beautiful in its restoration it will make your eyes hurt in the finest way. The tale is compelling, the acting is sublime and the action sequences are better than any hack superhero film.

Staggering battle sequences, thrones of blood and the spirit of Macbeth are abroad in one of the greatest screen adaptations of Shakespeare

The re-release of Akira Kurosawa’s 1985 epic Ran (the word means “chaos”) is an opportunity to see this stunning free transformation of King Lear, one of the great screen adaptations of Shakespeare. Perhaps it was the defamiliarising effect of Kurosawa’s film which, for me, opened up the meaning of Lear: a kind of human arrogance and self-importance which, in the face of mortality, needs to believe the world will be a divided and diminished thing when we are gone.

As well as Lear, Ran draws on the dark spirit of Macbeth, with its images of a scheming wife, a throne of blood and massed soldiery: fatally misleading and ominous, as in Dunsinane. After a lifetime of brutal rule, ageing feudal lord Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) tells his three...

Staggering battle sequences, thrones of blood and the spirit of Macbeth are abroad in one of the greatest screen adaptations of Shakespeare

The re-release of Akira Kurosawa’s 1985 epic Ran (the word means “chaos”) is an opportunity to see this stunning free transformation of King Lear, one of the great screen adaptations of Shakespeare. Perhaps it was the defamiliarising effect of Kurosawa’s film which, for me, opened up the meaning of Lear: a kind of human arrogance and self-importance which, in the face of mortality, needs to believe the world will be a divided and diminished thing when we are gone.

As well as Lear, Ran draws on the dark spirit of Macbeth, with its images of a scheming wife, a throne of blood and massed soldiery: fatally misleading and ominous, as in Dunsinane. After a lifetime of brutal rule, ageing feudal lord Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) tells his three...

Cinema is a kind of uber-art form that’s made up of a multitude of other forms of art including writing, directing, acting, drawing, design, photography and fashion. As such, film is, as all cinema aficionados know, a highly collaborative venture.

One of the most consistently fascinating collaborations in cinema is that of the director and actor.

This article will examine some of the great director & actor teams. It’s important to note that this piece is not intended as a film history survey detailing all the generally revered collaborations.

There is a wealth of information and study available on such duos as John Ford & John Wayne, Howard Hawks & John Wayne, Elia Kazan & Marlon Brando, Akira Kurosawa & Toshiro Mifune, Alfred Hitchcock & James Stewart, Ingmar Bergman & Max Von Sydow, Federico Fellini & Giulietta Masina/Marcello Mastroianni, Billy Wilder & Jack Lemmon, Francis Ford Coppola & Al Pacino, Woody Allen & Diane Keaton, Martin Scorsese & Robert DeNiro...

Ran (1985) Direction: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, Mieko Harada, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Hisashi Igawa Screenplay: Akira Kurosawa, Masato Ide, and Hideo Oguni Oscar Movies Akira Kurosawa's Ran By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica: "Critical cribbing" is a term I coined in regard to the tendency of critics, in all fields, to not engage a work of art directly, but rather to fall back on lazily repeating claims that have been made by others about the work they are reviewing. Sometimes, these are positive blurbs; other times, they are bits of misinformation repeated endlessly — e.g., the (nameless) characters' names in films such as Alain Resnais' Last Year in Marienbad and Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup. Typical examples of critical cribbing can be found in reviews of Akira Kurosawa’s 27th (of 30) films, Ran (1985), a very good effort despite problems with character development and some mediocre acting.

Chicago – Of all the cinematic variations on Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran” is one of the few that, dare I say, improves on the Bard’s original blueprint.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Kurosawa’s vision of Lear is not merely that of an aging warlord undone by his own foolishness, but a ruthless warrior haunted by the countless lives he destroyed during his reign. His fate is anything but undeserved, and seems inspired by classic tragedies more Greek than Shakespearian.

“Ran” may be a devastating experience, but it also proves to be an uplifting one for anyone moved by watching a master filmmaker in peak form. It was an extraordinary triumph for the seventy-five-year-old Kurosawa, battling near-blindness in order to see his decade-old dream project through to its completion.

After a series of professional and personal setbacks, the filmmaker was widely considered to be washed-up, and “Ran” did not receive...

Akira Kurosawa.s final epic finally comes to Blu-ray. Kurosawa had been borrowed from by Hollywood and the master looks towards Shakespeare again for his inspirations. It.s the best it has ever looked on home video but I also suspect that a high dollar restoration would only make it look even better. Aging warlord Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) decides to divide up his kingdom amongst his three sons. The elder Taro (Akira Terao) inherits the prestigious first castle and will become leader of the clan. Next in line Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu) inherits the second castle and control over the army. Finally, Saburo (Daisuke Ryu) inherits the less-prestigious third castle. The two younger brothers are instructed to follow their elder...

Here’s a list of some of the new movie and TV shows coming to DVD and Blu-ray this week that we’re looking forward to seeing. Also, there’s some classic movies hitting Blu-ray for the first time this week as well.

Of all the new releases, we’re particularly interested in the Blu-ray version of The Last Starfighter, Dexter Seasons 1-3 on Blu-ray and the debut of season one of Sons of Anarchy on DVD.

Check them out.

Movies

The 5 Deadly Venoms ~ Five Deadly Venoms (DVD)

Hannah Montana The Movie (3-Disc Combo Pack Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) ~ Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lucas Till, and Emily Osment (Blu-ray)

Husbands (Extended Cut) ~ Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, and Jenny Runacre (DVD)

Julia ~ Tilda Swinton (DVD)

Kagemusha – Criterion Collection ~ Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara, and Jinpachi Nezu (Blu-ray)

Last House on the Left (2009) ~ Garret Dillahunt, Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn...