Category: Cinema

The other day I was watching the movie “Shogun Assassin” which is based on the manga by Kazuo Koike Kozure Okami (Lone Wolf and Cub). The movie was released in 1980 and the truth is that, having read the manga, I wasn’t expecting too much of it, however I have to say that I loved it. Pure adrenaline!
The plot is based around a samurai (ronin) father and son who are looking for revenge. The father, “Lone Wolf”, is played by Tomisaburo Wakayama, one of the best martial arts actors at the time. His performance in battles is brilliant and gives the movie a lot realism in some parts.
Don’t miss it if you enjoy samurais and revenge stories, like for example The Vengeance Trilogy or Kill Bill. In fact, Quentin Tarantino admits loving Shogun Assassin and that he watched it several times before and during the production of Kill Bill.

“The Vengeance Trilogy” are three korean films made by the Park Chan-wook. The three films plot is not connect but all of them are about vengeance, about brutal and savage vengeance. They also share the same obscure, kafkian and violent atmosphere. The three movies are: Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance. All of them are pretty good, but my favorite one is Oldboy. I think it is a good introduction to Korean cinema for those of you who don’t know anything about it.

Oldboy poster.

I’m a Shaolin Soccer fan but I didn’t know about Shaolin Girl until recently. Shaolin Girl is a Japanese re-make where the main characters are girls instead of guys. Shaolin Girl is a Japanese pro with girls instead of guys. Did you like Shaolin Soccer? And Shaolin Girl?