Japanese genre auteur Takashi Miike is notorious for taking his cinema to extreme limits, whether that’s in terms of violence or sexual depravity. And over a career that spans three decades, he’s directed some classics: “Audition,” “Ichi The Killer,” the “Dead Or Alive” trilogy, and “Hara-Kiri,” just to name a few. Now the prolific director has another film on the way, and it sounds like a perfect fit for him.

Continue reading ‘Lumberback The Monster’ Trailer: Takashi Miike’s Latest Pits A Psychopathic Lawyer Against A Masked Serial Killer at The Playlist.

Welcome to another edition of The Discourse, the show where we discuss film news, reviews, and anything in the pop culture zeitgeist that we feel the need to weigh-in on.

After a brief paternity leave hiatus—and thank you all for your patience and to the teams behind The Fourth Wall and Be Reel for keeping the lights on while I was away—we are back at the same Bat-Time and same Bat-Channel with regular episodes.

Continue reading Takashi Miike’s ‘First Love’ And The September Films We Missed [The Discourse Podcast] at The Playlist.

With Venice and Telluride in the rearview and TIFF wrapping up soon, it’s time to look at some of the other film festivals that are coming up. For genre film fans, especially, it would seem as if Austin’s Fantastic Fest is the premier destination. And with the final lineup announcement today, the 2019 iteration of the festival appears poised to be yet another can’t-miss affair.

READ MORE: ‘I Lost My Body’ Is A Spectacular Animated Achievement [Cannes Review]

Headlining the “final wave” announcement of films and special events at this year’s Fantastic Fest is the new animated film from director Jérémy Clapin, titled “I Lost My Body.” The film, which tells the story of a severed hand on a journey to find the rest of its body, debuted at this year’s International Critics’ Week at Cannes and won the coveted Nespresso Grand Prize, becoming the first animated film to do so.

Continue reading Fantastic Fest To Honor Takashi Miike With Lifetime Achievement Award As Event Announces Final Wave Lineup at The Playlist.

When you have an action film, such as “First Love,” that follows the love story between a drug-addicted callgirl and a terminally ill boxer, you have to wonder what type of filmmaker would come up with such a premise. But then when you hear that the filmmaker is Takasi Miike, you’ll likely say, “Yep, totally makes sense.”

Miike has never been the type of filmmaker to play it safe and stay within the confines of specific genres or tropes.

Continue reading ‘First Love’ Trailer: Takashi Miike’s Latest Thriller Is A Hilarious, Gore-Filled Love Story at The Playlist.

If you’re a fan of filmmaker Takashi Miike’s work, you’re probably familiar with his very unique style. He’s truly a master of mixing tones, going from some of the most extreme action you’ll see to straight-up silly comedy. And judging from the wild teaser for his latest film, “First Love,” Miike is back at it again with another film that could only be made by the legendary auteur.

As seen in the teaser for “First Love,” which premiered earlier this year as part of the Directors’ Fortnight program at Cannes, Miike’s film focuses on a boxer that gets dragged into a drug-smuggling scheme after falling in love with a call girl.

Continue reading ‘First Love’ Teaser: Takashi Miike’s Latest Film Shows The Legendary Filmmaker’s Penchant For Outrageous Action at The Playlist.

What’s black and red all over? A noir-tinged yakuza film by Japanese iconoclast Takashi Miike, of course. With Miike, you never quite know what you’re going to get, both in terms of the movies’ unpredictable content and the wild range in quality. The director’s recent highlights have been the result of a productive collaboration with celebrated British producer Jeremy Thomas: “13 Assassins,” “Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai” and “Blade of the Immortal.” It’s no surprise then that Miike’s latest Thomas production “First Love“—a selection of the Directors’ Fortnight program at Cannes—finds the filmmaker at his most engaged, playful and coherent.

Continue reading ‘First Love’: Takashi Miike Delivers A Classic Shaggy Noir-Tinged Yakuza Film [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.

Based on a popular manga that this writer has no familiarity with whatsoever, Takashi Miike‘s “Blade of the Immortal” begins aggressively in medias res, with Manji (Takuya Kimura) engaging in some badass black-and-white samurai-swording in the service of protecting his little sister, Machi, from some seriously bad dudes who wish her harm. The film’s cold open goes to some places, let me tell you.

Continue reading ‘Blade Of The Immortal’ Is Visceral, Off-The-Wall Samurai Action [Review] at The Playlist.

Japanese director Takashi Miike is as inconsistent as he is prolific. For those who have been keeping count, “Blade Of The Immortal” is apparently the permanently busy director’s 100th film. At any rate, when Miike is in top form, he’s still one of the most entertaining, off the wall directors to watch, and his new samurai movie is bringing buckets of blood and the kind of gonzo attitude we expect from the auteur.

Continue reading ‘Blade Of The Immortal’ NSFW Trailer: Takashi Miike Unsheathes Mayhem at The Playlist.

Simply put, it’s not an edition of the Fantasia Film Festival without a Takashi Miike flick (or two, or three). One of the sprawling Canadian genre fest’s claims to fame is introducing the director to North American audiences in the 1990s, and Fantasia has since remained loyal to the Japanese maverick, even when the films have questionable commercial appeal to mainstream Western audiences, as is the case with manga adaptation “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I.” Regardless, the film — receiving an opening night berth for its North American Premiere here in Montreal — is candy-colored catnip to the insatiable Fantasia crowd.

Continue reading ‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’ Is Candy-Colored Catnip For Takashi Miike Fans [Review] at The Playlist.

Even a film festival as Important and Prestigious as Cannes needs a couple movies to serve as a breather between the usually heavy, serious fare that marks the majority of the programming. This year, that duty falls on Takashi Miike‘s “Blade Of The Immortal,” with the prolific Japanese filmmaker serving up a samurai saga.

Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, Sôta Fukushi, Ebizô Ichikawa, Min Tanaka, and Tsutomu Yamazaki star in the movie about an immortal samurai who attempts to reclaim his soul by helping a young woman avenge her parents.

Continue reading Meet An Immortal Warrior In First Trailer For Takashi Miike’s Samurai Cannes Film ‘Blade Of The Immortal’ at The Playlist.

The Cannes Film Festival forges many friendships with filmmakers that continue through the years, with an open door on the Croisette for whatever their next project might. One of the most unlikely relationships might be the one between Cannes and unpredictable Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, but once again he returns to France, and this year he’s got a samurai movie under his belt.

READ MORE: The 20 Most Anticipated Films Of The 2017 Cannes Film Festival

“Blade Of The Immortal” has a pretty simple premise: a samurai vows to help a young woman avenge her parents so he can reclaim his soul.

Continue reading 3 Clips From Takashi Miike’s Samurai Cannes Film ‘Blade Of The Immortal’ at The Playlist.

Former horror magazine editor Dave Alexander has a new gig. Luckily for movie fans, it’s to uncover some of the greatest horror movies that never made it to fruition. Alexander launched multimedia production company Untold Horror, which is also the name of his upcoming documentary series.

The former editor is now set to write and co-produce “Untold Horror,” a new multi-part series that explores the secret history of why some of the most highly anticipated horror movies never made it past production – and, in some cases, development.

Continue reading Masters Of Horror Discuss Unmade Films In Trailer For Documentary Series ‘Untold Horror’ at The Playlist.

Watch: Fantasy And Reality Collide In Trailer For Takashi Miike's Supernatural Horror 'Over Your Dead Body'

Continue reading Watch: Fantasy And Reality Collide In Trailer For Takashi Miike’s Supernatural Horror ‘Over Your Dead Body’ at The Playlist.

Review: Takashi Miike's 'Yakuza Apocalypse' Is Bone Crunchingly, Bloodily Brilliant

Continue reading Review: Takashi Miike’s ‘Yakuza Apocalypse’ Is Bone Crunchingly, Bloodily Brilliant at The Playlist.

Watch: Bonkers Red Band Trailer For Takashi Miike’s 'Yakuza Apocalypse'

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Watch: New Trailer For Takashi Miike's 'Yakuza Apocalypse,' Possibly The Weirdest Movie Playing Cannes

Continue reading Watch: New Trailer For Takashi Miike’s ‘Yakuza Apocalypse,’ Possibly The Weirdest Movie Playing Cannes at The Playlist.

Watch: New Trailers For Takashi Miike's 'Yakuza Apocalypse' & 'Lion Standing Against The Wind'

Continue reading Watch: New Trailers For Takashi Miike’s ‘Yakuza Apocalypse’ & ‘Lion Standing Against The Wind’ at The Playlist.

TIFF Trailer: Takashi Miike's Vanguard Entry 'Over Your Dead Body' Plus Teaser For 'As God Says'

Continue reading TIFF Trailer: Takashi Miike’s Vanguard Entry ‘Over Your Dead Body’ Plus Teaser For ‘As God Says’ at The Playlist.

Fantasia Review: Takashi Miike's Enjoyably Wacky 'The Mole Song – Undercover Agent Reiji'

Continue reading Fantasia Review: Takashi Miike’s Enjoyably Wacky ‘The Mole Song – Undercover Agent Reiji’ at The Playlist.

Takashi Miike's 'Audition' Getting Remake From Producer Of 'Terminator 2,' 'Basic Instinct ' & 'Showgirls'

Continue reading Takashi Miike’s ‘Audition’ Getting Remake From Producer Of ‘Terminator 2,’ ‘Basic Instinct ‘ & ‘Showgirls’ at The Playlist.

Takashi Miike Already At Work On Next Film, 'Sinister 2' Gets A Director & Mary Harron Lines Up New Project

Continue reading Takashi Miike Already At Work On Next Film, ‘Sinister 2’ Gets A Director & Mary Harron Lines Up New Project at The Playlist.

Tom Hardy & Takashi Miike Reportedly Exit Yakuza Flick 'The Outsider'

Continue reading Tom Hardy & Takashi Miike Reportedly Exit Yakuza Flick ‘The Outsider’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Watch: First Teaser Trailer For Takashi Miike’s ‘Mogura no Uta’ Is Typically Bonkers at The Playlist.

Continue reading Tom Hardy Is ‘The Outsider’ For Takashi Miike’s English-Language Debut at The Playlist.

Watch: Cannes Clips Including 'Zulu' With Orlando Bloom & Forest Whitaker, Claire Denis' 'Bastards,' Jia Zhangke's 'A Touch of Sin' & More

Continue reading Watch: Cannes Clips Including ‘Zulu’ With Orlando Bloom & Forest Whitaker, Claire Denis’ ‘Bastards,’ Jia Zhangke’s ‘A Touch of Sin’ & More at The Playlist.