Teaser for Takashi Miike classroom horror As the Gods Will

"人気グラビアアイドル6人が、撮影の合間にちょっと不思議なだるまを発見。オモシロ半­分で「だるまさんがころんだ」をはじめた彼女達に待っているものとは・・・？ Is it bliss or a tragedy? A secret game with sexy Japanese idols. 

スタジオの隅に無造作に置かれただるま…グラドル達が近づいていくと、突然しゃべりだ­す。 「だ・る・ま・さ・ん・が・こ・ろ・ん・だ」 だるまとグラドルのお遊戯の先に待ちうけているのは、極楽か、奈落か…？ Six sexy and utterly cute Japanese gravure idols in bikinis are caught in a cute little game with a Daruma doll they found in the studio. See them bounce, sway, shake…and witness what happens!"

Tokyo Tribe (2014) review // Gangs of Neo Tokyo

(Various spoilers follow)

For any fan of Asian cinema - Japanese films in particular - the early 2000s were a very special time.  Takashi Miike pulled himself out of the much of V-Cinema (no-budget straight to video flicks) hell and became an international sensation, effectively patenting his unique brand of crazy and opening the flood gates for two-bit imitators and other similarly-skilled instigators.  Of the latter category, Sion Sono's Suicide Club put him on the international map much like Miike's Audition, Dead or Alive, and Ichi the Killer did for him.  Post-Suicide Club, Sono steadily honed his craft on the semi-sequel Noriko's Dinner Table, mind-bender Strange Circus, dark drama Hazard, and the much more commercial J-Horror entry Exte - or as commercial as a film about killer hair extensions can be.

Wishful Thinking

First blog post.  I got the name from the ridiculously unnecessary remake of the classic whacked-out UK film The Wicker Man.  It very much epitomizes the case of "so bad it's good," as it has been elevated into the stratosphere by Nicolas Cage's insane performance.  But what isn't, these days?