AOL Black Voices has an update on The Boondocks/Tyler Perry conflagaration here, and apparently some of the rumors are false. Perry will not sue. What follows is a recap from Black Voices:
The June 20 episode of his satirical series, titled 'Pause,' features a character named Winston Jerome, a religious playwright-director-actor who also cross-dresses as a no-nonsense grandmother named Ma Dukes in movies and chitlin' circuit plays. The imagery immediately brings thoughts of Perry's star character Madea Simmons to mind. Granddad is cast as Ma Dukes' love interest, and his grandsons, Huey and Riley, break into the a well-guarded compound to rescue their beloved guardian and save him from a homoerotic religious cult.
By the way, this third season is apparently the final season for The Boondocks.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Review: Creepy "Signs" Dances with Fate and Faith
Signs (2002)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some frightening moments
WRITER/DIRECTOR: M. Night Shyamalan
PRODUCERS: Frank Marshall, Sam Mercer, and M. Night Shyamalan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tak Fujimoto
EDITOR: Barbara Tulliver
COMPOSER: James Newton Howard
DRAMA/SCI-FI/THRILLER with elements of horror
Starring: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones, M. Night Shyamalan, and Patricia Kalember
Farmer and pastor Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) lost his faith when his wife Colleen (Patricia Kalember) was killed in an auto accident, but when he discovers intricate patterns of circles carved into his corn fields (called “crop circles”), he embarks on an path that will alter his life. The mysterious markings cause a media storm and worldwide panic; trapped in his farmhouse with his brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) and his son (Rory Culkin) and daughter (Abigail Breslin), Graham must discover if the crop circles are the signs of an impending invasion or are they part of a larger pattern of fate and predestination.
Signs was hit-making director M. Night Shyamalan’s third big-time studio film, and it was a huge theatrical hit. It’s a very entertaining film, although it is also a bit too serious and moody. In fact, Signs is so somber that it’s almost a chamber music version of solemnity. Still, like Shyamalan’s other best-known films (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable), Signs is a superbly creepy suspense thriller, a brilliant stroke of quiet, edge-of-your-seat thrills.
The performances and the mood of the film go a long way in dictating how an individual viewer will feel about Signs; those two elements decide the “fate” of the film, as it is. Gibson and Phoenix’s performance are too low-key, so much so that it seems as if they’re stuck in the mud. The children, however, are very good in the film, and young Ms. Breslin manages to be super cute and precious without being annoying; she delivers each of her lines and gives each one maximum impact on both the film and audience reaction. Signs is also an excellent rumination on fate and faith and on how often people mistake the “signs” and the important incidents in life as coincidences. If the film wasn’t so stiff, stuck in the mud, and so deathly deliberate and formal, I’d call it brilliant.
7 of 10
B+
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Entire "Ghost in the Shell" Saga at VIZ Cinema in July
July Edition Of Sci-Fi Anime Madness Offers Six Feature Films Based On Hit Manga Series Set To Play In A Special Week-Long Anime Film Festival
VIZ Cinema and NEW PEOPLE are proud to present, in association with Bandai Entertainment and Manga Entertainment, Sci-fi Anime Madness Volume 2: Ghost in the Shell Marathon with a very special series of feature film screenings taking place July 3rd – 8th at the theatre located in San Francisco’s Japantown. The creation of veteran anime writer/director/producer Mamoru Oshii, Ghost in the Shell and its subsequent sequels thrilled audiences and inspired a generation of filmmakers to became one of the most revered anime franchises of all times.
Tickets, screening times and more details are available at: www.vizcinema.com.
Ghost in the Shell is based on a popular manga series created by Shirow Masamune and was turned into a feature film in 1995 that went on to become an international smash hit. It was followed by a theatrical film sequel in 2004, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, which was also directed by Mamoru Oshii. The VIZ Cinema marathon will also screen three feature-length film re-cuts including “The Laughing Man,” that features a separate, self-contained storyline based on the Stand Along Complex anime TV series, produced in 2005, as well as “Individual Eleven,” and “Solid State Society, two features based on the second season of the anime television series that was produced in 2006.
Ghost In The Shell (Original Version), July 3rd and also July 5th
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 1995, 85min, Digital, English Subtitles)
In 2029 A female government cyber agent and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of “The Puppet Master,” a computer virus capable of invading cybernetic brains and altering its victims’ memories. This is the acclaimed sci-fi action masterpiece that proclaimed a new era of anime and helped to define the cyber-punk genre.
Ghost In The Shell 2.0 (CGI version), July 3rd and also July 5th
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 2008, 85min, Digital, English Subtitles)
This is a new, visually enhanced version of the classic original movie.
Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence, July 3rd
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 2004, 100min, Digital, English Subtitles)
This is the gripping sequel to the original Ghost in the Shell film.
Ghost In The Shell Stand Along Complex: The Laughing Man, July 4th and also July 6th
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2005, 106min, Digital, English Subtitles)
The feature film adaptation of the Stand Alone Complex series, re-cut to tell the story of a police battle with an evil computer hacker.
Ghost In The Shell: Individual Eleven 161, July 4th and also July 7th
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2006, 161min, Digital, English Subtitles)
A feature-length OAV feature with a new self-contained story, adapted from Stand Alone Complex: Second Gig, the second season of the Ghost in the Shell broadcast series.
Ghost In The Shell: Solid State Society 108, July 4th and also July 8th
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2006, 108min, Digital, English Subtitles)
A film adaptation of the Stand Alone Complex: Second Gig, the second season of the Ghost in the Shell broadcast series.
VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system.
NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.
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Thursday, July 1, 2010
Movie Review: "Unbreakable" Has Broken Ending
Unbreakable (2000)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic elements including some disturbing violent content, and for a crude sexual reference
WRITER/DIRECTOR: M. Night Shyamalan
PRODUCERS: Barry Mendel, Sam Mercer, and M. Night Shyamalan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Eduardo Serra (director of photography)
EDITOR: Dylan Tichenor
COMPOSER: James Newton Howard
DRAMA/FANTASY/THRILLER
Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright Penn, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard, and Johnny Hiram Jamison
Sometimes an awkward or inappropriate ending can ruin a very good or even a great movie. For the follow up to his enormously popular worldwide smash, The Sixth Sense, director M. Night Shyamalan decided to smash his fine film Unbreakable over its figurative head with a dud of an ending. Still, the film is worth seeing, if for no other reason than to watch an emerging master filmmaker whose style is somewhat similar to Steven Spielberg, the man to whom Shyamalan is favorably compared.
David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is the father of a lonely boy (Spencer Treat Clark), the owner of a serious midlife crisis, and a somewhat estranged husband to his wife (Robin Wright Penn). He is a security guard returning by train from a job interview when the train suddenly derails. Dunn is the sole surviving passenger, and he escapes the tragedy without so much as a scratch or a broken bone. He meets Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), a strange fellow who believes David is the special man with an extraordinary gift for whom Elijah has searched most of his adult life.
Shyamalan is without a doubt a major directorial talent. He understands how to use his fellow filmmakers to maximum effect: using lighting, music, film editing, photography, and actors like toys he can move around to tell delicious, engaging, and fantastic supernatural thrillers. Like Spielberg, Shymalan’s technique is more manipulative than obvious, but what he does works. One scene after another reveals how carefully he weaves his film, as he slowly unwraps whatever surprise lies around the corner of each story twist.
His weakness is in his writing because he has a propensity to cheat and to hide things in order to confuse his audience, or he’s just inconsistent with the rules he establishes to make the world of his film work (The Sixth Sense has many). He doesn’t seem to really want us to solve the mysteries of his film, so much as he wants us to be surprised by his shocking twists, especially if that surprise comes as a slap in the face.
As effective and enthralling as Unbreakable is, the resolution is simply something Shyamalan drops like a bomb. There is no doubt that it is a shocker, but what it does is turn Unbreakable into the back story of Dunn’s life, not the story of his life. This is what happens after Dunn discovers and accepts what he is and what Elijah had to do to make David accept his destiny (or Elijah’s destiny for him). In fact, the resolution simply sours something that was turning out to be really beautiful, admittedly somber, but beautiful nonetheless.
The performances are all pretty good, if a bit too moody. It’s understandable to have the cast in a blue mood to heighten the sense of the otherness or the supernatural, but the actors’ dower expressions make even the light moments too bittersweet. Or maybe the whole thing is supposed to be a downer. It’s really sad that what looked like a great film was ruined by a gimmick – Shyamalan’s one trick; still, I’d recommend you see this thriller at least once.
6 of 10
B
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VIZ Cinema Has That Fighting Spirit in July
VIZ CINEMA CELEBRATES BATTLES OF ALL KINDS IN MORE THAN 20 NEW FILMS TO SCREEN IN JULY
Catch Swift And Deadly Samurai Action And Genre-Defining Anime Classics As Well As SF IndieFest’s 2010 Hole In The Head Film Festival
VIZ Cinema, the nation’s only movie theatre dedicated to Japanese film, offers a July theme of Beyond The Battles and offers a wide array of action and samurai films as well a series of screenings to celebrate the Ghost In The Shell anime saga. This month, the cinema welcomes San Francisco IndieFest’s Another Hole In the Head film festival for a week-long run of science fiction, fantasy and horror films at the end of the month. Tickets, screening times and complete details for each film are available at: www.vizcinema.com
Battle League Horumo, July 2nd FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY!
(Directed by Katsuhide Motoki, 2009, 113min, With English Subtitles)
Celebrate the DVD release of this new action film by VIZ Pictures with a special screening. This combat action comedy is based on the best-selling fantasy novel by Manabu Makime. As a college freshman, Akira Abe joins the club “Azure Dragon” to get closer to his dream girl. At first, the club appears to be an ordinary social club but the new members soon find out about the 1000 year-old tradition upheld by the four universities of Kyoto and the “Horumo” battle. Members must go through rigorous training and learn to manipulate an army of Oni spirits. Starring Takayuki Yamada (Train Man) and Chiaki Kuriyama (Kill Bill Vol. 1). Special $25.00 ticket package includes the DVD, a movie poster and a pass to the screening. General admission (movie only, no DVD) tickets are $10.00.
Sci-fi Anime Madness, Volume 2: Ghost In The Shell Marathon, July 3rd – 8th. Sci-fi Anime Madness returns with an epic Ghost In The Shell film marathon!
Ghost In The Shell (Original Version), July 3rd and also July 5th
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 1995, 85min, Digital, English Subtitles)
This is the acclaimed sci-fi action masterpiece that proclaimed a new era of anime and helped to define the cyber-punk genre.
Ghost In The Shell 2.0 (CGI version), July 3rd and also July 5th
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 2008, 85min, Digital, English Subtitles)
This is a new, visually enhanced version of the classic original movie.
Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence, July 3rd
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 2004, 100min, Digital, English Subtitles)
This is the gripping sequel to the original classic Ghost in the Shell film.
Ghost In The Shell Stand Along Complex: The Laughing Man, July 4th and also July 6th
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2005, 106min, Digital, English Subtitles)
The feature film adaptation of the Stand Alone Complex series, re-cut to tell the story of a police battle with an evil computer hacker.
Ghost In The Shell: Individual Eleven 161, July 4th and also July 7th
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2006, 161min, Digital, English Subtitles)
A feature-length OAV feature, adapted from Stand Alone Complex: Second Gig, the second season of the Ghost in the Shell broadcast series.
Ghost In The Shell: Solid State Society 108, July 4th and also July 8th
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2006, 108min, Digital, English Subtitles)
A film adaptation of the popular Solid State Society animated TV series.
TOKYOSCOPE TALK, Volume 5: Japanese Superheroes!, July 9th
Join hosts Patrick Macias (Editor, Otaku USA), August Ragone (author, Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters), and Tomohiro Machiyama (founding editor, Movie Treasures magazine) as they explore the fascinating history and origins of Japanese superheroes featuring tokusatsu, sentai, and henshin hero productions including Ultra Seven, Kikaida, Space Sheriff Gavan, and many others! General admission tickets are $10.00.
SAMURAI SAGA, Volume 1: From Classic Noir to New Colors
Celebrate nearly 50 years of samurai action and drama in a series of new and classic films.
Kill!, July 10th – 11th
(Directed by Kihachi Okamoto, 1968, 114min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
In this pitch-black action comedy by Kihachi Okamoto, a pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin. Kill! playfully tweaks samurai film convention, borrowing elements from established classics and seasoning them with hints of Italian westerns.
Sword of Doom, July 10th and also July 12th – 13th
(Directed by Kihachi Okamoto, 1968, 114min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune star in the story of a wandering samurai who exists in a maelstrom of violence. A gifted swordsman who plys his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, Ryunosuke (played by Nakadai) kills without remorse, without merc, and becomes a way of life that ultimately leads to madness.
Harakiri, July 11th – 13th
(Directed by Masaki Kobayashi, 1962, 133Mmin, 35mm, English Subtitles)
Following the collapse of his clan, unemployed samurai Hanshiro Tsugumo arrives at the manor of Lord Iyi, begging to commit ritual suicide on his property. Iyi’s clansmen, believing the desperate ronin is merely angling for charity, try to force him to eviscerate himself – but they have underestimated his honor and his past. Winner of the 1963 Cannes Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize, Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri is a scathing denouncement of feudal authority and hypocrisy.
Samurai Rebellion, July 14th and also July 16th – 17th
(Directed by Masaki Kobayashi,1967, 121min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
Toshiro Mifune stars as Isaburo Sasahara, an aging swordsman living a quiet life until his clan lord orders that his son marry the lord’s mistress, who has recently displeased the ruler. Reluctantly, father and son take in the woman, and, to the family’s surprise, the young couple fall in love. But the lord soon reverses his decision and demands the mistress’s return. Against all expectations, Isaburo and his son refuse, risking the destruction of their entire family. Director Masaki Kobayashi’s Samurai Rebellion is the gripping story of a peaceful man who finally decides to take a stand against injustice.
Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron, July 14th – 15th and also July 17th
(Directed by Hideo Gosha, 1976, 163min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
Based on the bestselling novel by Shotaro Ikenami, this story involves a former samurai who abandons his class to become the leader of a gang of bandits. He leads his outlaws in an attempt to rob the castle of his former clan to avenge the destruction of his own family by the official he once served.
Three Outlaw Samurai, July 15th – 17th
(Directed by Hideo Gosha, 1964, 95min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard. The three outlaws soon find themselves in a battle to the death.
SHUHEI FUJISAWA FILM SPECIAL, July 18th – July 22nd
Enjoy four award winning Samurai films from recent times, all based on the historical novels by the bestselling author Shuhei Fujisawa, including the Samurai Trilogy by by Academy Award® nominated director Yoji Yamada.
Twilight Samurai, July 18th and also July 22nd
(Directed by Yoji Yamada, 2002, 129min, Digital, English Subtitles)
This is the first film of the Shuhei Fujisawa trilogy, directed by Yoji Yamada. Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, it follows the life of Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai employed as a bureaucrat. The Twilight Samurai was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards, and also won an unprecedented 12 Japanese Academy Awards.
The Hidden Blade, July 18th and also July 20th – 21st
(Directed by Yoji Yamada, 2004, 132min, Digital, English Subtitles)
The second of the Shuhei Fujisawa film trilogy directed by Yoji Yamada. Set in the 1860s, this is an epic tale of Munezo, a samurai being displaced in a rapidly changing Japan. After a failed political coup he is ordered to prove his innocence by finding and killing Yaichiro, a former samurai friend and brilliant swordsman. Munezo enlists the help of their old teacher, who entrusts him with a secret technique. Directed by Academy Award® nominee Yoji Yamada and starring Masatoshi Nagase (Mystery Train).
Love and Honor, July 18th – July 20th
(Directed by Yoji Yamada, 2006, 121min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
This is the final film of the Shuhei Fujisawa trilogy, directed by Yoji Yamada. An award winning masterpiece of sacrifice and devotion, Love and Honor weaves a timeless tale set in the waning days of feudal Japan. Love and Honor depicts the emotional intensity of an age when respect was more valuable than riches and love cut more truly than any sword.
Yamazakura - The Cherry Tree in the Hills (U.S. Premiere), July 18th – 19th and July 21st
(Directed by Tetsuo Shinohara, 2008, 100min, Digital, English Subtitles)
A poetic love story about a samurai and a young widow in the late Edo period. Noe, the eldest daughter of the samurai family with class, had lost her first husband and was forced to marry her late husband's brother, whom Noe was never able to admire as a samurai. On the way home from visiting her aunt’s grave, Noe encounters a samurai, Tezuka Yaichiro, who aspired to marry Noe in the past but was never able to because of family matters.
SFindie Fest Presents: Another Hole In the Head, July 23rd – July 29th
VIZ Cinema is thrilled to be one of the main venues for SF IndieFest's 2010 Another Hole In the Head film festival! Witness the most dangerous line-ups of sci-fi, horror and fantasy films!
Advance Tickets available for only $10.00 online at www.sfindie.com. Rush tickets will be available for $11.00 only on the day of the screenings at the VIZ Cinema box office.Get more details about the films and a complete schedule at www.sfindie.com and www.vizcinema.com
Symbol, July 24th at 5:00pm
(Directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto, 2009, 93min, Digital, English Subtitles)
Hitoshi Matsumoto, who brought the world the bizarre and madly comic romp of Big Man Japan, takes his visual perspective to the highest extremes of surrealism. A man wakes up and finds himself trapped in an empty white rectangular room, wearing clownish bright yellow polka dot pajamas. Where is he? Who did this to him? How did he end up here? Will he manage to make him escape to safety? Symbol is an incredibly strange and visually striking film that goes past the confines of the mind and out into the abyss.
Alien vs. Ninja, July 25th at 7:00pm
(Directed by Seiji Chiba, 2010, 82min, Digital, English Subtitles)
**Plays with film short, Escape From Death Planet, directed by James Cadden.
Alien vs Ninja is a visual orgy of action, blood, limbs, internal organs, more action, some chat, more blood, stamped heads, explosions, more limbs, more action and really, really scary looking aliens. Alien vs Ninja is funny and there are action scenes that will put a smile on your face but of course there's also sensational gore and minced body parts alongside buckets of entrails flying in the sky. Film contains explicit content, adults only.
Death Kappa , July 29th at 5:00pm
(Directed by Tomo'o Haraguchi, 2010, 90min, Digital, English Subtitles)
Death Kappa takes a modern look at one of the more infamous Japanese Yokai creatures, the Kappa, and elevates it to Godzilla-like proportions and city stomping shenanigans. Death Kappa is an extraordinary film and audiences won’t be surprised to learn that some of the talent behind the recent Godzilla films worked on Death Kappa as well. A nod of the hat to the monster lizard and a beautifully crafted effort that puts the rampage of the Death Kappa firmly on the map!
Mutant Girls Squad, July 29th at 7:00pm
(Directed by Noboru Iguchi, Yoshinori Chiba and Yoshihiro Nishimura, 2010, 90min, Digital, English Subtitles)
The Mutant Girls Squad does ongoing battle with the sinister Ministry of Defense. These black clad evildoers wear black 'tengu' devil masks that have long protruding noses which aren't just for show. They are actually machine gun noses and a deliver a ballet of bullets for each scene they enter. This film delivers all the bizarre effects and humor and blood-spurting goodness viewers can handle and possibly a bit more. Film contains explicit content, adults only.
VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system.
About NEW PEOPLE
NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.
It's the First of the Month... at Negromancer
Welcome to Negromancer, the rebirth of my former movie review website as a movie review and movie news blog. I’m Leroy Douresseaux, and I also blog at http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/ and write for the Comic Book Bin, which has its own iPhone app.
All images appearing on this blog are © copyright and/or trademark their respective owners.
All images appearing on this blog are © copyright and/or trademark their respective owners.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Japanese Action Comedy "Battle League Horumo" on DVD in July
Zany Action Film Based On Best-Selling Fantasy Novel Features Special Effects By Renowned Animation Studio GONZO
VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, will debut the live-action combat comedy film BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO on DVD on July 6th. The release, which will be distributed by VIZ Media in North America, will carry an MSRP of $24.92 U.S. / $35.99 CAN.
VIZ Pictures also celebrates the release with a special theatrical screening of BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO – for one night only – on Friday, July 2nd at 7:00pm at VIZ Cinema in San Francisco. VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted to Japanese film and animation, located at 1746 Post St., in the heart of the city’s Japantown. $25 ticket includes a movie ticket, the brand new DVD and a poster! $10 regular admission is also available. Advance tickets, trailers and more details are available at: www.viz-pictures.com or www.vizcinema.com.
BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO is also set to be screened at the 2010 Anime Expo, taking place July 1-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA. Find details for the convention at www.anime-expo.org.
Based on the best-selling fantasy novel Kamogawa HORUMO written by Manabu Makime, the live-action BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO takes audiences on a wild adventure that blends the breathtaking backdrop of Kyoto with the bizarre legend of “Horumo.” After failing the entrance exam and enduring two years of cram school, Akira Abe (Takayuki Yamada) finally gets accepted to the prestigious Kyoto University. One day while on his way home with a friend, Akira meets a senior who invites them to a welcome party hosted by his club called the Azure Dragon. With nothing to lose, they decide to go for the free food, but while there Akira meets Kyoko Sawara, a beautiful girl with a perfect nose, and he falls head over heels for her. Now smitten, Akira goes in to persuade his friend to join the club with him in the hope that he can get closer to the girl of his dreams.
At first, the club appears to be an ordinary social group, but the new members soon discover the mysterious 1000 year-old tradition of the “Horumo” battle upheld by the four universities of Kyoto. The battle is fought between 10 players from each team who each manipulate an army of 100 spirits (referred to as Oni) to fight their opponents. The members each go through rigorous training to achieve fluency in the Oni language as well as learn the indefinable gestures that are required to complement it. Let the battles begin!
BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO features stunning visual effects that vividly bring the Oni spirits to life and were created by the renowned GONZO animation studio, which also produced animated features like Afro Samurai, Brave Story, and Basilisk.
BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO was directed by Katsuhide Motoki (Kitaro And The Millennium Curse, 10 Promises To My Dog). The film stars Takayuki Yamada, who is well-known for his role as the awkward and bumbling young man in Train Man: Densha Otoko (also available from VIZ Pictures), along with actress Chiaki Kuriyama, who appeared in the Japanese horror film Ju-on and made her Hollywood debut in director Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Volume 1.
For more information on BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO or other VIZ Pictures titles, please visit www.viz-pictures.com.
About VIZ Pictures, Inc.:
Based in San Francisco, California, VIZ Pictures, Inc. licenses and distributes selective Japanese live-action films and DVDs, with focus on Japanese "kawaii (cute) and cool" pop culture. VIZ Pictures strives to offer the most entertaining motion pictures straight from the "Kingdom of Pop" for audiences of all ages, especially the manga and anime generation, in North America. Some titles include DEATH NOTE, 20TH CENTURY BOYS, and TRAIN MAN: DENSHA OTOKO. VIZ Pictures is also the producer of NEW PEOPLE, a part of the J-Pop Center Project, a unique entertainment destination bringing Japanese pop culture through film, art, fashion, and retail products. For more information please visit www.viz-pictures.com or www.newpeopleworld.com.
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