EoM Senior Interviewer Thomas Manning recently spent time talking with writer and director Ken’ichi Ugana about his film The Curse, which screened at Fantastic Fest 2025. This gnarly, supernatural thriller comments on the increasingly dangerous potential of the digital world… Read More ›
Those keeping track of modern martial arts action know the name Kensuke Sonomura between his work as a stunt director and as a director. If it hits hard, looks badass, and helps move the narrative forward, you can almost guarantee… Read More ›
It’s not an uncommon practice for a filmmaker to release two films in a year. John Huston released The Treasure of the Sierra Madre the same year as Key Largo (1948), Akira Kurosawa released Scandal in the same year as… Read More ›
Art isn’t for everyone. It can be profitable for the artist if it is, striking the balance between personal vision and widespread appreciation, but it’s not a necessity. Sometimes art is entirely for the artist, the work so niche that… Read More ›
Over the last few years, writer/director Yûgo Sakamoto’s (A Janitor) created a very specific cinematic world in which low-stakes slacker comedy meets high-stakes wet work via his Baby Assassins series. Returning for a third outing in Baby Assassins Nice Days,… Read More ›
The slacker comedy comes in many shapes and varieties. You’ve got rom-com Mallrats (1995), straight comedy Friday (1995), dramedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), and comedic thriller The Big Lebowski (1998). Each one uses the slackers at their center to… Read More ›
2021 crime comedy Baby Assassins introduced audiences to assassin/slacker team Mahiro (Saori Izawa) and Chisato (Akari Takaishi) when they stumbled into a face-off with members of the yakuza. Now, they return with a brand-new adventure that finds them on the outs… Read More ›
At the 2022 Fantastic Fest, actor/stunt choreographer/director Kensuke Sonomura unveiled his second feature film Bad City, the follow-up to the 2019 release HYDRA. His sophomore crime drama packed in as much intrigue and even more blood-letting, all aided by stellar… Read More ›
It’s been nearly a year since its screening at Fantastic Fest 2022 and Kensuke Sonomura’s bloody crime drama Bad City is finally releasing on physical formats in the United States in September 2023 after a brief digital-only period which started… Read More ›
There are some films whose descriptions pique your interest and under-deliver, some which meet expectations, and some which blow your mind (the diamonds in the rough). The 2021 crime comedy Baby Assassins, written and directed by Yûgo Sakamoto, is the… Read More ›
Over the last few years, much of the best stunt work has been coming out of Asia. Preman: Silent Fury (2022) from Indonesia, Aliennoid (2022) from Korea, Baby Assassins (2021) and HYDRA (2020) from Japan, and Raging Fire (2021) from… Read More ›
Since its international premiere at Fantastic Fest 2021, writer/director Yûgo Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins hasn’t been far from mind. I discussed it on two Cine-Men episodes, gave it a highlight mention in the 2021 Sticky List, and made sure to include… Read More ›
If you’ve ever sat absorbing something for the first time — a song, a book, a play, a movie — and thought to yourself, “I can’t wait to revisit this,” then you’ll have some sense of what will await you… Read More ›