Asian Cinema Film Club

Elwood and Stephen check out Tsui Hark’s  “Peking Opera Blues”an amazing piñata of a movie that combines more  genres and Hong Kong-specific themes than one could possibly imagine. A  historical and political intrigue, acrobatic action, screwball comedy,  and heroic gunplay elements are thrown together in an intoxicating mix.  They also look at the key leading ladies of  Asian cinema, Viceland’s n...

Elwood and Stephen take a look at Wong Kai-War’s Chungking Express, a  film comprised of two rather untraditional love stories as Takeshi  Kaneshiro plays a cop who finds himself caught up Brigitte Lin’s  mysterious drug smuggler. At the same time Tony Leung (also playing a  cop) who in attempting to get over the loss of his girlfriend (Valerie  Chow) attracts the interest of the quirky snack bar...

 Elwood Jones and Stephen Palmer (Eastern Kicks /  Gweilo Ramblings) set out to provide an introduction to Asian cinema by  on each episode highlighting a title worth seeking out. On this first episode we kick things off with "Ghost In The Shell" as  with the live action remake fast approaching what better time to go back  an revisit the 1995 original anime, widely considered to be one of the  bes...

Elwood and Stephen check out Dante Lam's action thriller The Beast Stalker in which Nicholas Tse's tough Hong Kong Cop has to find the daughter of a Public Prosecutor who has been kidnapped by the henchman of the crime boss she is putting on trial.  Opening Theme: Coffee Date Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io Produced By White Hot

Elwood and Stephen head to Mexico for this 2020 thriller set in a dystopian near future were the war between the social classes erupts in violence as a high society wedding is invaded by rioters while the military plan to regain control of both the country and government. Meanwhile Bride to be Marianne finds herself caught in the midst of the terrifying power shift as various parties attempt to ex...

Elwood and Stephen look at Ann Hui's horror comedy Visible Secret in which Peter an unemployed hair dresser, meets nurse June only for eerie events begin to begin to take place as June reveals to Peter that she is able to see ghosts. ⁠Buy us a coffee and support the show⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/acfilmclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out our sponsor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Yes Please Vintage Opening Theme - Coffee D...

Elwood and Stephen look at this tale of revenge and Karaoke based on the novel by Ryu Murakami as a group of idle teens find themselves in an escalating battle of revenge against a group of middle aged women Opening Theme - Coffee Date Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io Produced By White Hot

Elwood and Stephen look at Sex and Fury a bloody tale of revenge and gambling as pink cinema icon Reiko Ike plays Kyoko a pickpocket and gambler out for revenge against the men who killed her father only to become embroiled in an international conspiracy. Timestamps 0:0:00 - Introductions 0:01:07 - What Have You Been Watching? 0:47:48 - Is That An Anime? - How Heavy Are The Dumbbells You Lift? 0:5...

Elwood and Stephen look at Black Test Car directed by Yasuzo Masumura who delivers another tale of waring companies as two car manufacturers race to unveiled a new sports car Timestamps 0:0:00 - Introductions 0:01:07 - What Have You Been Watching? 0:24:52 - Is That An Anime? - Wanna Be The Strongest In The World 0:28:35 - Dragonball Chat - Dragonball Daima 0:47:40 - Goodbye Neo Magazine 0:54:51 -...

Elwood and Stephen look at Karel Zeman's "The Fabulous Baron Munchausen" a key inspiration for Monty Python's Terry Gilliam as astronaut Tommy lands on the moon only to find that Munchausen has beaten him to it and so begins a series of fantastical adventures which will take the pair into the belly of a whale aswell as the Baron taking a ride on a cannonball in this visually crea...

Elwood and Stephen look at Kim Ki-duk's thriller "The Isle" set in a rural fishing resort run by a young mute woman who falls in love with a man on the run from the law for committing murder. Timestamps 0:0:00 - Introductions 0:1:07 - What Have You Been Watching? 0:40:40 - Dragonball Chat - Dragonball Daima 0:44:54 - Is That An Anime? - Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon 0:51:35...

Elwood and Stephen look at the Shaw Bros. contribution to spy movies with Angel With The Iron Fists with Lily Ho playing the secret agent tasked with infiltrating The Devil Girl's gang. Timestamps 0:0:00 - Introductions 0:1:07 - What Have You Been Watching? 0:20:32 - Is That An Anime? - Skull Face Bookseller Honda San 0:29:49 - Goodbye Total Film 0:39:19 - Angel With The Iron Fists Review ⁠Buy us...

Elwood and Stephen look at the first film in Krzysztof Kieślowski Three Colours Trilogy as they start with Blue which focuses on Julie, the wife of a famous composer who is killed along with their daughter in a car crash leaving her to deal with the ghosts of his legacy as well as her own grief.

Kaiju Christmas is here once more as Elwood and Stephen celebrate the festive season with another Kaiju classic "Gamera Vs. Viras" as they are joined once again by Michelle Kisner (The Movie Sluth / @Robotcookie) to breakdown the Gamera movie which initially was intended to the final film in the series only to become the most successful. We look at the shortcuts employed to meet the reduced budget...

Elwood and Stephen look at the quirky time travel comedy Summer Time Machine Blues as the members of a university science fiction club see an opportunity to repair their broken air conditioner remote when they discover a time machine.

Elwood and Stephen look at the genre hopping Thriller Saloum as a trio of mercenaries attempting to escape a coup to Dakar, Senegal find themselves stranded at a remote holiday camp whose secrets are slowly revealed.

Halloween is here and Elwood and Stephen have a suitably spooky pick to discuss as they look at the live action adaptation of Junji Ito's Uzumaki as a small town descends into madness and chaos when the residents start becoming obsessed with the spirals they see in everyday life. Timestamps 0:0:00 - Introductions 0:1:20 - What Have You Been Watching? 0:27:32 - Uzumaki Review ⁠Buy us a coffee and s...

Elwood and Stephen might be at their most geekiest for this episode which allows them to talk at length about their love for the electro-pop of the Pet Shop Boys as they look at "It Couldn't Happen Here". A film which much like Michael Jackson's "Moonwalker" is equal parts an extended music video as it is an arthouse nightmare of a film while 100% an excuse for the band to not go on tour that year...

Elwood and Stephen take on a double feature with Federico Fellini's "8 1/2" as film director Guido battles with his creative block while working on his latest film while also having to deal with a boring mistress and pandering producers. They also look at "The Wages of Fear" as picked by Marcus as four men looking for a way out of the South African town they find themselves...

Michelle Kisner ( The Movie Sluth / @Robotcookie) joins us to look at "The Calamari Wrestler" as a former champion turns himself into a humanoid squid as he plans to win back both his title and his girl but not before facing some rather unique competition. We look at the unique world of director Minoru Kawasaki, reveal some of the strangest wrestling moments and the allure of the collect...

Elwood and Stephen look at Jean Cocteau's 1946 adaptation of the classic fairytale and especially how greatly it differs especially to the Disney version.

With the recent passing the iconic Cheng Pei-pei Elwood and Stephen are joined by Rashmi Menon ( YBR Present: Kowai ) to look back her legacy as well as her place in the history of female action stars. We also take a look at Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were she appeared as the dangerous and cunning Jade Fox and how the role the film played in reviving the interest in Asian cinema.

Elwood and Stephen take another look at the weird world of Pink Cinema with Masao Adachi's Gushing Prayer. Here four high school friends attempt to "Beat Sex" as they set out an odyssey of self-exploration where sex is reduced to a mere economic transaction especially when they pressure one group member into becoming a prostitute. ⁠Buy us a coffee and support the show⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http...

Elwood and Stephen look at the Anime anthology "Memories" based on three Manga short stories of Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira / Steamboy). In "Magnetic Rose" a group of salvage engineers discover a mysterious and seemingly abandoned space station only for strange things to soon start happening once they step aboard. "Stink Bomb" sees an office worker accidently turning himse...

Elwood and Stephen head down under in search of the elusive "Razorback" which has been terrorising an outback town while also a source of obsession for the revenge seeking hunter Jack. Directed by noted music video director Russell Mulcahy his attempt at creating the Australian Jaws is a highly unique and often surreal entry in the creature feature genre.