Blade Licking Thieves

A blind piano player accidentally gets caught up in a world of crime in Andhadhun, an Indian thriller by writer/director Sriram Raghavan that's loaded with so many twists and turns that the only thing that comes as no surprise is that it became both a critical and commercial hit with audiences.  Tune in to hear our review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Mickey 17, Combattler V, Tatami Time Machine Blues, Ranma 1/2, Orguss, Frieren [38:50] Review - Andhadhun

BLT Team B return with a look at the comedy /  horror sequel House II: The Second Story (1987) from director Ethan Wiley. 

We review Jin-Roh director Hiroyuki Okiura's second animated film, A Letter to Momo, about a young girl that forms an unlikely friendship with a trio of troublesome yokai who through a series of comical misadventures help her to cope with the loss of her father.   Released in 2011 after seven years in production, and to seemingly little fanfare on this side of the Pacific, this underrated family film, equal parts charming, comic, and heartfelt, deserves another look.  Tune in for the full review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Macross, Street Fighter 6, Gaogaigar, Combattler V, Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End [43:30] Review - A Letter to Momo

We review Hong Kong director Ringo Lam's Burning Paradise.  The film stars Willie Chi as legendary martial artist Fong Sai Yuk, who after being captured by the Ching government, must escape from the imposing Red Lotus Temple, a deadly prison filled with spike pits, booby traps, poison gas, and even more dangerous opponents! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + God Mazinger, Combattler V, DanDaDan, Kageki Shojo, Akane Banashi, Hyper Dimension Neptunia, and The Water Margin. [39:41] Review - Burning Paradise

As a chaser shot to our last episode about the North Korean Kaiju movie Pulgasari, BLT Team B have heroically taken it upon themselves to review the much unloved North American remake Galgameth! 

We're kicking off the new year with a review of the North Korean monster movie, Pulgasari (1985), in which a Godzilla like creature from Korean folklore fights with a peasant army to topple a corrupt feudal regime.  We also recount the far more fascinating story of the film's production, a stranger than fiction tale involving international kidnappings, daring escape attempts, and dictator Kim Jong-Il's bizarre quest to bolster the North Korean film industry. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Hakaider, Garo, and Flip Flappers [24:45] Review - Pulgasari

We review the first film in the long running exploitation series, Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972), featuring the talented and beautiful Meiko Kaji in one of her most iconic roles as Scorpion, a steely eyed avenging angel hellbent on revenge against those that wronged her.  Be they crooked cops,  sleazy yakuza, abusive prison guards, or fellow inmates, she'll slay them all!  Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Mononoke, Discotek announcements, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms game discussion. [30:30] Review - Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion

We're back -- just in time for Halloween! -- with a look at Samurai Reincarnation (1981), a supernatural samurai film from the director of Battle Royale (Kinji Fukasaku), in which Jubei Yagyu (Sonny Chiba) faces off against a group of resurrected demonic warriors led by the charismatic sorcerer Shiro Amakusa (Kenji Sawada) who intends to destroy the Tokugawa regime with his unholy powers.  Tune in the for the full review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Grendizer, Aura Battler Dunbine, Dragon Ball Daima, Akane Banashi, and Look Back [39:30] Review - Samurai Reincarnation (1981)

We review King Hu's Dragon Inn (1967), a period tale about a cohort of heroic warriors fighting to protect the innocent from the shadowy forces of an evil Eunuch, that showcases a graceful interplay between characters, landscape, editing and compositional form that elevate it above other works in the wuxia genre.  Tune in the for the full review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + City Hunter, Mononoke, Jade Trilogy book series, and G-Fest 2024 report [33:35] Review - Dragon Inn

Grab a ticket and join us for a wild and spooky ride aboard the Train to Busan, as we take a closer look at the original film in the popular South Korean zombie apocalypse franchise by director Yeon Sang-ho.  Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Trails games, The Great Pretender, Sonic X OVA, Sailor Suit and Machine Gun [33:35] Review - Train to Busan

We review Venus Wars (1989), the lavishly produced, bubble era anime film from writer and director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko first introduced to many American anime fans due to heavy rotation on Sci-Fi Channel's "Saturday Anime" block.  Tune in for the full review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + After the Rain, Dune [15:53] Review - Venus Wars [2:22:30] Twitter Questions

Godzilla Minus One writer / director Takashi Yamazaki returns the venerable franchise to its roots with a dramatic period piece set in the immediate aftermath of world war 2 in which the titular kaiju looms large, like a terrifying spectre, over the defeated and demoralized Japanese populace. Tune in for the full review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Kaiju No 8, The Great Pretender, Furiosa, Samurai Warriors 4DX [38:25] Review - Godzilla Minus One [2:21:18] Twitter Questions

We chat about Dune, Fist of the Northstar, Gokurakugai, and the new Sand Land game, before moving on to a review of our first Vietnamese film, Dreamy Eyes or Mat Biec, a 2019 Romance Drama chronicling the heart tugging story of a decades long one sided love affair. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Kaiju No 8, Dune, Fist of the North Star part 2, Gokurakugai, & Sand Land (Game) [25:21] Review - Dreamy Eyes (2019)

The bionic superhero of science, Inframan, must save the planet from the evil Princess Dragon Mom and her gang of wicked monsters in Super Inframan (1975) Shaw Brothers Studio's terribly fun knock-off of the popular tokusatsu genre.    Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + R.I.P. Akira Toriyama [Check out Grant's article: "Who Can Beat Goku? The Monumental Legacy of Akira Toriyama"] [27:40] Review - Super Inframan (1975)

The Blade Licking Thieves podcast has hit 100 episodes!  Thanks to all the listeners out there that have taken the ride with us.  Please keep sending us your comments, feedback, and suggestions for new films or shows for us to watch. This being the 100th episode, we thought what better time than now to finally break the glass and at long last tackle a work by Akira Kurosawa, arguably, THE Japanese film maker.  Kurosawa's first film to achieve critical recognition in the West, Rashomon (1950) tells the story of an encounter in a bamboo grove between a bandit (Toshiro Mifune), a samurai (Masayuki Mori), and the samurai's wife (Machiko Kyo) ending with a rape and murder, yet the narrative is fragmentary, as the story is retold multiple times, through various eye witness accounts, often varying and contradictory, forcing the audience to judge "the truth" of the story for ourselves.  Timestamps: [00:00] Intro [24:14] Review - Rashomon (1950) [2:31:35] Twitter Questions

BLT Team B return with a review of the schlocky, horror movie Humanoids from the Deep (1980) in which a small fishing village is laid siege by mutated fish-men intent on rape and murder.

We review Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), from acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola, a visually arresting, erotically charged, and boldly operatic retelling of Stoker's classic gothic horror novel that remains just as spellbinding a cinematic vision today as it was upon release. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + The Human Target, Brave Bang Bravern, Delcious in Dungeon [36:33] Review - Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) [2:43:05] Twitter Questions

Tragic space vampires, sabre tooth tigers with laser beams, terminator-esque death machines, enough F-bombs to pop your explosive cyber collar, and more delightful nonsense abounds in Yoshiaki Kawajiri's classic cyber punk OVA:  Cyber City Oedo 808!  Tune in for the full review and your twitter questions! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Kaiju No. 8, Fist of the North Star, The Boy and the Heron [48:24] Review - CYBER CITY OEDO 808 [2:25:58] Twitter Questions

We're starting off the new year with a review of Shin Kamen Rider (2023), the third film in Hideaki Anno's Shin series of remakes of classic Tokusatsu franchises.  This latest entry, with a plot heavily inspired by Shotaro Ishinomori's original Kamen Rider manga, finds man turned cyborg Takeshi Hongo (Sosuke Ikematsu), as the titular Kamen Rider, squaring off against the villainous organization SHOCKER and its rogues' gallery of evil animal cyborgs; along for the ride is his beautiful but icy partner Ruriko Midorikawa (Minabi Hanabe) and a mysterious rival Kamen Rider (Tasuku Emoto) whose allegiance is unknown. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Baldur's Gate 3, Berserk, The Knick, Mad Max: Furiosa, Onimusha, and Symphogear [27:48] Review - Shin Kamen Rider (2023) [2:17:07] Twitter Questions

A hard boiled yakuza fresh out of prison and a beautiful and mysterious young woman seek out high stakes thrills in the illegal gambling dens of Tokyo in Masahiro Shinoda's film noir Pale Flower (1964). Plus impressions of the anime Hell's Paradise and Onimusha. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Hell's Paradise, Onimusha [45:55] Review - Pale Flower (1964)

We review Osamu Tezuka and Eiichi Yamamoto's A Thousand and One Nights (1969), the first film in Mushi Production's Animerama trilogy, billed as the world's first work of "adult animation". We also discuss the news of Cobra creator Buichi Terasawa's passing, Rightstuf's transition to the Crunchy-roll store, the decline of physical media, and Grant's impressions of Netflix's live action One Piece series. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, RIP Buichi Terasawa, Rightstuf's closure, decline of physical media, and live action One Piece impressions [45:55] Review - A Thousand and One Nights (1969)

Join us as we celebrate Halloween with a review of a little known Golden Harvest cult horror film: The Seventh Curse (1986). Loosely based on the popular Dr. Yuen series of Chinese novels about a globe trotting wealthy doctor, versed in the martial arts, and his confrontations with the supernatural, this highly entertaining adventure film from director Lam Ngai Kai (best known for the infamous Story of Ricky) features a talented cast of Hong Kong stars such as Chin-Sui Ho, Chow Yun-Fat, and Maggie Cheung; however, the real star of the show is arguably the picture's wild, thrill a minute, never ending spectacle, in which truly anything goes -- over the top martial arts and exciting gun play, anxiety inducing stunt work and cool creature effects, and a vast assortment of pulp adventure and horror tropes, from exotic locales, alluring damsels, trashy nudity, and insensitive stereotypes, to deadly blood cults, ancient curses, child sacrifices, and HR Giger inspired monsters -- anything goes so long as it entertains! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro / Discussion - Ragna Crimson, Homer's Die Hard (750 B.C.), Scavengers Reign [26:00] Review - The Seventh Curse (1986)

We review Stephen Chow's 2013 action comedy, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, loosely based on the 16th century Chinese literary classic.  The film stars actor Wen Zhang as the famous Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang, Huang Bo as Sun Wukong, and Shu Qi as the love interest Duan.  Timestamps: [00:00] Intro / Discussion- The Brave Fighter of Legend Da-Garn, Turn A Gundam, The Grandmaster [48:48] Review - Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2013)

Super agents, sleazy soft-core, skateboarding assassins, and one stupendous snake.  BLT Team B are back with a review of director Andy Sidaris' trashy 80's action flick : Hard Ticket to Hawaii(1987), touted by some as "the best B-movie of all time".

The Thieves review our first Indian film, the insanely bombastic, international blockbuster, RRR!  Plus, a brief chat about Naoki Urasawa's ongoing Kaiju manga Asadora!,  audio book light novels, the Ranking of Kings anime, and serious answers to your most important twitter questions! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Asadora, Ranking of Kings, Faraway Paladin [41:41] RRR Review [2:14:25] Twitter Questions

When the world's greatest athletes are infected by a deadly unknown virus, the mysterious, genius doctor for hire, Black Jack, is forced to find a cure, in this over the top, medical thriller, directed by the singular Osamu Dezaki, that brings to life the iconic Osamu Tezuka character with flamboyant confidence.  Tune in for the full review of Black Jack: The Movie! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Gamera, Turn A Gundam, Konosuba Season 3, Boiling Point [51:10] Black Jack: The Movie Review

The Thieves are back with another Shaw Brothers kung fu classic!  On today's show, we are reviewing director Lau Kar-Leung's spectacular Eight Diagram Pole Fighter.  Released at the tail end of the Shaw Brothers era, the film stars the iconic Gordon Liu, Alexander Fu, and Kara Hui as the last surviving members of the Yang family who pursue a bloody, teeth shattering, revenge against the Khitan invaders that defeated their clan in battle.  Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Mario & Sonic movies, more Showa era Gamera talk [34:40] The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter Review

We review Masaaki Yuasa's 2017 anime film, The Night is Short, Walk on Girl, a bold and breezy romantic comedy based on the light novel by Tomihiko Morimi about a young college student pursuing the girl he fancies while she carouses around the city on an endless night of adventures. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Showa era Gamera, Technoroid Overmind [36:50] The Night is Short, Walk on Girl Review Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Showa Gamera, Technoroid Overmind [36:50] The Night is Short, Walk on Girl Review

We review John Boorman's classic fantasy film, Excalibur (1981).  Tune in to hear us chat for admittedly way too long about the legends of King Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Guinevere, Percival, and the Knights of the Round Table, plus our thoughts on why the stories and themes still resonate and why the power of the myths continue to endure. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Wonder Egg Priority, Demon Slayer, Gaogaigar [40:10] Excalibur (1981) Review

Infused with an irreverent, chaotic energy, reminiscent of Monkey Punch's original manga, director Soji Yoshikawa's completely madcap Lupin the Third: The Mystery of Mamo (1978) sees Lupin and the gang, in their first animated theatrical outing, face off against a mysterious villain plotting to takeover the world while seeking to obtain from Lupin the philosopher's stone said to possess the secret to immortality.  Tune in for the full review!  Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Garo, Naruto [21:15]  Review of Lupin the 3rd: The Mystery of Mamo (1978)

In Korean director Jae-hoon Choi's period action film, The Swordsman (2020), a retired master swordsman (Jang Hyuk) is forced into action when his daughter (Hyeon-soon Kim) is placed in mortal danger by Qing invaders, lead by the merciless Gurutai (Joe Taslim) relative of the Qing emperor, who seek to complete their subjugation of Korea's Joseon Dynasty through subterfuge, threats, and force if necessary.  Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Yamato 2202, Parasite Dolls, Kamen Rider Zero-One, Vinland Saga, [37:22]  Review of The Swordsman (2020)

We review Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love (2000), an intimate, heartbreaking, and emotionally simmering peek into the lives of two forlorn souls (actor Tony Leung and actress Maggie Cheung) who seek companionship with one another after discovering that their spouses are having an affair together.          Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Demon Slayer, Dragon Ball GT, Yamato 2202 [26:45]  Review of In the Mood for Love

We review the 2001 anime TV series Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, a zany coming of age comedy from famed anime studio Gainax and director / writer Hiroyuki Yamaga, about two young teenage friends, Sasshi and Arumi, on a slapstick filled series of misadventures through parallel worlds, dished out as hilarious spoofs of young Sasshi's geeky obsessions, from Dragon Quest to Dating Sims, Giant Robots to Prehistoric Monsters, to Martial Arts, Sci-Fi, Hollywood movies and more.  Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Jujutsu Kaisen, Pokemon Adventures, Gun X Sword, Atom the Beginning, Lupin World's Finest Manga [45:26]  Review of Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

Armed with the strength of the black tiger, the courage of the eagle, and the cunning of the ferret, the Team B crew sit down to watch Don Coscarelli's sword and sorcery adventure, The Beastmaster (1982).

We review the 2003 Thai martial arts film Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior featuring action star Tony Jaa in his break-out role.  Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Goblin Slayer Tabletop RPG, Ultraman Trigger [27:40]  Review of Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior [1:44:12] Twitter Questions

Just in time for Halloween, the Thieves are back with a review of Tsui Hark and Ching Sui-tung's spooky romantic comedy, A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), a genre defying tale of star crossed lovers, filled with slapstick comedy, exciting martial arts sorcery, and enough ghouls, ghosts, and zombies to fill your night with frights! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Vinland Saga, Way of the House Husband [36:51]  A Chinese Ghost Story Review [1:58:24] Twitter Questions

On today's episode of the Blade Licking Thieves, we talk about our hopes for the recently announced continuation of the Berserk manga (sans its creator) and the potential pitfalls facing the creative team; discuss the long awaited and finally realized North American Macross licensing deal; briefly touch on the recent anime series I'm Quitting Heroing; and, finally, we review Shaw Brother Studio's 1977 King Kong rip-off and certified so bad its good cult classic: The Mighty Peking Man. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Berserk, Macross, I'm Quitting Heroing [39:25] The Mighty Peking Man Review [1:46:50] Twitter Questions

We review the Daniels' latest film, Everything Everywhere All at Once, a wild, weird, and wonderfully irreverent journey through the multiverse that's equal parts exhilarating action film, laugh-out-loud absurdist comedy, poignant family drama, and meaningful commentary on the fractal like nature of the Asian American experience.      Timestamps: [00:00] Intro, Gunpla, Digimon,and Eat-Man [42:41] Everything Everywhere All at Once Review [2:02:54] Twitter Questions

In Takeshi Kitano's summer road movie, Kikujiro, a young boy searching for his estranged mother sets out from Tokyo into rural Japan with an unruly former Yakuza as his guide, begetting a series of misadventures, felonious incidents, comedic interludes, surreal vignettes,  and tender moments, as bonds of affection form between the unlikely pair.    Timestamps: [00:00] Introductions and Nonsense [09:09] Mini-Review of Tatsuki Fujimoto's Manga Goodbye, Eri [44:40] Kikujiro Review

BLT Team B review Brian De Palma's rock opera musical Phantom of the Paradise (1974): a strange and twisted horror / comedy cult-classic about a disfigured song writer who haunts the concert hall of the producer that betrayed him and stole his love, in a plot heavily inspired by both Phantom of the Opera and Faust.

Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung, and Corey Yuen star in this hyper-kinetic supernatural comedy, Zu Warriors From the Magic Mountain, a special effects laden wuxia film from Hong Kong director Tsui Hark about an ordinary Chinese solider who, after stumbling into a world of fantastical supernatural battles between the forces of good and evil, must embark on a quest to save the universe.     Timestamps: [00:00] Films we've been watching, Chainsaw Man, Shenmue the Animation, Anno's Shin Ultraman Trailer [49:05] Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain Review [2:15:38] Twitter Questions

We review Korean director Bong Joon-ho's class-conscious thriller Parasite, a black comedy about the Kims, a scrappy lower class family living on the edge of subsistence in Seoul, who through luck and by hook or crook manage to gain employment as help in the household of their incredibly wealthy city neighbors, the Parks, only to realize much too late that their stroke of good fortune portends a much darker misfortune.   Timestamps: [00:00] Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 and Konosuba [29:00] Parasite Review [2:15:30] Twitter Questions

We chat about the Ip Man franchise, discuss the influences and merits of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, and lastly review one of the premiere anime titles of the 1990s: Macross Plus Movie Edition, an explosive work, by Macross series creator Shoji Kawamori and the core creative talent later responsible for a little known title called Cowboy Bebop, that twenty seven years after its release has lost none of its original impact. Timestamps: [00:00] Ip Man 2-4, Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 [43:42] Macross Plus Movie Edition Review [3:21:09] Twitter Questions

BLT Team B review Stuart Gordon's 1986 body horror film, From Beyond.  Like Gordon's prior film, Re-Animator, also starring Jeffrey Combs, From Beyond is based on an H.P. Lovecraft short story - this one involving inter dimensional creatures brought into our reality through a science experiment gone awry with, as you might imagine, predictably gruesome results for those involved.

We review the 2017 Hong Kong gangster film, Chasing the Dragon,  the story of the rise and fall of Hong Kong's most notorious gangster "Crippled Ho" (Donnie Yen) and his unlikely partnership with Police Detective Lee Rock (Andy Lau) during the cities' most turbulent and lawless decades, the 1960s and 1970s, during the height of the heroin trade. Timestamps: [00:00] Tenchi Universe, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Star Wars: Visions [50:27] Chasing the Dragon (2017) Review [2:14:25] Twitter Questions

We review the ingenious Japanese horror / comedy One Cut of the Dead from Japanese filmmaker Shinichiro Ueda. Timestamps: [00:00] Dragon Quest Dai and Cowboy Bebop Live Action [58:27] One Cut of the Dead Review [2:02:30] Twitter Questions

We review the ingenious Japanese horror / comedy One Cut of the Dead from Japanese filmmaker Shinichiro Ueda. Timestamps: [00:00] Dragon Quest Dai and Cowboy Bebop Live Action [58:27] One Cut of the Dead Review [2:02:30] Twitter Questions

BLT Team B review British filmmaker Ken Russell's horror / comedy cult classic, The Lair of the White Worm (1988), starring a young Hugh Grant, Peter Capaldi of Dr. Who, and the provocatively bewitching Amanda Donohue.

BLT Team B review British filmmaker Ken Russell's horror / comedy cult classic, The Lair of the White Worm (1988), starring a young Hugh Grant, Peter Capaldi of Dr. Who, and the provocatively bewitching Amanda Donohue.

After the hell year that was 2020, the Thieves are at long last back on the couch together!  We catch up by chatting about the zaniness that is Record of Ragnarok and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5, discuss Heat's ongoing mission to ruin movies watch a new movie every day and how that's been going, bum ourselves out with a double dose of sad news items, and finally give our thoughts on Studio Trigger and Hiroyuki Imaishi's first feature film, the loud, energetic, and joyously colorful, 3DCG/2D hybrid from - can you believe it? - the year 2019: PROMARE. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + We've Been Watching [43:28] News [1:04:22] Review

After the hell year that was 2020, the Thieves are at long last back on the couch together!  We catch up by chatting about the zaniness that is Record of Ragnarok and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5, discuss Heat's ongoing mission to ruin movies watch a new movie every day and how that's been going, bum ourselves out with a double dose of sad news items, and finally give our thoughts on Studio Trigger and Hiroyuki Imaishi's first feature film, the loud, energetic, and joyously colorful, 3DCG/2D hybrid from - can you believe it? - the year 2019: PROMARE. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + We've Been Watching [43:28] News [1:04:22] Review