An interesting grab-bag of films this week, all from Asia.

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Johnny To returns with ELECTION 2 (Hak se wui yi wo wai kwai)

We at Cinema Strikes Back chose Johnny To’s Election as our top film pick of 2005 (see article here), so we are very excited that Election 2 (2006) is being released on Region 0 Hong Kong DVD by Panorama on July 14. In keeping with most new HK releases, the DVD looks great and is anamorphic widescreen.

Election 2, which picks up two years after the first film, does not disappoint, though it is not a masterpiece like its predecessor. All the major characters from the first film (that survived) return for the sequel, including Nick Cheung as Jet. The film does suffer a little from its tighter focus on Jimmy (Louis Koo), the business-minded gangster who supported Simon Yam in the previous film. Jimmy is interesting but not as compelling as Simon Yam or Tony Leung’s characters in the original. As before, the secondary characters (with the exception of Jimmy’s underwritten wife) are great, though Lam Suet makes what amounts to little more than cameo. The standout newcomer is Mark Cheng, playing Jimmy’s bodyguard, a vicious killer who may also be the most likeable character in the film.

To’s direction is excellent, as it almost always is. Only To can put out PTU, Running on Karma, and Election in the span of two years all in very different styles, and all masterpieces. And few other major HK filmmakers would have the guts to make the political statement that To makes at the end of this film, a statement which will ensure that this film never sees distribution on the mainland.

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A legitimate release of SHOGUN ASSASSIN

Producer Robert Houston famously took the first two films of the Lone Wolf and Cub (aka Babycart) series of insanely violent samurai films starring Tomisaburo Wakiyama, and jammed them together to create an even more over-the-top pastiche called Shogun Assassin (1980). Truly only a sick mind would have thought that the two films were not violent enough (!), and diligently cut out all the “filler” to leave only the vicious core. And then dubbed the whole thing over with a narration by young Daigoro voiced by none other than Sandra Bernhard (one wonders how often this appears on her resume).

Available on countless ratty bootlegs for years (with truly awful picture quality, as I can attest), Animeigo has finally released the a full-fledged restored authorized version on Region 1 DVD. While the excitement is slightly lessened because of Animeigo’s gorgeous restorations of the original complete series (of which the first three entries are highly recommend ), but if you’re on a nostalgia kick, or want to see the movie that blew the minds of Times Square grindhouse denizens back in the day, don’t miss this one.

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CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL open for enrollment in the US

Yudai Yamaguchi’s Cromartie High School (2005) is non-sequitur humor, taken to the level of bizarre art. See the full review here. From Tokyo Shock on Region 1.

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Also available this week are NEGADON: THE MONSTER FROM MARS (2005), a low-budget CGI tribute to the classic Japanese Kaiju films released by Central Park Media; and YI YI (2000), Edward Yang’s low-key family drama from Taiwan, which The Criterion Collection has released in a “high on technical merit, but low on extras” edition. Sleaze-mongers willl also be happy to know that the long out-of-print ROBOTRIX (1991), starring busty Amy Yip as a sexy robot crime-fighter, is getting a widescreen release from Fortune Star, uncut and with improved English subtitles (though not remastered). Finally, at long last Angela Mao (who most will recognize as Bruce Lee’s sister in Enter the Dragon) gets her due with the release of the long-unavailable BROKEN OATH (1977). It’s a remake of Meiko Kaji’s Lady Snowblood, and features choreography by Yuen Woo-ping and an appearance by Sammo Hung.

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Additional Links:
::: Animeigo
::: Criterion
::: Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock
::: Negadon Attacks: Official Site

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