Latest Column Entries

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

Competition! Win Rin - Daughters of Mnemosyne on DVD Its been a while, but its competition time again, and this time we have something quite special for fans of old school anime and fans of modern anime. Once upon a time, if it was animated and it came from Japan, it contained lashings of sex and violence and gore, and it...

Demons & Demons 2 coming to DVD later in 2010
Written by David Beckett

THE ORIGINAL DEMON ZOMBIE CLASSICS - DEMONS & DEMONS 2 ARE JOINED BY THE ALL-NEW DEMONS 3! Arrow Video are proud to announce that in 2010 they will bring to DVD all-new transfers of the classic Dario Argento produced and Lamberto Bava directed horror classic - Demons and Demons 2. Included within each DVD package will be...

Acclaimed Director Satoshi Kon Dies
Written by Jitendar Canth

Uk Anime.Net broke the news in the West last night, following a flurry of Twitter rumours that the visionary director Satoshi Kon had died of pancreatic cancer yesterday morning. He was just 46. If anyone could be termed an auteur in the field of anime movies, it was Satoshi Kon, whose movies attracted critical acclaim in...

French zombie movie The Horde out on DVD in September
Written by David Beckett

‘Assault On Precinct 13’ meets ‘Dawn Of The Dead’ in The Horde, the latest addition to the ever-rising wave of superlative French horror cinema. Winner of the International Fantasy Film Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography at the 2010 Fantasporto International Film Festival, this impressive debut feature from...

[Rec]2 out on DVD and Blu-ray in September
Written by David Beckett

After terrifying audiences with their nerve-shredding cult hit ‘REC’, acclaimed filmmakers Jaume Balaguero (Darkness; Fragile) and Paco Plaza (Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt) return to crank the fear factor to unprecedented levels with the highly anticipated sequel, REC 2, which is already being hailed as a “leader for this year’s...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

Getting straight into the reviews this week, of which there are two. The biggie of course is the new Fullmetal Alchemist Series. I took a look at the first thirteen episodes in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Part 1. Its the tale of two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric who made the ultimate sacrifice when they tried...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

Its (Not) Grim Up North: Part 1 There was another anime gathering this weekend just past, Amecon at Keele University. It was another chance for the great and the good to get together and celebrate the best of this particular entertainment medium. And as usual, some of the industry bigwigs gathered to meet and greet the fans,...

ALIEN ANTHOLOGY - Released on Blu-ray On October 25
Written by Si Wooldridge

The Ultimate Collection Featuring All Four ALIEN Films Hatches On Blu-ray On October 25 With Never-Before-Seen Bonus Material And The Debut Of The Exclusive and Groundbreaking Interactive Experience, MU-TH-UR Mode Sometimes, the scariest things come from within. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment presents one of the...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

Blu-ray Ghibli on the way! When Ponyo was released to the world earlier this year, it got the same treatment as any new movie on home video today, Blu-ray and DVD. But the Ghibli back catalogue is extensive, full of high quality films that have yet to see the high definition treatment. This week Optimum announced that one of...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

Otakon News There was another anime convention in the US this weekend, and as usual, all eyes were on what new licence announcements there were. Its of interest to us in the UK, because what gets licensed in the US, may just eventually make its way over here as well. Japanese producer Aniplex is a new player on the US block,...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

Beck The Movie Last week it was Gantz, this time its the turn of Beck, another manga turned anime that is getting the big screen live action treatment. I loved the series when I saw it, a tale of an unlikely band following their bumpy destiny to stardom, among them the unlikeliest of guitarists and vocalists, Koyuki Tanaka,...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

Gantz: The Movie Gantz was the full on sex and violence anime series that was released here a few years ago by MVM. You might remember it; a weird alien ball suddenly appears in a nondescript apartment, where it begins to resurrect the recently deceased. The second chance at life is a gift with a price, being made to take...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

Manga Entertainment For Sale, One-ish Careful Owner Last month it was Navarre looking to offload Funimation, this week its the turn of Starz looking for a buyer for its entertainment properties, among them Anchor Bay Entertainment, which happens to be Manga Entertainments parent company. Actually Anchor Bay bought IDT, which...

Animals out on DVD in August
Written by David Beckett

THE DEADLIEST PREDATOR IS ALREADY INSIDE YOU Based on the best-selling 1992 novel by John Skipp and Craig Spector (who co-scripted A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and are regarded by many as key pioneers of the late-1980s literary splatterpunk movement), Animals comes to the screen as a full-blooded, no-holds-bar...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

Anime Expo News: Funimation Not our Expo, the American Expo, which just took place this weekend. Theres a lot more anime, plenty more companies, and a heap load more announcements than we usually get in the UK, and not all of it will be relevant to UK purchasers. If on the other hand you like to import, you may want to keep...

A day I'd rather forget
Written by David Beckett

Well, that was a weird old day! This morning, my care team leader (Im a tetraplegic who requires 24/7 nursing care) who, along with my GP, was concerned that I was not shifting my second bout of Clostridium difficile so told me I should be hospitalised in order to be put on IV antibiotics. When pushed for a timescale, she...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

I told you that we had entered an anime drought. Its why there were no reviews last week, and why there is only one new title reviewed this week. Fortunately I had some back catalogue titles to look at to round the numbers up. First up is a show that I have been looking forward to for a long, long time. I finally got my mitts...

Top 10 Vampire Movies
Written by David Beckett

The vampire is the monster with the longest literary heritage, with the first story, The Vampyre, written by John Polidori at the same writers retreat at which Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley penned Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. Probably the most famous novel was by the Irish writer Bram Stoker, whose book Dracula is...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

The Winners of the Ponyo Competition Are… The competition closed this weekend, and already we have the results. Congratulations, and copies of Ponyo are due to… Heather Shaw, James Moore and Claire Grigg. Stay tuned for more competitions in the near future. It was a week of ends and beginnings last week. It was the end...

Love Goddess Of The Cannibals out on DVD in June
Written by David Beckett

THE EURO CULT CLASSIC FROM THE WARPED MIND OF ITALIAN SEX, SLEAZE AND HORROR MAESTRO, JOE D’AMATO. Meet Papaya (Melissa Chimenti), voodoo priestess, sex siren, eco-activist, blood crazed cannibal and the star of director Joe D’Amato’s sexploitation classic, Love Goddess Of The Cannibals, coming to DVD in June 2010 is a...

George A. Romero's Martin re-released on DVD in June
Written by David Beckett

Writer-director George A. Romero’s personal favourite of his own movies, Martin is a genuinely disturbing horror film that turns the traditional conventions of the vampire myth inside out and one which, at the time of its original release, reinvented the vampire movie genre. Now, Romero’s masterpiece comes to DVD as a special...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

Bleach Comes To Crunchyroll When I posted that Bleach review last Monday, I made note that Crunchyroll had started an Internet petition to get the Japanese licensors to allow Bleach to be streamed to the world, the same way that Crunchyroll streams Naruto Shippuden. Well, for the first time in history, an Internet petition...

American Dad Season Five out on June 14
Written by David Beckett

An introduction to American Dad Volume 5 You thought the guys from Family Guy were crazy wait until you meet the Smith family from Langley Falls. Here is an introduction to the Smith family of American Dad. American Dad Volume 5 is out on DVD on the 14th of June. Don’t miss out… vote American Dad this summer!!! Steve Smith...

MCM Expo News and Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

The Expo News The Expo has hit, leaving a trail of news carnage for me to sift through. Everyone was there, although that doesnt mean as much as it used to, as it really just boils down to Beez, Manga, and MVM. ADV were there for one final time, one last grand clearout of their stock, and one chance to give away those anime...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

Ive Got Some Good Twit For You, And Ive Got Some Bad Twit… You cant keep Manga away from their Twitter account, which means that I have some one-line news items to share… 1) Manga will release Eden of the East. 2) Manga will release Evangelion 2.0, or 2.22 as the case may be. 3) Manga have put back the release of Summer...

My Top 10 Zombie Movies
Written by David Beckett

Zombies are dissimilar to other horror icons as they, unlike Dracula or Frankensteins monster, dont really have any background in Gothic literature. Zombies are strange, shambling and unkempt figures who are really the walking dead. They are the most recent of all horror figures and didnt really feature in movie form until...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

The MCM Expo Is Back Again Lets begin today with a public service announcement. Its that time of year again, when the MCM Expo is imminent. Its the gathering for fans of cult TV, movies, and anime and manga of course, along with much, much more. It takes place on the weekend of the 29th of May in London, at the Excel Centre...

Anime Review Roundup
Written by Jitendar Canth

The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 Claims Its First Anime Scalp On April 6th 2010, the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 came into effect, bringing a whole heap of changes, amendments and alterations to the law. One of those changes was an amendment to the laws on child pornography. Much of what it attempted was laudable and...