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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

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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

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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) must face 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)

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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)

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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

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Thanks for listening!