Even before 2021 began, things were looking positive for Asian film representation on physical media. Companies like Criterion Collection, Eureka Entertainment and 88 Films had already-announced Asian film releases up for preorder. Despite that, nobody could have anticipated the tremendous constant output that we would get, with each other these companies going a step further for the addition of Asian titles in their catalogue, while new companies also kickstarted with a specific aim to produce and distribute Asian titles on bluray and DVD. This resulted in a new Asian title being released almost every month to much fanfare, delighting fans and collectors alike.
Without further ado, we list down 30 Best Asian DVD and Blu-Ray releases of 2021, in no particular order.
By clicking on the images, you will be redirected to the respective e-shops
1. Battle Royale (Limited Edition) (Arrow Video)
Arrow Video has been taking strides inn the 4K Uhd market and...
Without further ado, we list down 30 Best Asian DVD and Blu-Ray releases of 2021, in no particular order.
By clicking on the images, you will be redirected to the respective e-shops
1. Battle Royale (Limited Edition) (Arrow Video)
Arrow Video has been taking strides inn the 4K Uhd market and...
- 12/19/2021
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
The late Nobuhiko Obayashi became famous in the West for his experimental style of filmmaking (mostly through House). The 3-hours long “Labyrinth of Cinema” seems to move in even more experimental paths.
“Labyrinth of Cinema” is screening at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, as part of the Obayashi Nobuhiko Film Show Case
The film is somewhat autobiographical (and I am saying somewhat since I am not familiar with his life story), since the basic story takes place in Onomichi, where Obayashi was born, while the narrative includes many of the artistic pursuits he followed on his career, including animation, advertising, drawing etc. As the story begins, the only theater in town is about to close and the manager has decided to stage an all night war-film marathon as a goodbye to both the audience and the films the theater has screened over the years. Noriko, a schoolgirl and the town...
“Labyrinth of Cinema” is screening at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, as part of the Obayashi Nobuhiko Film Show Case
The film is somewhat autobiographical (and I am saying somewhat since I am not familiar with his life story), since the basic story takes place in Onomichi, where Obayashi was born, while the narrative includes many of the artistic pursuits he followed on his career, including animation, advertising, drawing etc. As the story begins, the only theater in town is about to close and the manager has decided to stage an all night war-film marathon as a goodbye to both the audience and the films the theater has screened over the years. Noriko, a schoolgirl and the town...
- 11/12/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Distributor underway with maiden theatrical release on Labyrinth Of Cinema.
Boutique US distributor Crescendo House has picked up Zhang Lu’s 2018 Busan world premiere Ode To The Goose and Julian Radlmaier’s debut and 2017 Rotterdam premiere Self-Criticism Of A Bourgeois Dog.
Ode To The Goose follows a man and a divorced woman who take a trip to Gunsan in South Korea where they stay at an inn run by a middle-aged man and his autistic daughter and the four become star-crossed lovers. The cast includes Park Haeil and Moon Sori.
Julian Radlmaier’s 2017 political comedy Self-Criticism Of A Bourgeois Dog...
Boutique US distributor Crescendo House has picked up Zhang Lu’s 2018 Busan world premiere Ode To The Goose and Julian Radlmaier’s debut and 2017 Rotterdam premiere Self-Criticism Of A Bourgeois Dog.
Ode To The Goose follows a man and a divorced woman who take a trip to Gunsan in South Korea where they stay at an inn run by a middle-aged man and his autistic daughter and the four become star-crossed lovers. The cast includes Park Haeil and Moon Sori.
Julian Radlmaier’s 2017 political comedy Self-Criticism Of A Bourgeois Dog...
- 11/9/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The ne plus ultra of Japanese maverick Nobuhiko Obayashi’s work as a surrealist and staunch anti-war advocate, the cult “House” director’s dizzying and frequently dazzling final feature is told through the adventures of four young people who are magically transported into the movies themselves. Opening with a riotous bombardment of sound and image that risks confusing and losing some viewers even as it sends others into rapturous delight, “Labyrinth of Cinema” then makes sense of the chaos and emerges as
It’s something of a miracle that “Labyrinth of Cinema” exists. After being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2016, Obayashi completed “Hanagatami” (2017), the final chapter in his anti-war trilogy that included “Casting Blossoms to the Sky” (2012) and “Seven Weeks” (2014). Defying a prognosis that gave him just months to live, Obayashi then co-wrote, directed and co-edited this three-hour feature while undergoing treatment. He survived to see its world premiere...
It’s something of a miracle that “Labyrinth of Cinema” exists. After being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2016, Obayashi completed “Hanagatami” (2017), the final chapter in his anti-war trilogy that included “Casting Blossoms to the Sky” (2012) and “Seven Weeks” (2014). Defying a prognosis that gave him just months to live, Obayashi then co-wrote, directed and co-edited this three-hour feature while undergoing treatment. He survived to see its world premiere...
- 10/29/2021
- by Richard Kuipers
- Variety Film + TV
Labyrinth of Cinema Review: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s Final Film is a Mammoth, Humbling Viewing Experience
There are so many critical and theoretical entry points for discussing a film so dense as Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s Labyrinth of Cinema that it’s hard to know where to begin. One could easily spend countless hours and thousands of words mulling over all the literary and cinematic references, tonal jumps, and stylistic eccentricities. But one thing’s certain above all else: this mammoth final effort by Ôbayashi, an artist who so often destroyed the conventional boundaries of cinematic space in works like 1977’s Hausu, is a completely humbling viewing experience.
Displaying an unmatched breakneck momentum, Labyrinth careens through key moments in Japanese history and parallel genre universes with the inevitable directionality of a boomerang passing through multiple worm holes only to circle back again. Stylistically, Ôbayashi uses rear-projection and green screen to turn the classic iconography and archetypes of Japanese cinema into a plastic digital space where characters exist...
Displaying an unmatched breakneck momentum, Labyrinth careens through key moments in Japanese history and parallel genre universes with the inevitable directionality of a boomerang passing through multiple worm holes only to circle back again. Stylistically, Ôbayashi uses rear-projection and green screen to turn the classic iconography and archetypes of Japanese cinema into a plastic digital space where characters exist...
- 10/20/2021
- by Glenn Heath Jr.
- The Film Stage
The final film by Nobuhiko Obayashi finds the late director returning to the subject of Japan’s history of warfare following the completion of his “War Trilogy,” which ended with “Hanagatami”. On the last night of its existence, a small movie theater in Onomichi—the seaside town of Obayashi’s youth where he shot nearly a dozen films—screens an all-night marathon of Japanese war films. When lightning strikes the theater, three young men are transported into the world onscreen where they experience the violent battles of several wars leading up to the bombing of Hiroshima. A breathless cinematic journey through Japan’s past, “Labyrinth of Cinema” finds Obayashi using every trick in his book to create an awe-inspiring, visually resplendent anti-war epic that urges us to consider cinema as a means to change history. The culmination of an exceptional 60-year career worth celebrating.
Born in Hiroshima in 1938, Nobuhiko Obayashi was a director,...
Born in Hiroshima in 1938, Nobuhiko Obayashi was a director,...
- 9/22/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Though New York moviegoing is (sort of) getting back to normal, we’ve only now filled one of the biggest spots: Metrograph have announced a return of their theater and commissary on October 1, while Metrograph At Home programming will continue through their site and Metrograph TV app.
The lineup, currently handled by new programmer-at-large Nellie Killian, doesn’t seem to have missed a step: there’s the cool factor of Żuławski’s Possession restored in 4K, the auteurist cred of a four-film Eastwood series, new releases like Bulletproof and Labyrinth of Cinema, the high art of an Amos Vogel tribute—precisely what we’ve missed for, God help us, 18 months.
Health and safety guidelines can be found here, and a highlight of October programming below.
Opens October 1
Possession (1981)
New 4K Restoration of Andrzej Żuławski’s Hallucinatory Masterpiece
Banned upon its original release in 1981, Andrzej Żuławski’s stunningly choreographed nightmare of...
The lineup, currently handled by new programmer-at-large Nellie Killian, doesn’t seem to have missed a step: there’s the cool factor of Żuławski’s Possession restored in 4K, the auteurist cred of a four-film Eastwood series, new releases like Bulletproof and Labyrinth of Cinema, the high art of an Amos Vogel tribute—precisely what we’ve missed for, God help us, 18 months.
Health and safety guidelines can be found here, and a highlight of October programming below.
Opens October 1
Possession (1981)
New 4K Restoration of Andrzej Żuławski’s Hallucinatory Masterpiece
Banned upon its original release in 1981, Andrzej Żuławski’s stunningly choreographed nightmare of...
- 9/9/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Format
Survey says!… Hong Kong is getting its own “Family Feud” remake as Fremantle and Tvb team to bring a local format of the historic game show to the island’s airwaves. Local broadcaster Tvb will host the show on its Tvb Jade Channel starting Aug. 29 of this year. The new version of the series will be hosted by popular actor, producer and comedian Johnson Lee.
“Family Feud” Hong Kong is the latest in a string of Fremantle properties to land on the island, following in the footsteps of “America’s Got Talent,” “Britain’s Got Talent,” “Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals” and “Great Railway Journeys,” among others.
“The ‘Family Feud’ format has proved to be irresistible to over 70 international markets, and now audiences in Hong Kong can see what the survey says,” said Fremantle senior VP of distribution Asian and international Haryaty Rahman. “There are endless possibilities for humorous and outrageous answers...
Survey says!… Hong Kong is getting its own “Family Feud” remake as Fremantle and Tvb team to bring a local format of the historic game show to the island’s airwaves. Local broadcaster Tvb will host the show on its Tvb Jade Channel starting Aug. 29 of this year. The new version of the series will be hosted by popular actor, producer and comedian Johnson Lee.
“Family Feud” Hong Kong is the latest in a string of Fremantle properties to land on the island, following in the footsteps of “America’s Got Talent,” “Britain’s Got Talent,” “Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals” and “Great Railway Journeys,” among others.
“The ‘Family Feud’ format has proved to be irresistible to over 70 international markets, and now audiences in Hong Kong can see what the survey says,” said Fremantle senior VP of distribution Asian and international Haryaty Rahman. “There are endless possibilities for humorous and outrageous answers...
- 8/17/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Passing away in April of last year, Japanese director Nobuhiko Obayashi left behind a surreal, fascinating body of work. While he was most known for his Criterion-approved horror-comedy Hausu aka House, he was also working right up until the very end, editing his farewell opus Labyrinth of Cinema while receiving cancer treatment. His swan song will now thankfully receive a U.S. theatrical and home-video release this fall, and we’re pleased to present the exclusive new trailer.
Labyrinth of Cinema will have its New York Premiere at Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film (Aug 20 – Sept 2), closing out the festival on Sept 2. Additionally, the film will be available on home video in September with a theatrical release in October, courtesy of the newly formed distribution company Crescendo House. The company aims to reinvent the current model, instead offering a collector’s edition home release first, the reception of which will secure future theatrical bookings.
Labyrinth of Cinema will have its New York Premiere at Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film (Aug 20 – Sept 2), closing out the festival on Sept 2. Additionally, the film will be available on home video in September with a theatrical release in October, courtesy of the newly formed distribution company Crescendo House. The company aims to reinvent the current model, instead offering a collector’s edition home release first, the reception of which will secure future theatrical bookings.
- 8/17/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Even before the success of “Shoplifters” the family drama has been one of the most popular genre within Japanese cinema. As a mirror of social, political and economic issues the family portrait can be quite powerful as many artists, also from other media, have found out which is perhaps why these images have become so frequent. However, it takes a certain kind of director, among other things, to make a family stand out, but in the case of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s “Seven Weeks” we luckily have one of those features. Described by the director as “Guernica in moving images”, the story Obayashi tells in one of his last movies touches upon a death in a family, and the kind of conflicts and memories it brings for the relatives left behind, while at the same time presenting a uniquely maverick portrayal of post-war Japan.
“Seven Weeks” Opens Japan Society, NY and Nationwide Virtual Cinemas and Theaters,...
“Seven Weeks” Opens Japan Society, NY and Nationwide Virtual Cinemas and Theaters,...
- 7/5/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Asian films feature prominently on the debut slate of Crescendo House, a newly-launched distributor in North America. The company aims to take a boutique and curatorial approach at a time when streaming is changing the sector.
Each film will receive an exclusive, limited edition, collector’s home video release featuring bespoke artwork, packaging, and hours of extra content. Once the initial run sells out, the company will use the audience reception to convey the value of the film to exhibitors and secure wider theatrical releases suitable to them. “This exclusive content model aims to re-engage and inspire audiences with closely curated films that feature new and unique styles and voices,” said company founder and CEO Jason Ooi.
Crescendo has picked up rights to “Labyrinth of Cinema,” “Bloodsuckers,” and “Fukuoka,” and will schedule all three for release by the end of 2021.
The timing may be fortuitous. Not only are North American...
Each film will receive an exclusive, limited edition, collector’s home video release featuring bespoke artwork, packaging, and hours of extra content. Once the initial run sells out, the company will use the audience reception to convey the value of the film to exhibitors and secure wider theatrical releases suitable to them. “This exclusive content model aims to re-engage and inspire audiences with closely curated films that feature new and unique styles and voices,” said company founder and CEO Jason Ooi.
Crescendo has picked up rights to “Labyrinth of Cinema,” “Bloodsuckers,” and “Fukuoka,” and will schedule all three for release by the end of 2021.
The timing may be fortuitous. Not only are North American...
- 5/4/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Whether a viewer in 1896 or 2020, cinema has always been a dynamic and variable experience. Cinema as an event—as a manifestation of a meeting point between the art of moving images and an audience, big or small—has never fit any one definition, and this last year, so severely disrupted by a global pandemic, has deeply underscored the versatility and resilience of our great love.Our viewing this year, like that of so many, has been strange: compromised, confrontational, escapist, euphoric, painful, revelatory—encompassing all of the reactions one can have to film. How we encountered our favorite movies and most meaningful cinematic experiences of the year was hardly new: A by-now-normal mix of festivals, theatres, various subscription and transactional streaming services, as well as private screener links and gems buried on over-stuffed hard drives. But for most of the year, the communal experience shrunk to living rooms and glowing screens.
- 12/23/2020
- MUBI
John Carpenter recevied Cheval Noir Lifetime Achievement Award.
Daria Woszek’s Polish comedy Marygoround was a big winner at the 24th Fantasia International Film festival on Wednesday night (September 2), earning the Cheval Noir Award for best film, director and actress.
Grazyna Misiorowska stars in the story about a virgin approaching the menopause who undergoes hormone therapy and experiences an awakening when her free-spirited niece shows up.
’Marygoround’: review
Brea Grant’s US entry 12 Hour Shift won best screenplay, and Jacky Heung was awarded the best actor prize for Hong Kong’s Chasing Dream.
The festival reported more than...
Daria Woszek’s Polish comedy Marygoround was a big winner at the 24th Fantasia International Film festival on Wednesday night (September 2), earning the Cheval Noir Award for best film, director and actress.
Grazyna Misiorowska stars in the story about a virgin approaching the menopause who undergoes hormone therapy and experiences an awakening when her free-spirited niece shows up.
’Marygoround’: review
Brea Grant’s US entry 12 Hour Shift won best screenplay, and Jacky Heung was awarded the best actor prize for Hong Kong’s Chasing Dream.
The festival reported more than...
- 9/3/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s House (1977) is showing in the United Kingdom.Above: House“What a strange landscape”“It feels like we’re lost in another world” —HouseAs they walk on the path approaching the titular House, the protagonists of Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s cult classic self-reflectively acknowledge the strangeness of the scenery they inhabit: suspiciously idyllic painted backdrops, beautifully nightmarish skies, and bidimensional sets that look like they’ve come out of a pop-up book. Above all, a strange blue halo that seems to be tracing the outlines of their bodies and of the objects surrounding them, making them look like ghosts. House is an explosive showcase of filmic techniques and practical effects: in the space of its 88 minute runtime, Ôbayashi experiments with virtually every means at his disposal to create what is perhaps one of the most formally daring, visually interesting horror films ever made. And yet if there’s one...
- 8/26/2020
- MUBI
One Shot is a series that seeks to find an essence of cinema history in one single image of a movie. Hausu (1977) is showing July 22 – August 20, 2020 on Mubi in the United Kingdom.By turns surreal, kitschy, psychedelic, traditional, sentimental, and zany, Hausu keeps us spinning round and round as we sink deeper and deeper under its spell. A ghost cat vomiting blood? Check. A decapitated head biting friends on the ass? Yep. A piano with an appetite for human flesh? You bet! A hippy schoolteacher who turns into a bunch of bananas? Obviously. But these examples don’t even begin to convey the truly delirious nature of the film, which Nobuhiko Ōbayashi layers with playful special effects, animation, meta-commentary, and antiwar sagacity. Filled with genre conventions yet utterly original, the film’s 1970s psychedelia tempers the gruesome actions with comedy. As its name implies, Hausu is a horror film about location,...
- 7/25/2020
- MUBI
If you think of the words “amateur” or “amateurish”, it is not only a derogatory term, but it also defines a border between what is considered to be high art or successful versus what cannot attract audiences or does not meet popular tastes. The fact these tastes are, at least nowadays, defined by marketing people diagnosing what makes money now rather than what audiences might want or whether there is a niche somewhere no one has discovered yet. Within the Japanese film industry, not being associated with the studio system meant a stigma for many artists as they were labeled outsiders such as Seijun Suzuki, who was famously fired after “Branded to Kill”, now considered an avantgarde masterpiece, did not meet the expectations of the production company. Others like Nobuhiko Obayashi never really worked within the studio system and were seen as “amateurs”, a label the director never saw as an insult or a stigma,...
- 7/18/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Nobuhiko Obayashi – (09.01.1938-10.04.2020) born in Onomichi, after his father, a doctor, was called to the battlefront during World War II, he was raised in his early infancy by his maternal grandparents. Through his childhood and adolescence, Obayashi followed many artistic pursuits, including drawing, writing, playing the piano, and possessed a growing interest in animation and film. In 1956 he entered the Liberal Arts department of Seijo University, where he began to work with 8mm and 16mm film. He worked on a series of experimental films, becoming one of the pioneers of this genre in 1960s Japan. His breakout film ‘House‘ (1977), a surrealist horror comedy, was a commercial hit internationally and has garnered a cult following . Throughout the 1980s he then transitioned to directing more mainstream media – including many popular coming-of-age films -and his resulting filmography as a director spanned almost 60 years. Obayashi died on 10 April 2020 at the age of 82 in Tokyo...
- 4/13/2020
- by Nikodem Karolak
- AsianMoviePulse
Nobuhiko Obayashi, an influential Japanese film director, has died. He passed at 82 from cancer that was revealed in 2016 as terminal. The website for his latest film said he died late on Friday.
His final film, Labyrinth of Cinema, was originally set for release in Japan on the day of his death, but that was pushed back because of the worldwide pandemic.
The website had a terse announcement: “Director Obayashi fought his sickness to the day of the scheduled release of his film. Rest in peace, director Obayashi, you who loved films so much you kept on making them,” the announcement said.
Obayashi had...
His final film, Labyrinth of Cinema, was originally set for release in Japan on the day of his death, but that was pushed back because of the worldwide pandemic.
The website had a terse announcement: “Director Obayashi fought his sickness to the day of the scheduled release of his film. Rest in peace, director Obayashi, you who loved films so much you kept on making them,” the announcement said.
Obayashi had...
- 4/11/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
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