Dateline: Hollywood, CA — 9-14-2014 It’s not often I talk ninja cartoons with college educators, but today was the exception. Jonathan M. Hall, a Japanese film scholar from Pomona College screened three episodes of Shirato Sanpei shinobi TV treasures at the … Continued
In the face of the death of physical media, DVD and Bluray packaging continues to be, let’s say… inventive… in its methods of persuasion. Hey, deception was a legit ninja skill, right? As ninja movie fans we’ve all been duped … Continued
If you’re a dinosaur like me, then you still dig physical media and package art when it comes to your video library. To that end, I’m a regular customer of the Warner Archive DVD-On Demand service. Tons of great titles, … Continued
…we take a look back at AMERICAN NINJA! There’s no better way to celebrate the birth of the USA than by looking back at a low-budget exploitation flick based on a Japanese martial art, produced by Israelis, shot in the … Continued
Couple years ago now, one of my sources for the hand-colored press stills from Thailand that have so contributed to the identity of this site contacted me with some new offerings. A lot of it was stuff I already had … Continued
Originally published January, 2010. In the 80’s, Sho Kosugi posed for over 73 billion photos in full night gear, laden with weapons, in magazines like Black Belt, Ninja, even Karate Illustrated and Inside Kung Fu. Yet when it comes to movie … Continued
Medicom has released two new sofubi of Kaiketsu Lion Maru and Tiger Joe, designed by Bear Model. Not in love with these myself, as they are a bit too detailed and modern in their sculpts. Sofubi are supposed to look like … Continued
Was it really four years ago that I wrote this gushing review of Scott Adkins and Isaac Florentine‘s throwback NINJA? Ninja was to the more widely known Ninja Assassin what Deep Impact was to Armageddon or Tombstone to Wyatt Earp — a cheaper, more exploitive … Continued
Listen up Universal execs! I know exactly what’s gone wrong with your version of 47 Ronin. It’s not a lousy script, minority backlash, a star past his drawing prime, source material un-relatable to the mainstream, or even competition from the … Continued
So yeah, man did the month of December sneak up on me in the dark with a piano wire… This was planned as three individual posts, but today is the first day I’ve been able to breathe in three weeks, … Continued