As major earthquakes begin to hit Japan it doesn’t take the geological experts long to realise that the country is in serious danger, and the authorities are alerted as it’s calculated that there’s less than a year to go before that Japan will be fully submerged under the sea. The government keeps the situation quiet at first, as large areas of the country begin to get wiped out the time arrives for them to act fast however and they begin to make plans to send as many people overseas as possible. Although the countries future is at threat, all hope is not yet lost as there is a way of solving the problem and stopping Japan from becoming any further damaged by nature; the procedure to stop Japan from sinking is high risk, it is however possible that Japan can be saved.

Kou Shibasaki and Mayuko Fukuda both play their parts brilliantly in Sinking of Japan, and it’s their developing relationship that is at the very centre of the film. Their characters have been extremely well developed here, and their incredibly high quality of acting really does make this film special. Not only is the film visually impressive, but cerebrally engaging also, and the film easily manages to maintain your interest for the entirety of its 135 minute runtime. The only thing that doesn’t seem to work particularly well is the choice of song in what should be an extremely poignant scene; the scene should be highly emotive and could have been excellent, the accompanying track however just doesn’t work. Were it pure instrumental then the effect would perhaps have been greater, for two full minutes the track plays though and just really breaks the film up; this I feel would be my only cause for complaint about the film, and this I feel is an area in which the film could have been improved.

For fans of disaster films I really would recommend watching Sinking of Japan, and for those that follow extreme weather this is a film that would surely appeal. Shinji Higuchi truly has done a cracking job with this film, and all credit must also go to Sakyo Komatsu, the writer of the novel Japan Sinks on which the film is based, and the screenplay writer Masato Kato also. All involved with Sinking of Japan combine together to make the film special, and this is no doubt a film to add to your rental list at the very least.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Classed as “a seriously shocking chiller for our times” by Frightfest’s Alan Jones, Salvage is a film that fans of fine British horror should definitely seek to see, and if you’re interested in getting an idea of the film the take a look at the trailer below:

Hopefully soon there will indeed be confirmation that Wes Craven has signed on to direct the fourth film in the franchise, for the time being though the hugely popular horror director remains unattached.

No official UK release date has been set, hopefully though the film will at some point make its way to cinemas in the UK.

Here is the official trailer for the film:

Feast your eyes on the following trailer and prepare to be impressed.

Cited by the Toronto Film Festival as having “The most intense action sequences in recent history”, Kill Zone was the winner of the Best Action Choreography Award at the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards and is considered to be one of the best Asian martial arts films of the last decade. Fist Of Legend meanwhile is often seen as Jet Li’s greatest pure martial arts film and was labelled as ‘Awe inspiring’ by the prestigious American newspaper The New York Times.

Both of these films are set for release as two-disc DVDs packed with a variety of special features, with Kill Zone set for release on March 8th, followed by Fist Of Legend on March 22nd.

Cine-Asia has done an excellent job so far, with the label having released titles such as Ichi the Killer, Ip Man, and The Beast Stalker, and now looks to continue with its fine tradition of releasing quality films with the addition of Kill Zone and Fist Of Legend to the Cine-Asia collection.

The following is a full list of the special features for both Kill Zone and Fist Of Legend:

Kill Zone Special Features include: audio commentary by Hong Kong Cinema expert Bey Logan; promotional gallery; ‘Kill Zone: The Making Of’ documentary; Behind The Scenes – Anatomy of a Scene; ‘Alleycats’ (with optional Bey Logan commentary); ‘Challenge of the Masters’ (with optional Bey Logan commentary; Interview Gallery (Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Wilson Yip, Jacky Wu); Dolby Digital Cantonese and English 5.1 audio options (DVD); DTS HD MA Cantonese 5.1 and DTS HD MA English 5.1 audio options (Blu-ray); optional English subtitles.

Fist Of Legend Special Features include: audio commentary by Hong Kong Cinema expert Bey Logan; ‘The Man Behind The Legend’ – an exclusive interview with director Gordon Chan; ‘Brothers In Arms’ – an exclusive interview with kung fu impresario Chin Siu-ho; ‘The Way Of The Warrior’ – an exclusive interview with Japanese action legend Kurata Yasuaki; ‘The School Of Hard Knocks’ – a screen fighting seminar at the celebrated Kurata Action School; a look at ‘Fist Of Legend’ with director Brett Ratner and critic Elvis Mitchell; deleted scenes gallery; trailer gallery; DTS HD MA English 5.1 audio (Blu-ray); Dolby Digital Cantonese 2.0 Stereo, Mandarin 2.0 Stereo and English 5.1 audio options (DVD); optional English subtitles.

Teruo is the son of a bookshop owner, whilst he works in his father’s shop he has dreams of creating the world’s scariest haunted house however, and is forever testing out scary pranks on his friends and family to see how they’ll react. When Akari (Yoshino Kimura) gets a job working at the bookshop, Teruo starts developing feelings for her but his good friend Hisanobu (Yoshinori Okada) also finds himself attracted to her and friction therefore develops between the two of them as they both look to win her love and affection.

Fine, Totally Fine has some great moments of comedy, and with some excellent central characters Yosuke Fujita manages to establish himself strongly as both a writer and director with this film. Yosiyosi Arakawa plays his awkward character to perfection here, and Yoshino Kimura as the incredibly clumsy Akari also works extremely well. Yoshinori Okada’s performance as Hisonobu is overshadowed a little by the excellence of both Yoshino Kimura and Yosiyosi Arakawa , he still plays his part well though, managing to put across a great sense of life in his character.

Whilst Fine, Totally Fine could be described as a romantic comedy, to label the film as such would almost certainly give people the wrong idea; Fine, Totally Fine is not your typical romantic comedy, and if you don’t generally enjoy romantic comedy films then that doesn’t necessarily means that you won’t like this one. With some great acting and fine quirky comedy, Fine, Totally Fine is a film that most people will probably enjoy; place your genre issues aside and watch Fine, Totally Fine with an open mind and a great deal of enjoyment is bound to be had.

There’s a very natural feel about Fine, Totally Fine, an excellent achievement for Yosuke Fujita with his writing and directorial debut. There’s not a single character introduced here that feels forced, just a great flow about the film and the way in which the plot line unfolds. Fine, Totally Fine is an absolutely brilliant debut effort from Yosuke Fujita, and having already gone on to write and direct the teleplay Saba since finishing this film; I’m sure that Yosuke Fujita is a Japanese director that we will be hearing plenty more from in the future.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This Day of the Dead Blu-Ray will be priced at £24.99, and for big fans of George A. Romero’s zombie films it really is something that you should definitely be looking to invest in.

Hiroshi is the first character focused on here; an overweight writer that very much enjoys masturbation. Hiroshi has conversations with his penis (played by a green puppet) and sometimes listens through the ceiling to the couple upstairs having sex. Hiroshi’s character is quite an interesting one, with Hiroshi the film is merely warming up though and we soon move on to the next character, Tomoko. Tomoko is a shop assistant before she’s introduced to the sex industry by Kenji (another character focused on in the film), and her life is then changed forever as she slowly finds herself becoming more and more heavily involved within the industry. Tomoko is arguably the best character that the film has to offer, and Yuri Nakamura’s performance as Tomoko and Hiroki Narimiya’s as Kenji really do stand out from the pack here. Yoshie, Koichi, and Sayuri are the other three people focused on within the film; Yoshie has her moments, Koichi has a rather bland sexual superhero storyline, and Sayuri creates amateur porn videos to fund her way through life as she looks to embark on a career as an anime voiceover artist.

The film begins brilliantly and offers so much in its opening, after a bright start the quality level seems to drop a little here however and some of the transitions between storylines feel slightly awkward. Some of these six characters storylines just seem to work better than others, and although there are a few amusing moments here, Lala Pipo is certainly not consistently enjoyable from start to finish. First time director Masayuki Miyano is obviously enthusiastic about his work and this is something that comes through here, with so many storylines going on it’s hard not to have your favourites however, and when a particularly strong part of the film comes to an end and a less interesting character is introduced this is always a little disappointing.

The quality of acting here is at all times excellent, particularly from Yuri Nakamura and Hiroki Narimiya as previously outlined; despite some great performances and some very funny moments though, Lala Pipo is not a great film from start to finish, and there is definitely room for improvement here. Some of the characters could have done with a little extra work to bring them out and grab you a little more, Tomoko I personally found to be brilliant though, and although not necessarily a particularly likeable character, Kenji was another that I really did enjoy watching on screen, probably in large part down to the supreme acting talent of Hiroki Narimiya.

Having read some extremely positive things about Okuda Hideo’s book of short stories I now feel inclined to give his work a read to see how the book and the film compare, something tells me though that Lala Pipo doesn’t translate anywhere near as well on film as it does in the written word.

DVD Extras:

Extras include a making of featurette ‘Loveable People of Lala Pipo’, interviews with the cast and crew on the subject ‘What is Sex?’, and a trailer for the film as well as 16 others in the Third Window Films collection. The interviews bring up some pretty interesting (and in some places amusing) answers, the half hour long making of feature is quite enjoyable to watch, and taking a look at the trailers you may just spot another film from Third Window that captures your interest. All in all there’s a pretty solid selection of extras here, and this rounds things off nicely, providing you with a little more to keep you occupied once you’ve finished watching the film itself.

Rating: 3 out of 5

So does John Shuttleworth discover that southern people are soft? Not exactly, that’s not really the point though, Southern Softies is simply a comic journey through the Channel Islands taken by John Shuttleworth (Graham Fellows) as he meets up with various people for interview, catches flights from one Channel Island to another, and ultimately runs out of film on a boat journey attempting to find a Barclays bank (but failing as all he manages to find is the Barclay brothers’ castle on the island of Brecqhou).

John’s agent Ken Worthington is quick to abandon John as he goes off in hope of finding single women, and for much of the film we therefore not only follow John Shuttleworth as he seeks to answer the question as to whether or not southern people are soft, but also John’s quest to find Ken. Every so often we’re shown footage that Ken has taken on his own journey around the Channel Islands, and this contrasts well with John’s own footage from around the Islands.

Graham Fellows’ John Shuttleworth character provides a lot of laughs throughout Southern Softies, and this is most definitely a mockumentary that provides for a very satisfying viewing experience. Whether John’s interviewing people, performing his music, or travelling from place to place; always Southern Softies delivers in the comedy department, and a lot of fun is crammed into the film’s 78 minute run time.

DVD extras include a trailer for the film, videos of John Shuttleworth’s music, and a number of deleted scenes. The deleted scenes are definitely worth watching as they include a few amusing moments not captured in the film, and if you’re up for a bit more of John’s music then the songs should also please.

All in all, Southern Softies is a film that really is worth investing in, and if you’d like to support this fine northern comic then Southern Softies will be available to purchase on DVD from March 1st 2010.

Rating: 4 out of 5