BLADE LICKING THIEVES

Grab your buster swords and join us for a look back at Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the CGI animated movie sequel to the landmark video game title that many consider to be the greatest Role Playing Game of all time.  We'll be diving into the history the legendary franchise, sharing our thoughts on the film twenty years out from its original release date, and answering your Bluesky questions. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Ultraman Tiga, Panzer World Galient, Kaiju No. 8, Clevatess, See You at the Food Court, Dogsred [47:05] Review - Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete [2:27:00] Bluesky Questions

We review the second film in Hideaki Anno's trilogy of Shin films: Shin Ultraman.  Following the success of 2016's Shin Godzilla, Anno returns yet again as screenwriter but this time with longtime collaborator Shinji Higuchi taking over directing duties in this modern day re-imagining of the popular Ultraman franchise that aims to return the series to its early roots.  Tune in for the full review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Hunter x Hunter, Return of Ultraman, Lupin Zero, Lupin IIIrd vs. Cat's Eye [37:27] Review - Shin Ultraman [2:36:24] BlueSky Questions

A remake of Bruce Lee's classic Fist of Fury,  director Gordan Chan's Fist of Legend, arriving to Hong Kong movie goers in 1994, softens the harder line of the original film's patriotic fury yet loses none of its tremendous punch with martial art stars Jet Li, Billy Chow and Yasuaki Kurata all in top form.  Tune in for the full review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + G-Fest '25 report, Return of Ultraman, Combattler V, Naruto manga, The Water Margin [52:17] Review - Fist of Legend

A disturbing peek into the dark underbelly of a small American town, David Lynch's Blue Velvet (1986), with his signature flourishes of dream like logic, penchant for the psychological, and a plot pulled straight from the pages of a tattered noir paperback, tells the story of Jeffrey (Kyle McLachLan), a bored young man, who in his search for clues about a mysterious missing ear, perilously descends bit by tantalizing bit into a dangerous and forbidden underworld with a dark allure that simultaneously thrills and repulses him. Tune in for the full review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Godzilla Masterpiece Theater, Seven Samurai, Magnificent Seven, A Bride's Story, Lazarus [40:55] Review - Blue Velvet

Join us for a master class in action comedy as we take a look at Yuen Woo Ping's Drunken Master (1978).  Jackie Chan, in the role that would launch him into stardom, plays the young and impetuous Wong Fei-Hung, who, after being kicked out of his house by his angry father, is forced under the tutelage of an old, perpetually intoxicated, martial arts master (Sui-Tin Yuen) to learn the unorthodox fighting style known as Drunken Boxing, which Wong will soon require to defeat a deadly assassin (Jang Lee Hwang ) targeting his father.  Tune in for the full review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Zardoz, Anne Shirley, Bocchi the Rock!, From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman [32:20] Review - Drunken Master

A blind piano player accidentally gets caught up in a world of crime in Andhadhun, an Indian thriller by writer/director Sriram Raghavan that's loaded with so many twists and turns that the only thing that comes as no surprise is that it became both a critical and commercial hit with audiences.  Tune in to hear our review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Mickey 17, Combattler V, Tatami Time Machine Blues, Ranma 1/2, Orguss, Frieren [38:50] Review - Andhadhun

BLT Team B return with a look at the comedy /  horror sequel House II: The Second Story (1987) from director Ethan Wiley.

We review Jin-Roh director Hiroyuki Okiura's second animated film, A Letter to Momo, about a young girl that forms an unlikely friendship with a trio of troublesome yokai who through a series of comical misadventures help her to cope with the loss of her father.   Released in 2011 after seven years in production, and to seemingly little fanfare on this side of the Pacific, this underrated family film, equal parts charming, comic, and heartfelt, deserves another look.  Tune in for the full review! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + Macross, Street Fighter 6, Gaogaigar, Combattler V, Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End [43:30] Review - A Letter to Momo

We review Hong Kong director Ringo Lam's Burning Paradise.  The film stars Willie Chi as legendary martial artist Fong Sai Yuk, who after being captured by the Ching government, must escape from the imposing Red Lotus Temple, a deadly prison filled with spike pits, booby traps, poison gas, and even more dangerous opponents! Timestamps: [00:00] Intro + God Mazinger, Combattler V, DanDaDan, Kageki Shojo, Akane Banashi, Hyper Dimension Neptunia, and The Water Margin. [39:41] Review - Burning Paradise

As a chaser shot to our last episode about the North Korean Kaiju movie Pulgasari, BLT Team B have heroically taken it upon themselves to review the much unloved North American remake Galgameth!

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

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

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) faces 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)

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

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

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

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

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)

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)

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