News

The concept of action movies starring female protagonists was quite prevalent in East Asian cinema during the 70s and 80s but toned significantly down after that. However, lately, and as the epicenter of action movies moved towards Asean countries, it surfaced once more, as the fact that women can also can add an element of sex appeal to the action worked for a number of filmmakers. At the same time, the concept was not restricted to action movies, but also extended to art ones, as a couple of the movies in the following list will eloquently highlight.

Without further ado, here are 40 Asian movies where the action mostly derives from women, in chronological order.

1. Come Drink With Me

That also comes from the story storyline. Co-written by director Hu and Ting Shan-hsi, ‘Come Drink’ includes poignant drama into the mix as well as the action. Each of the characters has...

In celebration of iconic Japanese actress Meiko Kaji's upcoming 70th birthday and Valentine's Day, Japan Society is throwing a mini retro party of the inimitable actress. Best known for her role as Nami "Sasori (Scorpion)" Matsushima in the Female Prisoner series and later as Yuki, the Lady Snowblood, Kaji dominated the exploitation-tinged 60s and 70s Japanese cinema. Marc Walkow, the man mainly responsible for bringing the Female Prisoner series to Arrow for restoration and subsequent Blu-ray releases, and who helped release the Lady Snowblood series at Criterion, curates the selections for the occasion. They are: New Battles Without Humanity: The Boss's Head, Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance, Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter, Blind Woman's Curse & Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable Please visit Japan Society website for...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Dormant Beauty (Marco Bellocchio)

The newest film by Marco Bellocchio, one of Italy’s most revered directors, Dormant Beauty, initially seems like a risky proposition, being that it intends to marry both the often over-stuffed ensemble drama subgenre and what’s essentially an “issue” film. The exact fear being that the narrative would strain in a series of contrivances while also mass sermonizing. And yet, while the film still...