Blade Licking Thieves

We spend an hour talking Tezuka's Phoenix, Sega's Yakuza series, and too-horny-for-TheHeat-mecha-show Godannar, among other things, before breaking into our review of director Yoon Jong-bing's Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Game (2012), which chronicles the rise and fall of two South Korean gangsters (Choi Min-Sik and Ha Jung-woo) during the 80's and 90's.

BLT Team B review the 80s slasher cult classic, Maniac Cop, starring always a treat Bruce Campbell and man with a huge face Robert Z'Dar!

Dawn from the Anime Nostalgia Podcast joins us to review Ryuhei Kitamura's break out Japanese action film Versus! Review (39:48) Twitter Questions (2:32:05)

We review the 2006 anime film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time from director Mamoru Hosoda: a delightful coming of age comedy / drama loosely based on a story by Paprika writer Yasutaka TsuiTsui about a teen-aged girl named Makoto who discovers she has the ability to quite literally leap through time. Review (25:45) Twitter Questions (1:27:58)

Daryl Surat, writer for Otaku USA Magazine and host of the Anime World Order Podcast, joins us on this special "regular" episode for a long chat about stuff we've been watching, Chinese action films (and their perpetual mistreatment by western companies), and for a review of Zhang Yimou's utterly majestic wuxia drama, Hero (2002), starring Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, and Donnie Yen. Review (44:45) Twitter Questions (2:40:50)

We ring in the New Year with a review of Satoshi Kon's somewhat overlooked Christmas film, Tokyo Godfathers (2003): an animated comedy about three homeless people on a quest to reunite an abandoned baby with its parents that, through a series of wildly improbable, yet seasonally appropriate, coincidences and several generous sprinklings of movie magic, carries with it the promise of salvation for all. Review (41:05) Twitter Questions (1:50:02)

Once again proving they are a danger to themselves, BLT Team B willingly dive head first into the pit of darkness that is Holiday themed B-Movies and emerge, bloodied and maimed, with a review of arguably the most well-known film of that odious genre: Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2.

We review the 2014 fantasy adventure series Rage of Bahamut: Genesis from studio MAPPA and Tiger and Bunny director Keiichi Sato, loosely based on the mobile card game by Japanese developer Cygames. Review (29:56) Twitter Questions (1:38:30)

It's the annual Blade Licking Thieves Halloween episode, so, of course, as seems to have become something of a tradition for the show, that means we're reviewing yet another Takashi Miike film. This time we're watching the joyfully bizarre, genre mashup that's part family drama, part dark comedy, part musical, and many parts absurd: The Happiness of the Katakuris. Enjoy the show! Review (42:49)

In 2008, after a relatively successful stint in Hollywood, John Woo returned to Chinese-language features with Red Cliff Part I & II, a two part epic adapted from arguably the most famous novel in Chinese literature, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Tune in to hear Grant's book report on that 1400 page tome along with our thoughts on this nearly five hour film series.

There's nothing quite like Survive Style 5+. With an unusual narrative of five interweaving stories, off the wall humor, tripped out art direction, and an all around odd sensibility to it, this debut film from commercial and music video director Gen Sekiguchi feels just as fresh and exciting today as it did in 2004 the year of its release. You don't want to spoil this one for yourself -- please go watch the film first, then listen to the review. Enjoy!

He's a loner. A rebel. And so are we...because Blade Licking Thieves is quite possibly the only podcast daring (or stupid) enough to spend nearly thirty five minutes talking about old 1970's Tatsunoko cartoons, wuxia-puppet-shows, Godzilla, and the Chinese epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms before completely flipping the script and launching into a review of an american comedy classic like Pee-wee's Big Adventure. But then there's a lot things you don't know about us. Things you wouldn't understand. Things you couldn't understand. Things you shouldn't understand.

One Piece Film: Strong World, the 10th film in the franchise but the first to feature designs and story ideas from One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda, catapults the Straw Hat crew onto a mysterious series of floating islands controlled by Shiki, a vicious pirate hailing from the era of Gol D. Roger with plans to destroy all of East Blue. Review (24:25) Twitter Questions (1:41:48)

We review Highlander: The Search for Vengeance, an anime continuation of the HIGHLANDER saga. The movie follows immortal Colin MacLeod’s quest for revenge in the future, and is directed by veteran director Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Ninja Scroll). Intro (00:00) Review (35:57) Twitter Questions (1:33:45)

The regular crew has been too busy to record a "normal" episode, but thankfully BLT Team B are here to fill the void with a review of the little known or remembered movie Dreamscape about a psychic dream walker, played by Dennis Quaid, who, in order to prevent nuclear Armageddon, must battle a giant snake man inside the dreams of the President of the United States - really, that's what happens.

Crazy. It's our 50th episode. A big thanks goes out to all of our listeners new and old. Truly. We've been thrilled by all of your feedback, comments, and responses -- please keep them coming -- but, more than that, knowing that quite a few of you actually track down and watch the weird, obscure, and sometimes crazy films we discuss here on the show before tuning in to each episode, frankly, means the world to us. Thank you. Anyways. Grant wanted to do something big for our 50th episode, and, well, Katsuhiro Otomo's AKIRA was and is a big freakin' deal. For a certain generation of anime fans, this film was the anime equivalent of the Empire Strikes Back, which is to say, it blew our minds and quickly achieved legendary status. Honestly, there's no way our episode about it can measure up, but that didn't stop us from rambling on and on about the film for well over two hours anyways. Hope you enjoy the show! Intro (00:00) Review (28:51) Twitter Questions (2:18:14)

The romance genre goes art house in Chungking Express, Wong Kar Wai's two part riff on loneliness, yearning, and the comforts of late night take-out, featuring the talented Tony Leung, Faye Wong, Brigette Lin, and Takeshi Kaneshiro. Timestamps: Intro + News (00:00) Review (30:41) Twitter Questions (1:47:59)

Grant is joined by Cerealsensei of the Dojo Talk Podcast, CallmeDJM of Anime Podcast of Some Sort, and SentaiFive of Build Casters for a chat about the martial arts cult classic The Last Dragon (1985).

Donnie Yen stars as the self-effacing, Wing Chun master of Foshan, Ip Man (2008) in this award winning martial arts drama, loosely based on the early life of Bruce Lee's famous teacher. Intro (00:00) Review (42:48) Twitter Questions (1:49:13)

After appearing as the overpowered, screaming meathead of villainy -- and enduring power fantasy of twelve year old boys worldwide -- in not one, not two, but three (count'em) previous Dragon Ball films, Toei producers, through either massive payments of undisclosed cash or a nefarious, undisclosed blackmail scheme, have finally forced series creator Akira Toriyama to officially recognize their most divisive creation with the arrival of the new film Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Did Toriyama spin a decent yarn? Did One Piece: Film Z and Dragon Ball Super series director Tatsuya Nagamine bring the goods? Did Toei animation finally remember how to draw the characters from one of their most enduring and popular franchises ever? Does wearing a DBZ shirt to the theater amplify your power levels or merely strengthen your body odor? The BLT crew is back from the theater with all the answers! Intro (00:00) Review (14:56) Twitter Questions (1:00:55)

Bah weep gragnah weep nini bong? Bah weep gragnah weep nini bong! Intro (00:00) Review (22:39) Twitter Questions (1:37:23)

We review Gintama (2017) the live action film based on the popular, long-running, gag manga by Hideaki Sorachi. Timestamps: Intro + News (00:00) Review (34:40) Twitter Questions (1:38:50)

In 1962, before Alien vs Predator, before Freddy vs Jason, before the inevitable Goku vs Superman of future year 2032, Toho studios released the mega-sized, trans pacific, crossover event to crush them all: King Kong vs Godzilla! Timestamps: Intro + News (00:00) Review (40:40) Twitter Questions (1:28:32)

Here it is. Because you, the people, demanded it, we review Face/Off (1997) --John Woo's absurdly over-the-top American thriller featuring off-the-charts Cage factor, hundreds of avian extras, and a dual wielding John Travolta in slow-motion. Timestamps: Intro + News (00:00) Review (28:24) Twitter Questions (1:22:05)

There's action packed. And then there's Hard Boiled (1992) -- John Woo's final spectacular outing with superstar Chow Yun-Fat in which gun-toting, rough and tumble detective, Tequila (Yun-Fat) partners with undercover officer Alan (Tony Leung) to take on a villainous gang of gun-running triads. Tune in for the full review! Timestamps: Intro + News (00:00) Review (33:45) Twitter Questions (1:59:52)

We review Takashi Miike's 100th film, Blade of the Immortal, a bloody, over the top, chambara romp, starring Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, and Sota Fukushi, based on the manga by Hiroaki Samura. Timestamps: Intro+News (00:00) Review (40:05) Twitter Questions (1:41:35)

Emma Bowers and Diana (@silencedrowns) join grant for a discussion all about the world of Cosplay + your twitter questions!

Dave Merrill (Let's Anime) joins the show for a chat on fandom of yesteryear: clubs, cons, zines, old anime, and your twitter questions.

Join us for a Netflix double feature with our reviews of both Devilman Crybaby and Godzilla: Monster Planet one really long episode! Timestamps: Devilman Crybaby (00:00) Godzilla Monster Planet (1:26:24)

What happens when a super fan of kung-fu films gets to make one of his own? Find out this week as the BLT crew takes on RZA's The Man with the Iron Fists. Timestamps: Intro (00:00) Review (36:08)

Our spooky Halloween episode is here, so we're reviewing the J-Horror classic, from director Takashi Miike: Audition. There's also Blade Runner Black Out, Gintama, Kamen Rider W, and Neo Yokio discussion, plus your twitter questions.

Once described by director Ang Lee as "Sense and Sensibility with martial arts," this all time classic of the wuxia genre packs a heck of a punch. Featuring the formidable talents of Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, legendary fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping, and composer Tan Dun, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is still the most successful international film, critically and commercially, to ever hit the states -- and rightly so. Tune in for our full review! Timestamps: Intro+News (00:00) Review (15:09)

Mecha enthusiasts Lauren Orsini, Sean O'Mara, and TomAznable join Grant for a special episode all about Gundam and Gunpla model kits.

We review The Host (2006), Bong Joon-ho's critical and commercial hit centering around a Korean family's quest to retrieve their lost child from the clutches of a giant, mutant, fish-monster, all while battling a dysfunctional, oppressive bureaucracy, and growing into the people they were meant to be. Timestamps: Intro+News (00:00) Review (31:31)

We delve into J-Horror courtesy of Takashi Miike and his fiendishly weird film creation: Gozu. Plus more anime and tokusatsu talk: Gintama, Dairanger, Gundam Thunderbolt, Kimba, Berserk and more. Timestamps: Stuff (00:00) Review (51:08)

Sean O'Mara of Colony Drop and Zimmerit joins us for this special episode to talk all things Patlabor. Don't miss it! Timestamps: Interview (00:00) Patlabor discussion (28:01)

We discuss a few Spring Anime 2017 shows, talk Gundam 00, news topics, and review superstar Jackie Chan's raw, brutal, and death defying, Police Story. Timestamps: Review (1:04:40)

We talk Power Rangers, Voltron, the manga Insufficient Direction, and review Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F. Timestamps: Intro+News (00:00) Review (1:04:15)

We review Studio Ghibli's, absolutely wonderful, The Tale of Princess Kaguya from acclaimed director Isao Takahata. Timestamps: What we're watchin' (00:00) News (31:14) Review (54:35)

Join us for our review of the final act of Shusuke Kaneko's incredible Gamera Trilogy: Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris. Timestamps: Random chit-chat (00:00) News (26:10) Review (56:30)

The Cold War threatens to turn hot in Toho's Return of Godzilla, the 1984 Goji reboot that kicked off the Heisei era. Timestamps: What We're Watching (00:00) News (36:15) Review (1:06:13)

The Thieves discuss Ultraman Orb, some blog stuff, the announcement for the new Escaflowne release, and lastly review part two of Shusuke Kaneko's Gamera Trilogy: Gamera 2: Attack of Legion. Review starts at 36:10.