"Actor: Maiko Kawakami"

• Violent Cop | DVD | (27/12/2001) from £9.94   |  Saving you £0.05 (0.50%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Violent Cop ("Sono otoko kyobo ni tsuki") is the first film directed by Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, the Japanese star who began as a stand-up comedian on television. It's a Dirty Harry-type tale of a cop whose overly muscular methods are disapproved of by his superiors. When his partner is killed by the local Mr Big, Azuma (Kitano) goes into action, along with a new sidekick he initiates into the ways of the world. Dismissed from the force, Azuma carries on his one-man campaign, despite his sister's being forcibly drugged and raped by the gang. The violence is graphic, but what's most engaging about the film is Kitano's acting. He's an unlikely hero with his bow-legged walk and the face of a punch-drunk boxer, but his low-key style, a counterpart to the explosive violence, is always cool and it's easy to see why he's such a cult figure.--Ed Buscombe

• Gonin | DVD | (27/12/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Takashi Ishii's visually sumptuous gangster movie Gonin ("The Five") is fascinating in its violence, its perversity and its quirkiness, even though its basic plot premise is fairly standard. Disco owner Bandai (Kouichi Sato) owes money to the yakuza boss Ogoshi and decides to rob him rather than pay him--the first part of the film shows him recruiting a crew of the damaged and despairing to help with the job, and disaster follows. Ogoshi hires the more or less unstoppable one-eyed hit man Kyoya ("Beat" Takeshi) and everyone ends up dead--robbers, gangsters and assassins--in an escalating sequence of reprisals. What is different about the film is the odd tangents the plot shoots off at--the sudden sexual attraction between Bandai and the con-man Mitsuya, the truth about the phone calls the desperate sacked salary man Ogiwara keeps making to his family--and its strong visual style. Crucial events take place in the background of shots, the sudden shift from neon-lit back al! leys to sunlight in the last sequence hits you like a blow in the face. Terrifying in its casual violence and impressive in its bleak nihilism, Gonin is one of the most interesting genre films of the 1990s.--Roz Kaveney

• Tomie:Unlimited (2011) (Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (23/01/2012) from £15.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (20.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Director Noboru Iguchi (The Machine Girl, RoboGeisha) is back with his entry in to the ongoing Tomie horror film series based on a popular manga by Junji Ito.Tsukiko (Moe Arai), who belongs to a photography club at high school, always feels inferior to her elder sister, Tomie (Miu Nakamura). Tomie is breathtakingly beautiful and popular among the male students, including Toshio, whom Tsukiko is secretly in love with.One day an awful accident kills Tomie right in front of her younger sister. Since then Tsukiko suffers from a nightmare night after night. A year later Tsukiko and her parents are surrounding a birthday cake to celebrate dead Tomie’s 18th birthday.Suddenly they hear an eerie knock at the door. Unbelievably, it is Tomie. She’s back. The father and mother blindly welcome Tomie in tears, but Tsukiko feels instinctive fear. Tomie gradually reveals her true face, but only when she is with Tsukiko. Now Tsukiko’s nightmare becomes reality, and the terrifying days begin...Special Features: Interview with Director Noboru Iguchi Trailer

• Tomie: Unlimited (2011) (DVD) | DVD | (23/01/2012) from £10.84   |  Saving you £10.14 (129.17%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Director Noboru Iguchi (The Machine Girl, RoboGeisha) is back with his entry in to the ongoing Tomie horror film series based on a popular manga by Junji Ito.Tsukiko (Moe Arai), who belongs to a photography club at high school, always feels inferior to her elder sister, Tomie (Miu Nakamura). Tomie is breathtakingly beautiful and popular among the male students, including Toshio, whom Tsukiko is secretly in love with.One day an awful accident kills Tomie right in front of her younger sister. Since then Tsukiko suffers from a nightmare night after night. A year later Tsukiko and her parents are surrounding a birthday cake to celebrate dead Tomie’s 18th birthday.Suddenly they hear an eerie knock at the door. Unbelievably, it is Tomie. She’s back. The father and mother blindly welcome Tomie in tears, but Tsukiko feels instinctive fear. Tomie gradually reveals her true face, but only when she is with Tsukiko. Now Tsukiko’s nightmare becomes reality, and the terrifying days begin...Special Features: Interview with Director Noboru Iguchi Trailer

• Takeshi Kitano Collection: Violent Cop, Boilingpoint, A Scene At The Sea, Sonatine, Getting Any?, Kids Return | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £68.83   |  Saving you £-18.84 (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Violent Cop: Japanese superstar Beat Takeshi Kitano makes his directorial debut in this critically acclaimed action film in which he also stars as Azuma an urban cop at the end of his rope. Not above using violent tactics in order to punish the lawless Azuma's daily routine involves a new partner and a mentally challenged sister. When his violent ways cause the death of a friend his short fuse comes dangerously close to reaching its' end... Boiling Point: When Masaki a gas station attendant and local baseball player incurs the wrath of the local yakuza the notorious Japanese criminal organization he heads to Okinawa to buy a gun so he can stand up for himself. While there he is joined in his quest for revenge by a former gangster (Kitano) who seemingly has his own reasons for revenge. Violence escalates until the mild-mannered Masaki takes an oil truck from his gas station and drives it straight into yakuza headquaters... A Scene At The Sea: Kitano relates a touching story about a deaf-mute garbage collector who takes a passion in surfing. His mute girlfriend accompanies him and even though he is hindered at every point he never lets this dampen his passion. The couple does not exchange a single word throughout the entire film Kitano embracing the power of silence and love that transcends words. Sonatine: Takeshi is Murakawa an established and ruthless Yakuza sent outside his usual turf to intervene in a gang war on the tropical island of Okinawa. Things go badly wrong and he and his gang get caught in the crossfire. Forced to retreat to a seaside hideaway they kill time and fool around on the beach but then their enemies start picking them off one by one. Murakawa decides to go on the offensive for a final and breathtaking showdown... Getting Any?: Middle-aged Asao's sole goal in life is to have sex but in order to achieve his dream he is thrown from one wacky situation to the next. From robbing banks to becoming invisible to transforming into a super-sized fly monster Asao will do anything to get any! Kids Return: Two old friends revisit their old schoolyard to remember the times they shared together at school before they left and found their own ways in life one as a boxer and one as part of a local gang. They have done well but revisiting their memories reminds them of their undisciplined ways.