Tag: Cleopatra Entertainment

Wanting to Roar, Even Though Much of Lion-Girl is Simply a Mew

Westernized live-action takes on the sentai genre can be a mixed bag, and Lion-Girl needs to distinguish herself if she’s to be wild and be that avenger if she’s to succeed!

Lion-Girl Movie PosterCleopatra Entertainment
VOD/Home Release Date: Nov 7, 2023

Kurando Mitsutake is no stranger to budget cinema. He’s carved himself a niche that’s more or less has the look of films made in the past century. While a lot of marketing says Lion-Girl is inspired by Go Nagai’s manga styling, I’m seeing more than just one creator’s influence and they forgot to say it’s inspired by many a sentai series.

Also, what this filmmaker made isn’t 100% Japanese. This talent set up shop in Los Angeles and I found the setting of Neo Japan very tough to believe–especially when I recognise the Sierra Nevada in the background. The use of American actors isn’t too much of distraction when considering the information prefaced in the movie trailer. However, what’s presented feels more like a cowboy sentai style western than anything else.

Also, I wondered which heroine led manga from this artist was the primary influence. The protagonist here isn’t like Cutie Honey or Kekko Kamen. The closest parallel might be with Cinderella Kishi, but I’d have to read this series to say for certain. While this film honours Nagai’s works, like Devilman with its nudity and Violence Jack for the off the wall blood, at least the full-frontal bits of genitalia does not differ from what’s depicted on paper. They tend to appear as though they are victims after being kidnapped by aliens rather than put into sexual situations.

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Run, Don’t Hide from Shin Ultraman in Theatres Today. Home Video Release Dated

Shin Ultraman is here in North America with a very quick theatrical run and for those who can’t find him, the VOD/Home Video is quickly coming!

Shin Ultraman PosterMovie review can be found here.

Cleopatra Entertainment has acquired U.S. territory rights to the latest incarnation film from the Japanese Superhero franchise Ultraman from Tsuburaya Productions. Entitled Shin Ultraman, this new Ultraman adventure was the sixth-highest grossing Japanese feature film of 2022 and will hit U.S. theaters via Fathom Events and Canada through Cineplex theatres (please check local listings) on January 11th and 12th, 2023.

Thankfully, those who missed the dubbed version day aren’t missing anything. The subtitled version playing in both nations shows off the film as the producers intended. And after this theatrical campaign concludes, hinting at maybe a few more runs at film festivals, Shin Ultraman will be released in the Spring of 2023 on VOD and also as a Deluxe Home Entertainment Blu-Ray and DVD release.

Written by Hideaki Anno (Shin Godzilla) and directed by Shinji Higuchi (Shin Godzilla, Attack on Titan), the film stars Takumi Saitoh (Shin Godzilla, 13 Assassins), Hidetoshi Nishijima (Drive My Car, The Wind Rises),  Masami Nagasawa (Before We Vanish, Mother), Daiki Arioka (Innocent Curse), and Akari Hayami (Gintama, Forget Me Not).

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It’s Better to Stay Behind than Escape From Area 51 …

Escape From Area 51 is a spoof on various genres and is comparable to Lost Skeleton of Cadavra as a cheap sci-fi comedy.

Escape from Area 51 (2021) - IMDb
Available to purchase on Amazon USA

Cleopatra Entertainment
Release Date: Sept 7th 

Not every movie about UFOs deals with conspiracies. The sci-fi stoner comedy Escape From Area 51 momentarily plays with the storm Area 51 movement–which was what caught my attention–before dealing with the plot at hand. This movie’s story pairs well with Shae Sterling’s Alien Addiction for its low brow humour. I’m certain there is no family connection with David Sterling, the producer behind this work. It’s doubtful that director Eric Mittleman, who also co-wrote with Ted Chalmers, Carlos Perez and Robert Rhine, even knows of the New Zealand made film.

Curiosity seekers may well be hard pressed to find something to like about this work. It’s basically a T&A schlocky feature with a lot of sexual innuendo that will get fans of Donna D’Errico (Baywatch) giggling. She plays the alien who was locked up at the facility and when she makes the mistake of using her alien tech; it draws Sklarr’s attention (Chris Browning, Sons of Anarchy). He’s been scouring the galaxy because there was a War of the Worlds between their civilizations in the past… Well, maybe; I had to make this joke somehow.

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Come on Feel the Noize! The Story of How Rock Became Metal (Updated)

Come on Feel the Noize also offers a few terrific updates for those not following the latest news.

Cum on Feel the Noize Documentary PosterCleopatra Entertainment

VOD Release Date: December 3, 2019
Available on iTunes and Amazon PrimeCome on Feel the Noize.

Plenty of documentaries exploring the growth of heavy metal music exist. Come on Feel the Noize! The Story of How Rock Became Metal is a new feature which goes beyond how the original Slade song started defining a new sound. It hit number one in the UK Singles Chart upon release; the cover by Quiet Riot more than a decade later cemented a style of performance theatre into popular culture. Metal is also a lifestyle, a state of mind. There’s more to it than meets the eye–or rather the rapid rhythms from the drums and melodies squelched out with heavily distorted guitars.

Director Jörg Sonntag and writer Thore Vollert‘s work digs into what being metal is about. Their reveal is reminiscent of the 2018 Dutch film, Heavy Trip. However, this documentary is not simply about lifestyle choices. Instead, it’s on the evolution of the sound.

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Where is the Final Frontier with Devil’s Revenge?

Come on Feel the NoizeBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

VOD Release Date:
Oct 1, 2019 (iTunes)

Video Release Date:
Oct 15, 2019

  • Spoiler Alert

With three Star Trek alumni involved in Devil’s Revenge, what can go wrong? Not much. A leap of faith is required to understand how a family deals with a curse placed upon the whole generational line. When Sergio (Jason Brooks) has to locate a lost relic (a fetish) that’s also a key to unleashing Orc-like minions, just touching it is enough to cause hallucinations. He raced out of the cave like a bat out of hell. These phantoms are not those bikers from Nicola’s Cage Mandy, but they look like they sure can be!

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The 27 Club (2019), A Movie Review

The 27 Club Movie PosterRelease date: June 11, 2019

Soundtrack includes original songs by Evante, Knox, Jürgen Engler (die Krupps), Geri-X and Todd Rundgren with Trent Reznor.

Not to be confused with the 2008 film of the same name, The 27 Club is a 2019 horror flick exploring the urban myth of why some rock stars died at a specific age. Patrick Fogarty (Legion of the Black) wrote, directed and edited this modestly budgeted work, and Maddisyn Carter played Lily, a singer-songwriter wanting fame. Her initial plucky naivety is charmingly cute. She learns about the world she’s in from student filmmaker Jason Reeve (Derrick Denicola), and it paves the way to making bargains with occult forces for fame.

Professor Crawford (Todd Rundgren) may well know more and the young lad makes the mistake of not investigating the right people. Had he played hero, he may have saved a soul than let another one in.

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