easternKicks.com – how do you get yours?

It was my great uncle’s funeral this weekend. I know I must have met him a few times, but only fleetingly. The last time must easily have been 20 years ago or more. Families are funny things at the best of times, and my direct family has always been a bit too insular for it’s own good.

It was a touching ceremony on such beautiful sunny day – which my UK based readers will realise how lucky we were! – so it seemed a fitting send off. But a real surprise was finding out one of the things that lightened up his later years, other than endless CSI repeats, was Jackie Chan films! From all accounts they’d have him roaring with laughter.

Who knew?

Well, I wish I had. For one thing, I could have been keeping him supplied with all the latest. Maybe he could even have done the odd review for the site? Perhaps there’s something in our genetic make up, pulling us towards Jackie’s on-screen antics. Or maybe he just knew quality when he saw it?

So Bud, this one’s for you…

…and some old ones too! (Finally) embracing the social networks… (more…)

…so it looks like this is finally happening for real? Really hoping we don’t get the the whole Scorsese Departed debacle again…

I mean, as with Martin, I love Spike and his movies, but are we gonna get another shot for shot cover version, compounded by an (admittedly deserved, but not for that!) Oscar?

» View the rumours on the Guardian

Interesting piece on the Guardian today about the loosening of their film quota – but will it really make a difference?

» View the story on the Guardian

Yep. This time quoted in a press ad (our first, I think!) for Jang Hoon’s impressive The Front Line.

(Hmmm, oh yes, now I come to think of it we did say ‘Dazzling’! )

The Front Line is available now on Blu-ray and DVD from Cine-Asia.

It’s the Year of the Dragon. ‘Nuff said…

We welcome dakkar as a regular reviewer to our site, specialising in Anime. Enough: let’s just allow the fella to introduce himself… (more…)

The next issue of Jade Screen drops soon, and easternKicks have teamed-up with them to offer our readers a very special offer – just use the code below… (more…)

Yep, easternKicks is going to be in print (again) and on shelves very soon, this time in Jade Screen magazine.

Turns out Steve Rivers, boss of fan fave label Cine-Asia, is an even harder man to pin down than he let on – so our friends over at Jade Screen magazine will be representing our interview with him in their next issue (which will also feature a brand new look on the cover courtesy of a fab graphic designer not so far away…)

To celebrate this exciting tie-in, we’ll be offering something very special to easternKicks readers in the next few days…

It is with great sadness that we heard this week that Richard Larcombe, managing director of PR company The Associates, passed away on 5 August after a long illness. In his honour the guys and girls from the team have collected together some of their recollections of him. Our thoughts go out to his family, both real and extended at Associates…

Just in time for the release of Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance on Blu-ray and DVD on 20 June (though that might not be deliberate!), Uniqlo UK have brought out a a very limited edition series of Evangelion and Gundam T-shirts. At £12.99 a pop they’re a must for any Anime fan, and pretty cool for anyone else for that matter…

Tania Branigan of The Guardian visits the great Shaolin temple on the outskirts of Dengfeng and asks if the legendary martial arts style is not becoming a victim to it’s popularity in Hollywood films — partly kick started by the popularity of the 1982 film Shaolin Temple starring then wushu champion Jet Li.

What could be quite a tenuous Kung Fu Panda 2 tie-in is actually a rather informative article about Shaolin in the 21st century: with the Buddhist religion somewhat lost amongst franchised temples, ‘branches’ overseas and Pop Idol style kung fu talent programmes (Kung Fu Star).

» You can read the full article here.

You might have noticed that easternKicks.com looks a little different today. We’ve been beavering away in server rooms tweaking the site to bring you better functionality, highlight different articles more and (hopefully) make it a bit easier to get around!

It’s still a work in progress, so you might notice some elements falling off, looking a bit unsightly and generally a bit of a mess. If you do spot something do drop us a comment!

Cheers,
Andy

Cine Asia (not quite sure, but should there be a hyphen in there?) have just announced a ‘mega sale’ of existing titles, with DVDs from £3 and Blu-ray’s from £6.99. So if you’ve fancied getting some of their quality editions of films they’ve been putting out over the years, or just want to expand your collection, now could be the time to start… Selected titles will be available from HMV, amazon, play.com, Tesco, Sainsbury and various retailers.

They’ve also taken the opportunity to revamp their website, and it’s vast improvement. (Perfect? Perhaps not quite, but then I would say that – I do this for a living…)

Go and take a look cine-asia.com…

Stephen Phelan of The Guardian visits Japan’s Iga-Ueno ninja festival and finds mini assassins dressed to kill…!

» Read the full article here.

It’s not even due to be out till May, and already I’m getting excited about the UK theatrical release of Kim Jee-Woon’s I Saw The Devil… (more…)