A Flurry of Asian Films Coming To DVD In North America

Yes, yes. My Asian film fixation borders on the unhealthy and obsessive. I can't help it! There's so much good stuff out there, and there's more coming to our shores every day! Here's a list:

Artsmagic has confirmed Takashi Miike's Bird People of China for November 16th and Miike's pair of Young Thugs films for October 23rd. The ubiquitous Logboy is telling me that they've also got Miike's Kintaro: White Collar Worker slated for October 23rd. Bird People is by far the most anticipated of these titles for me, hence the great big picture. It's just simply a beautiful film, an adult fairy tale of sorts, and it hasn't been seen by nearly as many people as it should've been. It's a dramatic change of pace for Miike and he does it so well that I wish he would go this way more often.

Less compelling for me, but a pretty big deal for his many fans, is word that Tokyo Shock / Media Blasters will be releasing a pair of Ryuhei Kitamura titles. Aragami hits November 16th and Alive comes October 26th. As flawed as it is I love Kitamura's Versus but to my mind he's been on a downward slide ever since. I'm just praying that he manages to finally put it all together again for Godzilla: Final Wars.