Press

Cathedral City’s LGBT Days, scheduled for Easter Weekend, March 30 – April 1, will honor the LGBT community and celebrate the diversity of Cathedral City. The free weekend festival includes an opening night kickoff party, the 4th annual community LGBT Days bed race, live musical performances, outdoor dancing, food, beverages, and community booths.

JOSHUA TREE — This Saturday evening, the Charles J. Evered House—an artist residency program of the Hi-Desert Cultural Center for artists who have served in the military or in conflict zones—is producing a benefit fundraiser and dramatic play reading of ADOPT A SAILOR, an award-winning comedy written by the program’s founder, CHARLES B. EVERED.

Welcome to the magical month of December; where people are decking the halls, lighting the candles, packing the malls and not wearing sandals.

Kenji (Hayate) is on the hunt for his sister Mayumi (Mana Sakura), who has disappeared without a trace. He is a driven man however, so he is determined to find her and return her to safety, regardless of what that entails. His mastery of the martial arts won't hurt either, as he will face off with some nasty folks by the end.

Having previously reviewed Kurando Mitsutake’s absolutely batshit insane revenge film GUN WOMAN I was beyond delighted when the screener for his latest film KARATE KILL appeared in my mailbox.

After losing touch with his sister a young Japanese fella named Kenji (Hayate) is finally given the opportunity to search for her. But as she's gone missing on the other side of the world trying to make it under the bright lights of LA, where does he start? Fortunately for him a kick in the face translates into exactly the same thing all over the world.

I have learned a lot in my time on Earth but one thing that is possibly the important is that anything can be accomplished in life using one’s own mastery of karate. That is obviously something that director Kurando Mitsutake has known for some time as he’s continued to show love for the martial arts going back to Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf.

Karate Kill is yet another slice of cinematic madness from Mitsutake, one that harkens back to the days of Godfrey Ho’s choppily-edited ninja movies, the epics of Sonny Chiba and those grainy VHS-era relics of kung-fu cinema that inspired a generation of filmmakers (and rappers, cough, Wu-Tang Clan, cough). Only it’s also filled with the type of exploitation action that is typically reserved for horror films.

If you are unfamiliar with the work of writer and director Kurando Mitsutake, it is time for you to remedy that situation. Kurando has directed four films – Monsters Don’t Get to Cry (2007) , Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf (2009, and Kurando plays the lead as well as doing the writing and directing duties), Gun Woman (2014) and Karate Kill (2016 but just had its United States release on July 18 of this year) and each film is better than the last, as you would expect as he gains experience.

Revenge flicks are like soft ice cream dispensers at an all-you-can eat movie buffet. You can fill up on your dramas and your romances and your high-brow comedies, but what you really came here for is the sweet stuff, and most revenge films tap right into that craving with tons of action, lots of great motivation, and usually some hyper-graphic violence that leap well over the line of good sensible taste.