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Tom Mes

@midnightmes.bsky.social

Writes and talks about Japanese films a lot.

33 Posts263 Follower19 Folgt
Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · 3mo ago

One of my bucket list titles finally makes it onto the @filmsradiance.bsky.social slate. We tried before but decided to wait for the 4k restoration. It was worth it. bsky.app/profile/film...

Radiance Films@filmsradiance.bsky.social · 3mo ago

UK/US: The nine mistresses of a TV Exec. conspire with his wife to have him killed in Kon Ichikawa’s dark satire TEN WOMEN IN BLACK, written by his own wife Natto Wada. This release boasts a new 4K restoration by Kadokawa and includes a feature-length documentary on Ichikawa.

Radiance Films@filmsradiance.bsky.social · 5mo ago

💿June Announcements💿 Arriving this summer are two works by acclaimed director Shohei Imamura from different ends of his career, a satirical post-68 crime drama and a furious debut around dehumanising psychiatric treatments. Plus, a new volume of our “dirty arthouse” zine!

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Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Actor/director Hideo Sakaki, best known outside Japan for his co-starring role in Versus, was sentenced to 8 years in prison today for sexual assault on two actresses news.ntv.co.jp/category/soc...

【速報】映画監督・榊英雄被告に懲役8年の判決　俳優の女性に対する準強姦の罪「お互い男と女になっている中での行為」と無罪主張も　東京地裁（2026年3月6日掲載）｜日テレNEWS NNN

俳優の女性2人に性的暴行を加えた罪に問われ、無罪を主張していた映画監督の榊英雄被告（55）に対し、東京地裁は懲役8年の判決を言い渡しました。

news.ntv.co.jp

Radiance Films@filmsradiance.bsky.social · 6mo ago

UK/US: A lost gem of '70s Japanese cinema, AESTHETICS OF A BULLET shows a lowly street-vendor becoming mixed up in yakuza rivalry and getting way over his head. Released on Blu-ray for the first time, featuring appreciations by filmmakers Robert Schwentke and Kazuyoshi Kumakiri

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Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The full line-up for the V-Cinema focus program I curated for the International Film Festival Rotterdam is up now: iffr.com/en/iffr/2026... Miike, Kurosawa, Aoyama, Takashi Ishii and lots of films that have never been shown in a theater before. Plus the full Crime Hunter trilogy!

Focus: V-cinema Archives - IFFR EN

Japan’s direct-to-video phenomenon V-Cinema emerged in the late 1980s and left a lasting mark in contemporary film culture. The V-Cinema production model responded to the rise of video rental, by prod...

iffr.com

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Great to be part of this set and the ongoing rediscovery of Takashi Ishii by Third Window. These are challenging but very worthwhile films, with a fine set of colleagues providing extras to boot.

Third Window Films@thirdwindowfilms.com · 8mo ago

Takashi Ishii: The Angel Guts Collection Limited edition set w/booklet by Midori Suiren Order @terracottadist.bsky.social shop.terracottadistribution.com/products/tak... Bonus features from @jbalmont.bsky.social @jaspersharp.bsky.social @midnightmes.bsky.social @timessqkungfu.bsky.social + more!

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · 8mo ago

And Agitator also gets a US standalone release. Both this and the box contain the 200-minute extended cut, available in its original two-part form for the first time since the 2001 Japanese VHS release

Radiance Films@filmsradiance.bsky.social · 8mo ago

US: AGITATOR will also be released as a standalone Limited Edition in US/CA. Both discs include the 200 min extended version, presented in its original two-part format for the first time outside of Japan.

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Radiance's first Miike release and a big one: three of his best films in one set. Includes new interviews with Miike on all 3 films plus much more

Radiance Films@filmsradiance.bsky.social · 8mo ago

UK: Takashi Miike’s transition from DTV ‘V-cinema’ to international acclaim is charted in UNDERWORLD CHRONICLES, collecting three yakuza fables UNDERWORLD CHRONICLES includes a 4K UHD of FUDOH: THE NEW GENERATION, and Blu-rays of AGITATOR and DEADLY OUTLAW: REKKA.

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · 9mo ago

The cat's out of the bag: I'm curating a V-Cinema focus program for the upcoming International Film Festival Rotterdam www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

Rotterdam Film Fest Unveils Focus Program on Japanese V-Cinema Phenomenon

The direct-to-video trend that emerged in the late 1980s “left a lasting mark on contemporary film culture,” organizers said. The focus program will “feature early works by now-famous auteurs, through...

hollywoodreporter.com

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · 9mo ago

As much of a genre game-changer as Battles Without Honour and Humanity four years earlier. Our release comes with contributions from Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, writer Koji Takada, yakuza film historian Akihiko Ito and yours truly, along with an archival interview with director Sadao Nakajima

Radiance Films@filmsradiance.bsky.social · 9mo ago

UK/US: Long unavailable outside of Japan, Sadao Nakajima’s sprawling THE JAPANESE GODFATHER TRILOGY is based on the true story of the country’s largest crime syndicate. All Blu-ray world premieres, special features include a new filmed interview with screenwriter Koji Takada.

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Radiance's biggest release yet, co-produced by Francesco Simeoni and myself: a big box full of peak Oshima

Radiance Films@filmsradiance.bsky.social · 12mo ago

UK: Considered one of the most vital and celebrated bodies of work in cinema history, RADICAL JAPAN: CINEMA AND STATE presents 9 films by the great Nagisa Oshima over 7 discs This world premiere release showcases 7 features, an experimental short and the filmmaker’s 1995 doc plus a 160-page book

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · last yr.

My latest production for @filmsradiance.bsky.social is this very fine 1960s chanbara, which among other delights has one of the jaw-droppingest finales the genre has to offer

Radiance Films@filmsradiance.bsky.social · last yr.

UK/US: An underappreciated great of Samurai cinema, an honourable swordsman finds himself framed, exiled and hunted in the breathtaking THE BETRAYAL. This world Blu-ray premiere includes select-scene commentary by @midnightmes and a visual essay by Philip Kemp.

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · last yr.

The gist of yesterday's Sion Sono press conference: "It's all lies. I'm the only victim here." Reporter: "But a judge acknowledged your sexual improprieties as fact." Sono: "That was just an afterword to the real verdict. It doesn't count."

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · last yr.

Lots more extras geared up for this one. These next three films are at least as much fun as the original trilogy, with Raizo continuing as a different ninja character

Radiance Films@filmsradiance.bsky.social · last yr.

UK/US: Three more spectacular tales of ninja action await in SHINOBI VOL. 2, with Raizo Ichikawa appearing as a ninja with a grudge against a supreme Shogun. Extras include new interviews with film historians Taichi Kasuga and Mance Thompson and 6 exclusive postcards.

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · last yr.

Whoever said 1980s Japanese cinema was dull never saw Yusaku Matsuda kill off his action hero persona by playing a nihilistic mass murderer with a thing for Chopin and Rip Van Winkle

Radiance Films@filmsradiance.bsky.social · last yr.

UK/US: Yusaku Matsuda (Yokohama BJ Blues) is a mentally unstable war photographer searching for a criminal accomplice in THE BEAST TO DIE. Extras include new interviews with director Toru Murakawa, writer Schoichi Maruyama and an appreciation from @jordanharper.bsky.social

Intake Cinema@intakecinema.bsky.social · last yr.

Just finished listening to this excellent conversation between Samm Deighan and Tom Mes on V-Cinema. I especially loved the ending, touching on the gaps that are still yet to be uncovered in Japanese cinema. Highly recommend giving this a listen.

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · last yr.

With @arrowvideo.bsky.social's box set V-Cinema Essentials: Bullets & Betrayal on the horizon, I sit down with Samm Deighan to talk about, of course, Japanese straight-to-video movies! cinepunx.com/eros-massacr...

Tom Mes@midnightmes.bsky.social · last yr.

With @arrowvideo.bsky.social's box set V-Cinema Essentials: Bullets & Betrayal on the horizon, I sit down with Samm Deighan to talk about, of course, Japanese straight-to-video movies! cinepunx.com/eros-massacr...

Eros + Massacre Episode 16: Japanese V-Cinema with Tom Mes

It's spring equinox and Eros + Massacre is emerging from hibernation! This first episode of 2025 is a discussion with cinema historian Tom Mes. He's an international treasure and many of you were lik

cinepunx.com