Author Archives

I let the diversity of the subjects I cover represent myself.

• Drop Review: Like A Kick To The Gut That You Know Connected

  By Franklin Raines on March 21, 2013 • ( 0 )

  

  In Japanese culture dating back at least a few decades, the role of a middle/high school delinquent is often characterized by often skipping class, getting into fights, chain smoking, and generally trying to act like a bad-ass. The image of… Read More ›

• Mazinkaiser SKL Review: Well That Was Pretty Metal

  By Franklin Raines on March 5, 2013 • ( 3 )

  

  Super Robot anime has two immediate appeals in this modern era. The first, being fantastic opening theme music and the second, which I will go into more detail later, is accessibility.  Super group Jam Project is a great example of… Read More ›

• The Thin Man Review: I Am Sorry, But Your Fast Yet Adorable Talking Seems To Have Lost Me

  By Franklin Raines on January 15, 2013 • ( 0 )

  

  If I ever made a list of film genres that I have very little personal experience with, at the top would sit exclusively Romance.  By this I mean a film that is meant to be taken first and foremost as… Read More ›

• Miami Connection Special: A Film Of Escalation In A Miami Without Irony

  By Franklin Raines on January 10, 2013 • ( 0 )

  

  One day taking place sometime ago; fellow esteemed CotBF writer Alex emailed me a trailer for a midnight released film that he wanted us desperately to attend. After considering the trailer to be fantastic (I usually avoid watching trailers because of the… Read More ›

• The Shadowman Review: He Might Just Be My New Favorite Super Hero

  By Franklin Raines on January 4, 2013 • ( 0 )

  

  Whenever I think of Japan’s equivalent of the usually caped-crusaders found in abundance in America, I tend to think Tokusatsu. But Tokusatsu tends to see live-action television venues, where if you consider one of the terms’ progenitors, Shotaro Ishinimori’s Kamen… Read More ›

• Month Long Hiatus

  By Franklin Raines on December 5, 2012 • ( 1 )

  Next week is finals week and so we will be taking off the rest of the month to study and write some future reviews for the stock pile (shocker, some of our reviews are not just written two hours before… Read More ›

• The Black Order Brigade Review: WE ARE STILL FIT TO FIGHT…Well, Most of Us Anyway

  By Franklin Raines on November 20, 2012 • ( 0 )

  

  While I may have gone in detail before about my start reading comics, I might not have mentioned the method that used to find comics. As someone who had been reading Manga for years by the time I started getting… Read More ›

• All Quiet On The Western Front Special: Yes, Another Class Asked For One

  By Franklin Raines on November 15, 2012 • ( 0 )

  

  The 1930’s film All Quite on the Western Front is directed by Lewis Millstone (known for both the Of Mice and Men film adaption from 1940 and the original Ocean’s 11 from 1960) from an adaptation of German writer Erich… Read More ›

• October Horror Special: Tokyo Zombie

  By Franklin Raines on October 27, 2012 • ( 0 )

  

  2005’s Tokyo Zombie is directed and written by Sakichi Satô. In lieu of referencing other things that I can bet my bottom dollar will never be released in the States, how about I reference some of his non-directorial credits for… Read More ›

• City Hunter The Motion Picture Review: So You Say This Is Not The City Hunter Film ?

  By Franklin Raines on October 23, 2012 • ( 0 )

  

  When mangaka Tsukasa Hojo started releasing his manga City Hunter within the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump, he started the ball rolling for what would be an almost fifteen yearlong franchise. By the end of City Hunter’s six year serialization… Read More ›

• October Horror Special: Art of The Devil 2

  By Franklin Raines on October 20, 2012 • ( 0 )

  

  Well if this did not interest me greatly; the 2005’s Art of the Devil 2 being directed by seven different people would. I will list them accordingly as members of the self-entitled “Ronin Team”: Pasith Buranajan, Kongkiat Khomsiri, Isara Nadee,… Read More ›

• October Horror Special: Eternal Evil of Asia

  By Franklin Raines on October 13, 2012 • ( 0 )

  

  1995’s Eternal Evil of Asia is directed by Man Kei Chin. Considering practically everything he has directed that has never been released over here (Eternal Evil’s practically unknown presence only helps this notion), I can say with conviction that my… Read More ›

• October Horror Special: A Tale of Two Sisters

  By Franklin Raines on October 6, 2012 • ( 0 )

  

  2003’s A Tale of Two Sisters, is directed by Kim Ji-woon, who with fellow director Park Chan-wook, encapsulate most of the South Korean film and brings it to American attention. Starting with the big boom of Two Sisters, moderate attention… Read More ›