Tom Mes

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...

💿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!

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...

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

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.

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'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

Thanks to Variety for a headline that is sure to sell extra tickets variety.com/2025/film/fe...

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...

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

Another OOP Booklet Essay has been republished on our Substack, an intro to the world of Daiei Gothic by @midnightmes.bsky.social from our first boxset (ahead of the second instalment in October) open.substack.com/pub/radiance...

More DAIEI GOTHIC coming to get you this Halloween!

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

Happy 20th anniversary @thirdwindowfilms.com ! You've done trailblazing work in expanding the horizons of Japanese film releasing. Here's to many more!

Go get 'em all!

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

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

Hard to believe I've known this man for half my life. Thanks to @arrowvideo.bsky.social for the opportunity to meet up again. Look for announcements in the near future

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.

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...

At Radiance we continue the streak of Tai Kato releases with his fabulous version of the classic Yotsuya Ghost Story

UK/US: Based on the real exploits of seven-time prison escapee, THE RAPACIOUS JAILBREAKER is a raw work of 70s Japanese cinema starring Hiroki Matsukata (Hokuriku Proxy War) This thrilling release comes with audio commentary by Nathan Stuart and a visual essay by @midnightmes.bsky.social

It was a great pleasure to appear on the podcast, not in the least because I have a long history with Mondo Macabro, going back to when it was just the title of a book and not yet the name of a company

Arrow's Toei V-cinema box set is here! Been working on this for much of the past months, producing all the interviews and making my visual essay. I originally recommended these nine titles and am very glad Arrow picked them all up. Good times ahead! www.arrowfilms.com/blu-ray/v-ci...