Carly Hunter Movies

Veteran Hong Kong director Herman Yau (The Untold Story, Taxi Hunter) takes the helm for this period adventure about a 19th Century Chinese woman who assumed the identity of a man to fight the oppression of women. A rebellious paramilitary leader and revolutionary poet, Qui Jin uses every weapon at her disposal to battle the tyrannical leaders at a time when women were seen as inferior to men. Shocking authorities and political leaders by donning men's clothes as a symbol of rebellion, she altered the course of history by refusing to admit defeat even when death was imminent. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A monster from outer space gets a less-than-warm welcome from a band of ancient warriors in this over-the-top exploitation picture from writer and director Seiji Chiba. In feudal Japan, a strange flaming object falls from the sky, and when reports of mysterious deaths follow, three ninja warriors are sent out to investigate -- brave Yamata (Masanori Mimoto), stealthy Jinnai (Shuji Kashiwabara) and their silly sidekick Nezumi (Donpei Tsuchihira). What the ninjas find is outside their previous experience -- a bloodthirsty creature from another world that has arrived on Earth and plans to kill everything in its path. However, the alien didn't count on the tenacity or the fighting skills of the ninjas, and they set upon the creature with the help of sword-swinging female ninja Rin (Mika Hijii). Of course, the alien didn't travel alone, and it isn't long before the warriors are making mincemeat of a whole platoon of beasts from another ugly world. Alien vs. Ninja received its world premiere at the 2010 New York Asian Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Twenty years after fast draw drifter Vash the Stampede foiled an ambitious robbery by notorious outlaw Gasback, the pair clash in Macca City as Gasback prepares to steal a valuable installation. When Vash's old pal Wolfwood gets in on the fun, things really start to get interesting. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Japanese anime guru Kazuaki Kiriya ascended to prominence with his sprawling fantasy Casshern (2004), a tale that coupled post-apocalyptic visions with early 21st century design, and shared the success of the manga and anime from which Kiriya and his colleagues adapted it. Kiriya waited five years before emerging with this follow-up, produced by J-horror godfather Takashige Ichise (The Grudge). Described by more than one source in the press as a Japanese equivalent of Robin Hood, it unfurls in the late 16th century. The year is 1582, and the most miserly warlord in Japan, Oda Nobunaga, promptly falls prey to an assassin's blade and is succeeded by his own right-hand-man, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (voiced by Eiji Okuda). Unfortunately, all is far from well on the sociological front: a huge chasm exists between rich and poor, and evening things out is super-thief Goemon (voice of Yosuke Eguchi), who spends his day redistributing wealth to the lower economic classes. Fate takes an intriguing turn when Goemon acquires a small, ornate, handcrafted box of foreign design that he swipes from a merchant and hands to a homeless kid (voice of Arashi Fukasawa). Also after the box is the bugyo (or administrator) of Hideyoshi, who sends a vicious ninja (Kirigakure Saizo) out to take care of Goemon and retrieve the item; Goemon recovers it first, however, while saving the young homeless boy from a bellicose swordsman (voice of Tetsuji Tamayama). In no time at all, Goemon finds himself being pursued by everyone under the sun including Mitsunari, re-encounters a lost love from his past, Cha Cha (voice of Ryoko Hirosue) and realizes that the box will play an integral role in the nation's future. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A ninja walks away from his life as a warrior only to find he must embrace it again late in life in this action drama based on a popular manga by Sampei Shirato. As a young man, Kamui (Kenichi Matsuyama) was strong, agile and had the talent to become a great ninja fighter. However, as he learned the way of the warrior, he encountered too many ninjas who used their abilities for vicious or self-serving reasons, and in disgust he walked away from his training, spending fourteen years as a recluse wandering in the mountains. When Kamui makes his way to the seashore, he meets Hanbei (Kaoru Kobayashi), a fisherman who shares the former ninja's sense of honor and propriety. Though Hanbei's wife Oshika (Koyuki) is wary of the stranger, the fisherman and Kamui become fast friends, but Kamui doesn't enjoy the peace of the seaside for very long. A band of ninjas turned pirates invade Hanbei's village, and Kamui must reacquaint himself with his warrior training to defend his friend and new neighbors from the violent horde; Kamui also must protect Hanbei's daughter (Suzuka Ohgo), with whom he's fallen in love. Directed by Yoichi Sai, Kamui Gaiden (aka Kamui) received its North American premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Fun and games become a matter of life and death when Conan, Ai, Ran and the Boys find themselves among the lucky 50 kids selected to test out a new virtual reality video game. The game transports them to 19th century London where they begin tracking down the famous killer Jack the Ripper, but soon, all the games exits inexplicably become closed, leaving the kids to fend for themselves. Now it's up to Conan and the gang to outsmart the computer before it's Game Over for everyone. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

The anime fantasy opus Origin: Spirits of the Past commences with a backstory prologue set in an ancient era, when the moon awakened the forest and unleashed a terrible, destructive beast upon the Earth. As the story proper opens, the landscape of the world has changed immeasurably. Mankind is divided into two warring factions: one that seeks a peaceful, harmonious balance with the forest, and another that wishes to dominate and control it. Agito, the young hero of the story, unwittingly triggers the destruction of all that lies before him by awakening Toola from her slumber. Agitated at the degree to which civilization has changed, Toola summons an eons-old technology to rebuild the future based on the design of a past civilization. Agito then seeks the forest's blessing before attempting to rescue the girl from her own destructive desires. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

This full-length anime feature film from the action-packed Initial D franchise follows underground drift racer Takumi as he prepares for the race that will cement his place in the racing world. Takumi is the fastest driver there is, but it looks like he'll face serious competition both on the road and off. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

This full length feature film from the anime franchise Case Closed finds detective Conan investigating a number of murdered police officers - one of whom is killed in front of Ran. She soon blocks out the traumatic memory, but Conan must help her recover it if he's going to stop the killer from taking down another man in uniform. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

This film from the "Fullmetal Alchemist" anime franchise finds the Elric brothers traveling through a slum inhabited by the Milos, an oppressed people who are in the midst of planning an uprising -- one that Alphonse and Edward soon become caught up in. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi