Saturday, August 28

Dead Ringer


Japanese teen idol Aya Ueto has a killer stare.

Last night, Jason texted me, raving about how Aya Ueto, the Japanese teen idol who plays the titular female assassin in Ryuhei Kitamura's Samurai era slasher Azumi, would be perfect to play as my own Agent K in K.I.A.. Well, looking at the pic above, I'd be inclined to agree- she even has the hair down, and the killer stare that could give Go Go Yubari a run for her money. Heh.

Anyway, Azumi is now available in local DVD stalls; I watched a version sans subtitles, and I found the action a bit on the messy, undisciplined side... I guess they didn't have Yuen Wo-Ping to choreograph their fights. Like Versus, this film has more attitude than real substance, but it's still a cool watch. And it's always hilarious to see Jo Odagiri (who played the growling, snarling Yakuza hitman from Versus) once again go CRAZY in this one as an effeminate master swordsman.
Azumi is a fictional tale of a small group of youths trained to become assassins to stop a growing war in Feudal Japan. Aya Ueto plays Azumi, the lone female and the fastest swordarm in the group. A sequel, Azumi 2, is already filming and will co-star the lovely Chiaki Kuriyama (Go Go in Kill Bill).

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