The Japanese ‘first lady of vengeance’ who inspired Kill Bill Meiko Kaji’s headstrong action heroes have shaped films from Star Wars to Aliens – and earned adoration from Tarantino

Great #meikokaji profile in the @telegraph.co.uk by James Balmont @jbalmont.bsky.social 🔥🔥

"The Japanese 'first lady of vengeance' who inspired Kill Bill. Today Kaji's influence can be seen in all kinds of Western media"

www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2026/0...

The Japanese ‘first lady of vengeance’ who inspired Kill Bill Meiko Kaji’s headstrong action heroes have shaped films from Star Wars to Aliens – and earned adoration from Tarantino

What an incredible honour to interview Lady Snowblood herself - Meiko Kaji - during her first NYC visit in decades. Thanks so much to @japansociety.org, @wewantsounds.bsky.social & @arrowvideo.bsky.social for helping bring this dream feature to life!

www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2026/0...

The Japanese ‘first lady of vengeance’ who inspired Kill Bill Meiko Kaji’s headstrong action heroes have shaped films from Star Wars to Aliens – and earned adoration from Tarantino

What an incredible honour to interview Lady Snowblood herself - Meiko Kaji - during her first NYC visit in decades. Thanks so much to @japansociety.org, @wewantsounds.bsky.social & @arrowvideo.bsky.social for helping bring this dream feature to life!

www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2026/0...

Gutted to hear this

Blue Spring - SOLD OUT
Nine Souls - just a few tickets left ✨

TONIGHT! Last tickets

I’m introducing a rare Toshiaki Toyoda double bill at @thenickelcinema.bsky.social this Easter Monday w/ @thirdwindowfilms.com!

If you’re in London, join us for two of my fav Y2K Japanese films:

18:00 - Blue Spring thenickel.co.uk/screening/245

20:15 - Nine Souls thenickel.co.uk/screening/246

I’m introducing a rare Toshiaki Toyoda double bill at @thenickelcinema.bsky.social this Easter Monday w/ @thirdwindowfilms.com!

If you’re in London, join us for two of my fav Y2K Japanese films:

18:00 - Blue Spring thenickel.co.uk/screening/245

20:15 - Nine Souls thenickel.co.uk/screening/246

Who is Takashi Miike? An intro to Japanese cinema’s cult provocateur The filmmaker speaks to Dazed about the wild west of 90s video-making, the ‘irreplaceable freedom’ of low budgets, and his upcoming film with Charli xcx

Such a treat to have a very brief catch-up with the legend Takashi Miike for @dazeddigital.com - celebrating @filmsradiance.bsky.social’s new box set of Miike video classics as he preps new features with Charli XCX and the forthcoming ‘Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo’
www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/arti...

Who is Takashi Miike? An intro to Japanese cinema’s cult provocateur The filmmaker speaks to Dazed about the wild west of 90s video-making, the ‘irreplaceable freedom’ of low budgets, and his upcoming film with Charli xcx

Such a treat to have a very brief catch-up with the legend Takashi Miike for @dazeddigital.com - celebrating @filmsradiance.bsky.social’s new box set of Miike video classics as he preps new features with Charli XCX and the forthcoming ‘Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo’
www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/arti...

I keep her Photograph with me

Really proud to share the 2nd track from Swim Deep’s fifth album ‘Hum’ today. ‘Photograph’ is one of my fav tracks. Thanks to the boys and producer @billryderjones.bsky.social for letting me stick those Procol Harum organs in the mix like a prime ‘60s ballad ✨ open.spotify.com/track/7Aq7hx...

I keep her Photograph with me

Really proud to share the 2nd track from Swim Deep’s fifth album ‘Hum’ today. ‘Photograph’ is one of my fav tracks. Thanks to the boys and producer @billryderjones.bsky.social for letting me stick those Procol Harum organs in the mix like a prime ‘60s ballad ✨ open.spotify.com/track/7Aq7hx...

The Interview: Kei Ishikawa The director and writer on adapting A Pale View of Hills for the big screen as it arrives in cinemas this week

Such a great privilege to go deep with Kei Ishikawa on his stunning, Cannes-approved adaptation of ‘A Pale View of Hills’, the cryptic and magnetic debut novel from Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro artreview.com/the-intervie... read via @artreview.bsky.social

Blue Spring #青い春
Directed by Toshiaki Toyoda
Screens as a double-bill with 9 Souls in London on April 6 @thenickelcinema.bsky.social
Hosted by @jbalmont.bsky.social
thenickel.co.uk/screening/245

Out on bluray from #thirdwindowfilms
Order @terracottadist.bsky.social

Inside Resurrection, Bi Gan’s dreamlike cinematic epic ‘It was pure chaos’: Featuring a Y2K romance, gangsters and vampires, Bi Gan tells us about his Cannes-winning Resurrection – a neon-soaked fever dream that spans a century of cinema

Ahead of the UK cinematic release of 'Resurrection' - my favourite film of the year - this Friday, I spoke with Bi Gan about that incredible 40-minute unbroken long shot and the movie's wider aesthetic influences for @dazeddigital.com www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/arti...

The Interview: Kei Ishikawa The director and writer on adapting A Pale View of Hills for the big screen as it arrives in cinemas this week

Such a great privilege to go deep with Kei Ishikawa on his stunning, Cannes-approved adaptation of ‘A Pale View of Hills’, the cryptic and magnetic debut novel from Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro artreview.com/the-intervie... read via @artreview.bsky.social

Inside Resurrection, Bi Gan’s dreamlike cinematic epic ‘It was pure chaos’: Featuring a Y2K romance, gangsters and vampires, Bi Gan tells us about his Cannes-winning Resurrection – a neon-soaked fever dream that spans a century of cinema

Ahead of the UK cinematic release of 'Resurrection' - my favourite film of the year - this Friday, I spoke with Bi Gan about that incredible 40-minute unbroken long shot and the movie's wider aesthetic influences for @dazeddigital.com www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/arti...

‘Do what you really want to do while you’re still alive’: Masayoshi Takanaka, the Japanese guitar hero surfing a second wave in his 70s Playing a surfboard-shaped axe, Takanaka was a stadium-level artist at home but little known in the west – until YouTube brought him a huge new audience

He's 72 years old, plays a surfboard guitar, and sold out two nights at Brixton Academy in minutes. Introducing legendary Japanese guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka, who's enjoying an unexpected late-career boom in the West (@theguardian.com) theguardian.com/music/2026/m...
@lightintheattic.bsky.social

The 100 Greatest Cinemas In The World Right Now Classic kinos, cult film temples and fabulous picture palaces from across the planet

Honoured to have helped curate and write this huge new list of the world’s 100 greatest cinemas for @timeout-london-rss.bsky.social ! Read my entries on filmhouses in Dublin, Shanghai, Yokohama, Bangkok, Hong Kong, London and more… www.timeout.com/film/the-100...

The 100 Greatest Cinemas In The World Right Now Classic kinos, cult film temples and fabulous picture palaces from across the planet

Honoured to have helped curate and write this huge new list of the world’s 100 greatest cinemas for @timeout-london-rss.bsky.social ! Read my entries on filmhouses in Dublin, Shanghai, Yokohama, Bangkok, Hong Kong, London and more… www.timeout.com/film/the-100...

‘Do what you really want to do while you’re still alive’: Masayoshi Takanaka, the Japanese guitar hero surfing a second wave in his 70s Playing a surfboard-shaped axe, Takanaka was a stadium-level artist at home but little known in the west – until YouTube brought him a huge new audience

He's 72 years old, plays a surfboard guitar, and sold out two nights at Brixton Academy in minutes. Introducing legendary Japanese guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka, who's enjoying an unexpected late-career boom in the West (@theguardian.com) theguardian.com/music/2026/m...
@lightintheattic.bsky.social

One week today I’ll be introducing a double-bill of @thirdwindowfilms.com Nobuhiko Obayashi classics at @thenickelcinema.bsky.social !

Come down on March 3 for School in the Crosshairs and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time ✨

TIX: thenickel.co.uk

One week today I’ll be introducing a double-bill of @thirdwindowfilms.com Nobuhiko Obayashi classics at @thenickelcinema.bsky.social !

Come down on March 3 for School in the Crosshairs and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time ✨

TIX: thenickel.co.uk

Spotted in the wild at the Irish Film Institute in Dublin: the new @thirdwindowfilms.com ‘Angel Guts’ box set featuring my video essay on the series on disc 2 ✨

‘It’s a nice surprise to be treated like kings!’ Why are mid-level British indie bands massive in China? My group, Swim Deep, plays to crowds of hundreds across the UK – but in China, we play to tens of thousands. And we’re not the only ones

"When I joined Swim Deep 13 years ago, my dreams were much like those of any young musician... what I hadn’t counted on was finding a fanbase in China."

Thrilled to share my latest piece for @theguardian.com, feat. @seapowerband.bsky.social & @thekvb.bsky.social!
www.theguardian.com/music/2026/f...

thanks!

‘It’s a nice surprise to be treated like kings!’ Why are mid-level British indie bands massive in China? My group, Swim Deep, plays to crowds of hundreds across the UK – but in China, we play to tens of thousands. And we’re not the only ones

"When I joined Swim Deep 13 years ago, my dreams were much like those of any young musician... what I hadn’t counted on was finding a fanbase in China."

Thrilled to share my latest piece for @theguardian.com, feat. @seapowerband.bsky.social & @thekvb.bsky.social!
www.theguardian.com/music/2026/f...

Sex, ghosts and ‘The Matrix’: 130 years of Regent Street Cinema The rise and fall and rise again of Britain’s most historic cinema – 130 years on

Regent St Cinema was the first place in Britain to show the Lumiere Brothers' moving images in 1896. It celebrates 130 yrs of cinema in the UK this month, so I went down to the Westminster University archives to unpack its history for @timeout-london-rss.bsky.social : www.timeout.com/london/news/...

Nine Essential Records From Taiwan’s Ambient History Dve into Taiwan’s ambient music tradition, traced through nine rare and influential records spanning the 1980s to the present.

Inspired by Pure Person Press’ stunning new compilation ‘Sounds of Taiwan’, I went down a fascinating rabbit hope tracing Taiwan’s ambient music tradition with figures like Lim Giong and Jimi Chen for @discogsofficial.bsky.social. Check out my findings via the site! www.discogs.com/digs/music/e...

28 Years Later and the Zombie as Spent Metaphor In Nia DaCosta’s recently released 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, the undead confront a world already saturated with horror

Making my debut for @artreview.bsky.social today with a piece that explores the origins of the cinematic living dead and asks: are zombies still relevant in 2026? artreview.com/28-years-lat...