20th Century Boys

No longform manga since Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira rocked my planet harder than Naoki Urusawa's 20th Century Boys - - - except maybe his Monster, which I haven't read yet. Moviebound for years now, a teaser's out at fucking last. And a teaser it is. Superlative use of that T Rex riff notwithstanding, it isn't much . . .but if you've read the manga or if you're not in kindergarten anymore, this will make you drool more than that potentially sucky kid's movie with Robert Downey in red armor coming to brand us stupid in a few weeks.

4bia

Stupid,punny title. See Prang rings better. The four-piece Thai horror anthology tackles various makes and models of fears - - phobias, get it? In rough order - - - a mysterious text message, a cursed diploma, a camping trip gone fuckup and a dead princess on a plane. My soft spot for horror anthologies notwithstanding,what hooks me is the involvement of Yongyoot Thongkongtoon of Iron Ladies and the tag team of Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom who may have soiled us with the abysmal Alone but also gave us the brilliant Shutter. Quality, then,of a sort. Plus, Pisanthanakun and Wongpoom go solo on an episode each so maybe now we'll know who fucked Alone up. Or not. The plane episode (Wongpoom's) has burrowed under my skin on those snippets alone - - - but everything else looks promising. Wise Kwai has a more in-depth breakdown.

Linger

Mad Detective is on DVD. The Sparrow premieres in Berlin this year. And Linger opens January 10 in Hong Kong. When one of your favorite filmmakers on the planet is as indefatigably prolific as and as impervious to making a dud as Johnnie To is, heaven is a place on earth.