The Plotters by Un-su Kim is a fantastical crime novel set in an alternate Seoul where assassination guilds compete for market dominance. In Un-su Kim’s The Plotters, the assassins who stalk the shadowy streets of Seoul’s underworld are working stiffs. Killing others for fun and profit is a living—better than starving on the streets or…
If you haven't seen Korean director Chan-Woo Park's revenge masterpiece Oldboy you are really missing out. It is perfectly twisted and dark, right up there with Death Wish. Trust me, it will alter how you see the whole genre and give you a very sever case of The Creeps. Above is the trailer for the…
I don’t know about you, but I was promised a great many things growing up. Everything from robot butlers to jet-packs and laser watches, and frankly my friends, I have been seriously let down. I have yet to jet set from coast-to-coast in my flying car. But the good (?) news is that we are…
What are “Ramen Westerns?” Imagine a spaghetti western as a starting point. Samurais and sharpshooters are not all that different. An iaidō instructor compared his Japanese martial art of drawing the katana, striking an opponent, removing blood from blade, and placing sword back into scabbard in one fluid motion to the smooth, practiced movements of…
