TAKASHI MIIKE GOES KID KRAZY

What's up with Takashi Miike? He's gone from being an outsider V-cinema director, to being a festival fave directing warped little sickies, and now he's refashioned himself as a family friendly director. First came ZEBRAMAN, his all-ages superhero flick with Miike regular, Sho Aikawa, in the role of his career as a superhero fan who's the earth's last defense against aliens.

Now he's back with THE GREAT YOKAI WAR which will premiere at Toronto. Miike gets all goblin-licious in this wild yarn about a kid who has to go up Goblin Mountain and get a magic sword. This is not the Miike who flooded the world with breast milk in VISITOR Q. That said, Mark Schilling at the Japan Times writes that it ain't all bad and is, in fact, pretty entertaining.

Miike also spent the summer directing episodes of Ultraman Max, the Ultraman TV series (other directors include Shusuke Kaneko of GAMERA fame - and check out the lousy new GAMERA movie and see the depths of suckiness to which the franchise has fallen without Kaneko on board) and now Miike is hard at work directing the new Ultraman feature film, ULTRA Q.