Archive for 'Japanese' Category
Strawberry Shortcakes by Yazaki Hitoshi (2006)
19 March 2008A film based on the manga by Nananan Kiriko, this is a tale of yearning for love and hope following a group of women whose lives at least slightly intersect in the cold and impersonal world of modern Japan. It is a film that slow simmers, where it starts off slow, showing little glimpses into [...]
Kekko Kammen by Nagime Takafumi (2004)
23 February 2008A ridiculously low budget titillating japanese send up of fan service with a nude super hero who saves the woman at a school for television journalists. Also known as Kekko Kamen new, and the film has the wrong listing at IMDB, listing the stats for the next film Kekko Kamen: Mangurifon no gyakushu. This film [...]
Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea by Sawai Shinichiro (2007)
20 February 2008A Japanese Epic blockbuster of the story of the great Mongol General, that is an enjoyable popcorn film, but does not seem deep at all. The film feels more like a plastic Hollywood film than a great epic, as the film has an almost all Japanese cast, and is all in Japanese and sounds like [...]
Kamikaze Girls 下妻物語 by Nakashima Tetsuya (2004)
8 February 2008Wow. Let me say that again. Wow. This movie is complete insanity and so much fun it is ridiculous. Just totally off the wall, and yet a great story of friendship as well, but told so stylishly it is just ridiculous. This is a must see, and my only complaint is that the US DVD [...]
Dororo by Koichi Chigira (2007)
6 February 2008I hadn’t even heard of this Japanese adaption of the Manga with the same name until I saw it at Five Star Laser in San Gabriel and picked it up, and I am quite glad I did. The effects might stand up to an American film, but they are adequate to the task, and makes [...]
Drunken Angel written and direct by Akira Kurosawa (1948)
5 February 2008Another Criterion Edition, the only company out that seems to really care about getting amazing editions of all of Kurosawa’s films out in the US, and thankfully they did this film when they did because even after a restoration this print has certainly seen better days. Still with Shimura Takashi and Mifune Toshiro playing off [...]
Linda Linda Linda リンダ リンダ リンダ by Yamashita Nobuhiro (2005)
21 January 2008Another addition to the cute high schools girls making a band genre which has been pretty big over the last few years, and include such greats as Swing Girls, but this one has a much more realistic edge than the others, as the girls are only trying to learn 2 songs to do at their [...]
Love And Honor by Yoji Yamada (2006)
5 November 2007The third film in Yoji Yamada’s samurai trilogy (only a trilogy in the sense of being stories about Samurai and love in the period of decline for Samurai. This is a wonderful tale of love and sacrifice and betrayal, and like all of Yamada’s films also has some great samurai fighting, though mostly being a [...]
Yo Yo Girl Cop by Fukasaku Kenta (2006)
9 August 2007A low budget Japanese action film adapted from a Manga. Low budget fun, and all worth the end showdown with the battles with yo yo’s. The action is fun, the girls are cute, and the story is as silly as can possibly be, but totally fun. I hope they do a sequel. Silly fun.
K (Matsuura [...]
Letters from Iwo Jima by Clint Eastwood (2006)
20 January 2007Winner of Best Foreign Language films at the 2006 Golden Globes, this is one of the best war films I have ever seen in my life, easily topping Eastwood’s sister piece FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS. Not only is this film done nearly perfectly technically, but the performances of these men is amazing, especially the fact [...]
Takeshis’ by Kitano “Beat” Takeshi ??? (2005)
2 July 2006Wow, Kitano does get stranger as he gets older, and here he seems to be completely deconstructing his whole evil gangster persona once and for all, laying it to rest in this strange doppelganger tale filled with a mixture of dreams and reality. In the film he actually plays himself as well as a strange [...]
Shinobi: Heart Under Blade by Ten Shomoyama (2005)
11 April 2006Yes the action in this film is total anime, though shot live action, though nothing I haven’t seen before, but I was totally let down by this. I mean I didn’t think AZUMI was the best film, but it was better than this. It purports to be a love story about Star Crossed lovers, but [...]
Versus by Kitamura Ryuhei (2000)
30 March 2006This film blew my mind when I first saw it, as it was unlike anything I had ever seen. This combined genres I never thought I would see combined, Wuxia martial arts action and a zombie film with old fashion John Woo gun fights to boot. It has off the wall characters and a story [...]
The Hidden Blade by Yamada Yoji (2004)
5 March 2006Instead of sitting through the entire academy awards by myself, I turned to watching this film, which is Yamada’s next film after the academy award winning TWILIGHT SAMURAI, and very much shares a similar feel. Again this film is set in the waning period of the Samurai in Japan, when guns are beginning to take [...]
Stray Dog by Kurosawa Akira (1949)
13 February 2006I have been on a real Kurosawa kick of late, and wish I could afford to get more of his films, but this is the last one for a while. This is an early film of Kurosawa’s before his first huge success with Roshomon, but already his flair is starting to show. This isn’t just [...]
Ran by Kurosawa Akira (1985)
8 February 2006This film is the true definition of an epic, and made very late in Kurosawa’s career. Of course heavily influenced by Shakespeare’s King Lear, but with a completely Japanese twist and tone. And unlike his earlier works you can’t even feel sorry for Hidetora who has caused the downfall of his own empire by handing [...]
Red Beard (Akahige) by Kurosawa Akira 1965
6 February 2006Wow. So this was the last collaboration between the great Mifune Toshiro (usually just the coolest man ever, but here the best man) and certainly one of the all time top directors Kurosawa Akira. This movie is absolutely fantastic. And it really just comes down to not just being a good person, and really realizing [...]
Gate of Flesh by Suzuki Seijun (1964)
26 January 2006If you have read much of my blog you probably know I am a huge fan of Suzuki Seijun, and have collected every film of his that has been released in the US to date, luckily someone at Criterion is obviously a huge fan as well. Not yet at his completely off the wall insanity [...]
Samurai Spy by Shinoda Masahiro (1965)
24 January 2006Another great film in the Criterion Samurai collection, but this one much different than the others. This one combines ninja type action with political intrigue dealing with the Tokugawa Shogunate 14 years after it came to power though war, but tensions still arise between other factions. A very enjoyable film, that reminded me somewhat of [...]
Sword of the Beast by Gosha Hideo (1965)
23 January 2006Another excellent Ronin film released by Janus Films Criterion edition. These are just great Samurai films, and I hope Criterion keeps releasing more excellent Japanese films that have not been released here as of yet. This film is about the ambiguousness of serving for honor and loyalty to ones clans, when the higher ups [...]
The Bad Sleep Well by Kurosawa Akira (1960)
18 January 2006What an absolutely incredible film! Just top notch all the way through, it’s entire 150 minute length. I mean you don’t even know the reasons for the main characters action for an hour and 10 minutes into the movie. And of course with the amazing Mifune Toshiro in the lead how could the film be [...]
Kill by Okamoto Kihachi (1968)
14 January 2006I always loved Criterion, but of late their forte, or at least for the discs that I buy are their Japanese films, and this Rebel Samurai box set is bad ass. Kill is a great film, in your face with a great soundtrack that goes to Jazz as well as Japanese music. The film is [...]
Samurai Rebellion by Kobayahsi Masaki (1967)
20 December 2005I am sure I have said it before, and I am sure I will say it again, Toshiro Mifune is the man. He is just so damn cool, and so hard to stop. And in this movie it is no exception. This is an excellent tale of rebellion when samurai find that their lords rule [...]
Alive by Ryuhei Kitamura (2002)
24 October 2005Since seeing VERSUS I have wanted to see every
Kitamura Ryuhei film, though too many of them are unsubtitled, but I finally managed to see a subtitled version of Alive. I am fan of Kitamura’s films which while not always having the best storylines (acceptable always for me) they always have great visuals, great cinematography and [...]
Azumi 2: Death or Love by Kaneko Shusuke (2005)
10 October 2005I had been looking forward to this since I heard about it, even though it wasn’t directed by Kitamura Ryuhei who I am a fan of. Now I didn’t love Azumi, but I did really enjoy it, and if you liked the first one you will probably like this one too. Sure it isn’t shot [...]