Japanese Movie Reviews »
Rurouni Kenshin (2012) Movie Review
Watsuki Nobuhiro’s “Rurouni Kenshin” has long been one of the most loved manga in Japan, telling the story of the wandering pacifist samurai of the title and his many adventures. Known as “Samurai X”...
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Wolf Children (2012) Movie Review
Although Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli colleagues are still the most famous purveyors of Japanese animation, a number of other directors have also been winning fans and acclaim of late. Hosoda Mamoru is...
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Dead Sushi (2012) Movie Review
Let me preface this review by saying that I absolutely adore the work of director Noboru Iguchi. From where I’m seated, the guy is a freaking genius. I don’t care how obsessed he is...
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Robo-G (2012) Movie Review
Although it may sound like a film following the exploits of a robotic gangster, “Robo-G” is in fact a Japanese outing charting the wackiness that ensues when an old man is hired to masquerade...
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Helter Skelter (2012) Movie Review
Quite possibly the best looking and most hysterical film of 2012, “Helter Skelter” marked the return of Japanese director and former fashion photographer Ninagawa Mika some 5 years after her colourful debut “Sakuran”. Based...
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Sadako (2012) Movie Review
Has it really been nigh on 15 years since the world of horror was changed by a small girl with long black hair and a dirty white dress crawling out of a television set?...
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Smuggler (2011) Movie Review
Shohei Manabe’s manga “Smuggler” makes it to the big screen courtesy of director Katsuhito Ishii, previously known for varied and off beat fare such as “A Taste of Tea”, the bizarre “Funky Forest: the...
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The Wings of the Kirin (2011) Movie Review
Abe Hiroshi returns as popular Japanese literary figure Detective Kaga Kyoichiro, appearing on the big screen for the first time after several popular television adaptations of the Higashino Keigo novels. “Wings of the Kirin”...
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New on Blu-ray: Tetsuo – The Iron Man/Body Hammer
Japanese and cult film fans were given real cause for excitement recently, with the announcement by Third Window that they would be releasing Shinya Tsukamoto’s seminal classics “Tetsuo: the Iron Man” and “Tetsuo II:...
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Kotoko (2011) Movie Review
Japanese auteur and cult favourite Shinya Tsukamoto returns with “Kotoko”, combining the apocalyptic style of his classic “Tetsuo” films with the monstrous and terrifyingly intimate tale of a young single mother losing her mind...
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The Egoists (2011) Movie Review
Japanese director Hiroki Ryuichi has had a pretty fascinating career, starting off in Pinku films, before being hailed in the mid-2000s as one of the country’s top New Wave indie helmers thanks to acclaimed...
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Hard Romanticker (2011) Movie Review
The excellently titled “Hard Romanticker” takes a (very) violent look at the Zainichi (Korean-Japanese) criminal underworld and youth gang battles, with popular actor Matsuda Shota, known for hit television shows like “Boys over Flowers”...
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Unfair: The Answer (2011) Movie Review
The popular Japanese “Unfair” franchise continues with “Unfair: The Answer”, the latest big screen outing based upon the popular Fuji Television female police series, adapted from the novels by author Hata Takehiko. Following on...
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Somi, The Taekwon-do Woman (1997) Movie Review
One of the best things about going to film festivals is having the chance to catch things unlikely to be screened anywhere else. This was certainly the case with the opening gala of this...
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Frightfest ’12: The Thompsons, Sleep Tight, and Dead Sushi
THE THOMPSONS (2012) Directorial duo The Butcher Brothers (aka Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores) follow up their 2006 family themed vampire flick “The Hamiltons” with “The Thompsons”, offering up more of the same as...
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Himizu (2011) Movie Review
Japanese auteur, poet and cult favourite director Sono Sion (“Love Exposure”) returns with “Himizu” (which translates as ‘mole’), another tale of disaffected youth and brutal murder. Originally based on the manga of the same...
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Encapsulated Cinema: The Raid Redemption, Stash House, and Wild 7
The Raid: Redemption (2011) During several of the numerous nerve-shredding, head-splitting fight scenes spread throughout writer/director Gareth Evans’ 2012 action masterpiece “The Raid: Redemption”, I had no idea I was holding my breath until...
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Mutant Girls Squad (2010) Movie Review
Fans of Japanese splatter have reason to celebrate with the arrival on DVD of Sushi Typhoon’s “Mutant Girls Squad”, a film which combines the talents of three of the finest (and craziest) directors working...
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The Woodsman and the Rain (2011) Movie Review
Screened at the 2012 Terracotta Far East Film Festival. “The Woodsman and the Rain” is a warm hearted comedy with an appealingly offbeat premise, following the relationship between a young director and a gruff...
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Monsters Club (2011) Movie Review
Screened at the 2012 Terracotta Far East Film Festival. Japanese auteur Toshiaki Toyoda returns with “Monsters Club”, following up the likes of “Blue Spring” and “The Blood of Rebirth” with more avant-garde alienation and...
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