Japanese Movie Reviews »
Gozu (2004) Movie Review
“Gozu” is another recent effort from the apparently tireless Takashi Miike, bringing his total of films released over the last couple of years to a staggering 12, though it’s quite possible there are even...
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Patlabor: The Movie 2 (1993) Movie Review
“Patlabor 2″, the sequel to 1990′s “Patlabor: The Movie”, examines the unique status of Japan in the modern world. The country is an economic world power, but due to the constitution drafted after World...
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Patlabor: The Movie (1990) Movie Review
In the late 20th century, highly advanced robots, known as Labors, were created for construction purposes. Other labors were developed to be used in the military, for undersea exploration and even recreational purposes. However,...
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One Missed Call (2004) Movie Review
Takashi Miike is a master of wild, unpredictable cinema. The man regularly churns out multiple films each year which range from the ultra-violence of “Ichi the Killer” to wacky musicals like “Happiness of Katakuris”...
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Young Thugs: Innocent Blood (1997) Movie Review
Considering the sheer volume of his output, it may never be possible for any viewer, either in Japan or abroad, to take in the complete resume of director Takashi Miike. As of this writing,...
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Young Thugs: Nostalgia (1998) Movie Review
“Nostalgia” revisits Riichi Nakaba in younger times, though by no means are they more innocent. Director Takashi Miike starts things off with a bang as he treats the audience to a merry little black-and-white...
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Godzilla’s Revenge (1969) Movie Review
The Godzilla series was meant to end with “Destroy All Monsters”, a whiz-bang Armageddon of a finale. But there was a problem: “Destroy All Monsters” made a lot of money at the Japanese box...
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Devilman (2004) Movie Review
Adapting manga or anime for live action cinema is never an easy affair. Although some stand alone features such as “Perfect Blue” have leant themselves quite naturally to the real life medium, anime series...
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Mechanical Violator Hakaider (1995) Movie Review
Keita Amemiya returns to robot territory with “Mechanical Violator Hakaider”, and seems to have learned his lessons well from his previous efforts. The result is a visually impressive and entertaining film that will satisfy...
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Moon Over Tao (1997) Movie Review
You’d be hard pressed to find a stranger cinematic amalgam than “Moon Over Tao”. As an odd mixture of the past and future, the film is only partially successful in what it tries to...
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Zeiram 2 (1994) Movie Review
The original “Zeiram” must have made money for somebody somewhere, because a sequel was released three years later. They really shouldn’t have bothered on our account, since the resulting film is more akin to...
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Gunhed (1989) Movie Review
Whenever you see the credit “directed by Allan Smithee”, you know you won’t be experiencing life to the fullest for the next hour or so. Like the names Titanic, Three Mile Island, and Chernobyl,...
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Chaos (1999) Movie Review
Hideo Nakata, best known for the genre defining Japanese horror “Ringu”, has finally given in to the persuasive lure of Hollywood, signing up for the sequel to the remake of his original film. Time...
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Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004) Movie Review
It’s difficult to dislike Mamoru Oshii’s sequel to his seminal anime work “Ghost in the Shell”, the cyberpunk sci-fi that influenced “The Matrix” and many others. Then again, it’s also difficult to completely like...
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Kakashi (2001) Movie Review
Like “Uzumaki”, “Kakashi” is based upon a manga by Japanese artist Ito Junji. There are actually a number of similarities between the two films, as both are set in small rural towns in the...
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Tomie (1999) Movie Review
“Tomie” is based on a Japanese manga by popular artist Ito Junji, who was also responsible for the material that inspired the films “Kakashi” and “Uzumaki”. For those unfamiliar with Junji’s work, the film...
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The Bird People in China (1998) Movie Review
Takashi Miike is best known for chaotic films of extreme violence and hyper kinetic camera work such as “Ichi the Killer” and “Dead or Alive”. However, given that he regularly churns out several films...
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Lady Snowblood (1973) Movie Review
“Lady Snowblood” was, until the recent “Kill Bill” by Tarantino, a relatively obscure 1973 female samurai revenge film. However, since the inclusion of the songs “Flower of Carnage” and “Urami-Bushi” (both sung by lead...
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Naked Blood (1995) Movie Review
Nobody does existential sadism quite like the Japanese. This sounds like quite an odd and probably unflattering cultural generalization, but the list of films mixing extreme gore and transgressive philosophy that come from the...
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A Snake of June (2004) Movie Review
Shinya Tsukamoto is one of the most interesting and challenging director/writer/actor working in world cinema today. Best known for his cyberpunk “Tetsuo” films, he is a man truly dedicated to his vision, and is...
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