Karas: The Revelation (2007) Movie Review

When I previously reviewed “Karas: The Prophecy,” I noted that it was a visually spectacular film that suffered from a criminally underdeveloped plot and slap-dash execution. There were so many good parts to what made up the first film: the brilliant conceptualization of near-future Tokyo,...

October 27th, 2007 | Read More

The Duel Project: Aragami and 2LDK (2003, 2005) DVD Review

“The Duel Project” is kind of like a less pretentious Japanese version of Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg’s ‘Dogme 95′ so-called vow of chastity in that it enforces a number of rules in an attempt to strip down the film making process to its essentials....

September 22nd, 2007 | Read More

Ballad of Narayama (1958) Movie Review

Here comes a classic: “a beautiful and meditative tale of love and humanity that explores traditional Japanese cultural values,” as the DVD cover informs us. Sadly, it’s one of those ‘classics’ that are more digestible to film students and film historians than to the regular...

September 16th, 2007 | Read More

Noriko’s Dinner Table (2005) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Yorgo Douramacos) “Noriko’s Dinner Table” is a Japanese parable, a meditation on issues like urbanization and the impact of family, technology and image on the concept of identity. The film wonders what it means, in a world bent on breaking all boundaries, to be one...

July 5th, 2007 | Read More

Shikoku (1999) Movie Review

“Shikoku” could easily be discarded as ‘yet another long black haired ghost story from Japan’, but please bear with me, because it is much more than a derivative attempt to cash-in on the J-horror craze. While it was one of the first ghost stories to follow “Ring”...

May 26th, 2007 | Read More

The Sinking of Japan (2006) Movie Review

“The Sinking of Japan” (also known as “Japan Sinks”) is not exactly the stuff of dramatic legend, but oh my is it one heck of a visual treat. That is, if you like disaster movies, and don’t mind seeing, oh, 50 million or so people perish in a neverending sequence of earth-shattering...

February 12th, 2007 | Read More

Karas: The Prophecy (2006) Movie Review

“Karas: The Prophecy” is, bar none, the most visually spectacular animated feature I have ever seen. It is also the most idiotic, poorly constructed, convoluted, and pointless film I have ever seen. It is a triumph of technical skill, meticulous attention to detail and computing horsepower;...

December 5th, 2006 | Read More

Check It Out, Yo! (aka Chekeraccho!, 2006) Movie Review

“Check it Out, Yo!” is nothing you haven’t seen before, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying it. A mostly innocuous teen comedy about three directionless male high school chums who decide to form a hip-hop group in order to get chicks, and their tomboy female buddy who tags...

October 13th, 2006 | Read More

Death Trance (2006) Movie Review

If you happen to be one of the few people desperately trying to piece together the plot of Yuji Shimomura’s “Death Trance”, let me lend you a hand: Guy steals coffin because he’s a dick and he likes to fight; this guy is chased by another guy played by Steven Seagal’s son...

September 11th, 2006 | Read More

Neighbor No. 13 (2005) Movie Review

Bullying is an ugly reality of growing up that most of us can relate to, either as culprits or victims, but we usually grow out of it when we finish elementary school, or for some others, high school. However, in some cases the harassment extends beyond the schoolyard and into a person’s adult...

January 8th, 2006 | Read More

Aegis (2005) Movie Review

Given the pedigree of “Aegis”, it’s no surprise the film is little more than a (barely) covert stab at nationalistic propaganda designed to get the domestic crowd riled up and embrace their “Japaneseness”. Except there isn’t really anyone for the film to rally against,...

December 30th, 2005 | Read More

Ashura-jo no Hitomi (2005) Movie Review

There’s something to be said for the power of the imagination, and never is it more necessary to appreciate the visual arts than when watching a stage play, where, when well performed, the action on stage spurs the viewer’s imagination to fill in the details that the props leave out. Now...

December 23rd, 2005 | Read More

Dead Leaves (2004) Movie Review

“Over the top’ is an expression loosely thrown about by film critics to describe anything a little too far out of the ordinary in terms of violence, sexual content or any other thematic material of a transgressive nature. However, in the case of the Japanese animated film “Dead Leaves,”...

December 13th, 2005 | Read More

Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003) Movie Review

If familiarity breeds contempt, then kaiju fans ought to feel distain towards Mothra and MechaGodzilla. If appearances in the Godzilla films were frequent flyer miles, the monster pair would have accumulated enough for a round flight trip to Pluto. Despite this unavoidable familiarity, “Godzilla:...

December 9th, 2005 | Read More

Gohatto (aka Taboo, 1999) Movie Review

“Gay Samurai? Never seen that before.” The above are my words, and probably the words of countless people upon discovering “Gohatto” (aka “Taboo”), a tale of homosexuality within a Samurai training camp during Japan ’s Shogun era. The plotting is minimal, so...

October 21st, 2005 | Read More

Blood and Bones (2004) Movie Review

Takeshi Kitano is Japan ’s true ‘King of All Media.’ A cultural icon in his home country as an actor, director, poet, comedian, painter and newspaper journalist, Kitano is best known to the rest of the world as a minimalist craftsman of gritty, nihilistic gangster films. In “Blood...

October 17th, 2005 | Read More

Violence Jack (1986) Movie Review

Anime is seen by many a film enthusiast as a deep form of cinema, on par with the noirs and cult classics of the world. And with films like “Akira”, “Perfect Blue”, “Tokyo Godfathers” and “Spirited Away”, it’s hard to disagree with the fan base. However,...

October 9th, 2005 | Read More

St. John’s Wort (2001) Movie Review

There have been a great many film adaptations of video games, the overwhelming majority of which have been cheap, unimaginative cash-ins on the product name. This is especially true in the horror genre, where fans have been afflicted with the vacuous “Resident Evil” and its equally lackluster...

October 5th, 2005 | Read More

Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children (2004) Movie Review

Guest Movie Review by Alex Lui For followers of the Final Fantasy games, “Advent Children” comes as a reward for those long hours spent in front of the TV pushing buttons and ignoring a social life. For everyone else, this is pure eye candy, especially since the film has a story continued...

October 4th, 2005 | Read More

Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean (2005) Movie Review

The filmmakers behind “Lorelei” should give out Japanese flags with each copy of the DVD for all the subtlety the film manages. As strictly a movie, and not the jingoistic propaganda it obviously is, “Lorelei” is a lumbering and not entirely coherent piece of filmmaking punctured...

August 30th, 2005 | Read More