Articles in Japanese Movie Reviews
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 sequel, neither of which made much effort to [...]
October 5th, 2005 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreFinal Fantasy 7: Advent Children (2004) Movie Review
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 from the game, with no background setup whatsoever for [...]
October 4th, 2005 | Alex Lui | 4 Comments | Read MoreLorelei: 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 by the occasional Submarine Movie cliché that you’ve seen [...]
August 30th, 2005 | Nix | 0 Comments | Read MoreIchi the Killer (2002) Movie Review #2
On the commentary track for one of his films, director Robert Rodriguez (”Sin City”) relates a story that I’ll paraphrase here: While taking questions about his low-budget debut “El Mariachi,” a critic asked about the significance of a tortoise that crosses the path of the titular character while he’s walking along a stretch of highway. [...]
August 9th, 2005 | Erick Kwon | 0 Comments | Read MoreThe Suicide Manual (2003) Movie Review
The origins of director Osamu Fukutani’s “The Suicide Manual” may be more compelling than the feature itself. It was derived from Wataru Tsurumui’s non-fiction book “The Complete Manual of Suicide,” a bestseller that’s moved over 1.2 million copies in its native Japan and, depending on your point of view, may have led to scores of [...]
July 31st, 2005 | Erick Kwon | 0 Comments | Read MoreKamikaze Girls (2004) Movie Review
Sometimes animated, sometimes strange, but always entertaining, “Kamikaze Girls” belong with recent Japanese fare such as “Swing Girls”, “Waterboys”, and “Ping Pong”, and considering the international success of those three films, it’s not bad company at all. Like its two leads, “Girls” is a rather eccentric film, essentially a movie about teens that manages to [...]
July 27th, 2005 | Nix | 0 Comments | Read MoreGodzilla: Final Wars (2004) Movie Review
The last five years have seen the “Godzilla” continuity “re-imagined” no less than four times. While this likely resulted in much hair pulling and teeth gnashing on the part of the more obsessive, “Trekkie”-ish Godzilla fans, it’s also allowed filmmakers to lead the character in new directions, and in the process rejuvenate a series that [...]
July 17th, 2005 | Erick Kwon | 0 Comments | Read MoreInfection (aka Kansen, 2004) Movie Review
“Kansen” is the first release in the J-Horror series, a 6-film package deal that was the brainchild of producer Takashige Ichise, who saw the sudden surge in popularity for Asian horror and decided to cash in. Ichise’s bright idea was to gather up Japan’s most famous horror directors and give them money to make their [...]
July 5th, 2005 | Nix | 1 Comment | Read MoreHana to Hebi ala Flower and Snake (2004) Movie Review
Japan has always had a long running tradition of extreme cinema. Be it gangster films, period dramas, or horror, there has always been a renegade group of filmmakers that have relentlessly pushed the boundaries of taste and decency. One only need look at Nobuo Nakagawa’s “Jigoku”, or just about anything by Kinji Fukasaku (”Battle Royale”) [...]
June 27th, 2005 | Gopal | 1 Comment | Read MoreHowl’s Moving Castle (2004) Movie Review
With Disney and Pixar firmly entrenched on the side of CGI for their animated efforts, it looks like Japan and the FOX Network are the last bastions of hand drawn animation. Perhaps the most revered name from this old school is Hayao Miyazaki, best known in the US for “Princess Mononoke” and the Oscar-winning “Spirited [...]
June 17th, 2005 | Gopal | 0 Comments | Read More
It looks like a dud. I saw the trailer. Tom is the only person speaking with an American news network ...
nothing they payed fox.... 
OMG!!!! 
