Cross Fire (2000) Movie Review

“Cross Fire” was produced by the Japanese Toho studios, best known for the classic, enduring “Godzilla” series. This attempt at trying something a little different with the horror genre, as opposed to simply churning out another “Ringu” clone, was directed by Shusuke...

October 15th, 2004 | Read More

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 more. With this non-stop flood of titles, it’s inevitable that there is...

October 11th, 2004 | Read More

Patlabor: The Movie 2 (1993) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) “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 War II by the Allies, Japan is not allowed...

October 11th, 2004 | Read More

Patlabor: The Movie (1990) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) 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, with the growing amount of labors, there is...

October 9th, 2004 | Read More

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” to odd children’s films such as the recent “Zebraman”....

October 8th, 2004 | Read More

Young Thugs: Innocent Blood (1997) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) 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, the Internet Movie Database lists a whopping 61 movies where Miike is credited as...

October 7th, 2004 | Read More

Young Thugs: Nostalgia (1998) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) “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 flashback complete with festival music where we witness...

October 7th, 2004 | Read More

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 office, so producer Tomoyuki Tanaka decided to follow the philosophy, “You can fool...

October 6th, 2004 | Read More

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 in general tend to involve huge casts of characters with complex development arcs,...

October 5th, 2004 | Read More

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 fans of science fiction and Japanese cinema. If only the script relied...

September 30th, 2004 | Read More

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 accomplish. Moviegoers will probably find “Moon Over Tao” an interesting curiosity, but not...

September 30th, 2004 | Read More

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 a bloody “Power Rangers” episode instead of a science fiction/action...

September 25th, 2004 | Read More

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, Alan Smithee has come to be associated with a cataclysmic disaster. In the case of “Gunhed”,...

September 23rd, 2004 | Read More

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 will tell whether his talents transfer well and if he fares better than other Asian directors...

September 23rd, 2004 | Read More

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 “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence”,...

September 22nd, 2004 | Read More

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 Japanese countryside and both depict a series of unexplained supernatural events. However,...

September 21st, 2004 | Read More

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 may at first glance appear to be no more than an early...

September 16th, 2004 | Read More

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 a year, and that Western audiences are generally exposed only to his more sensationalistic...

September 8th, 2004 | Read More

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 actress Meiko Kaji) on the soundtracks...

September 7th, 2004 | Read More

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 country speaks for itself. Ignoring the ham-fisted “Guinea Pig”...

September 6th, 2004 | Read More