Blog Archives

The Great Yokai War (2005)

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Posted on March 24, 2007 by Deni

There’s a little folklore everywhere you look, especially in Japan, and Takashi Miike, in his charming, slightly left of centre way, has perhaps never looked so closely nor with such relatively gentle nostalgia, at this traditional source of fear.

The Great Youkai War is of course a children’s film, so gentle is a more appropriate term to use than you might have expected from this director, although he does get in a few subtle hair raisers. Mainly, it’s a standard … (read more)

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Inugami (2000)

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Posted on March 18, 2007 by Mark Morrison

Nature is pretty unbalanced in Inugami, director Masato Harada’s dark modern folk tale filmed from Masako Bando’s novel. On the surface, the rural village of Omine looks like a pleasant posting for new art teacher Akira Nakahura. Nice wooded hills, friendly locals, and a local paper-maker called Miki Bonomiya who seems to become more beautiful each time he sees her. But strangely she doesn’t seem so popular around the village, maybe due to the fact that everyone knows that … (read more)

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The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge (1974)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Ben Jennings

Being more or less the second sequel to The Street Fighter, The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge was released in the same year, 1974… those schlockmeisters certainly didn’t mess about when they knew they were onto a good thing. And a very good thing it is, too. This immensely enjoyable entry into the 70s grindhouse hall of ill-fame benefits greatly from Sonny Chiba’s uniquely goofy charisma.

The story, which involves a gang’s extortion of a corrupt public official, tapes containing … (read more)

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Steamboy (2004)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Andy

Steamboy starts with two shots of the world distorted by water. The first is through a droplet. The second is workers reflected in the radiating ripples as the droplet disrupts a pool of water. Welcome to Katsuhiro Otomo’s latest creation Steamboy: a world altered by another form of water — steam.

Whenever a major league hitter like Otomo steps up to the plate it is almost inevitable that a new benchmark in anime will be set. The PR machine … (read more)

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Spriggan (2002)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Deni

Before I became otaku, I was your friendly neighbourhood action movie junkie. The bigger the explosions, the faster the car chases, the more numerous the gun battles, the better. And I wasn’t particularly picky about where I got my fix (yes I was that one person who actually enjoyed Godzilla 2000). It didn’t even often matter if the plot was non- existent or the acting was bad, as long as the action was good.

And then I discovered anime. … (read more)

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Spirited Away (2001)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Eugene

Can I just say I recently had the fortune to see this film for the fourth time, most recently in the new English dub by Disney, which it looks like they like they will be promoting much more than Princess Mononoke.

And yes, this is good thing.

Everything you may have heard about this movie is true (unless of course what you’ve heard that this movie is terrible and only deserves to be archived in the deepest darkest pits … (read more)

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Sleepless Town (1998)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Deni

A modern film noir, with all the squalor and seediness that the pleasure district of Tokyo – the infamous Kabuki-cho – can bring to bear, Sleepless Town is a dark, moody thriller of ambitious proportions.

The culturally diverse cast and crew – Takeshi Kaneshiro as Keniichi Ryuu, a half blood Japanese Taiwanese, Eric Tsang as Cantonese crime lord Yuan and Lung Si-Hung as Kenichi’s adopted father and Taiwanese mob boss just to name a few – almost literally reflect the … (read more)

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Shinobi (2005)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Deni

One of my friends likes to refer to this film not as Shinobi, or even as the clever and yet ridiculously literal subtitle, Heart Under Blade, but as – and this is a patented title you understand – the People With Shiny Eyes Movie. Now, that might sound ill-considered, but it’s much more descriptive than you’d think, because the main couple in this big-budget fantasy romance about warring ninja clans do indeed have very shiny eyes. Admittedly, … (read more)

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