Blog Archives

Scrap Heaven (2005)

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Posted on June 6, 2006 by Ben Jennings

Scrap Heaven is exactly the kind of title that you often see attached to the sorts of horribly angsty indy movies that this one almost is. While the movie certainly goes downhill after its very nifty opening act, it’s above average for what it is.

Singo (Ryo Case) is a meek, disenchanted cop who fantasises about heroism as he drives his desk. One day he finds himself on a bus with a hyperactive and mischievous toilet cleaner, Tetsu (Jô Odagiri), … (read more)

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Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (2006)

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Posted on May 22, 2006 by Christian

A current output of two feature films a year must feel like a holiday for workaholic director Miike Takashi, who pumped out an astonishing total of seven features in 2001 alone. If you do the maths — at that time in 2001, this equalled Wong Kar-wai’s output of feature films for his entire 13-year career since his first film in 1988. Despite his output, Takashi has not been content to stick to a particular genre and has tackled family dramas … (read more)

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Izo (2004)

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Posted on May 20, 2006 by Ben Jennings

I like pointless carnage as much as the next person, which is why my reaction to this movie surprises me so much. I would not have thought it possible that such a relentlessly gory movie could be so dull. This is not a moral objection at all, you must understand. It’s just… well, it’s so boring even Takeshi Kitano can’t revive it. Izo gives gratuitous violence a bad name.

A change of pace for prolific weirdo maestro Takashi Miike, Izo… (read more)

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Maburaho (2003)

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Posted on May 7, 2006 by Mat

Where do we even begin with Maburaho? It’s probably best to begin with the synopsis from the back of the DVD jacket (written above) and basically go downhill from there. The synopsis pretty much sums up the entirety of the first disc, and I’d be willing to gamble that there are very few surprises in store for the rest of the series. To this end, the rest of this review is pretty much padding, since with Maburaho, what … (read more)

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Eko Eko Azarak (1995)

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Posted on May 1, 2006 by Alison

If this film was an ad in the personals, it would read something like this:

LESBIAN SCHOOLGIRLS SEEKING SATAN needs recruits: intending applicants must bring their own sharp implements.

Of course, the whole film’s not like that. Not quite. For starters, there’s only one lesbian schoolgirl. But someone is seeking Satan, and there are plenty of sharp implements used to great effect on the students. In fact, the whole thing feels comfortingly like one of those 90s films of the … (read more)

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Inu Yasha (2000)

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Posted on April 30, 2006 by Alison

Inu Yasha is strangely addictive. I stumbled on it by accident, ambling through the aisles looking for some anime that didn’t feature either stonkin’ great robots or panties. Now, it’s one of my guilty pleasures.

Probably this has something to do with the variety. After all, there’s a quest, for shards of the Sacred Jewel. There’s action aplenty, as the growing band fights multitudinous demons along the way. There’s Kagome’s double life, as she struggles with her schoolwork then dashes … (read more)

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Parasite Dolls (2004)

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Posted on April 30, 2006 by Andy

What’s the opposite of nostalgia? Parasite Dolls is like stepping back in time — but in a bad way. Making the whole thing just that little bit more inexplicalbe is the quality of the team. When you have three creators who have director, screenwriting and character design credits on Patlabor TV, Lain and Samurai Champloo, you expect better. There is an overwhelming urge to keep them back after class and sternly inform them you expected better.

Parasite Dolls… (read more)

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Kill! (1968)

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Posted on April 30, 2006 by Justin

This film’s a great bit of fun for fans of Japanese cinema, particularly the chambara genre — swordplay films set in period Japan. Kill! is a comedic take on the genre’s conventions, loosely based on the same source material as Akira Kurosawa’s film Sanjuro (Shugoro Yamamoto’s novel Peaceful Days).

Our two lead characters are the simple farmer who wants desperately to become a samurai, Hanji (played by Etsushi Takahashi), and a worldly samurai-turned-yakuza named Genta (played by Tatsuya Nakadai). … (read more)

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