Blog Archives

Ikiru (1952)

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Posted on April 30, 2006 by Ben Jennings

You know the story. The terminally ill protagonist is going to spend the final months of his life on a quest for redemption, right? Well, sort of. The thing that distinguishes Ikiru from its countless imitators (I reviewed one of its more distant descendants, the South Korean Short Time, a few months ago) is that the main character, Watanabe, is not such a bad guy to start with. Yes, he is a bureaucrat who has spent his entire life … (read more)

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Touch (2005)

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Posted on April 23, 2006 by Ben Jennings

Who knew Japan still made such nice films? Okay, so perhaps that’s a little unfair: probably the nice films just don’t travel as well. Having seen this one, I’m afraid I can kind of understand why. I have to admit baseball arouses an apathy in me surpassed only by soccer, so you’ll have to take my bias on that count into consideration.

Minami, Kazuya and Tatsuya are childhood friends, and remain so into their teenage years in spite of the … (read more)

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Millennium Actress (2001)

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Posted on April 23, 2006 by Deni

Satoshi Kon once described himself as, rather than an animator, a filmmaker who just happened to work in an animation, and if anything at all could be considered hard evidence towards this statement, it’s the director’s 2001 feature film, Millennium Actress. An ode to the history of cinema as much as it is to memory, it’s a finely and deeply crafted work, toying effortlessly with metafictional devices like the division between reality and fiction and the linear concept of … (read more)

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Street Fighter Alpha Generations (2005)

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Posted on April 3, 2006 by Andy

The young acolyte, Gouki is confronted by his Sensei over the use of the forbidden Hadou powers. Rain falls on the two as a girl and a young man run through the forest hoping to avert tragedy. This moody opening sets the stage for the exploration of the arrogance of youth, corruption of powers that can only be resolved one way: in a series of one-on-one, kick ass fights.

For those that came in late, Street Fighter is a Capcom … (read more)

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Gravitation (2000)

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Posted on March 26, 2006 by Deni

Gravitation, more affectionately known as Gravi to its fans, is a lot of things – crazy, kooky, funny, serious, touching, angsty, dark – but at its heart it’s also the simplest of love stories. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

Boy meets boy, boy loses boy, boy gets boy back again.

No, that’s not a typo.

For those people who haven’t yet heard about this series, Gravitation, based on a manga series by Maki Murakami (published … (read more)

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RahXephon (2001)

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Posted on March 23, 2006 by Deni

Any similarities RahXephon has to another character-driven, mecha-orientated anime are, I’m relieved to say, purely cursory. Of course, commonalities in both theme and execution are there if you look for them, but as I might have argued in other reviews, one of the greatest strengths present in genre is not the likenesses between series, but the key differences. In RahXephon, Ayato Kamina might, like Shinji Ikari, be victim to a mysterious and impersonal system, might find himself piloting what … (read more)

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Weatherwoman (1996)

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Posted on March 19, 2006 by Alison

Only the Japanese could make this film. Only the Japanese could turn an underwear fetish into bizarre grand opera, complete with gymnastic heroine, sing-along news presenters, and a grande finale battle worthy of Tsui Hark. And only the Japanese could get away with Keiko as heroine.

We first meet Keiko in the opening scene, set atop a school building. A bewildered schoolboy gazes upwards in adoration, at his idol, Keiko, who is clutching the flagpole and energetically masturbating. Very energetically. … (read more)

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Hanzo The Razor (1972)

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Posted on March 19, 2006 by Alison

Katsu Shintaro must have fancied himself a great deal, I think. He is, after all, responsible for producing this epic of 70s swords ‘n’ sleaze, as well as starring in it. And he clearly thinks he’s a bit of all right, swaggering about in his loincloth and putting the hard word (ahem) on numerous female suspects.

Luckily, the film announces its intentions from the get-go. The terribly 70s music batters the ears, taking some of the stress from the eyes, … (read more)

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