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Kino’s Journey (2003)
Kino’s Journey is oddly ephemeral, like a dream where things make a strange kind of intangible sense, where whatever happens seems to elude true logic once awake. Or it’s like a mythology, a series of fairy tales where each story seems like a lesson the learner knows they must grasp, because the meanings can be felt, but not seen clearly. Each incomprehensible, beautiful country Kino and the sentient motorcycle Hermes visit is yet another piece of what seems to be … (read more)
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Crying Out Love, In The Centre Of The World (2004)
Dante once wrote “Places that are empty of you… are empty of all life” as an expression of the void created by the absence or loss of a loved one. It is this obtusely tragic sentiment which is explored by Isao Yukisada’s seventh feature film Crying Out Love, In The Centre Of The World. How does one deal with the loss of a loved one? Do we face it head on or do we turn our back to it; … (read more)
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Colorful (2005)
I’ve got to say when I say when I saw this title in Madman’s Christmas release catalog, my eyes rolled into the back of my head. Japan’s obsession with panties has been so well documented as to render it banal. And it’s not as if it is a cultural phenomenon that stands up to extended analysis. At the end of the day, it’s the adolescent male snigger that comes from discovering a woman in a short skirt has inadvertently failed … (read more)
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Pink Ribbon (2004)
There’s no better way to start this review than with a quote from Ben, who, on leaving the cinema, said “It’s unusual to see so many walk-outs from a movie with tits in”. Sadly, that sums up this effort. I found it hard to credit that anyone could possibly be boring, with this subject, but the film-makers managed it.
Any documentary can be made interesting: even if the subject is train-spotting, there are ways of structuring a doco so as … (read more)
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Jin-Roh (1998)
When I first saw Jin-Roh two years ago at the original Anime festival in Sydney, the producer (I think) introduced the film. In this introduction he mentioned how, when they were making this film, there was a difference of opinion in the overall vision of the film between three key creative members. I believe one wanted a retelling of Red Riding Hood, another wanted something similar with a romantic plot involving the Wolf and Miss Red, and the last one … (read more)
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Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
Many scale models of many cities died to make this film.
This grand finale of the long-running Godzilla series is directed by Kitamura (Azumi, Aragami, Versus). So you know not to expect a stuffy, self-important film like the recent Hollywood remake, which took itself far too seriously. No, Kitamura is a man with a robust sense of humour, and he’s made a movie that pokes fun at every cliche of every science fiction and monster movie … (read more)
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Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space (2002)
Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat In Space is a nonsensical romp through Cat-space with an adolescent furry guide. There’s not much point in me trying to explain the story, because there really isn’t one. Perhaps it could best be summed up by “young cat upset with corp-rat takeover tours the Universe”. Or perhaps not.
The best attempts to describe Tamala will founder basically because the film makes sense only from a cat’s point of view. Those familiar with moggies will … (read more)
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Ramblers (2003)
This film is exceptionally well-named: the characters ramble around the countryside, while their conversation rambles all over the place. It’s a gentle, quirky, surprisingly appealing movie, made on a shoestring budget. No, more like made on an aglet budget (aglets being those things at the end of shoelaces that stop them unravelling). I’m not sure that the actors were actually paid, to be honest, and at least one of them has done “I’ll work on yours if you work on … (read more)
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