Blog Archives

Princess Raccoon (2005)

(from , dir: )
Posted on October 29, 2005 by Ben Jennings

Whoa. Weird.

Seijun Suzuki’s Princess Raccoon is frequently wonderful, frequently irritating, always gorgeous to look at and mostly pretty difficult to follow. Drawing upon the rich Japanese fields of kabuki plays and tanuki folklore, veteran director Suzuki has sought to create an absurd, colourful funhouse of a musical, and has mostly succeeded.

The mythical tanuki is a shapeshifting, fun-loving and mischievous raccoon dog, and we are informed at the movie’s opening that love between a human and a tanuki is … (read more)

Comments Off on Princess Raccoon (2005)

Love/Juice (2000)

(from , dir: )
Posted on October 29, 2005 by Eugene

It is really amazing how depressing the Japanese can be without a lot of effort. Just looking back at what Japanese films I have seen that focus on the relationships between two people (not a huge reportoire, admittedly), not a single one springs to mind that didn’t leave me with an impending sense of doom.

Along comes Love/Juice, and once again we look at the tragedy of unrequited love. Well that’s not necessarily true. There is definitely a level … (read more)

Comments Off on Love/Juice (2000)

Lady Joker (2004)

(from , dir: )
Posted on October 29, 2005 by Alison

I’m sorry to have to say that this film was one of the two major disappointments of this year’s MIFF (the other being the execrable Pink Ribbon, possibly the only film in existence to make Japanese soft-core porn completely boring). While promising such excitement, the film devolved into a messy combination of docu-drama and mystery thriller, and failed to live up to any of its promises.

Part of the blame must be laid at the feet of the script-writers. … (read more)

Comments Off on Lady Joker (2004)

Ichi the Killer (Animated) (2002)

(from , dir: )
Posted on October 29, 2005 by Alison

The moral of this story? Stop bullying, or it’ll all end not in tears but in detached body parts.

This is a hard one to review: on the one hand, most viewers will have all the emotional (or should that be traumatic?) baggage of having watched the movie version of Ichi the Killer first. This is not a Miike film. There’s no touches of the bizarre humour so beloved of Miike fans. Nor is there the glorious vision-in-purple that is … (read more)

Comments Off on Ichi the Killer (Animated) (2002)

The Grudge 2 (2003)

(from , dir: )
Posted on October 29, 2005 by Alison

It’s said that misery loves company: so, apparently, do dead people. There’s no other reason I can think of for their burning desire to kill off as many bystanders as possible, with a plethora of dramatic effects.

I can imagine it’s not a bundle of laughs hanging around in the afterworld when you can’t stand up, there’s no alcohol, and you’re dressed for all eternity in your shift. And while I can share the selfish notion that if I’m miserable, … (read more)

Comments Off on The Grudge 2 (2003)

Drive (2002)

(from , dir: )
Posted on October 29, 2005 by Alison

Sabu deserves to be much more famous than he is: he’s a master of coincidence comedy, he has a soft spot for the underdog, and his storylines go where no storyline has gone before.

We’re introduced to our uptight hero straight up, via his doctor explaining the cause of his headaches. Yet another Sabu salaryman, whose parents suicided and left him, whose job is unfulfilling, and whose personal life is non-existent, is the victim of tension headaches. No, really? His … (read more)

Comments Off on Drive (2002)

Metropolis (2001)

(from , dir: )
Posted on October 24, 2005 by Ching Yee

This Metropolis isn’t the Fritz Lang version but it did give inspiration to Tezuka Osamu (Astroboy) to write his own version. And now we have the final product of Tezuka’s efforts and although he is no longer here to see his vision, I’m sure he would have approved.

It is only fitting that Rintaro was given this monumental task to bringing Tezuka’s work to life. A veteran director of many anime classics – he directed one of my … (read more)

Comments Off on Metropolis (2001)

Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)

(from , dir: )
Posted on October 24, 2005 by Mark Morrison

This driven anime rips steel through flesh in the first few moments and doesn’t let up for the next 47. God bless it.

The first fully digital animation from Production IG, Blood the Last Vampire is a stylistic experiment in using 3D rendered backgrounds with 2D characters. A camera pass is rendered through the backgrounds and the animation and lighting is matched – the result not only works, it is crisp and gorgeous, particularly on DVD (albeit a dark, brooding … (read more)

Comments Off on Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)