Wasabi (2001)

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Posted on January 25, 2006 by Alison

Another well-named film, because this one will clear your sinuses and melt your nostril hair before you know it. Jean Reno plays Hubert, a cop who just won’t stop, and does so with an aplomb that only he can manage. Other cast members manage to convey their roles and not fall over their feet, but for all we care they could paint themselves blue and skate naked along the bullet train, and our eyes would still be on Reno.

Scenes … (read more)

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Wicked City (1992)

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Posted on January 25, 2006 by Jonathan

I’m not sure I’m really qualified to ‘properly’ review Wicked City. I haven’t watched much anime. I can’t discuss styles of animation. I definitely can’t compare this film’s examples of wrinkled-brown-midget sex with any other’s. Also, I don’t really like it when I think I know what I’m looking at only I don’t because now its got teeth and… eugh.

Demonic gang rape doesn’t really give me a great deal of joy either. I’m generally fairly ambivalent about animated … (read more)

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Witch Hunter Robin (2002)

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Posted on January 25, 2006 by Deni

When Kumiko Takahashi was brought on board to create the character designs for Witch Hunter Robin, she was told to make Robin look “as unattractive as possible”. This might seem like a case of ratings suicide in the competitive, eye-candy orientated world of anime where the good girls are so genki they manage to keep their skimpy costumes on by virtue of sheer enthusiasm alone, but when you see this series you realise two things.

One, the main character … (read more)

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X: The Series (2001)

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Posted on January 25, 2006 by Deni

Not that I could ever be accused of writing an unbiased review, but approaching a series that you are so familiar with is an unexpectedly challenging task. After all, it’s not like I can write, “It’s cool!” and you’d be happy, right? So I thought I’d just jot down some of the reasons to like X, and by the time I get my thoughts straight, I reckon I should be able to give you a review.

So what’s to … (read more)

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Yojimbo (1961)

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Posted on January 25, 2006 by James

Ah, Yojimbo. Forgive me for feeling little nostalgic, but once upon a time I discovered a couple of old black & white VHS tapes in the local library that became my entrance to Akira Kurosawa and then through his movies, eventually, belatedly, to the wondrous dimension of Asian cinema. Yojimbo was shorter than the other tape (Seven Samurai) so I watched it first. Ah, Yojimbo … it’s been a while, but thanks for a rather superb introduction.… (read more)

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Yukikaze (2003)

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Posted on January 25, 2006 by Deni

There’s something to a Studio Gonzo production that is almost auteur, if that can be said about an animation studio. There’s a finish to their work, a polish to the integration of CG into the more traditional cell animation that somehow has their fingerprints all over it. Yukikaze is no exception.

Based on a novel, Sentou Yousei Yukikaze (Good Luck Yukikaze) by science fiction author Chohei Kambayashi, the anime is a thrilling mix of personal drama, mystery, and jet fighter … (read more)

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Akira (2001)

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Posted on January 25, 2006 by Deni

Akira. A lot gets said about it. Words like definitive, ground-breaking and brilliant get bandied around all over the place like bullets in a John Woo movie whenever it’s mentioned. And rightly so. It was a movie that left a huge, meteoric impact crater on the grown-up, film going, cross cultural psyche that some people, myself included, will never quite get over.

The interesting thing about it however, is that over a decade later it has lost none of … (read more)

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Samurai Gun (2004)

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Posted on January 22, 2006 by Andy

Released in 2004, Samurai Gun is an oddity. It eschews the current trend in samurai anime of the historically accurate period detail. Samurai Gun thumbs its nose at its housemates: Peacemaker, Otogi Zoshi and Rurouni Kenshin, preferring to wallow in anachronism. Using the industrial revolution as a jumping off point, Samurai Gun grants itself a lot of latitude with its use technology. Guns aren’t limited to revolvers, there are automatics, the bad guys, the Shogun’s minions use rocket … (read more)

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