Ryoko’s Qubit Summer: a human-AI romance culminating in transformation
Yuichi Kondo, “Ryoko’S Qubit Summer” (2018) Here is a sweet film about an unusual love affair between an AI researcher and an AI creation. In the…
Japanese Films
Reviews of Japanese-language films I find significant or interesting.
Danemon’s Monster Hunt at Shojoji: an early though not remarkable animated tale of a samurai’s adventure
Yoshitaro Kataoka, “Danemon’s Monster Hunt at Shojoji / Shojoji no tanuki-bayashi Dan Dan’emon” (1935) While looking for something else on Youtube, I found this uncaptioned short…
Tokyo Story: a study of social and economic change in Japan during the 1950s
Yasujiro Ozu, “Tokyo Story / Tokyo monogatari” (1953) Under the precise and careful direction of Yasujiro Ozu, this family soap opera becomes a character study of…
French and French-language Films, Japanese Films
The Truth: where lies and deception are as important as truth in keeping families together
Hirokazu Kore-eda, “The Truth” (2019) Ironically truth is the one thing going missing in this gentle French comedy about a family whose members use lies and…
The Lost Breakfast: amusing animation on how chaos invades and disrupts order and control through daily rituals
Q-rais, “The Lost Breakfast” (2015) Where some cartoonists treat the weekday early morning ritual of getting up and getting ready to go to work, including the…
Shoplifters: an intelligent low-key film that examines the nature of family and connection in a fragmented society
Hirokazu Kore-eda, “Shoplifters / Manbiki Kazoku” (2018) In this slow realist drama about an impoverished family in Tokyo, surviving by its wits through a combination of…
Tokyo Godfathers: a heart-warming if fussy Christmas movie on the importance of family in assuring survival and resilience
Satoshi Kon, “Tokyo Godfathers” (2003) No, this ain’t no cult yakuza film – though yakuza types do appear for a short while – but instead this…
Japanese Films, North American Films
A stale and confusing plot and dreary characters in “Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars”
Shinji Aramaki, “Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars” (2017) Multiplying not quite as fast as the enemy Arachnids did in the original Paul Verhoeven “Starship Troopers” film…
Tales from Earthsea: a fantasy film lacking in sparkle and wonder
Goro Miyazaki, “Tales from Earthsea / Gedo senki” (2006) Watching this film, gorgeous as it is visually, I couldn’t help but feel that it’s a classic…
Over Your Dead Body: an extreme, almost cartoon-ish horror ghost film homage where life imitates art
Takashi Miike, “Over Your Dead Body” (2014) From the incredibly prolific director Takashi Miike, who never met a film genre he couldn’t make an insanely extreme…