A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Reviews of Japanese-language films I find significant or interesting.
Hayao Miyazaki, “Howl’s Moving Castle” (2005) Up to and including “Spirited Away”, the animated films by Studio Ghibli are of a high standard both technically and…
Osamu Tezuka, “Jumping” (1984) Boing! BOING! BOI-I-I-ING-G-G!!! Here comes “Jumping” by the legendary Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astroboy, who made a fair few experimental anime film…
Shuhei Morita, “Kakurenbo: Hide and Seek” (2004) A very lavish short film that uses cel-shaded animation to render the CG imagery three-dimensional, “Kakurenbo” has a definite…
Tatsuo Sato, “Cat Soup” / “Nekojiru-so” (2003) Here is a beautifully animated surreal short film which superficially looks like a children’s film but is clearly intended…
Takashi Miike, “13 Assassins” / “Jusannin no Shikaku” (2010) Is there a genre of film the prolific director Takashi Miike hasn’t yet touched? Eighty films in…
Shinya Tsukamoto, “Tetsuo: The Iron Man” (1989) Once again Tsukamoto has remade “Tetsuo: The Iron Man” in the form of “Tetsuo: Bullet Man”, the previous remake having been…
Akira Kurosawa, “Rashomon” (1950) For this film, director Kurosawa used a blend of two short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, “Rashomon” and “In a Grove”, the latter…
Mitsuyo Seo, “Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors” (1945) Japan’s first full-length animated movie is a World War II propaganda film aimed at children and centred around a…
Hayao Miyazaki, “Kiki’s Delivery Service” (1989) A charming coming-of-age film about a young witch who undergoes a series of challenges, not the least of which is…
Hatoshi Matsumoto, “Symbol” (2009) A slapstick comedy about interrelationships and the impact one person can have on events around the world, “Symbol” is the second full-length…