Tag Archives: Japan Cuts

Review: Wonderful Paradise (Japan 2020)

Japan Cuts 2021 Looking to scratch that “weird Japan” itch but with some more substantive meat under the oddity? This has a bit of an After Hours energy, as a small goodbye party thrown by a depressed family losing their home … Continue reading

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Review: Go Seppuku Yourselves (Japan 2021)

Japan Cuts 2021 You want a master class in how to make a monologue absolutely riveting? Look no further than this intensely angry short film that maps Toyoda’s anger about government failings during the pandemic onto the story of a samurai … Continue reading

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Review: Helter Skelter (Japan 2012)

Based on a manga by enfant terrible Kyoko Okazaki, this collaboration between photographer-turned-director Mika Ninagawa and controversial idol/actress Erica Sawajiri is a fascinating bit of Cronenbergian body horror set in the world of fashion and plastic surgery.

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Review: Belladonna of Sadness (Japan 1973)

Wow, that was one hell of an acid trip of a movie. A remaster and re-release of an early animated film produced by Osamu Tezuka, this film is completely unique, the closest comparison being the more outré works of Ralph … Continue reading

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