Tag Archives: Japan

Review: Red Crow and the Ghost Ship (Japan 1989)

Posted on April 12, 2023 by David

When you have a magical flying sloop designed by Hayao Miyazaki and staffed by a muppet crow created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, who are you going to get to captain the ship? Jo F’in Shishido, of course. Very short, … Continue reading →

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Review: Shin Ultraman (Japan 2022)

Posted on July 25, 2022 by David

New York Asian Film Festival 2022 A total throwback to the oldest iterations of the TV series, this latest Higuchi/Anno “Shin” reinterpretation captures the goofy magic of old school Ultraman perfectly. Episodic, tongue-in-cheek but always played straight, the plot moves so … Continue reading →

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Review: Wife of a Spy (Japan 2020)

Posted on September 16, 2021 by David

Watching Kiyoshi Kurosawa experiment with new genres over this past decade or so has been fascinating. The man knows how to make an incredibly spooky supernatural chiller – his Kairo/Pulse is probably the pinnacle of J-horror for me – but … Continue reading →

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Review: Wonderful Paradise (Japan 2020)

Posted on August 26, 2021 by David

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: Cutie Honey (Japan 2004)

Posted on July 29, 2021 by David

Now THAT’S how to do a comic book superhero movie. Total live action cartoon full of bizarro touches and cheesecake, it’s genially sleazy in an old fashioned pin-up kind of way but maybe 1/10th as perverted as the original Go … Continue reading →

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Review: Lupin the Third: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon (Japan 1985)

Posted on May 24, 2021 by David

We all know that auteur Hayao Miyazaki polished his chops on a work for hire Lupin film, the delightful Castle of Cagliostro. But what about the OTHER auteur who slaved in the Lupin salt mines? That’s right, Seijun Suzuki, following … Continue reading →

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Review: Outlaw: Gangster VIP 2 (Japan 1968)

Posted on July 17, 2020 by David

Part 2 of the Goro saga moves to Tohoku, and gives us snow instead of city for a while. Tetsuya Watari is back as honorable (now former) gangster Goro – he tries to get out but they keep pulling him … Continue reading →

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Review: Outlaw: Gangster VIP (Japan 1968)

Posted on July 9, 2020 by David

First in the series (working my way through a box set I received as a present). Apparently I’d watched this before but had no memory of it. Somewhat old fashioned Yakuza high melodrama starring Tetsuya Watari covers all the cliches: … Continue reading →

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Review: Tokyo Knights (Japan 1961)

Posted on November 22, 2019 by David

This early Seijun Suzuki youth flick is basically an Elvis movie starring Koji Wada as the young heir to a construction combine mixed up in illegal shenanigans. It’s a super breezy, super jazzy (literally) play on Hamlet, and as soon … Continue reading →

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Review: Fly Me to the Saitama (Japan 2019) – NYAFF 2019

Posted on July 14, 2019 by David

I fucking loved this movie. Perhaps the campiest thing I’ve seen in years, this boys-love Romeo and Juliet fable of a Rococo oppressive Tokyo dominating its lame bedroom suburb neighbor Saitama (imagine if folks from New Jersey needed visas just … Continue reading →

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