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Kuroneko (1968, Shindo Kanetô)
I thought I was going to start this post with a witty remark regarding the film’s use of repetitiveness to excellent overall effect, but then the movie ended and, by that time, much of the excellence...
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Woman in the Dunes (1964, Teshigahara Hiroshi)
Episodes of the “Twilight Zone” ran thirty minutes, or whatever without commercials, for a very good reason. Stretching a one-note story out to an hour would be too exasperating. Woman in the Dunes...
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Mothra (1961, Honda Ishirô)
Mothra is a strange mix of Japanese monster movie, 1950s Hollywood sci-fi and Disney. The last ingredient only becomes clear at the end of the movie, though it’s probably present throughout (as Mothra...
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Rodan (1956, Honda Ishirô)
The end of Rodan makes the monster’s death tragic—there are two Rodans (giant pterosaurs) and one commits suicide after its mate dies in volcano fumes. Even more tragic is the Japanese defense force...
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Azumi 2: Death or Love (2005, Kaneko Shusuke)
So, why when making a sequel to a successful film, do film companies do it on the cheap? This practice is getting uncommon in the US (except direct-to-video sequels), but was prevalent in the...
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Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World (2004, Yukisada Isao)
Boy meets girl, boy woos girl, boy gets girl, girl gets sick. Crying Out Love has a frame too: boy never gets over it and still hasn’t, twenty years later, when he’s engaged to be married. The...
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The Bad Sleep Well (1960, Kurosawa Akira)
I had no idea it was Mifune Toshirô (nor did I get the Hamlet subtext). Kurosawa mixes genres a lot with The Bad Sleep Well. It’s an incredibly romantic film, but not from the start. The start is a...
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The Face of Another (1966, Teshigahara Hiroshi)
Novelists make interesting screenwriters (though maybe not as much any more). When they adapt their own work, however, it might not be the best idea. The adaptation allows them to package their...
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Zeiram (1991, Amemiya Keita)
Zeiram is a Japanese low budget sci-fi action film. Except it also has a strong slapstick vibe and a real minimalist feel to it. While, visually, the budget might be responsible for some of that...
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Seoul (2002, Nagasawa Masahiko)
An action slash thriller requires a couple things… action set pieces and, well, thrills. Seoul‘s got a couple action set pieces, beginning and end, and not much in the way of thrills. There’s a mystery...
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