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  • Drama (138)
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  • Films Made Before 2000 (71)
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November 8, 2021

The Role of the Environment in Onibaba and Woman In The Dunes.

Between the films Onibaba, directed by Kaneto Shindo in 1964, and Woman In the Dunes, directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara also in 1964 there are only five characters and two locations. […]
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November 8, 2021

Don’t Miss Gantz

Every cinephile has a film they believe deserved more attention than it received. Mine is the science fiction, thriller Gantz from Japan. This is a wonderfully creative […]
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November 8, 2021

The Female Prisoner Scorpion Series

In the span of just two years, 1972 to 1973, a series of four films were made in Japan by The Toei Company. The first […]
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November 7, 2021

The Hanzo The Razor Trilogy

​With my eyes fixed to the screen I could scarcely believe what was happening. I can’t imagine what I must have looked like as I […]
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November 3, 2021

Voyage into Space: Know Your Target Audience

Imagine a movie made entirely by 8 year old boys. The actors, the editor, the costume designer everyone involved is 8. Then you wouldn’t be […]
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November 1, 2021

Favorite Scenes №18: Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable

In 1973, Shunya Itō released Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable, his third installment in the Scorpion series. The opening of this movie is the most badass […]
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October 25, 2021

Revenge of Mechagodzilla: Thoughts on Kaiju Symbolism

The legacy of Godzilla began in 1954. The history of this still ongoing franchise has been divided into a variety of eras the first of which is […]
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October 23, 2021

The Crimson Bat, Blind Swordswoman Series

The Crimson Bat series is based on a manga character created by Teruo Tanashita. There are four films in all. The first two were directed […]
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October 23, 2021

Brace Yourself For Hanuman vs. 7 Ultraman

Hanuman vs. Seven Ultraman has to be the most bizarre mixture of sacred and profane, I’ve ever seen. A Western equivalent might be something like Jesus vs. […]
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October 23, 2021

Watari, the Ninja Boy

It is best not to approach Watari The Ninja Boy as narrative. It appears as if the writers intended there to be a chronological story, but it is not discernible. […]
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October 23, 2021

Favorite Scenes №9: Ran

​In 1985 Akira Kurosawa finished his grand-scale opus, Ran. The film is his interpretation of Shakespeare’s King Lear. It is full of spectacular imagery, ornate […]
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October 22, 2021

Buddha, Japan’s Answer to The Ten Commandments

​When Cecil B Demille made The Ten Commandments he made at least some effort to stay true to his source material. It may not be […]
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October 22, 2021

The Ultraman Story

When I was a freshman in college and I first walked into Miller Dining Hall I saw something I had never seen before. There was […]
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October 20, 2021

I Love It From Behind is Not What You Think it is, or Maybe it is.

What did I just watch? I’m not sure if it was art-house or grind-house or what. It was directed by Kôyû Ohara, who makes pinku […]
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October 20, 2021

Favorite Scenes №6: Tampopo

In 1985 Juzo Itami made a film about food called Tampopo. There is a central story about a woman learning how to make Ramen but […]
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October 18, 2021

Favorite Scenes №4: Spirited Away

Hayao Miyazaki released his anime film Spirited Away in 2001. The film is dense with layered meaning and steeped in traditional Japanese folk tales. Many of the […]
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October 17, 2021

Hirokazu Koreeda’s Still Walking

According to family lore when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I would answer “A fire-hydrant!” After the laughter subsided my […]
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October 16, 2021

Favorite Scenes №2: Rashomon

Akira Kurosawa made Rashomon in 1950. The world of Rashomon is a tense chess game played by three characters. The game is less about strategy and more […]
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October 13, 2021

Shin’ya Tsukamoto’s Hiruko The Goblin

This is not your typical Shin’ya Tsukamoto film. If you’ve seen the two Tetsuo films, don’t expect something as intense or insane as that. Hiruko The […]
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October 11, 2021

Electric Dragon 80.000 V

As a film, Electric Dragon 80.000 V is a bizarre onslaught of sound and fury. As a Japanese film, it’s not that out of the ordinary. With […]
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October 7, 2021

Godzilla vs. Hedora: Not Your Typical Kaiju Fare

Considering the iconic status Godzilla already had in the 1960s it would have been intimidating for any director to be tasked with making the next […]
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October 7, 2021

A Comparison of The Turin Horse and The Naked Island

Kaneto Shindo released The Naked Island in 1960. A half century later later Bela Tarr released The Turin Horse. Both films have minimal dialogue. Both feature two people […]
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October 6, 2021

Tomu Uchida’s Beautiful Film Love, Thy Name Be Sorrow

Love, Thy Name Be Sorrow is based on a Japanese folktale. It is not a hero’s journey but Joseph Campbell would recognize the narrative elements involving […]
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October 4, 2021

The Golden Bat Phenomenon

​I wish I had seen The Golden Bat when I was ten years old. It would have become my new religion. The film is just chock full […]
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