Japan

The House of the Lost on the Cape

By Michael Talbot-Haynes | September 2022

Like flowers through cracks in a sidewalk, prepare for magic to break through the crust of reality in Shin’ya Kawatsura’s super lovely…

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The House of the Lost on the Cape image — The House of the Lost on the Cape
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Like flowers through cracks in a sidewalk, prepare for magic to break through the crust of reality in Shin'ya Kawatsura's super lovely anime, The House of...

Baby Assassins (Baby Walkure) image — Baby Assassins (Baby Walkure)
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NOW ON VOD! Sometimes a film is good solely based on the story idea. Yûgo Sakamoto's thriller, Baby Assassins, is one of those films. The writer/director...

Miporin image — Miporin
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Writer-director Daiki Matsumoto makes his feature-length debut with the horror-comedy Miporin. The filmmaker dives into the world of "Idols," which has...

The Cherry Bushido image — The Cherry Bushido
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Often, there is great subtlety in Asian cinema and theater. The national art forms of the world's largest landmass are known for indirect communication and...

Torao image — Torao
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The feature film debut from Kazuya Murayama, Torao, is something one can't predict or even get a hint of when it first unravels its characters. The...

Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes image — Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes
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NEW TO VOD! A while back, I reviewed the tepid short The Awful Kind, opining how its one-take shot was a mere gimmick, as the story is set in an empty...

They Say Nothing Stays The Same (Aru Sendo No Hanashi) image — They Say Nothing Stays The Same (Aru Sendo No Hanashi)
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We, the working class, have always been victims to progress. Joe Odagiri's They Say Nothing Stays The Same is the story of Toichi (Akira Emoto), an elderly...

Drive My Car image — Drive My Car
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AFI FEST 2021 REVIEW! Drive My Car, written by Takamasa Oe and director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, catches up with stage actor/director Yûsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi...

Gift of Fire image — Gift of Fire
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The title of Hiroshi Kurosaki's splendid Gift of Fire is a direct reference to Prometheus, who bestowed fire upon humanity, both a gift and a curse. Fire...

Ouija Japan image — Ouija Japan
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It seems that Hollywood is not the only place churning out cookie-cutter formulaic plots in films. Case in point, Masaya Kato's Ouija Japan, which offers...

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