Japan
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Foodies may struggle to control themselves during Naotaro Endo’s documentary about the famed Tokyo fish market, as the film is packed throughout with drooling close-ups of glistening sushi grade seafood.… Read More
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A darkly comic satire of Japanese political bureaucracy, Toho’s 29th entry in the Godzilla franchise may prove too talky for some, but still manages to pay loving homage to the… Read More
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After learning he has only one day to live, a young man enters into a Faustian pact, bartering his most treasured possessions for more time on earth. Read my review Read More
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For what was only ever a one-joke premise, Yuichi Fukada gets a surprising amount of mileage from the crime-fighting antics of teenager Kyosuke (Ryohei Suzuki), who draws his superpowers from… Read More
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Thirty-five years after teen idol Hiroko Yakushimaru upended the yakuza genre by spraying a room full of bullets with a shrill cry of “Kaikan!”, schoolgirl mob boss Izumi makes her… Read More
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Veteran director Yoji Yamada returns with his first comedy in more than two decades, as a suburban middle-class family is thrown into disarray when the grandparents announce they are getting… Read More
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Yoshihiro Nakamura’s first foray into horror in more than a decade proves a cracking return to form, both for the director and the J-horror genre. Read my review Read More
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While The Walking Dead sees audiences worldwide continue to invite zombies into their homes, undead offerings on the big screen have been comparatively lifeless of late. Shinsuke Sato’s blindly enthusiastic… Read More
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Miike Takashi’s live-action adaptation of Yu Sasuga’s popular manga series is a star-studded affair but stretches a wafer thin plot to breaking point. Read my review Read More
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Committed fans of felines and flatulence may find a modicum of entertainment in this threadbare sequel to the hit 2014 movie Neko Samurai (Samurai Cat in English), but for the… Read More
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A disparate group of loners, dreamers and extraterrestrials congregate at a restaurant to contemplate their fate in Japanese filmmaker Koki Mitani’s feeble, sluggish comedy. Read my review Read More
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Grief, memory and the importance of letting go are all central to Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s latest drama, which won the best director prize in the Un Certain Regard section of last… Read More
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Opening with a busload of schoolgirls being violently sheared in half by a malevolent wind, Sion Sono’s Tag certainly gets off to a promising start. Read my review Read More
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Director Nobuhiro Yamashita, who scored a massive hit with Linda Linda Linda, delivers another musically fuelled comedy drama about a young hoodlum who finds his voice fronting a traditional pop… Read More
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Boxing films, like all sporting yarns, are often less about the game than the rigorous framework it provides for discipline, focus and getting your life back on track. Read my… Read More
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In the years since Hayao Mayazaki announced his retirement as the de facto king of Japanese animation, many have pointed to Mamoru Hasoda to take up the mantle. Read my… Read More
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Finding your voice and staying true to yourself are the familiar adolescent adages given a visually rich, if emotionally clumsy, airing in this unabashedly good-natured animation from the team behind… Read More
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Visually rich and episodic in nature, Miss Hokusai is a mature and elegantly told tale of a young woman struggling for artistic recognition in 19th century Japan. Read my review Read More
The James Marsh film review archive 