Clik here to view.
Nobuhiko Ôbayashi – Riyû AKA The Reason AKA The Motive (2004)
Quote:A storm rages over Tokyo. Meanwhile, inside a high-rise apartment block, the bodies of four people are discovered – apparently the victims of a brutal crime. At first, the victims are all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Katsuhito Ishii – Samehada otoko to momojiri onna AKA Shark Skin Man And...
While escaping from the clutches of her sexually warped uncle, Toshiko meets Samehada who pos up in front of her in his underpants. The dude is also escaping from the gangsters he has stolen a pile of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Karisuma AKA Charisma [+Extras] (1999)
Quote:A seasoned detective is called in to rescue a politician held hostage by a lunatic. In a brief moment of uncertainty, he misses the chance for action. Leaving his job and family without...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Yasuharu Hasebe – Ryuketsu No Koso AKA Blood For Blood / Bloody Feud (1971)
Late Nikkatsu Action – One of Hasebe’s last for the studio before the Roman Porno films genre became their mainstay. Nikkatsu Classic Library wrote:The Akiba and Shimura crime families run the streets...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Joon-ho Bong – Gisaengchung AKA Parasite (2019) (HD)
Quote:Ki-taek’s family of four is close, but fully unemployed, with a bleak future ahead of them. The son Ki-woo is recommended by his friend, a student at a prestigious university, for a well-paid...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kazuo Kuroki – Rônin-gai aka Street of Masterless Samurai (1990)
Kazuo Kuroki’s international award-winning period drama was produced in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the death of Shozo Makino, “the father of Japanese films.” Set in the 1830s near the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Keita Amemiya – Zeiram AKA Zeiramu [+Extras] (1991)
Quote:“When two hapless electricians go out on a job, they have every reason to believe that it’ll be a job like any other. But the bumbling twosome soon find themselves zapped into a virtual reality...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tatsumi Kumashiro – Yoi-machi-gusa AKA Evening Primrose (1974)
The Taisho era was a time of turbulence in Japan. From new marks of modernity to full-blown riots, a sense of revolution filled the air. The Dam Dam Group is a small anarchist organization lead by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Seijun Suzuki – Ukigusa no yado AKA Inn Of The Floating Weeds (1957)
Another Kayo-eiga (Pop Song Film), inspired by the hit Ukikusa No Yado sung by Hachiro Kasuga. Although the singer has a co-starring role, the movie was designed as a star vehicle for the new Nikkatsu...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Akio Jissoji – Dialogue (1992)
A man hires a Private Investigator in order to find proof that his wife has been cheating on him. Soon, we learn that the man’s plan is to set the wife up, divorce her and remarry again in America...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hajime Satô – Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro AKA Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968)
While a plane is being hijacked, a report of a bomb on board, another report of a UFO in the area is cut short as the hijacker shoots the radio and the controls. This while they encounter a UFO,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ye Lou – Suzhou he aka Suzhou River (2000)
Plot Summary:The river Suzhou that flows through Shanghai is a reservoir of filth, chaos and poverty, but also a meeting place for memories and secrets. Lou Ye, who spent his youth on the banks of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kihachi Okamoto – Daiyukai aka Rainbow Kids aka The Magnificent Kidnapping...
Quote:Kihachi Okamoto directs his 37th film with this sweet-natured satire about bungling cops and tax scams. The story opens with an 84-year-old widow and grandmother (Tanie Kitabayashi), who lives...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Yuuri Sunohara – Jogakusei: Harakiri AKA Zankoku-bi: Onna harakiri 02 AKA...
Quote:A young girl in a sailor moon outfit, sits quietly in an empty room, looking at a photo album of girls (from earlier films in this series) who have commit harakiri. The viewing and thought of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nobuhiko Ôbayashi – Kare no ootobai, kanojo no shima AKA His Motorbike, Her...
After being threatened by his girlfriend’s brother, Ko (Riki Takeuchi) goes on a trip on his Kawasaki to contemplate his options. He meets Miiyo (Kiwako Harada) by chance, and the two stay in touch....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shinji Sômai – Gyoei no mure AKA The Catch (1983)
Tuna fishing. It doesn’t exactly evoke the stuff of drama, yet very dramatic is this gripping yarn (puns intended) about the solemn, solitary lives of the men who catch what ends up as our sushi and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang – Fun Bar Karaoke (1997)
Quote:Pu, a young girl, has been dreaming that her mother, who had died some years before, is building a house. A fortune teller advises her that, should she continue to have this dream, her father...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Hebi no michi AKA Serpent’s Path (1998)
Midnight Eye review:Serpent’s Path and its companion piece Eyes of the Spider (Kumo No Hitomi) both start from the same premise: a man taking revenge for the murder of a child. Kurosawa used this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Yimou Zhang – Yi ge dou bu neng shao AKA Not One Less (1999)
Quote:In a remote mountain village, the teacher must leave for a month, and the mayor can find only a 13-year old girl, Wei Minzhi, to substitute. The teacher leaves one stick of chalk for each day...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Akio Jissoji – Yoiyami semareba aka When Twilight Draws Near (1969)
Here’s Jissoji Akio’s impressive theatrical debut. Distributed by ATG and with a script by Oshima Nagisa, it’s a fascinating dissection of 1960s Japanese youth angst. Oshima wrote the screenplay for...
View Article