REEL JAPAN
Insights into Japanese cinema and television
Category: Uncategorized
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Score: 6/10 MINAMATA is a rare bird of a film. A true story set in the early 1970s in Japan, with brief interludes in NYC, it was filmed in Japan and Serbia. Directed by Andrew Levitas, an American who has helmed two movies, it features a mostly Japanese cast rounded out by Johnny Depp and…
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Score: 8/10 FAKING BEETHOVEN is a unique outing in the history of Japanese cinema. Written by Bakarhythm, noted Japanese screenwriter and comedian who brought us the recent comedy hit HOTSPOT, it is based on Kagehara Shiho’s 2018 nonfiction book and features superb acting from a huge cast, but lead Yamada Yuki carries the film. He…
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Score: 9/10 A charming ensemble workplace comedy sprinkled with hints of sci-fi and the supernatural, HOTSPOT will pull you in and make you fall in love with the humdrum personalities that populate this small resort town in the mountains. Its ingenious title is a pun on the hot spring vacation spot where it is set.…
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SCORE: 8/10 “Does it spark joy?” SAMURAI SHIFTERS is a delightful romp through Edo-period Japan which strikes a perfect balance between the dramatic and the comedic. Director Inudo Isshin (THE FLOATING CASTLE) keeps the story laser-focused despite the huge cast of colorful characters. Hoshino Gen stars as Shunnosuke, a pale bookworm born into the samurai…
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Score: 3/10 MISSING is a long slog of a movie that can’t decide if it is an oddball buddy film or a Nancy Drew-esque detective flick. The buddies are a pervert and a slob who team up to commit crimes that crisscross the lines of mercy, sadism, and opportunism. The young detective is a streetwise…
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Score: 8/10 Film director (and occasional actor) Harada Masato recently passed away, leaving behind an impressive body of work. He may be best known to western audiences as the villain in THE LAST SAMURAI, but he directed 26 feature films. His 2015 film, THE EMPEROR OF AUGUST is a remake of the 1967 film JAPAN’S…
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Score: 6/10 An interesting addition to the canon of Japanese horror films and series, HUMAN SPECIMENS is adapted from the novel by Minato Kanae (SUNSET). The production leans on symbolic and transformational cinematography, detailed art design, and strong but enigmatic performances from the stellar cast. There are many horror productions in which the filmmakers force…
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Score: 6/10 Less action-packed than chapter one, chapter two of season 5 is primarily concerned with three long-delayed conversations. The first is between Nancy and Jonathan, whose relationship chemistry has been put under questioning by the writers this season. Their fateful dialogue happens in an inventive landscape of dripping and oozing matter transformed by a…
REEL JAPAN 