Last month we launched a giveaway of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo/Sanjuro Blu-ray set. That giveaway has since ended and now it’s time to announce the lucky winner. Drum roll, please. More »

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From Ningin: Ningin isn’t the only site within the Mixr Network that hosts giveaways. It’s true, we really like to overwhelm everyone with stuff. To make your lives easier, here’s a break down of all the giveaways that are ending soon (that you still have time to enter): More »

Heads up, Akira Kurosawa fans! In anticipation of the March 23rd release of Criterion Collection’s Yojimbo/Sanjuro Blu-ray box set, we’ve got our hands on both Yojimbo and Sanjuro on Blu-ray to give away to one lucky winner. More »

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A while back, I posted my 5 Movies That Should Be Made Into An Anime which turned out to be a huge hit. Now, with Akira Kurosawa month all but over, I’m going back in for another edition of movies that should be made into an anime. And while Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai has already recieved the anime treatment, there are plenty of other Kurosawa films that could make for an excellent animated watch. So whether I’m flirting with success (or disaster), I give you 5 Kurosawa Films That Should Be Made Into An Anime. More »

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Since 2010 marks Akira Kurosawa’s centennial (100th birthday), we should be reminded of the things this man saw and endured during his lifetime which played a role in his filmmaking. The notorious atom bombs being the top of the list and, as such, a reoccurring theme throughout his career. Rhapsody In August is just such an example of the effect this horrific event had on the lives of the people who suffered through it. It seems only fitting that my final Kurosawa review will be of a later piece in his career. More »

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Hiroshima from Tokyo: by bullet train (2 hours 30 minutes) Nagasaki from Tokyo: by bullet train to Fukuoka (4 hours) then by special express (2 hours)

There is a lot more to both these vibrant cities than that they alone, of all cities on earth, were once atomic bomb targets. But let’s be honest, we go there for one main reason. More »

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Perhaps the most relevant and topical of all of Akira Kurosawa’s films today, The Bad Sleep Well is an intruiging tale of corrupt businessmen, corporate kickbacks, and bribery.

And while we sit in the mire of a recession (as a result of similar actions mind you), Kurosawa here provides not only a deep and suspenseful story but also a film full of laugh out loud comedic moments. And we’re talking some seriously funny stuff here. More »

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Akira Kurosawa takes us on a journey through a gloriously reconstructed feudal Japan for an introspection on the reality of power and identity in his 1980 return to the samurai genre, Kagemusha.

As an aging ruler named Shingen passes on, his dying wish is for his death to be concealed for three more years until the army can overtake a strategic city. The estate’s principal retainers bring in a ragged petty thief to pose as a double for the late ruler, with only those closest to him aware of the hoax. The kagemusha (double), after being rescued from a death sentence, is reluctant to lose his identity for a warlord. After a change of heart, and learning that he really has no other options, the kagemusha is taught the finest details of the late ruler’s mannerisms, speech, and relationships. He must fool everyone, even a long-time doctor and Shingen’s mistresses and grandson, or the enemies will learn the truth and take down the estate. Through the kagemusha’s experiences of pretending to be powerful, being treated as a king and master of war, he learns what it is like to be the ruler but yet it is all false, and all the decisions are being made by the generals. It must have been a rather bizarre feeling for the kagemusha, but he knew he had a role to fulfill and everything was depending on him to be convincing enough. More »

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I’m really grateful to have had the chance to see Kurosawa’s last film, Dreams (1990), at the New York Film Forum. Not only is it an incredible film–certainly one of his best–but it provides, if in a problematic form, a sort of answer to the two questions Kurosawa claims to have struggled with all his life: Why can’t people be happier? and Why can’t they be happier together? More »

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Vivid and wild, Sukiyaki Western Django will dazzle your eyes, make you laugh, and might even make you cry. Takeshi Miike’s 2007 stunning spaghetti western features an all-star cast of Hideaki Ito, Koichi Sato, Kaori Momoi, and even Quentin Tarantino. This portrayal of western and samurai traditions come together in a fast-paced “wild east” action tale to wow your senses. More »

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