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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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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Japan has seen a surge of shock horror films in the past decade with such movies as Ichi the Killer, Audition, and now, The Machine Girl joins these ranks. More »

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If you don’t know who Takeshi Kaneshiro is (shame on you), this post should prove quite enlightening. Known mostly for his roles in Chungking Express, House of Flying Daggers, Fallen Angels, as well as a host of other films, Kaneshiro is one of Japan’s finest actors and this post is going to show you just why… More »

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Forget Sherlock Holmes, there’s a new detective in town. The popular manga Konchu Tantei Yoshida Yoshimi (Insect Detective Yoshimi Yoshida) is getting the silver screen treatment this April. More »

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Move over Kurosawa, there’s more Japanese cinema goodness to be had this month. Today kicks off Rekuru’s (and Ningin’s) Japanese Cinema Royale Special , an all week look at the many films, actors and actresses, and more from the land of the rising sun. Below, for your viewing pleasure, I’ve listed this week’s schedule of posts you can look forward to. So kick back, get comfortable, and prepare yourself because this week is going to kick some serious butt. I’m just saying. More »

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So up until now, I’ve been writing about Akira Kurosawa films I had already seen; only now have I taken advantage of the riches of the Film Forum going on now in New York and seen for the first time Kurosawa’s High and Low (1963). I do encourage everyone living in striking distance of New York to get out and attend this thing; it’s a great opportunity. As for High and Low itself, I strongly recommend it–perhaps not on a level with Rashomon and Ran, but at the same time, it presents a side of Kurosawa you don’t get from his best known films. More »

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Stereotypically, one might expect Japan’s greatest filmmaker to craft intricate, mysterious, emotionally opaque films with a subtly previously unknown to the West. And if you think that greatest filmmaker is Yasujiro Ozu, you’d be correct. But Kurosawa wears his heart on his sleeve, and his films, however stylistically intricate (and not being a film expert, I’m more or less blind to these subtleties) are political, emotionally raw, moralistic, at times even sentimental. In fact, Kurosawa was taken less seriously in his time by certain Japanese critics who found his sensibility “too Western.” Nowhere is this more evident than in my personal favorite, Ran (”Chaos”). More »

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“Freedom is something you have to fight for.” - Professor Yagihara

This is a line from Akira Kurosawa’s 1946 film No Regrets for Our Youth which, coincidentally, sums up the entire theme of the film. Set in Kyoto after the Manchurian Incident, No Regrets tells the story of three classmates attending Kyoto University and their life-long struggle for freedom amidst militaristic, fascist opposition. While the film has long gone unnoticed (most likely due to it not being available on DVD until just recently), No Regrets is a powerful and fantastic film that’s definitely worth a watch. More »

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Homer Simpson: Aw Marge, why do we hafta go to Japan? Marge Simpson: You liked Rashomon. Homer: That’s not how I remember it. More »

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