I spend most of my time cursing the ill-fated timing of my birth. Being 23 in the 1980s seems like it would be oodles more fun than being 23 in 2010. That’s right, I said ‘oodles.’ We have yet to colonize the moon, Mars, or develop teleportation, so in the eyes of 1950s, 1960s, and [...]
Posts Tagged ‘film review’
Japanese Film Review: Memories – Magnetic Rose 彼女の想いで (1995)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japan, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantine in tokyo, constantineintokyo, critical essay, film review, Film Reviews, japanese film, Kon Satoshi, Magnetic Rose, Memories, Satoshi Kon on September 1, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Magnetic Rose (a rather loose translation of 彼女の想いで, “her memories”) is the first of three episodes based on the manga short stories of Otomo Katsuhiro (the genius behind Akira). Directed by Morimoto Koji, Magnetic Rose does not offer any insight into Kon Satoshi’s work as a director. However, he wrote the adaption of Otomo’s original [...]
The Works of Kon Satoshi: Introduction
Posted in Film Reviews, Japan, Japanese Culture, tagged anime, constantine in tokyo, constantineintokyo, film review, Film Reviews, Japan, Japanese animation, Japanese culture, japanese film, Kon Satoshi, Millennium Actress, Paprika, Paranoia Agent, Perfect Blue, Satoshi Kon, Tokyo Godfathers on September 1, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Alright, I realize that by doing something like this I am going to be revealing just how much of a nerd I am to everyone who reads this blog. However, considering my last blog post mentioned that I have history-induced orgasms, I guess I’m not fooling anyone into thinking that I am coolness personified. Over [...]
HBO’s THE PACIFIC: Part One
Posted in Book Reviews, Film Reviews, HBO's The Pacific, tagged bushido, constantine in tokyo, film review, HBO's The Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow, Japan, Japanese, Japanese history, Steven Spielberg, The Pacific, war, With the Old Breed, World War II, WWII on May 21, 2010 | 12 Comments »
Following the model laid out by Band of Brothers, The Pacific begins with actual footage of Pearl Harbor and interviews with some of the veterans of the Pacific War. We’re rapidly approaching the time when the generation who fought in WWII will be gone and I find these interviews extremely valuable. In Band of Brothers, [...]
Japanese Film Reviews #20: Takeuchi Tetsuro’s WILD ZERO (2000)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantineintokyo, film review, Film Reviews, guitar wolf, J-horror, Japan, Japanese, japanese film, Japanese zombie movies, takeuchi tetsuro, zombies on May 11, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Wild Zero follows the three band members of Guitar Wolf; Guitar Wolf (vocals and guitar), Bass Wolf (bass), and Drum Wolf (you guessed it, drums). This trio are the hottest musicians in rural Asahi-cho and only believe in three things; love, justice, and Rock’n’Roll. Tired of the dirty ways of their evil yakuza business manager, [...]
Japanese Film Reviews #19: Tomomatsu Naoyuki’s ZOMBIE JIETAI: ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE (2006)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantine in tokyo, film review, Film Reviews, J-horror, Japan, Japanese, japanese film, Japanese zombie movies, Tomomatsu Naoyuki, WWII, zombies on May 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Tomomatsu Naoyuki’s Zombie Self-Defense Force (Zombi jietai) is one of the most ridiculous genre spoofs out there…and I mean ridiculous in a good way. A UFO crashes in a forest and releases radiation that can reanimate the dead. In close vicinity to the crash are a gang of yakuza and their chinpira lackeys, a photography [...]
Japanese Film Reviews #18: Kitamura Ryuhei’s VERSUS (2000)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantine in tokyo, film review, Film Reviews, J-horror, Japan, Japanese, Japanese zombie movies, Kitamura Ryuhei, Sakaguchi Tak, Sakaki Hideo, zombies on May 10, 2010 | 7 Comments »
Everyone who watches Japanese film knows about Versus. And for good reason, this is an awesome movie. I tend to shy away from movies that are excessively popular. This is because having never been popular myself, I harbor a deep subconscious resentment for all things that become popular. But, in this case, I will grudgingly [...]
Japanese Film Review #17: Tomomatsu Naoyuki’s STACY (2001)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged film, film review, Japan, japanese film, Japanese zombie movies, zombie movies, zombies on May 10, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Directed by Tomomatsu Naoyuki and based on a novel by Otsuki Kenji, the 2001 film Stacy seems like a pretty good idea – what’s not to love about undead zombie schoolgirls? The film opens with the following narration: The beginning of the 21st century. Young girls aged 15 to 17 began dying one after another, [...]
Japanese Film Review #16: Muroga Atsushi’s JUNK: SHIRYO-GARI (2000)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged film review, J-horror, Japan, zombies on March 11, 2010 | 6 Comments »
Presumably set in Okinawa, Shiryo-gari (written and directed by Muroga Atsushi) is about an American military experiment on dead bodies that predictably results in a zombie outbreak. The hapless American soldiers enlist the help of Dr. Nakada (played by Kishimoto Yuji), a Japanese scientist who was involved in the original research, to help bring the [...]
Film Reviews: Neil Marshall’s THE DESCENT (2005)
Posted in Film Reviews, tagged film review, horror, neil marshall, the descent on February 21, 2010 | 3 Comments »
One of my favorite horror movies of all time is Neil Marshall’s 2005 film The Descent. Like Pitch Black, The Descent proves that a movie doesn’t need a complicated plot to be completely fantastic. The movie is about six cool athletic chicks that go spelunking, get trapped, and subsequently eaten by mutant cave people. That’s [...]
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