Don’t delve into this book looking for answers and explanations. There are horrible things at work in and around the apartment building that is so central to the story, but no explanations will be offered and that can make things scarier for some, letting their imagination run wild, or disappointing for those who need everything…
Tag: japan
Isle of Dogs (2018) – Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson delivers another highly-enjoyable stop-motion animated feature with Isle of Dogs. He penned the script from a story he developed with Jason Schwartzman, Kunichi Nomura, and Roman Coppola. Set in a not-so-distant future in Japan, the story follows young Atari (Koyu Rankin) who travels to an island to seek out his missing canine, Spots…
Bullet Train (2022) – Blu-Ray Review
Sony Pictures delivers a vibrant, energetic action comedy to home theatres with their release of Bullet Train to DVD and Blu-Ray. Kinetic, colourful and packed with laughs, this violent, almost over-the-top film based on the book by Kotaro Isaka puts Brad Pitt, who seems to be having the time of his life, center stage as…
Mission: Impossible (1970) -Butterfly, and Decoy
Phelps (Peter Graves) and his IMF team (with Willy (Peter Lupus) back) head to Japan in Butterfly. Written by Eric Bercovici and Jerrold L. Ludwig from a story by Sheldon Stark, it first aired on 31 October, 1970. There’s some uncomfortable things that go on in this episode as the characters pose as various Japanese…
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) – Ishiro Honda
Director Ishiro Honda returns for the last Godzilla film of the Showa era, and while it still features space aliens intent on taking over the planet, this one feels a little deeper than some of the previous entries, by introducing some interesting characters who seem to really struggle with their natures. I’m talking, specifically about…
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) – Travis Knight
I remember getting a glimpse of this film with its first released trailer, and I wasn’t really interested. It seems my brain simply chose to block out the part where it says it’s a Laika Studios production… these guys have yet to make a bad picture. I picked it up on blu-ray sight unseen, only…
Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster (1964) – Ishiro Honda
UFOs, political assassinations, alien possession, the Shobijin (Emi and Yumi Ito) and alien monsters see the known kaiju on Earth, all located around Japan, unite for the first time to combat King Ghidorah, a three-headed space beast which destroyed an alien civilization on Venus centuries ago, and has now arrived on Earth via meteor. This…
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) – Ishiro Honda
Japan’s countryside, city, and infrastructure is in danger again as Godzilla returns in Mothra vs. Godzilla, which sees the giant kaiju slug it out in an enjoyable piece of melodrama. This time around things get underway when a giant egg comes ashore in Japan, and a photographer, Juno Nakanashi (Yuriko Hoshi) and newspaperman, Ichiro Sakai…
Godzilla Raids Again (1955) – Motoyoshi Oda
Even before Godzilla came ashore in North America with the recut 1954 feature Godzilla (Gojira)/Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, a sequel was unleashed on Japan with Godzilla Raids Again. Gone are the more serious overtones of the first film, the commentary and subtext; the exploration of radiation and its effects on the Japanese, the still…
The Grudge (2004) – Takashi Shimizu
Takashi Shimizu who wrote and directed the original J-horror version of The Grudge, Ju-On, delivers the North American adaptation that isn’t quite as creepy and unnerving as the source material, as it tries to find a blending of Western and Eastern film styles that doesn’t always work. I remember Ju-On freaked me out the first…
The Mind Reels 