Kokuho is an epic tale, a decades-long story that takes us inside the world of kabuki, and features some outstanding performances. Kikuo (Ryo Yoshizawa) has always had a talent as an onnagata. These are the female characters in kanubi shows, all played by men. He’s taken in by Hanjiro Hanai (Ken Watanabe!!), who will serve…
Tag: japanese
Empire of the Sun (1987) – Steven Spielberg
Spielberg’s next project was an adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s memoir of his time as a boy growing up in Japanese occupied China during World War II. Christian Bale, in one of his earliest roles, plays young Jamie Graham, an arrogant young English boy who is fascinated by planes, and whose life is upended in the…
1941 (1979) – Steven Spielberg
It has been a long time since I last watched Spielberg’s 1941, but as I’m revisiting his films and exploring the ones I haven’t written about before, it seemed like a perfect time to look at this one again. The film did not do well upon release, in fact, watching it now, it still feels…
The Raid 2 (2014) – Gareth Evans
Picking up shortly after the first film, The Raid 2 sees Rama (Iko Uwais) recruited into a secret, and small division of the police to go undercover in the hopes of securing tangible and undeniable proof of police corruption. The only way for it to be believable is if Rama breaks the law, and can…
The X-Files (1995) – 731, and Revelations
Apology is policy replaces The Truth Is Out There statement of the opening credits as we are thrown right into the conclusion of the two-parter started with Nisei. Written by Frank Spotnitz this one debuted on 1 December, 1995. Mulder (David Duchovny) has his hands full as he is thrown into confrontation with the Red-Haired…
Black Rain (1989) – Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott remains one of my favourite technical directors, and it’s been awhile since I settled in for this crime thriller, that stars Micheal Douglas, Andy Garcia, Kate Capshaw, and Ken Takakura. Douglas plays Nick Conklin a less than clean New York bigoted cop currently under investigation by Internal Affairs when he and his partner…
Shogun (1980) – Disc 1
Ah the late 70s and early 80s, the age of the television mini-series, an almost forgotten television event, though slowly being rediscovered by the advent of the limited series. It’s slightly different of course, because back then, there were only a few channels available, making a mini-series an event over consecutive nights. Shogun was based…
You Only Live Twice (1967) – Lewis Gilbert
When I decided to tuck into the literary world of James Bond, and decided to read the original novels, I realised that there I hadn’t covered almost half of the films for the blog, so I figured for every Bond novel I read,I would watch one of the Bond films I haven’t written about before….
Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead (2009) – Steve Perry
Haiti 1943. Steve Perry pens the last (to date) canon novel in the Indiana Jones series, that is set five years after The Last Crusade, and takes place in the midst of the Second World War. Indy is older now, in his forties, he is working for the OSS, and he is joined by his…
Miami Vice (1987) – Like a Hurricane, and The Rising Sun of Death
Anything has to be a step up after last week’s abysmal Missing Hours, and Like A Hurricane is a little bit more on track, but is a very Crockett (Don Johnson)-centric story. Written by Robert Palm, this episode first aired on 20 November, 1987. Vice detective Sonny Crockett is given babysitting duty. He’s supposed to…
The Mind Reels 