Posts Tagged ‘ 4-Star Films ’

Review: BANDAGE (Kobayashi, 2010)

Japanese title: バンデージ Director: Kobayashi Takeshi Info: IMDb, AsianMediaWiki, Trailer Rating: ★★★★ Being an Iwai Shunji-produced and co-written film, I was quick to pick up BANDAGE, hoping for something original and enjoyable.  I’m not sure how involved Iwai was with the film (I’m guessing not too much, though there are undoubtedly Iwai inspirations scattered throughout [ READ MORE ]

Review: Yuriko’s Aroma (Yoshida, 2010)

Japanese title: ユリ子のアロマ (Yuriko no Aroma) Director: Yoshida Kota Info: IMDb, AsianMediaWiki, Trailer Rating: ★★★★ What if you woke up to someone licking the sweat off your hair?  How would you react? 17 year old Takeshi (Sometani Shota) experiences this strangely erotic act in the secluded, deserted, run-down shed where he takes a nap after [ READ MORE ]

Review: Kakera (Ando, 2009)

Japanese title: カケラ Director: Ando Momoko Info links: AsianMediaWiki, IMDb, Trailer Rating: ★★★★½ “Men and women are all humans.  It’s only hard when we categorize ourselves … Maybe we don’t need to define ourselves as man or woman.  Maybe [the determination of our sex at conception] is as arbitrary as whether the zoo was open [ READ MORE ]

Quick Review: Violent Cop (Kitano, 1989)

Cold and violent… Rating: ★★★★½ In short: Violent Cop is a great film.  Kitano plays a cold, Dirty Harry style cop well.  The film is very well-paced and uses its screen time adequately. Violent Cop is Kitano’s first film as a director and it does not disappoint.  Watch it for an enjoyable hour and forty minutes, [ READ MORE ]

Review: Air Doll (空気人形)

Hauntingly beautiful Rating: ★★★★ In short: A deep, thought-provoking, beautifully filmed, and well acted piece of Japanese cinema. Bae Doona is magnificent as an inflatable doll that develops a soul and falls in love. Hirokazu Koreeda wows once again with his deliberate film making, effectively commenting on social problems dealing with urban life. Despite the [ READ MORE ]

A Note On Ratings

Films are rated on a 5-star scale, with 1 star being the lowest possible rating. In short, 4/5-star films are fully recommended, 3-star films are just okay, and 1/2-star films range from mildly flawed/unenjoyable to completely horrible.
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