Shogo offers an evocative and bleak experience that forces us to question the current state of our societal field.
May 24, 2023 • Subscribe
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Distant Thunder (2022) review [Skip City International D-Cinema Festival]
A strangely mesmerizing sci-fi slice-of-life narrative
We’re Dead (2022) review [Skip City International D-Cinema Festival]
A great narrative that explores the irreducible Otherness that marks our relationships in an effective way.
Blue Collar Physics (2022) review [Skip-City International D-Cinema festival]
Kobayashi shows that the narrative element of the super-power can be used to explore human subjectivity and to highlight the often antagonistic link between the subject and his…
All Summer Long (2022) review [Skip-City International D-Cinema festival]
While Horiuchi’s narrative is all about the difficulty of ending things, the melancholic dimension of what has to end only comes to full emotional blossom as the finale…
Short Movie Time: Kitten (2022) review [Skip City International D-Cinema Festival]
Yamaguchi elegantly underlines the importance of showing one’s Otherness to the other and the problematic nature of succumbing to the seduction of deceiving oneself by reflecting sameness to…
Short Movie Time: Similarity (2022) review [Skip City International D-Cinema Festival]
A highly enjoyable short by Kiichiro Kimura.
Short Movie Time: Storage Man (2022) review [Skip City International D-Cinema Festival]
Tetsuro Manno proves that he has mastered the drama-genre and shows off his ability to create a quite thematically dense experience.
The Waxing and Waning of Life (2022) [SKIP-CITY International D-Cinema Festival 2022]
A powerful emotional experience that shows that only a social bond where there is place for subjective speech can help the formerly addicted subject to avoid getting caught…
Short Movie Time: But It Did Happen (2022) [Skip City International D-Cinema Festival]
Ruichi Suita offers a masterclass in using images as signifiers and concatenating them elegantly to sketch out the unaccepted truth that determines a subject’s signifiers and acts.
Short-movie Time: 3 Intestine Road, Fish Island (2022) review [Skip City International D-Cinema Festival]
A splendid animation short about the importance of accepting some of the other’s Otherness.
Make The Devil Laugh (2021) review [Skip City International D-Festival 2021] (27:00)
An amazing socially-engaged piece of cinema that beautifully sketches out how problematic the enjoyment of the societal Other can be.
Tokyo International Film Festival 2022
Anna Yamada in The Mountain Woman. Scheduling conflicts and sold-out screenings meant that I was only able to see three films at TIFF this year, but it was…
Bad City (2022) review [Camera Japan Festival]
Sonamura delivers everything one expects from an action-thriller.
Fantasia International Film Festival Confirms Complete 2022 Programme
Runs in Montreal July 14 to Aug. 3
Japanese Films at the Berlin International Film Festival 2022
A Preview of the Japanese Films at the Berlin International Film Festival 2020
Japanese Films at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2022
A preview of the Japanese Films at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2022
Japanese Films at the Vancouver International Film Festival 2022
A Preview of the Japanese Films at the Vancouver International Film Festival 2022
Chicago International Film Festival – Cloud
When I was getting in line for this film, I was genuinely surprised at how long the line was. This particular film probably had the biggest turn out…
Suzume (73rd Berlinale International Film Festival)
Or: The Indie director who found out that his niche was the mainstream.
Chicago International Film Festival – My Sunshine
Another beautiful day in Chicago, and it was another film in theaters due to the Chicago International Film Festival. I was really lucky that I snagged a ticket,…
Howling 遠吠え Dir: Sheikh M Haris (2022) V Cinema Show Review [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
Howling is a bleak comedy of the absurd and cruel kind with good acting and direction to sell the story. 遠吠え Dir: Sheikh M Haris (2022) [Osaka Asian Film…
Japanese Films at the Busan International Film Festival 2022 (05th-14th October)
A Preview of the Japanese Films at the Busan International Film Festival 2020 (21st-30th October)
Japanese Films at the Toronto International Film Festival 2022 (September 08th-18th)
A Preview of the Japanese Films at the Toronto International Film Festival 2022 (September 08th-18th)
Chicago International Film Festival – Super Happy Forever
I headed out once again to Chicago, for the Chicago International Film Festival. With the Kore-eda retrospective finished, there were still three other Japanese films in the lineup…
Convenience Story (2022) review [Fantasia Film Festival 2022]
Miki delivers a great psychological mystery narrative, yet it might not be for everyone.
Japanese Films at the San Sebastian International Film Festival 2022 (September 16th-24th)
A Preview of the Japanese Films at the San Sebastian Film Festival 2022 (SEPTEMBER 16th-24th)
Alivehoon (2022) review [Camera Japan Festival]
Shimoyama hits all the common beats of the sports-genre, but succeeds in elevating his exploration of the art of drifting by framing the battling cars in an exciting…
Out of TOKYO202x Director: Akinori Ikuse [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022] V-Cinema
A rewrite of my review of Out of TOKYO202x, a refreshing sci-fi short from Japan that takes the time-slip formula and uses it on the summer Olympics! Director: Akinori…
The City Hunter Cinema Survey – The Secret Service
By the mid 1990s those last vestiges of 80s decadence had well and truly been overshadowed by stark reality and economic hardship. Especially in Japan, whose world-beating but…
A Glimpse at the Japanese Films at the Cinema at Sea – Okinawa Pan-Pacific International Film Festival 2023
Cinema at Sea – Okinawa Pan-Pacific International Film Festival 2023 – November 23rd to November 29th – will screen films from nations around the Pacific region. This post…
Japanese Films at the Venice International Film Festival 2022 (August 31st to September 10th)
Koji Fukada’s latest, Seijun Suzuki and Yasujiro Ozu classics – A Preview of the Japanese Films at the Venice International Film Festival 2022 (August 31st to September 10th)
Fantasia International Film Festival Confirms Complete 2023 Programme
In Montreal July 20 to Aug. 9.
Fantasia International Film Festival Confirms Complete 2024 Programme
In Montreal July 18 to Aug, 4.
Fantasia International Film Festival Confirms Complete 2021 Programme
In cinemas and streaming across Canada Aug. 5 – 25
Animex 2020 - International Festival of Animation, VFX & Games
With COVID-19 still limiting peoples movements online virtual events have been proving popular. Animex The International Festival of Animati...
Prior Convictions (2022) review [Camera Japan Festival]
“A very relevant exploration of the fact that the criminal act is, in many cases, born from an antagonistic relation between the subject and the Other.”
Shin-Ultraman (2022) review [Fantasia Film Festival]
Higuchi and Anno deliver an impressive love letter to their childhood, yet their devoted love, which is sensible in every aspect of the narrative, might not be able…
Riverside Mukolitta (2022) review [Camera Japan Festival]
A highly touching narrative about re-finding social life.
Nagi’s Island (2022) review [Camera Japan Festival]
The power of Nagasawa’s narrative does not simply lie in the engaging emotional rhythm, as dictated by the musical decorations, but in the genuineness that oozes from every…
The City Hunter Cinema Survey – Double Feature! Bay City Wars and Million Dollar Conspiracy
The year 1990 saw a relatively significant slowdown in City Hunter’s anime output from its late 80s peak. The third TV series finished up in the Autumn 1989…
The City Hunter Cinema Survey – Goodbye My Sweetheart (aka City Hunter: The Motion Picture)
While working my way through these various films, specials and OVAs there’s been an ongoing struggle to find much new to say with each iteration. There’s only so…
It’s All My Fault (2022) review [Camera Japan Festival 2022]
A touching narrative that explores how difficult it is for subject to assume a place for himself, a place from where he/she can desire, without the structuring influence…
Kotatsu Festival 2022 Details
The good folks from The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival have revealed their film line up for this autumn 2022. The long running Welsh An...
Élan Festival 2022 Summary
Studio Élan hosted their (I assume) first “Direct” thingy in Élan Festival 2022. Let’s go over the announcements and updates shared, shall we? Keep in mind these are…
Japanese Films at the Rotterdam International Film Festival 2023
A preview of the Japanese Films at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2023
Japan Sinks: 2020, Kick-Heart, Lu Over the Wall, Mind Game, Ride Your Wave
Japanese Films at the Berlin International Film Festival 2021
A Preview of the Japanese Films at the Berlin International Film Festival 2020
Japanese Films at the Berlin International Film Festival 2024
A Preview of the Japanese Films at the Berlin International Film Festival 2024 (February 15-25)
Japanese Films at the Vancouver International Film Festival 2024
A Preview of the Japanese Films at the Vancouver International Film Festival 2024 – September 26th to October 06th – will screen HAPPYEND, Super Happy Forever, Living in Two…
Japanese Films at the Hawai’i International Film Festival 2023
A Preview of the Japanese Films at the Hawai’i International Film Festival 2023, which runs from October 12-22
Japanese Films at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2023
A Preview of the Japanese Films at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2023: THE FIRST SLAM DUNK and TOKYO POP are on the programme.