Watched in 2020
A log of all the films I have watched in 2020. I only give full number ratings on scale from 1 to 5. This means I sometimes have to make difficult calls in whether I round down or up IMDB scores (e.g. 7 becomes either 3/5 or 4/5 feature for the review blurp). But in the first place numerical ratings are only rough indications of film's quality and merit so I think this is fine.
List activity
312 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
101 titles
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsYoshikazu FujikiShinji HiguchiMako HyôdôA fictional documentary about changing Japanese eating habits and the colorful thieves that swindle the restaurants which serve them.January 1
Oshii's bizarre "superliveanimation" animation hybrid film is such a peculiar film it could only possibly come from the mind of its creator. No one else would create something like this, an over-the-top cartoony faux-documentary of Japan's postwar history through made-up nonsense about "fast food grifters" (Oshii's favorite comedic staple going back to Urusei Yatsura) exploiting popular fast food restaurants as they explode onto scene one after another, decade after decade, following a presumably historical order of spread of their popularity in Japan.
The cast is colorful to say the least, inside jokes hilarious (Shoji Kawamori cameo as Indian is a favorite), Oshii's barby political asides interesting, and the animation style novel to say the least. So I'm happy this exists, but I don't think there's denying the film is overlong and the joke (the whole project could be thought of as one, really) stretched beyond breaking point. Charm of "superliveanimation" also wears out quickly.
Fast food grifters is a pretty funny short film mistakenly made as a feature. Shame, but I'm still happy it exists.
2/5 - DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsYoshikazu FujikiRinko KikuchiMeisa KurokiIn the aftermath of a global thermonuclear war three battle tested women wage war in a virtual video game against giant mutant sand whales.January 2
If on Avalon Oshii hasn't yet fully surrendered to his inner Last Man, on Assault Girls he has completely given up. Politically, philosophically, artistically - white flag is up. This is unfortunate enough, but even more unfortunately Oshii mistakenly thinks this makes his vidya MMORPG exploits a worthy subject for cinema since nothing matters anyway.
Certainly this film doesn't.
1/5 - DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsLance HenriksenKevin DurandMélanie St-PierreIn a world where clone soldiers from three military tribes are locked in a perpetual battle of air, land and technology, one clone is separated from the battle and finds herself on the run with a group of unlikely companions.January 2
Oshii's big budget international production is the closest thing he has got to making a science fiction epic in live action format. Garm Wars is unfortunately a mess, an incomplete narrative for the most part lacking in thematic interest and compelling characters. It's greatest strenghts are audiovisual, smooth digital cinematography and Kenji Kawai's trademark music. But even formally film's not-animation-but-animationlike boundary hopping is a mixed bag.
Whatever disasters took place behind scenes, it is clear Oshii's ambition clearly exceeded his grasp. The setting is interesting but ain't it, chief. In light of uninspired work like Assault Girls and Garm Wars Oshii's upcoming return to anime is a relief.
2/5 - DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsNana SeinoNobuaki KanekoLilyAi, who is a student at a girl school, is talented and extremely good in the arts. Unfortunately, the implication of this is that her school-mates are jealous and the grown-ups see her as a tool for their own devices. Ai becomes aware of her position and is caught between her gift and her surroundings. She is worn down as a result.January 4
Oshii's first live action work to reach level of "okay" since Avalon is probably that way only because it is Oshii's remake of action short film he liked a lot, and as such there's no chance for it to get mired in the kind of pretentious and digitalized nonsense that has made most of his 21st Century output so dismal.
Tokyo Mukokuseki Shojo works because it doesn't overstay its welcome, and the whole film exists as excuse for one particularly over the top girl-with-guns action sequence Oshii is so good at anyhow. It doesn't pretend to be much more (though to the extent it does it's bad).
So yeah, at least this is honest zero budget indie Japanese action schlock.
3/5 - DirectorAkio JissôjiStarsRenji IshibashiSeiran LiKôji ShimizuA decadent Count in 1920's Japan becomes obsessed with the works of the Marquis de Sade. He creates a theatre to show plays adapted from his novels, and recruits thieves, prostitutes and low lives to act out his fantasies.January 5
If Jissoji's "AV" V-cinema trilogy is a good reason to suspect Jissoji had lost his ability to make good cinema out of ethically suspect sex and dark side of human mind, this film provides ballast of counterevidence.
Prosperities of Vice is as poisonously beautiful and aesthetically seducing as it is disturbing and perverse. The outcome is a provocative study of Taisho decadence and a rare 80s pink film that is worth seeing.
3/5 - DirectorRyûichi HirokiStarsShinobu TerajimaNao ÔmoriRiho MakiseAfter meeting a handsome truck driver (Nao Omori) in the midst of an urban mini-mart, a 30-something freelance writer (Shinobu Terajima) embarks on a life-changing emotional journey of sexual self-discovery.January 5
Ryuichi Hiroki's raw study in human miscommunication and sexuality is one of the best character studies to come out of 00s Japan, where the very crassness of some of the material is essential to psychological exploration.
4/5 - DirectorAkio JissôjiStarsToshio ShibaKeiko OginomeShingo KazamiThe disappearance of a TV news reporter leads his co-workers to go searching for him. Later, the co-workers discover that a mysterious woman in red and the sudden appearance of a giant monster might hold the key as to the whereabouts of their missing friend.January 5
Jissoji's return to tokusatsu fare is a disappointing crash landing. While it is fun to see Jissoji direct toku again with his characteristic skewed sensibilities this Ultra Q spiritual successor never truly comes alive. The problems are general, ranging from hammy plotting to haphazard pacing and lack of focus.
2/5 - DirectorHideo OnchiStarsJun'ichi InoueMasaya OkiKumiko AkiyoshiA young boy learns he is part of a powerful race of psionic humans who must fight the normal humans determined to keep them from Earth.January 6
This beautiful anime film adaptation of shojo manga SF classic(!) is a great example of the staying power of original otaku youth culture that cropped up around anime and manga in the late 70s-early 80s.
While the film is idiosyncratic both in its story and the way it is told it remains a memorable pop culture artifact quite distinct from space opera that preceded (Yamato) and followed (Gundam, Macross) it. There's something particularly unique about the feel of its key animation.
3/5 - DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsCatherine DeneuveJuliette BinocheEthan HawkeA stormy reunion between scriptwriter Lumir with her famous mother and actress, Fabienne, against the backdrop of Fabienne's autobiographic book and her latest role in a Sci-Fi picture as a daughter of a mother who never grows old.January 7
Koreeda gets his post-Palme D'Or prestige picture made in France, featuring the truly magnificent Catherine Deneuve in the main role. As one would expect Deneuve dominates the whole film despite the high quality of the cast on the whole.
All in all La vérité is a finely made, subdued family drama characteristic of both modern French cinema in general and Koreeda's own output, but perhaps due to modesty born out of cultural distance Koreeda's gaze seems less penetrating than in his explorations of Japanese family.
What comes through loud and clear is Koreeda's muted awe and respect for Deneuve.
3/5 - DirectorNoboru TanakaStarsJunko MiyashitaHatsuo YamayaHiroshi ChôJanuary 13
Tanaka's third pink exploration of historic subject doesn't live up to level of Sada Abe or Watcher in the Attic. While this look into life of Seiu Itō and his wife is above the average Roman Porno fair it's lacking in aesthetic interest in comparison.
3/5 - DirectorHiroshi IkedaStarsMasako NozawaAkio TanakaAkira NagoyaHayato's peaceful life with his parents and his dog is brought to a dramatic, terrible end when a giant robot, said to be sent from a flying ghost ship, devastates the city, killing hundreds including Hayato's parents. Shortly before his death, Hayato's father reveals that he is not really their son. Hayato is now alone, struggling in this strange new world left after the disaster, where giant machines and monsters control the world. He sets on a dangerous quest to discover the mysterious powers that be, only to discover that he is directly connected to it all...January 14
One of the most batshit insane anime films I've ever seen, a thoroughly entertaining romp which gleefully smashes together at least 5 different genre pictures together into one friskly paced 61 minute romp.
Not many pop culture artefacts of its time and place are this captivating and earnest. It is a so-bad-it-is-good picture for sure, but it is a *well made* so-bad-it-is-good picture!
60s Pro-Soviet japanese children cartoons were something else.
3/5
edit: Rewatched on 15th May - DirectorYoshimasa HiraikeShintarô ItogaMitsuhiro IwasakiStarsJunnaAmi KoshimizuMinori SuzukiJanuary 19
Macross Delta movie holds up well on rewatch, its combination of repurposed tv series footage and new scenes resulting in far better production than the unfocused series was. As always, Kawamori's reworking of old material is an object lesson in montage theory and his skill as editor.
4/5 - DirectorDavid LynchStarsJack CruzDavid LynchToototabonIn a locked down train station, a homicide detective conducts an interview with a tormented monkey.January 21
Lynch and monkey having a discussion is the very essence of cinema.
4/5 - DirectorSam MendesStarsDean-Charles ChapmanGeorge MacKayDaniel MaysApril 6th, 1917. As an infantry battalion assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.January 29
Sam Mendes's World War I pseudo-real time, pseudo-one take picture is one of the best modern war movies. The film is all around excellent, but what really impresses is how 1917 manages to make these often gimmicky formal and narrative choices serve the movie on the whole in a natural way. Carefully considered breaks prove film's audacious style never becomes an end in itself.
Superb.
5/5 - DirectorMikio NaruseStarsHideko TakamineYûzô KayamaMitsuko KusabueAfter a bombing raid destroys the family store and her husband, Reiko rebuilds and runs the shop out of love stopped short by destruction.February 1
Yearning ranks among the highest echelons of Naruse's sorrowful love stories - and as such among masterpieces of Japanese cinema. Everything about this film is just superb and the final scene one of the most haunting from the 60s.
5/5 - DirectorTerrence MalickStarsAugust DiehlValerie PachnerMaria SimonThe Austrian Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector, refuses to fight for the Nazis in World War II.February 10
Malick returns with his first genuine masterpiece at least since Tree of Life. A Hidden Life is not a pacifist paean or a hippie celebration of non-conformism as mispresentations go; mispresentation that correspond to how Jägerstätter has been appropriated by the '68 Generation since 60s.
No, this is a movie about sainthood and crucible of suffering and renunciation necessary for becoming one. Of all Malick's films A Hidden Life is perhaps most openly Christian in subject, theme and even style, a veritable The Passion of Joan of Arc or Diary of the Country Priest for the 2010s.
One of the best films of the decade.
5/5 - DirectorTatsumi KumashiroStarsJunko MiyashitaRenji IshibashiAkoAt his working place, Kozo and his colleague gangrape the boss' teenage daughter. Then, on the highway, he picks up a red-haired woman walking on the road back to his home. She ends up staying the night. Later, the woman reveals that she has left her husband and son, but refuses to divulge her name. On the other hand, the boss' daughter informs Kozo's colleague that she is pregnant. They decide to elope but, before that, he demands Kozo to let him have sex with the red-haired woman...February 29
Junko Miyashita stars in one of the more dramaturgically strong and famous pink films of the 70s. Woman with Red Hair surpasses the norm through Miyashita's superb performance, naturalistic lower class drama and director's Kumashiro's delightful use of music. The film is only hindered by some excesses, even if most of its 'skin' scenes serve a purpose.
Not really a consideration that is pro or con, but I also find it amusing how much a JK character (who gets raped early on) looks like Rino Sashihara.
3/5 - DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsKotaro DaigoNana MoriTsubasa HondaSet during a period of exceptionally rainy weather, high-school boy Hodaka Morishima runs away from his troubled rural home to Tokyo and befriends an orphan girl who can manipulate the weather.March 13
Shinkai could've played it safe after historical mega success of Kimi no na Wa, but instead he opted to make this. I don't think I've ever seen a 'mainstream' anime feature so full of bizarre or downright questionable details and plot points before. Shinkai is clearly doing whatever he wants to do, and what he wants to do is early 00s eroge sekai-kei story adapted to Kimi no na Wa aesthetics and targeted at 10s teens.
I love the sheer audaciousness of it all, its subtle retro feel, and stunningly gorgeous animation and art. In many ways Tenki no Ko is more interesting and original production in comparison to Kimi, and it is certainly (even more) stylistically overwhelming.
On the other hand, somewhat scattershot and (even!) morally ambiguous nature of this anime keeps it below Kimi, as fun as I find it.
3/5 edit: rewatch on July 18 - DirectorKon IchikawaStarsKazuo HasegawaFujiko YamamotoAyako WakaoYukinojo, a Kabuki actor, seeks revenge by destroying the three men who caused the deaths of his parents. Also involved are the daughter of one of Yukinojo's targets, two master thieves, and a swordsman who himself is out to kill Yukinojo.March 14
Kon Ichikawa directs a period piece about Kabuki actor out for revenge as if it was some strange modernist Kabuki in itself. An Actor's Revenge must be one of the most stylistically original and formally impressive jidaigeki to ever come from Japan, and pathos of its intense story never devolves into bathos either.
5/5 - DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsTadanobu AsanoTakuro AtsukiMickey CurtisThe story centers on a group of young people who travel back in time when they are in a movie theater just before closing time. They witness deaths during the closing days of Japan's feudal times and on the battlefront in China before they are sent to Hiroshima just before the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing of the city.March 14
A Hidden Life may not have been a a pacifist paean, but that might be the simplest description one can give for Obayashi's final film. Labyrinth of Cinema is a wholly singular work and experience even by standards of Obayashi's own experimental filmography.
Because what the hell is this thing, really? An essay film? Metafictional drama? Documentary with historical re-enactments? Study of Japanese war films - or is it a study of Japan and its wars? Obayashi's semi-autobiographical final lecture to the youth? Groovy hippie dramedy? Tragedy about horrors of war? Science fiction epic?
I could keep listing questions like this without supplying clear answers forever, but this suffices. Labyrinth of Cinema truly lives up to its name in form, content and artistic intention. Thankfully this labyrinth is one where you want to get lost in.
Obayashi finished his long career as maverick director with two masterpieces in a row. I didn't see it coming, but I'm deeply grateful.
Requiescat in pace
5/5 - DirectorKôji WakamatsuStarsMaki SakaiArata IuraAkie NamikiThe film outlines Japanese students movements in the 60s, then shows the formation of the Japanese United Red Army, a communist armed resistance group.March 30
Wakamatsu's brutal and brutalizing account of United Red Army in Japan is one of the most singular films of 21st Century. It is a drama that stays clinically close to historical record and has the feel of re-enactment heavy documentary in some respects, but no re-enactment is this visceral and dramatically compelling.
URA is no easy watch, imposing in its lenght, style and subject, but those willing to make an effort find Wakamatsu's late career epic is his masterpiece.
5/5
edit: Rewatched on 11th September. Still kino. - DirectorKôji WakamatsuStarsShinobu TerajimaShima ÔnishiKen YoshizawaThe story of a village woman given the grueling task of looking after (and fulfilling the sexual needs of) her quadruple amputee husband, a Japanese soldier in the Second Sino-Japanese War who has been decreed a "War God" by the Emperor.April 1
After URA Wakamatsu took to adapting Edogawa Ranpo short story about a war veteran who returns home after having lost all his limbs. Wakamatsu takes the premise and basic outline from Ranpo and combines it with hysterical anti-war WWII drama, with mixed results. Everything owing to Ranpo's original eroguro grotesque is compelling, but Wakamatsu's cheap histrionics about WWII and evils of imperial Japan during the war are difficult to take seriously.
3/5 - DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsBunta SugawaraHiroki MatsukataKunie TanakaDuring the violent chaos of post-War Japanese black market, a young gangster called Shozo Hirono has to keep up with the rapid shifts of power between unscrupulous bosses.April 3
Kinji Fukasaku's rapid-fire, punishingly realistic five-part Yakuza epic is the pinnacle of jitsuroku eiga and yakuza films in general. Powerfully directed, staged and acted, it just doesn't get better than this. Bunta Sugawara would go down as one of the coolest leads in film history even if he had no other roles to his credit.
The first film of the series is probably the best of the bunch as it is the most dramaturgically self-contained. The quality of the series is so uniformly high quality gradations are ultimately just hairsplitting, however.
5/5 - DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsBunta SugawaraShin'ichi ChibaMeiko KajiA young criminal joins a yakuza family to kill the gangsters who beat him up, but falls in love with his boss' widow's niece, piling up enemies and corpses along his wayward way.April 4
Kinji Fukasaku's rapid-fire, punishingly realistic five-part Yakuza epic is the pinnacle of jitsuroku eiga and yakuza films in general. Powerfully directed, staged and acted, it just doesn't get better than this. Bunta Sugawara would go down as one of the coolest leads in film history even if he had no other roles to his credit.
The 2nd film in the series gives us the definitive side story of young cannon fodder yakuza experience. The finale is perhaps the most haunting part of the series.
5/5 - DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsBunta SugawaraAkira KobayashiTsunehiko WataseYakuza boss Shozo Hirono must choose his alliances carefully as the local gangster family affiliations prove themselves to be wildly unstable, causing gang conflicts to slowly escalate.April 5
Kinji Fukasaku's rapid-fire, punishingly realistic five-part Yakuza epic is the pinnacle of jitsuroku eiga and yakuza films in general. Powerfully directed, staged and acted, it just doesn't get better than this. Bunta Sugawara would go down as one of the coolest leads in film history even if he had no other roles to his credit.
The third film in series features escalating conflict and brings larger scale to the conflict as expies for Yamaguchi-gumi and Kyosei-kai bring war with shifting alliances to Hiroshima. Proxy War also continues the focus on young members who fight and die without any rela reward for the big shots.
5/5 - DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsBunta SugawaraAkira KobayashiTatsuo UmemiyaConflicts between Hirono's family and Yamamori's family (and their allies) are made more tense by the ambitious underlings and the police's efforts to impose a crackdown on the gangs.April 6
Kinji Fukasaku's rapid-fire, punishingly realistic five-part Yakuza epic is the pinnacle of jitsuroku eiga and yakuza films in general. Powerfully directed, staged and acted, it just doesn't get better than this. Bunta Sugawara would go down as one of the coolest leads in film history even if he had no other roles to his credit.
Police Tactics brings the climactic violence that has been escalating since Proxy War to a decisive end - or does it? It's all as enthralling as ever.
5/5 - DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsSeizô FukumotoNobuo KanekoJô ShishidoWhile Hirono is in prison, his rival Takeda turns his own crime organization into a political party, whose two executives stir up new tensions in their thirst for power.April 7
Kinji Fukasaku's rapid-fire, punishingly realistic five-part Yakuza epic is the pinnacle of jitsuroku eiga and yakuza films in general. Powerfully directed, staged and acted, it just doesn't get better than this. Bunta Sugawara would go down as one of the coolest leads in film history even if he had no other roles to his credit.
The final film in the series explores political themes and difficulties in even attempting to leave yakuza life behind in greater detail than the earlier entries in the series. As is fitting for a grand finale for this complex, violent tale of crime Final Episode provides deeply satisfying ending to the whole saga, a fitting thematic final note for the narrative of Final Episode in particular and for the series in general. Conclusive nature of fifth film makes it probably the best part of the whole series alongside the first feature.
The definitive yakuza story ends with a masterpiece worthy of series' high standards.
5/5 - DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsTatsuya FujiKazuko YoshiyukiTakahiro TamuraA married woman and her lover murder her husband and dump his body into a well. After a while, his ghost comes to haunt them while the local gossip grows stronger.April 9
Oshima's haunting ghost story is a huge improvement on 70s porn chic endeavor In the Realm of the Senses, with beautiful color cinematography and finely told story. Empire of Passion has many memorable scenes and unforgettable images, and it never allows 'pink' scenes to dominate in a self-indulgent way.
Unfortunately Oshima's subversive identification with the odious romantic couple as understandable, perhaps even justified rebels against their surrounding rural social order, renders the work thematically dubious at best. Film also feels somewhat drawn out at 1 hour and 45 minutes. This story could've been told more tightly and improved as a result.
All in all Empire of Passion is to be counted among fine Oshima films, but not among the first grade.
3/5 - DirectorRobert EggersStarsRobert PattinsonWillem DafoeValeriia KaramanTwo lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.April 10
Poetic black and white cinematography, gruff men and phallocentric struggle for supremacy gives powerhouse performances by Robert Pattison and Willem Dafoe - and tasty lobster.
4/5 - DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsJô ShishidoTamio KawajiReiko SasamoriPolice detective Tajima, tasked with tracking down stolen firearms, turns an underworld grudge into a blood-bath. Suzuki transforms a colorful pot-boiler into an on-target send-up of cultural colonialism and post-war greed.April 11
Jo Shishido lackdaisically fights his way through crooks and conspiracies in this delightful crime rollercoaster that was to be Seijun Suzuki's final film as Nikkatsu stellar before he became, well, Seijun Suzuki. Detective Bureau 23: Go to Hell, Bastards! lives up to its name in the best way possible.
edit: Rewatched on 23th August. Still rocks!
4/5 - DirectorAkio JissôjiStarsMichiko TsukasaRyô TamuraEiji OkadaNear a remote Buddhist monastery, a young man falls in love with his sister and gets her pregnant. After a monk finds out, the young man becomes an assistant to a master sculptor, only to proceed to complicate matters with his affairs.April 29
Jissoji's masterpiece is as audacious formally as in its story and themes. Mujo is a denunciation of Buddhism that isn't quite a denunciation and an amoral exploration of incestuous coupling that provides more food for thought than a typical ATG production.
Superb.
5/5 - DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsYasuko TomitaToshinori OmiYumiko FujitaLonely and love-struck, high-school student Hiroki pursues one girl but another one mysteriously appears in his life. Is she a figment of his lonely psyche, or real? An intricate triangle develops, and the viewer can't quite be sure what is happening until the whole story is neatly resolved at the end.May 12
No one mastered the format of 80s idol film quite like Obayashi, and not many directors had his light touched mastery for handling bittersweetness of teenage experience, or the aesthetic capacity to draw something transcendental out of sentimentality.
Sabinshinbou, the final part of his famed Onomichi trilogy, excels like its more famous compatriots. If the film has a notable shortcoming some of the cornball, over-the-top comedy is a bit much, but then again even most of that material works.
Warning: You will probably never be able to disassociate Chopin's Etude Op. 10 from this classic even if you want to.
5/5
edit: Rewatched on August 12 - DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsMichi AzumaYôko BenisawaHiroshi ChôA young man with a strong sense of justice is torn between two girls: the flighty Taneko and the serious Suzuko.May 16
One of the three Seijun Suzuki films adapting a novel by Toko Kon featuring rascals and hard living youth hopefully learning something through their experiences. Born Under a Bad Star is perhaps the most entertaining bad boy bildungsroman of the bunch, with its somewhat animesque youth drama, goofball dialogue and a simmering love triangle. It's all directed by Suzuki with much panache, with typically strong results.
4/5 - DirectorTatsuya IshiharaYasuhiro TakemotoStarsTomoyo KurosawaChika AnzaiMoe ToyotaThe story of Oumae Kumiko and others as second-year students.May 24
Despite its title Hibike! Euphonium film unfortunately acts more as a bridge between the 2nd season of anime series and so far (perhaps forever?) unrealized 3rd season. The film is good with all the to-be-expected KyoAni strenghts, but it does suffer from a digest feeling and some cramped pacing, and in case we never get a third season this is obviously leading to it's better to close the book on Hibike with the superb 2nd season finale.
4/5 - DirectorShirô MoritaniAndrew MayerStarsLorne GreeneKeiju KobayashiRhonda HopkinsThe shorted re-edited American version of Submersion of Japan, in which Japan slowly sinks into the sea as the US and Japan work together to stop it.July 12
Japan Sinks is a surprisingly intelligent SF story and a captivating disaster film in one package, one that is equally adept at addressing questions of nationhood and relationship between state and citizens in a crisis situation, and scenes of apocalyptic destruction and mayhem. The film may be somewhat overlong and lacking in tension and story propulsion in places, but overall this 1970s science fiction spectacle from Japan has aged gracefully beyond expectations.
4/5 - DirectorYôji YamadaStarsHiroyuki SanadaRie MiyazawaNenji KobayashiAs the feudal Japan era draws to a close, a widower samurai experiences difficulty balancing clan loyalties, 2 young daughters, an aged mother, and the sudden reappearance of his childhood sweetheart.July 15
Yoji Yamada's atypical, down-to-earth samurai drama is rightly celebrated as perhaps the most notable 21st Century jigaideki feature so far. It's subtle dramatics, end of an era atmosphere and general avoidance of heroic genre cliches marks The Twilight Samurai as Unforgiven of its genre. Few lapses towards melodramatic sentimentality aside, The Twilight Samurai is as close to perfectly executed story as any Japanese feature of the young millenium.
5/5 - DirectorMasaru KonumaStarsAsami OgawaMichio HinoTatsuya HamaguchiAt 24, Asima lives with her father and works as an office girl, watching men get promoted and having their pick of the young women in the steno pool. She appears removed from it all, but actually has a secret life she guards carefully. Her father arranges a marriage meeting with a friend who has an unmarried son. Asima may have a choice: an illicit relationship with a married boss or marriage to a dull family friend. A sidewalk vendor she meets one evening may offer something else. Does a young woman in her position have choices?July 18
Konuma's OL themed Roman Porno has some surprisingly strong drama and acting, but overall it's just another pink 1970s pink film, which doesn't even titillate.
2/5 - DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsAsuka KurosawaYûji KôtariShin'ya TsukamotoA woman is being stalked by a stranger. His stalking turns to blackmail when he sends her copies of photos of her in an embarrassing position. Now he controls her and she has to do anything he says. Anything.July 18
Tsukamoto's NTR and exhibitionism themed portrayal of dysfunctional erotic life of a high flying, neurotic couple has enough fucked up weirdness and titillation for a few JAV titles, and no one could accuse the film of stylistic or storytelling subtetly, but in my eyes this raw, kinetic blast of turn of the century Japanese sexual malaise works.
Of course the film's weirdly anti-natal atmosphere and setting hints at deeper reason and resolution to the trouble with the couple than what Tsukamoto is capable of delivering, but never let perfect be the enemy of good.
4/5 - DirectorNobuhiro YamashitaStarsUda TeppeiHiroshi YamamotoTsutomu meets Kee outside a Pachinko hall. The two strike up an unlikely friendship.July 19
Yamashita's debut feature has the ingredients of great slacker comedy in a style somewhat reminiscent of Aki Kaurismäki, but longer the film continues more alarmingly it deteriorates. Final impression is that of mildly plus charged mediocrity. Shame, since the first act already hints at greatness to come later in the man's career.
3/5 - DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsElle FanningChristina HendricksKeanu ReevesAn aspiring model, Jesse, is new to Los Angeles. However, her beauty and youth, which generate intense fascination and jealousy within the fashion industry, may prove themselves sinister.July 19
No director quite put his finger on the aesthetic pulse of 2010s pop culture like Nicolas Winding Refn, and The Neon Demon's pummeling audiovisual attack is a brilliant demonstration of the man's prodiguous gifts. In its heart the film is a simple morality tale, told through audaciously "unrealistic" story beats and artificial visual feast, but it works, and the film seems more perceptive about the culture it is depicting in 2020 than it did in 2016.
4/5 - DirectorSion SonoStarsMitsuru FukikoshiDendenAsuka KurosawaThe lives of a bored suburban couple are changed forever when a seemingly nice old man gives their daughter a job at his fish store, and soon his gruesome hobbies are brought to light.July 19
Sion Sono does... something in this notorious 2010 feature, and whatever it was exactly he set out to do, I'm sure Sono succeeded in achieving the results he wanted. I'm just not fully sure what he set out to do in the first place was worth doing.
Nevertheless, there is a lot that is utterly brilliant about this film, from very strong beginning and middle acts to powerhouse, horrifying Denden performance, to bizarre black humour and captivating guro grossness that never lets up before the credits roll.
But even when I grant all this, I think it is undeniable the film goes a bit too far in the end.
In various ways.
3/5 - DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsYumiko NogawaKôji WadaTamio KawajiLike a girl runaway, Tsuyu moves to Osaka to work as a bar hostess. She meets the owner of a model school, Yoko, and seriously thinks about becoming a fashion model. Yoko tells her that she can move in to Yoko's house to take lessons, while making a living at the same time. One night, the bisexual Yoko tries to assult her while she's asleep. Tsuyu runs away to the house of Yoko's sex friend, Seiji. Soon, she moves to Bon, her first lover's place. Bon has a dream, to start a hot spring somewhere in the mountains. Tsuyu approaches a wealthy money lender to encourage him to invest in Bon's dream. However, the guy has a fetish for film porn, and she is forced to act as a porn actress. Surprisingly, the actor who rapes her in the film is Akira who's been hired for a small amount of money. A few days later, the money lender dies in an accident and Tsuyu takes over his wealth. Becoming rich overnight, she returns to her native village. But the reality that her mother's lover, a lecherous monk, is violating her innocent younger sister, outrages her. She lures the monk away to a sheer cliff with malice aforethought.July 21
Yumiko Nogawa burns and sparkles as Osaka Carmen in this nimbly told and superbly directed story of passion by Seijun Suzuki. Director's strong synergy with women's stories (preferably starring Nogawa) is perhaps the most easily forgotten part of Suzuki's Nikkatsu output.
5/5 - DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôSachiko MitsumotoTora-San, an itinerant peddler who is thrown out of his father's house twenty years before but reconnects with his aunt, uncle and sister Sakura. Tora wreaks some havoc in their lives, like getting drunk and silly at a marriage meeting.July 22
And so was born Japan's Uuno Turhapuro, though Yoji Yamada's assured direction makes sure Tora-san operates on immeasurably higher cinematic level. Phenomenally succesful formula was first crafted here, and it's easy to see why people came back for more again and again.
4/5 - DirectorMitsuo YanagimachiThe 1970s in Japan saw the rise of motorcycle gangs, which drew the interest of the media. The movie follows a member of the "Black Emperors" gang and his interaction with his parents after he gets in trouble with the police.July 22
Very interesting documentary on Japan's biker youth gangs, though Mitsuo Yanagimachi's grasp on his subject and form is somewhat rough in this debut project. On the other hand that in a certain way that rough-handedness is exactly right for these kids.
3/5 - DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsKen YamauchiMasako IzumiMidori TashiroA teenager is dismissed from school for misconduct. Still violent, he falls in love with a pupil of his new establishment.July 24
First and perhaps the best Toko Kon bildungsroman adaptation by Suzuki. Just like later Born Under a Bad Star and Karmen from Kawakichi later The Bastard's rebellious and rambunctious youth story fits Suzuki's energetic style. This movie is very enjoyable for animesque love triangle hijinks and (surprisingly!) stately and dignified b&w cinematography both.
5/5 - DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsHideki TakahashiMasako IzumiHiroko ItôAfter his own gang sets him up to kill a rival mobster, a hit man is forced to flee with his younger brother.July 24
Seijun Suzuki's Nikkatsu crime drama keeps its feet surprisingly close to the ground and its drama effectively subdued - until the climax that explodes in psychedelic stylistic virtuosity, clearly paving way to Tokyo Drifter in the following year.
4/5 - DirectorTakashi NomuraStarsJô ShishidoJerry FujioChitose KobayashiA hit man is hired to kill a mob boss. After the deed is done, he and his driver are wanted dead by rival gangs who joined forces.July 29
Joe Shishido's favourite of the movies he himself starred in redeems high expectations. Vaguely existentialist, at times surreal, at others tongue ih cheek, A Colt Is My Passport shares a lot with other Seijun Suzuki classics, but this Nikkatsu entry is still recognizably work of distinct, alternative vision.
This is what peak mukokuseki action looks like.
5/5 - DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsNagisa ÔshimaIna FunatsukiTomi ShimadaStory of Kyoto: its history, culture, and the role it has played in the director's life and the life of his mother.August 2
Oshima's documentary on Kyoto filtered through city's status as her mother's home town is a well-made if nothing exceptional TV documentary.
3/5 - DirectorYoshishige YoshidaStarsMariko OkadaKaizo KamodaKazumi TsutsuiAn engineer's wife returns home with a lost teenager. A man posing as her dad tries to get her back, causing the engineer to recall his youth as a revolutionary, obscured by dreamlike disruptions of time and space, fantasy and reality.August 3
Middle part of Yoshishige Yoshida's arthouse trilogy falls far short of quality of its celebrated first and last entries. In many ways Heroic Purgatory exemplifies bad sides of Japan's countercultural New Wave cinema with its hokey metafictional gimmicks, abstruse plotting and obsession with Far Left political drama that was already out of date by the time film came out. All in all Heroic Purgatory's various pieces and artistic experiments never gel together properly, but Yoshida's stunning (if ostentatious) baroque visuals and undeniable power of certain scenes and sequences makes sure the movie stays in cinematic Purgatory - far from Heaven, but at least we never have to descend to Hell.
2/5 - DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsIchirô ArakiKazuko TajimaJûzô ItamiFour high school students preparing for their university entrance exam fantasize about a classmate, and meet up with their inebriated teacher, while singing bawdy drinking songs.August 3
Oshima's somewhat formless, freewheeling experiment spun around dirty folk songs and vague anti-establishment late 60s politics is a failure. As far as duds go it's fairly inoffensive one, thankfully, and certain scenes, moments and visuals go they stand in the memory. Alas, on the whole movie's improvisatory nature and failed attempts at catching the feel of the "moment" (1967) does the film disservice.
2/5 - DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKen TakakuraChieko BaishôKaori MomoiThree complete strangers embark on a road-trip to Hokkaido.August 4
Yamada's masterpiece is one of the great Japanese movies of the 1970s, and certainly the greatest road movie from the country. Hokkaido's rough beauty and Ken Takakura's rugged masculinity reach their point of platonic perfection here.
5/5 - DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsMark FrechetteDaria HalprinPaul FixAt a time of chronic civil unrest in late 1960s America, a young idealist and an anthropology student cross paths at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley, California. They start an unrestrained relationship by making love on the dusty terrain.August 5
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsAkira KobayashiChieko MatsubaraDaisaburô HirataThree schoolgirls are infatuated with a yakuza, Katsuta, of the Izu Clan. They meet another yakuza, `Diamond` Fuyu, of the rival Yoshida clan. As he gets a tattoo, two of the girls become squeamish and run off but Hanako, the best friend of the daughter of Sota Izu, boss of the Izu clan, stays to watch. She is intrigued with the yakuza .....August 6
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsEimei EsumiChieko MisakiKeisuke NoroAnother subversion of audience expectations has Kobayashi acting somewhat cowardly in the snow-bound final showdown, an unheard-of trait in a ninkyô yakuza hero. Also with Tamio Kawaji as a sword-wielding assassin in Zero-cape-and -hat(!)August 7
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsAkira KobayashiHideki TakahashiChieko MatsubaraTwo brothers seek revenge on the yakuza for the death of their father.August 7
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsYûsaku MatsudaMichiyo YasudaMariko KagaA 1920s playwright meets a beautiful woman who may be the ghost of his patron's deceased wife.August 8
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsKenji SawadaTomoko MariyaMasumi MiyazakiPainter and poet Yumeji Takehisa (1884-1934) gets involved with a beautiful widow, becoming a rival of her dead husband's ghost and the jealous lover who murdered him.August 10
- DirectorTakashi IshiiStarsKôichi SatôMasahiro MotokiJinpachi NezuFive men plot to steal a large sum of money from the local yakuza, but everything does not go as planned and the men find themselves hunted down by contract killers.August 11
- DirectorDennis HopperStarsPeter FondaDennis HopperJack NicholsonTwo bikers head from L.A. to New Orleans through the open country and desert lands, and along the way they meet a man who bridges a counter-culture gap of which they had been unaware.August 15
- DirectorYoshiyuki TominoStarsKôji TsujitaniYumi TômaMasaaki MaedaAfter a generation of peace, the Earth Federation's new space colonies becomes a battlefield. To save his friends and family, the reluctant warrior Seabook Arno becomes the pilot of a new Gundam which bears the code name F91.August 23
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsIsuzu YamadaYôko UmemuraChiyoko ÔkuraA young woman becomes a mistress of her boss in order to support her family.August 25
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsIsuzu YamadaYôko UmemuraBenkei ShiganoyaTwo geisha sisters lead a hard life in the Gion district of Kyoto. After one of them feels obliged to support a bankrupt businessman, the other sister sets up various schemes to get rid of him.August 25
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsJô ShishidoMisako WatanabeTamio KawajiA violent thug plays opposing yakuza bosses against each other.August 24
- DirectorAntonin BaudryStarsFrançois CivilOmar SyMathieu KassovitzIn the near future, a French submarine finds itself in a crisis situation.August 27
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsTakako IrieDaisuke ItôKyôko KagawaA documentary film on the life and works of director Kenji Mizoguchi.August 28
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsMasayuki MoriMachiko KyôKinuyo TanakaA tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.September 2
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsChôjûrô KawarasakiYoshizaburo ArashiUtaemon IchikawaThe legendary Forty-seven ronin plot to avenge the death of their lord, Asano Naganori, by killing Kira Yoshinaka, a shogunate official responsible for Asano being forced to commit seppuku.September 3
- DirectorTeinosuke KinugasaStarsMasuo InoueAyako IijimaYoshie NakagawaA man takes a job at an asylum with hopes of freeing his imprisoned wife.September 5
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsTetsuya WatariChieko MatsubaraHideaki NitaniAfter his gang disbands, a yakuza enforcer looks forward to life outside of organized crime but soon must become a drifter after his old rivals attempt to assassinate him.September 8
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsJô ShishidoMariko OgawaAnnu MariAfter a botched assignment, a rice-fetishizing hitman finds himself in conflict with his organization, and one mysterious, dangerous fellow-hitman in particular.September 12
- DirectorSion SonoStarsMiki MizunoMakoto TogashiMegumi KagurazakaA grisly murder occurs in Maruyama-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo - a love hotel district - a woman was found dead in a derelict apartment. Kazuko (Miki Mizuno) is a police officer called to investigate on this case, she will discover the story of two women who, despite appearing respectable on the outside have all manner of darkness hidden away.September 14
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsHideki TakahashiJunko AsanoYûsuke KawazuDuring the 1930s, a teenager yearns for a Catholic girl, whose only desire is to reform his sinful tendencies. Hormones raging, the young man channels his unsatisfied lust into the only outlet available: savage, crazed violence.September 15
- DirectorAkio JissôjiStarsShirô ItôHaruko KatôKiichi NakaiAn elderly Japanese American (Ryu Chishu) recalls his emigration to Hawaii and life during World War II.September 16
- DirectorAkio JissôjiStarsKotobuki HananomotoChisako HaraYasumi HaraA painter makes a lover's suicide pact with the wife of his friend, but does not kill himself; letting her die alone. Five years later, his friend remarries a woman who looks exactly like his dead spouse; who haunts the painter's dreams.September 17
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsMasatoshi NagaseTakako MatsuHidetaka YoshiokaA 19th Century samurai, held in low esteem due to an action by his late father, must resolve his history with a maid and with his close friend.September 17
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsTakuya KimuraRei DanMitsugorô BandôA look at the relationship between a young blind samurai (Kimura) and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.September 20
- DirectorKazuyoshi KumakiriStarsSusumu TerajimaRinko KikuchiBunmei TobayamaThe film tells the story of a Drive-In worker and a young tramp who has been left alone by her boyfriend somewhere in Hokkaido. Things seem to work out at the beginning but as time goes by the newly formed relationship between the tramp and the Drive-In worker starts to show the workers harmful will of possession, which finally leads to the somehow sad but also optimistically interpretable ending.September 20
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsKôji IshizakaYôko ShimadaTeruhiko AoiWhen a tycoon passes away, he unexpectedly leaves the family fortune to outsider Tamayo on the condition that she marries one of the grandsons, pitting blood against blood.October 7
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsMichitarô MizushimaMisako WatanabeShôichi OzawaA prison truck is assaulted and the two convicts inside are murdered. The prison guard on duty gets suspended for negligence and takes it upon himself to track down the killers.October 9
- DirectorKazuyoshi KumakiriStarsMitsuki TanimuraPistol TakeharaRyô KaseIn the city of Kaitan, during the winter, the local shipyard is downsized and workers are laid off. Futa (Pistol Takehara) lives with his younger sister Honami (Mitsuki Tanimura). He loses his job at the shipyard and, feeling uneasy about their situation, goes with Honami to see the sunrise on a nearby mountainside for New Year's Day. Makoto (Takashi Yamanaka), a new city hall employee, visits the only remaining house in a redevelopment area. The home belongs to a 70-year-old woman,Toki (Aki Nakazato) who lives with her cat and a few animals in her backyard. Toki refuses to vacate the land and Makoto tries to persuade her that she will be forcibly evicted. 49-year-old Ryuzo (Kaoru Kobayashi) works in a small planetarium, while his relationship with his wife Haruyo (Haruyo Hika) and teenage son is deteriorating. Haruyo finds release by working as a hostess in a cabaret. Haruo (Ryo Kase) has taken over the operation of his father's gas company, but he worries about the state of his business. He also has a strained relationship with his wife, who takes out her anger on their son Akira. Taichiro, a street car driver, spots his son, Hiroshi (Masaki Miura) walking in downtown Kaitan. Although Hiroshi lives & works in Tokyo, he has come back to Kaitan for business. But he doesn't contact his father, even though it is the holiday season.October 9
- DirectorMasaru KonumaStarsNatsuko YashiroAsami OgawaHirotarô HondaSatirizing the Roman Porno genre, and the Office Lady Journal series in particular. Naomi Tani and Yuko Katagiri appear as themselves in the film, making fun of their on-screen personae.October 10
- DirectorMotonobu HoriKenji KamiyamaStarsMitsuki TakahataShinnosuke MitsushimaJamison BoazIn the near future, a high school senior discovers that events in her waking life begin to parallel events in her dreams.October 11
- DirectorAtsushi YamatoyaStarsMiki WatariYûichi MinatoShôhei YamamotoA private detective is hired to find a woman who has apparently been murdered in a snuff film. It turns out the woman's not dead, but very much alive, and he gets sucked into a torrid affair with her that leaves him questioning his sense of reality.October 15
- DirectorMasao AdachiHaruhiko AraiStarsAki SasakiHiroshi SaitôMakiko KimA young girl, already a jaded sexual veteran, embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery to find out the true reasons for her dissatisfaction and total desensitization.October 16
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsKatsuo NakamuraMariko KagaYumiko NogawaAfter Atsushi commits murder, he is blackmailed into keeping a suitcase full of embezzled money. What follows is a descent into lustful, reckless actions and regret.October 22
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsKei SatôKeiko SakuraiRokkô TouraOver the course of a night, a sex-obsessed young woman, a suicidal man, and a gun-crazy wannabe gangster are taken prisoner of a gang awaiting a shootout between a rival gang at dawn.October 23
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsKazuhiko KatoOsamu KitayamaNorihiko HashidaA carefree afternoon at the beach turns into a comic misadventure when three young Japanese men are mistaken for illegal Korean residents.October 26
- DirectorNorifumi SuzukiStarsYumi TakigawaEmiko YamauchiYayoi WatanabeIn order to investigate her mother's strange death, a woman enters a sacred convent run by hypocritical, perverse nuns.October 27
- DirectorMasanori TakahashiShôji KawamoriStarsTakuya EguchiJun FukuyamaAi FurihataA shaky truce between a group of kingdoms is maintained by a ban on practicing alchemists. However, a group of alchemists from these lands unite to enable peaceful cooperation.October 28
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsRentarô MikuniAkiko KoyamaYôko MiharaTowards the end of WWII, a black American pilot is captured and imprisoned by rural Japanese villagers, who await official instructions as to how to proceed with their "catch."November 17
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsHashizô ÔkawaRyûtarô ÔtomoSatomi OkaIn the year 1637 in Shimabara of Tokugawa-era Japan, oppressed peasant Christians revolt against the shogunate with the aid of a charismatic Christian rebel leader Shiro Amakusa.November 19
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsCharlotte RamplingAnthony HigginsVictoria AbrilA married French woman takes a zoo chimp named Max to be her lover.November 20
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsHiromi KuritaShôji IshibashiLilyStory is about a Tokyo girl looking round Okinawa island for her long-lost brother and finding he is the tourist guide with whom she has had an affair.November 21
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsTakeshi KitanoRyûhei MatsudaShinji TakedaThe new member of a samurai militia unit causes disruption as several of his colleagues fall in love with him, threatening to disturb the rigid code of their squad.November 22
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJeff BridgesJohn GoodmanJulianne MooreJeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.November 23
edit: rewatched on December 30 - DirectorDavid GelbStarsJiro OnoYoshikazu OnoMasuhiro YamamotoA documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his renowned Tokyo restaurant, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.November 24
- DirectorAdam McKayStarsChristian BaleSteve CarellRyan GoslingIn 2006-2007 a group of investors bet against the United States mortgage market. In their research, they discover how flawed and corrupt the market is.November 25
- DirectorAkio JissôjiStarsHiroshi AbeNômaru AbeYoshiyoshi ArakawaNovember 29
- DirectorGareth EdwardsStarsFelicity JonesDiego LunaAlan TudykIn a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire's ultimate weapon of destruction.December 25
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsMark HamillHarrison FordCarrie FisherLuke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.December 26