Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.4 cats
Director: Wim Wenders
Starring: Aoi Yamada | Arisa Nakano | Koji Yakusho | Tokio Emoto | Yumi Asô
Brett says: “Wim Wenders’ PERFECT DAYS is a depiction of the ordinary, transforming it into a feeling of extraordinary through the power of cinematic language. It is a film with very limited dialogue from the protagonist Hirayama, a janitor who
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Director: Masayuki Suo
Starring: Eri Watanabe | Hiromasa Taguchi | Koji Yakusho | Naoto Takenaka | Tamiyo Kusakari | Yu Tokui
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Atsuko Hirayanagi
Starring: Josh Hartnell | Kaho Minami | Koji Yakusho | Megan Mullally | Nick Gracer | Reiko Aylesworth | Shinobu Terajima | Shioli Katsuna
Thom says: “Back in the early days when I first embraced Film Movement when I discovered them while a volunteer worker at the Oakland Public Library, I saw all their releases I could find either at the libraries in Oakland
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Hirokazu Korreda
Starring: Koji Yakusho | MasaharuFukuyama | Shinnosuke Mitsushima
Chris says: “A legal thriller from a director best known for his Ozu-worthy family dramas? It slots more neatly into his oeuvre than you’d expect, primarily because the mystery per se is steeped in familial relationships, only this time with
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Starring: Aoi Miyazaki | Kazuhiro Yamaji | Koji Yakusho | Suzu Hirose
Jason says: “I’ve been wrong about these things on a fairly regular basis, so I’m not going to question the American release of Mamoru Hosada’s THE BOY AND THE BEAST on the same day that the Walt Disney Company puts
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima
Starring: Ai Hashimoto | Asuka Kurosawa | Fumi Nikaido | Koji Yakusho | Nana Komatsu | Satoshi Tsumabuki
Jason says: “The latest from Tetsuya Nakashima is not quite so sublime as his mid-aughts peak (KAMIKAZE GIRLS and MEMORIES OF MATSUKO is a heck of a one-two punch), and it kind of stretches out too long, padded by some
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Ebizo Ichikawa | Eita | Hikari Mitsushima | Koji Yakusho | Munetaka Aoki
Jason says: “HARA-KIRI seems like an odd choice for a 3D remake – it features far more sitting around and dueling with subtle turns of phrase than it does swordplay – but with Takashi Miike in the director’s chair, one
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.9
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Gorô Inagaki | Koji Yakusho | Masachika Ichimura | Takayuki Yamada | Yusuke Iseya
Thom says: “As is probably well known, I am a colossal Takashi Miike fan. I’ve almost certainly seen more (feature) films by Miike than any other director, so I had to see this presentation. What most surprised my brother and
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Kôji Yakusho
Starring: Eita | Kaoru Yachigusa | Koji Yakusho | Satomi Kabayoshi | Tôru Masuoka
Thom says: “Everyone will be familiar with Yakusho from his handsome, athletic, lead performance in the great Japanese film SHALL WE DANCE. Here, in his first try as a director & script writer, he more than ably directs himself and
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima
Starring: Anna Tsuchiya | Ayaka Wilson | Koji Yakusho | Sadao Abe | Satoshi Tsumabuki
Jason says: “You could probably cut quite the deceptive trailer for PACO AND THE MAGICAL BOOK, if you chose, by concentrating on the fast-paced, animation-heavy last act. It wouldn’t be a complete misrepresentation, but it sure wouldn’t give a true
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