To the Ends of the Earth (2020; Kiyoshi Kurosawa) GRADE: B- By Daniel Barnes *Now playing in select cinemas and opening tomorrow in virtual theaters. Atsuko Maeda plays a Japanese TV host struggling with her latest assignment in this lightly surrealist spin on Lost in Translation. But despite […]
Shoplifters (2018; Hirokazu Koreeda) GRADE: B+ By Daniel Barnes When the domestic drama Shoplifters won the Palme d’Or last Summer at Cannes, right on the heels of a string of solid but same-ish domestic dramas from Japanese filmmaker Koreeda (including Like Father, Like Son, Our Little Sister and After the Storm), it seemed possible […]
Lu Over the Wall (2018; Masaaki Yuasa) GRADE: C By Daniel Barnes *Opens Friday, May 11, at the Landmark Embarcadero in San Francisco and the Landmark California in Berkeley. This rare stinker from animation importer GKIDS offers echoes of Studio Ghibli classics like My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyo, but contains little of […]
Harmonium (2017; Kôji Fukada) GRADE: B By Daniel Barnes Over one year after winning the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes 2016, this repressed and implosive Japanese tragedy finally receives a limited stateside release. Mariko Tsutsui stars as Akié, unsatisfied small-town wife of a withdrawn machinist named Toshio (Kanji […]
The Ballad of Narayama (1983; Shôhei Imamura) GRADE: A- By Mike Dub The opening image of Shôhei Imamura’s 1983 Palme d’Or winner The Ballad of Narayama is a somewhat anachronistic helicopter shot. We’re ushered deep into the mountainous recesses of the Japanese wilderness, a journey that reaches further […]
Intimidation (1960; Koreyoshi Kurahara) GRADE: B- Underworld Beauty (1958; Seijun Suzuki) GRADE: B+ Pale Flower (1964; Masahiro Shinoda) GRADE: A By Daniel Barnes On Saturday at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, the “A Rare Noir is Good to Find! – International Film Noir 1949-1974” festival offers a […]
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