Zatôichi

Beneath its layers of epic detail, this Zatôichi is cinematic cotton candy.

"...Directed by: Takeshi Kitano. Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Michiyo Ookusu, Gadarukanaru Taka and..."

Aug. 20, 2004 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Have a Nice Day

Mid-Nineties-style crime stories refreshed by Chinese cartoons.

"...undoubtedly aiming for the era's classic creators (the Coens, Beat Takeshi, Tarantino). But his beats are so slow, and..."

Feb. 23, 2018 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

The Mystery of Rampo

"...now, has been best known as the producer of “Beat” Takeshi Kitano's brilliant Violent Cop. Here, Okuyama creates a..."

Oct. 13, 1995 Movie Review by Joey O'Bryan

Brother

"...Directed by: Takeshi Kitano. Starring: Beat Takeshi, Omar Epps, Claude Maki, Masaya..."

Aug. 10, 2001 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Taboo

"...Yoichi Sai, Shinji Takeda, Tadanoby Asano, Ryuhei Matsuda and Takeshi “beat” Kitano. With 1976's outré love story In the..."

Feb. 23, 2001 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Kikujiro

"...Directed by: Takeshi Kitano. Starring: Takeshi “Beat” Kitano, Great Giidayu, Beat Kiyoshi,..."

June 30, 2000 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Sonatine

"...Directed by: Takeshi Kitano. Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Tetsu Watanabe, Masanobu Katsumura and..."

July 17, 1998 Movie Review by Russell Smith

Hana-Bi (Fireworks)

"...Directed by: Takeshi Kitano. Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi and..."

May 22, 1998 Movie Review by Russell Smith

Summer Sneaks

Apocalypse Whenever: Movies in the Season of Armageddon

"...to buck the restrictive mindlock of summer escapism: Warren Beatty's political satire Bulworth, Peter Weir and Jim Carrey's provocative..."

May 22, 1998 Screens Feature

Blind Ambition

Takeshi Kitano on updating 'Zatôichi'

"...Japan's Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, now 57, has parlayed his rampant popularity..."

Aug. 27, 2004 Screens Feature by Marc Savlov

Scan Lines

"...D: Takeshi Kitano; with Masahiko Ono, Yuriko Ishida, Takeshi Kitano, Takahita..."

July 7, 1995 Arts Feature

Shutter

Shutter is a shabby American remake of a Thai movie about a couple who sees mysterious images in photographs.

"...of cinematography Katsumi Yanagijima – a favorite of both Takeshi "Beat" Kitano and Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale). But the..."

March 28, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Ghost in the Shell

Scar Jo as cybernetic warrior

"...Directed by: Rupert Sanders. Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche and Michael Pitt...."

April 7, 2017 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Hunt

South Korean spy thriller uncovers a history of cruelty and compromise

"...flint as morally murky crime flicks like Infernal Affairs, Beat Takeshi's Outrage trilogy, Heat, and his own performance in..."

Dec. 2, 2022 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Coldblooded

"...between that of early Michael Lehmann and Japanese filmmaker “Beat” Takeshi Kitano, Coldblooded is a wicked little surprise from..."

Oct. 20, 1995 Movie Review by Joey O'Bryan

Five Recommended Art Events This Weekend

How can you lose with a sweet list to use before it's time to choose?

"...3) If Beat Takeshi were dead, he might spin in his grave..."

Jan. 26, 2018 Arts Post by Wayne Alan Brenner

Don't Shoot the Dog

John Wick co-directors talk Keanu and cold canine revenge

"...classic Eighties action films, and the balletic violence of Beat Takeshi. "We just wanted to make something that we'd..."

Oct. 24, 2014 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Drafthouse Asks Us, 'Why Don't You Play in Hell'

Madcap yakuza flick to play Fantastic Fest, open in 2014

"...dragged into a Yakuza war as gonzo documentarians. Imagine Beat Takeshi's Outrage mixed with A Star is Born, and..."

Sept. 2, 2013 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

DVD Watch: When Horror Came to Shochiku

Criterion box set restores a lost corner of J-horror

"...West as a sometime home to Takashi Miike and 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano (or, to anime fans as the Japanese..."

Dec. 18, 2012 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Back in the Realm of the Senses and Provoking All Five

AFS Essential Cinema presents Smashing the Rules: Films of Oshima Nagisa

"...place in a camp overseen by no less than "Beat" Takeshi Kitano's Sgt. Hara and camp commandant Capt. Yonoi..."

Feb. 19, 2010 Screens Feature by Marc Savlov

279 Movies and 2 Funerals

Toronto International Film Festival Report

"...break new ground in their creation of contemporary and offbeat tales that use a variety of new structural techniques..."

Sept. 19, 1997 Screens Feature by Marjorie Baumgarten

Film Reviews

Recommended

"...between that of early Michael Lehmann and Japanese filmmaker "Beat" Takeshi Kitano, Coldblooded is a wicked little surprise from..."

Nov. 3, 1995 News Feature

Film Reviews

Recommended

"...between that of early Michael Lehmann and Japanese filmmaker "Beat" Takeshi Kitano, Coldblooded is a wicked little surprise from..."

Oct. 27, 1995 News Feature

Film Reviews

Recommended

"...between that of early Michael Lehmann and Japanese filmmaker "Beat" Takeshi Kitano, Coldblooded is a wicked little surprise from..."

Oct. 20, 1995 News Feature

Film Reviews

Recommended

"...now, has been best known as the producer of "Beat" Takeshi Kitano's brilliant Violent Cop. Here, Okuyama creates a..."

Oct. 13, 1995 News Feature

Gonin

"...Directed by: Takashi Ishii. Starring: Takeshi “Beat” Kitano, Naoto Takenaka, Jimpachi Nezu, Masahiro Motoki, Koichi..."

April 24, 1998 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Uzumasa Limelight

The hero of this beguiling Japanese film is a kirare-yaku or “sliced actor” – a certain kind of Japanese actor/stuntman who always dies by sword in the shadows.

"...It’s a safe bet to say Takeshi “Beat” Kitano’s 2003 take on the perennially popular blind..."

Dec. 5, 2014 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Takeshi Terauchi

"...Takeshi TerauchiNippon Guitars: Instrumental Surf, Eleki & Tsugaru Rock 1966-1974..."

Feb. 10, 2012 Music Review by Austin Powell

Mongol

Kazakhstan's Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film is an epic drama about the early years of Genghis Khan.

"...panache and steely gravitas by Japanese actor Asano (of Takeshi "Beat" Kitano's Zatoichi), was every bit as much a..."

June 20, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

A Whole Lotta Lava Going On

Winter/Spring Movie Sneaks

"...Test-marketed in Austin in 1996, Paperback Romance is an offbeat romantic comedy about a writer of erotic stories and..."

Feb. 14, 1997 Screens Feature by Marjorie Baumgarten

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