The East is Red

"...the heartless Asia. Toss in both the Spanish and Japanese armies, spectacular cinematography, lots of flying kung fu, and..."

June 24, 1994 Movie Review by Joey O'Bryan

Neo-Tokyo

"...Originally created in 1989, this offbeat collection of animated Japanese shorts is a strange hybrid: two separate and distinct..."

Aug. 13, 1993 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Barefoot Gen

"...Directed by: Masaki Mori. This 10-year-old Japanese animated feature is just now being released in the..."

Feb. 12, 1993 Movie Review by Pamela Bruce

Mr. Baseball

"...about a washed-up New York Yankee traded to a Japanese baseball team is as formulaic as they come. The..."

Oct. 9, 1992 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Vampire Hunter D

"...Hunter D that had originally been duped from a Japanese laserdisc. Despite countless viewings since, I've still never been..."

June 26, 1992 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Black Lizard

"...-- loosely based on a stage play by the Japanese author/statesman Yukio Mishima -- was never intended to come..."

Feb. 21, 1992 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Song of the Exile

"...Sydney Lassick and Dody Goodman. The marriage of a Japanese woman and a Chinese man following the Sino-Japanese war..."

Oct. 25, 1991 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Inu-Oh

Japanese medieval history gorgeously reimagined as a rock & roll fable

"...nation two centuries earlier. Into this translation into modern Japanese, he added Heike Monogatari: Inu-Ō no Maki (The Tale..."

Aug. 12, 2022 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

AAAFF Review: Omotenashi

Japanese/Taiwanese family story is a glimpse into tradition

"...There's a concept in Japanese culture: Omotenashi, an idea that goes beyond mere customer..."

June 17, 2019 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Isle of Dogs

Wes Anderson's stop motion wonder is a tail-wagger

"...dog speak English, but the humans speak in unsubtitled Japanese, but all delivered in his signature drawing room murmur..."

March 23, 2018 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Stunningly beautiful, Studio Ghibli's latest animated film is a real work of art.

"...(Spirited Away), is based on a well-known 10th century Japanese folk story, “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.” This..."

Oct. 31, 2014 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

47 Ronin

Keanu Reeves is a samurai warrior fighting supernatural forces in this twist on the ancient Japanese tale.

"...47 Ronin is one of the great tales of Japanese history. Two lords are in a power struggle at..."

Dec. 27, 2013 Movie Review by Louis Black

Ramen Tatsu-ya Grand Opening

Authentic Ramen restaurant celebrates Grand Opening this Saturday

"...Aikawa and Takuya Matsumoto intend to provide a “distinctly Japanese experience” in Austin and their new authentic ramen restaurant,..."

Aug. 31, 2012 Food Post by Jessi Cape

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen

Bone-pulverizing kickassery trumps plot in this Donnie Yen martial-arts film directed by Andrew Lau.

"...China's convoluted pre-Mao history to 1925, when British and Japanese forces both attempted to impose their own rule on..."

April 29, 2011 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Konnichiwa, Austin!

Celebrating Japanese animation and pop culture at IkkiCon IV

"...Austin embraces its inner otaku again as the IkkiCon Japanese Animation & Pop-Culture Convention returns for its fourth annual..."

Dec. 25, 2009 Screens Feature by Richard Whittaker

Astro Boy

This American-bred Astro Boy remains true to the heart and soul of the Japanese original but lacks its raw animation and emotions.

"...Directed by: David Bowers. Osamu Tezuka's pioneering Japanese manga and animé series about the coolest robot kid..."

Oct. 23, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Speed Racer

The Wachowski brothers' hyperbolic film is supersaturated with outrageously eye-popping visuals, but there's nary an honest emotion in sight.

"...not Death Race 2000's David Carradine) and a cocksure Japanese racer (played by South Korean megawatt superstar Rain). The..."

May 9, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Lust, Caution

The NC-17-rated passion in Ang Lee's movie is at distinct odds with the chilly film that surrounds its lovers.

"...set in Shanghai and Hong Kong during the brutal Japanese occupation of World War II, but then again, it's..."

Oct. 12, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The White Countess

The final collaboration between director Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant is a gorgeous slice of Merchant Ivoryisms (thanks in large part to the lushly vertiginous cinematography of DP Christopher Doyle) that nevertheless fails to equal the team’s greatest works.

"...Shanghai, 1936, in the heady, debauched days before the Japanese invasion would spoil everything for everyone, and Jackson, who..."

Feb. 3, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

One Missed Call

Takashi Miike's latest is a disappointing, second-rate Japanese horror film.

"...Renji Ishibashi, Goro Kishitani, Anna Nagata and Atsushi Ida. Japanese cult director Miike has been cranking out a steady..."

April 22, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Gozu

Watching the latest from the insanely prolific Takashi Miike is akin to having some very bad acid slipped in your drink.

"...Sone, Sho Aikawa and Shohei Hino. The films of Japanese director Takashi Miike are not to everybody’s taste. If,..."

Aug. 27, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Godzilla

This is the original and uncut version of the 1954 Japanese monster picture.

"...half a century for Toho Studios and Honda’s official Japanese director’s cut to arrive on our shores, neutered of..."

July 23, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space

This new anime import marks a break with the Japanese traditions and invents a wholly original and kittenish appeal.

"...would never speak to me again. Simply unlike any Japanese animé I’ve ever encountered before, Tamala is jarringly unique..."

Sept. 26, 2003 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

"...by: Shinichiro Watanabe. Viewers who aren't familiar with this Japanese anime series (which is shown stateside on the Cartoon..."

April 4, 2003 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky in Our Times

"...from this dull and meandering documentary. Originally produced for Japanese television (and still sporting that arena's intertitles), Power and..."

Jan. 10, 2003 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Happiness of the Katakuris

Katakuris is something of a departure for Miike, seeing as how it's chock-full of robust romance and – we kid you not – musical numbers. While this is ultimately a crazy meditation on family values and the like, it's still mind-bogglingly goofy filmmaking, at once deeply moving and deeply annoying.

"...Matsuzaka and Kenji Sawada. If you're not familiar with Japanese shock/schlock filmmaker Takashi Miike's work, this may not be..."

Nov. 29, 2002 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Spirited Away

Spirited Away, about a young girl who is trapped between the real and the ghost-worlds, melds bits of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz with Eastern-angled spookiness and an outré sensibility that borders on the indescribable.

"...Princess Mononoke and the greater My Neighbor Totoro) by Japanese animator-cum-savior of the medium Hayao Miyazaki, the sad fact..."

Oct. 11, 2002 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Windtalkers

"...to the slaughter of his entire unit by the Japanese; with a busted eardrum and leaking existential shell-shock and..."

June 14, 2002 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Enlightenment Guaranteed

"...planning a trip to a Zen monastery in the Japanese countryside, unaware or unconcerned that his detachment is driving..."

Sept. 28, 2001 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Pearl Harbor

"...of the USS Arizona lists slowly to port while Japanese Zeroes strafe the terrified sailors diving from the quarterdeck...."

May 25, 2001 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

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