Godzilla (1954)
With Godzilla: King of the Monsters out next month, we look at when the radioactive reptile first emerged from the ocean depths. From the ripped-from-the-headlines opening scene, the original Godzilla establishes […]
Tag Archives: Japan
Dark Water
Given the multitude of movies about writers, journalists and even publishers, it’s nice to see a film about a proofreader for a change considering they’re just as impotant. This 2002 […]
The Bad Sleep Well
The Bad Sleep Well (tell that to Margaret Thatcher) is Akira Kurosawa’s cross between Hamlet and American Psycho. Hip to be square or hip not to be square? That is the […]
Shoplifters
Shoplifters is a Japanese drama that lost the Foreign Language Oscar to Netflix’s Roma, which Steven Spielberg thinks is a TV movie – bit rich coming from the director of […]
When Marnie Was There
Released in 2014, When Marnie Was There was Studio Ghibli’s final film – until 2020’s How Do You Live? was announced by Hayao Miyazaki, a man who comes out of retirement almost as often […]
Executive Koala
From the director of Crab Goalkeeper and Calamari Wrestler, Executive Koala is a 2005 Japanese (obviously) comedy/psychological thriller about an executive koala. The low-fi, live-action (apart from a cute cartoon intro/song) absurdist drama follows […]
Pom Poko
Isao Takahata’s Pom Poko follows a gang of shapeshifting raccoons as they hatch a series of fur-brained schemes to stop humans from destroying their forest home. Let’s call it Avotter. Where Studio Ghibli’s […]
Kiki’s Delivery Service
The first Studio Ghibli movie to become a hit in America (thanks to a distribution deal with Disney), Kiki’s Delivery Service is the story of a young girl (Minami Takayama) who travels to […]
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Isao Takahata’s swansong is based on The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, believed to be the oldest Japanese narrative in existence. The tale of a tiny princess discovered inside a bamboo shoot […]
Mary and the Witch’s Flower
I’d like to start this review by crediting Cineworld for trying to resolve the age-old subbing vs. dubbing debate once and for all by attempting to screen a Japanese film […]
Screen Goblin 