Reviews of Music, Movies, Anime & More

Samurai Fiction is a loving, humorous — and incredibly stylish — parody/homage to the classic samurai films of yore.

There’s something rather Old Testament-y about this story to me, with its portrayal of vengeance, depravity, and forgiveness.

There were times when I wanted Stokedto slow down a bit and dig a little deeper — especially when it came to Rogowski’sconversion.

Watching this movie, I felt a great deal of sadness.

More finally confronting his accusers in the courtroom is as great a final showdown as you’ll ever see.

With a longer running time, perhaps something more substantial might have taken place.

The filmmakers’ concept was slightly bigger than what their budget ultimately allowed for.

A very entertaining and engaging, if somewhat dated, kung fu flick.

A beautiful, if obtuse sci-fi film about memory and lonely people that owes much to Krzysztof Kieślowski’s cinema.

There’s so much that I love about this movie and yet, it left me feeling a bit underwhelmed.

An example of pure genius on display, and one can’t help but be inspired and excited while watching it.

I found myself wondering, if the film is in any way accurate, how in the world these women could survive such pressure and fear on a daily basis.

2004 promises us some great movies, but by year’s end, I doubt we’ll have experienced anything quite like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Battle Royale 2 takes everything that was great about Battle Royale and replaces it with something that’s formulaic, amateurish, and exploitative.

As a result of its small, intimate, and unassuming approach, The Twilight Samurai is simply a masterpiece.

The first Jet Li film I ever watched, and I think it may very well have spoiled all of his other films for me.

A very simple story of two hopeless people meeting and slowly learning to have hope in their lives again.

I wish I could call this movie a guilty pleasure.

A compellingly ambiguous morality play that is Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s unquestioned master work.

Azumi was a huge disappointment, almost a betrayal of sorts, because I know Kitamura is better than this.