Eiko Ishibashi’s score sets the scene in Oscar-contender ‘Drive My Car’
The composer and musician’s body of work spans from abstract art pop to experimental electronics, with her love for cinema serving as a major source ...
James Hadfield
‘Kappei’: The end can’t come soon enough
Even a perfectly cast Hideaki Ito can’t save this limp, low-calorie comedy.
‘Tamaran Hill’: A playful literary journey to get lost in
In Tadasuke Kotani’s heartfelt adaptation of Senji Kuroi’s short story, a young woman’s exploration of Tokyo’s hidden memories leads her down a path of self-discovery.
‘The Last 10 Years’: Keep a hanky handy for this weepy romance
Michihito Fujii’s splashy terminal illness drama can’t help succumbing to the usual genre tropes.
‘Chronicle in the Ruins’: An intimate look at a family’s rise from the ashes
Masato and Maori Hara's documentary poignantly captures the weight of memory and loss by incorporating footage recovered in the aftermath of the fire that destroyed ...
‘The Takatsu River’: A homey hometown drama
Yoshinari Nishikori offers a relatively upbeat take on a well-worn story of a rural Japanese community in decline.
Oscars nod launches director Ryusuke Hamaguchi into the global spotlight
Ryusuke Hamaguchi landed four major Oscar nominations this week, a phenomenal achievement for a filmmaker who is still really just hitting his stride.
‘What to Do with the Dead Kaiju?’: Satoshi Miki’s inverted monster movie bites off more than it can chew
Satoshi Miki’s disaster film about what happens after a monster attack sounds good on paper, but it’s an almighty mess.
‘Pure Japanese’: Dean Fujioka’s passion project is a fascinating muddle
A typical genre-movie premise gets complicated in director Daishi Matsunaga’s film about a stuntman living out his fantasies of old-school heroism.