Los Angeles EigaFest: ScreenAnarchy Picks The Highlights

The Wind Rises
You've heard plenty about it and maybe you even caught it at its LA premiere at last month's AFI Fest, but once just isn't enough when it comes to the "final film" from Studio Ghibli-founder Miyazaki Hayao. You can read more about it in Christopher O'Keefe's review. -Ryland

Seven Souls in Skull Castle
Heavy eye liner and 16th century samurai fiction are the hallmarks of Seven Souls in Skull Castle. Don't ask me to synopsize this thing - the format is what's really exciting here: shot entirely on a live stage in Tokyo, this three hour epic promises to bring chanbara theater to the big screen. (Director Hidenori Inoue will be in attendance for a Q&A) -Charles

Death and Tanya
It's like Wings of Desire with a burger fetish! A grim reaper takes over the body of a woman whose life is a shambles in this dramedy from first-time filmmaker Shiode. (Writer-director Taishi Shiode will be in attendance for a Q&A following the screening) -Charles

The Devil's Path:
Journalist Shuichi Fujii helps a death row inmate set about taking down his former bosses in this fractured thriller. Killers, cons, and a journalist out for the "truth" are at the core of this winding revenge tale from Kazuya Shiraishi (he directed the live-action adaptation of Tezuka's The Book of Human Insects for the small screen). Our own Kwenton Bellette had his own thoughts on the film. -Charles

Unforgiven
Trade the old west for frontier Hokkaido and Clint Eastwood for Watanabe Ken and you've got one of the coolest remakes in years. This love letter to the old west via a samurai's scabbard is scene after scene of beautiful vistas and good ol' fashioned swordplay. Here is Jason Gorber's review. -Ryland