ScreenAnarchy's Top 10 Movies of 2016
This year, 23 Screen Anarchists from 11 countries around the globe shared with us 129 films for consideration in our collective top ten movies of 2016. Our criteria was simple: an individual contributor could include a film on their ballot...
Review: MIFUNE: THE LAST SAMURAI Pays Tribute to an Electrifying Actor
Undeniably the most recognizable and prominent actor in the history of Japanese cinema, Mifune Toshiro has not only influenced generations of young performers, who passionately aspire to follow in his footsteps even nowadays, but also forever changed the perception of...
Tokyo 2016: Godzilla To Receive ARIGATO Award
In a rather amusing turn of events, Godzilla managed to make the news again this weekend after winning the annual TIFF ARIGATO Award. Now in its second year, the "Thank You" Award is given out to talented individuals, who wholeheartedly...
Tokyo 2016: Lineup and Recommendations
As the countdown on the official website keeps gently reminding us, there are only a few days left to go until Tokyo International Film Festival. Roppongi Hills, along with other venues, will once again play host to one of the...
Kyoto 2016 Review: TOMODACHI, A Personal and Touching Cross-Cultural Love Story
Having its official Japanese premiere in the Special Invitation section of this year's Kyoto International Film and Art Festival last week was Joel Ramagan’s Tomodachi (which literally translates as "friend"), an affecting and compelling cross-cultural love story set against the...
Kyoto 2016: Awards and Winners
Taking place in one of the most inspiring and unique cities in the world, Kyoto International Film and Art Festival certainly takes full advantage of the many beautiful venues situated around the old capital. For the first time in its...
Kyoto 2016: The World Premiere Of Ozu's A STRAIGHTFORWARD BOY
It’s definitely not every day that a film festival holds a world premiere of a “new” silent film directed by the great Ozu Yasujiro. Although there are probably still plenty of films, Japanese or otherwise, that have never been presented...
Kyoto 2016 Review: MIFUNE: THE LAST SAMURAI: A Fascinating Tribute To A Great Actor
Undeniably the most recognizable and prominent actor in the history of Japanese cinema, Mifune Toshiro has not only influenced generations of young performers, who passionately aspire to follow in his footsteps even nowadays, but also forever changed the perception of...
Kyoto International Film and Art Festival 2016: Lineup and Recommendations
Although only in its third year, Kyoto International Film and Art Festival is quickly becoming one of the most interesting and rich film festival in Japan. Deeply ingrained in the culture and history of this magnificent city, the festival caters...
Asian Film Festival of Dallas Starts Thursday, July 14 With An Awesome Lineup
The 2006 edition of the Asian Film Festival of Dallas (AFFD) was the first time I ever wrote about film for the public, so it has a special place in my heart. This year marks the 15th anniversay of the...
Screen Anarchy's Top 10 Movies Of The First Half Of 2015
As mentioned before, the year 2015 is moving on with breakneck speed, it seems. Currently we're already at the halfway point, and can look back at what's been a pretty surprising cinematic six months. So we asked ourselves what we...
Udine 2015 Review: THE END OF THE WORLD AND THE CAT'S DISAPPEARANCE, A Quirky Little Sci-Fi Film
Takeuchi Michihiro's The End of the World and the Cat's Disappearance, a zany, modestly packaged apocalyptic sci-fi film revolving around Itsuko (Izukoneko aka Mari), a vlogger-cum-J-pop-idol who attempts to singlehandedly save the world from a gigantic meteor, but ends up...
Udine 2015 Review: FORGET ME NOT, A Touching Mixture Of Fantasy, Mystery, And Teen Romance
One of the most affecting and enigmatic teen-targeted Japanese films of the last few years, Horie Kei's Forget Me Not (not to be mistaken with Hirayama Hideyuki's 2010 drama that bears the same English title) defies easy categorization, veering confidently...
Udine 2015 Review: PORT OF CALL Proves Philip Yung's Most Ambitious And Polished Film To Date
A decidedly bleak yet surprisingly meditative exploration of the lower depths of contemporary Hong Kong, Philip Yung's Port of Call clearly articulates its genre-bending aspirations and effectively taps into the generational anxieties of youth today. Based on a case that...
Udine 2015 Review: THE WICKED, An Effectively Thrilling Exercise In Low-Budget Filmmaking
Bolstered and braced by a wonderfully sinister performance from the relatively unknown young South Korean actress Park Ju-hui, Yoo Young-sun's The Wicked is a slow-paced but nicely modulated and effectively gripping exercise in low-budget indie filmmaking. Shot in a mere...
Udine 2015 Review: MAKEUP ROOM Makes Perfect Use Of Its Very Limited Location
Genuinely funny, touching, and cleverly realized, Morikawa Kei's Makeup Room (メイクルーム) plays like a modest but deft combination between a chamber-like dramedy and well-observed ensemble piece that derives most of its energy from a wealth of enthusiastic performances and witty...
Udine 2015: ScreenAnarchy's Most Anticipated Picks
We've been waiting for this moment for a whole year now: Thursday, April 23rd marks the grand opening of the 17th Udine Far East Film Festival, without a doubt one of the world's most important cultural events dedicated exclusively to...
Check Out The First Teaser For Ishii Takashi's Violent Crime Thriller GONIN SAGA
A riveting piece of cinema that plays like a superb combination of Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Kitano 'Beat' Takeshi films circa 1993, Ishii Takashi's unrelentingly violent, socially conscious 1995 neo-noir thriller Gonin (sometimes translated as The Five) undeniably served as...
Check Out The New Trailer And Poster For Miike's YAKUZA APOCALYPSE: THE GREAT WAR OF THE UNDERWORLD
A new one-minute trailer for Miike Takashi's batshit-crazy-sounding action-thriller Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld (極道大戦争) has gone online today. With plenty of fresh footage and a peek at some of the wild set pieces, the action-heavy trailer serves as...
THAT'S IT Trailer Marks Ishii Gakuryu's Return To His Punk Roots
A precursor of the Japanese underground cyberpunk movement of the late 1970s and the early 1980s, Ishii Gakuryū, formerly known as Ishii Sōgo, established a strong position at home and gained widespread recognition abroad with Burst City (爆裂都市, 1982). It's an...
