Tag: arataiura

I saw Kore-eda Hirokazu’s Air Doll on the festival circuit during the fall of 2009, in Toronto.   Watching it again over a decade later, I realized what I had taken away from the film was not so much a...

Osaka's annual celebration of Asian cinema, Osaka Asian Film Festival, launched into its 14th year today by announcing their opening film. Actor and director Suzuki Takuji (A Band Rabbit and a Boy) will present the world premiere of his latest,...

[United Red Army begins a one-week engagement at the IFC Center in New York today. This review originally appeared in conjunction with the film's North American Premiere at the New York Asian Film Festival in July 2008.] Rat-a-tat-tat. Rat-a-tat-tat. The...

[A bit of a divisive film, Kore Eda's Air Doll is being shown on the big screen at Fantasia, and here is Niels' very positive take on the film.]When I first heard Koreeda was going to do Air Doll I...

When I first heard Koreeda was going to do Air Doll I was extremely pleased to see him return to what he does best: magical realism a la Japonais. Even though most Koreeda fans seemed a little weary of his...

Why does an inflatable sex doll come to life and proceed on a journey of discovery looking to explore the human condition? It just does, apparently. Hirokazu Kore-Eda's Air Doll is quietly unapologetic about its status as a winsome...

[Our thanks to Teresa Nieman for the following review.] Hirokazu Koreeda is one of today's most consistently excellent filmmakers, with his recent movies Still Walking and Nobody Knows being critical hits worldwide. Because of this, it seems strange to say...

[Our thanks to Moko for the following review.] An uninformed moviegoer may read the initial premise of Air Doll and think, "Wow, a Japanese movie about a sex doll that comes to life? That MUST be zany! There's absolutely no...