Tag: kengokôra

Review: MISS HOKUSAI, A Rounded Work of Beauty and Intellect

Prolific animation house Production I.G. subtly captures the rhythms of mood of the art and publishing community in 19th century Edo, Japan. Miss Hokusai is simultaneously misleadingly quiet, and furiously idiosyncratic.  Blending the magical realism sensibility of Studio Ghibli with...

MISS HOKUSAI: New Trailer for US Release of Production I.G.'s Latest

Set in 19th century Edo, Japan. Miss Hokusai blends the magical realism sensibility of Studio Ghibli with Ozu Yasujirô-like framing. Famed artist Tetsuzo, a.k.a. Hokusai Katsushika, and his grown daughter O-Ei form the basis of the tale, but it extends...

Fantasia 2015 Review: MISS HOKUSAI, Full Of Life And Spirit

Prolific animation house Production I.G. subtly captures the rhythms of mood of the art and publishing community in 19th century Edo, Japan. Miss Hokusai is simultaneously misleadingly quiet, and furiously idiosyncratic. Blending the magical realism sensibility of Studio Ghibli with Ozu...

Fantasia 2015: First Wave of Titles Announced! TURBO KID! ANT MAN! MISS HOKUSAI! And Many More!

They have dropped the capital "T" from the middle of the name for this years edition of Fantasia, which has long ago morphed from an Asian Fan Film festival (FanTasia, get it?) into the massive genre-film catchall mega-festival that it...

MISS HOKUSAI: New Production I.G Project Is An Edo Period Piece

Japanese animation house Production I.G has announced a new project for release in 2015. They will adapt the manga Sarusuberi by manga artist Sugiura Hinako. The animated feature will be directed by Hara Keiichi (Summer Days with Coo and Colorful). Maruo...

Blu-ray Review: THE WOODSMAN AND THE RAIN (Third Window)

I now have the rare pleasure of having seen two coming-of-age comedy/drama films about young, insecure directors making zombie films from East Asia in the last 12 months. The first was Korea's Let Me Out, the story of a film...

Third Window Films Gives ScreenAnarchy A Peek Into A Great 2013. Tsukamoto, Miike, Kurosawa, Nakamura, & More!

Our good friends at one of the world's finest DVD distribution labels, Third Window Films, have given us an early look at their 2013 schedule, and it looks awesome!Several of these titles are films we've already previewed for TWF in...

Japan Cuts 2012 Review: THE WOODSMAN AND THE RAIN

The major highlight of this year's Japan Cuts festival for Japanese film fans, as well as fans of great acting in general, is the New York appearance of Koji Yakusho, one of Japan's most acclaimed and accomplished actors, who continues...

Review: NORWEGIAN WOOD (Anh Hung Tran)

I'm not really the biggest Anh Hung Tran fan, but I do follow his work from a distance. While not truly spectacular, I appreciated the soft-natured atmosphere of Mua He Chieu Thang Dung, Xich Lo on the other hand was...

Review: NORWEGIAN WOOD Is Beautiful But Not Flawless

My initial impressions of Norwegian Wood when viewed for the first time were that its pacing was too slow, the characters talked rather a lot about sex and little else, and there were some big gaps in the narrative. I...

NORWEGIAN WOOD Review

[With Tran Anh Hung's film opening in New York on January 6, we revisit this earlier review.]Although a fan of the writings of Haruki Murakami, I never really gelled with NORWEGIAN WOOD, arguably his most popular novel. Give me the...

Adapting Murakami's NORWEGIAN WOOD: Tran Anh Hung Interview

When I heard that Tran Anh Hung, the Vietnamese-born auteur of Scent of Green Papaya, Cyclo and I Come with the Rain, was going to be adapting Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood back in 2008, I couldn't be happier. I honestly...

JAPAN CUTS 2011: INTO THE WHITE NIGHT Review

TCR 01:15:47:04Into The White Night is a good film. Too bad I had to watch a non-anamorphic screener with a time code running across the top and the wordSAMPLEstamped smack dab in the center of the frame. Call me a...

NORWEGIAN WOOD Review

Although a fan of the writings of Haruki Murakami, I never really gelled with NORWEGIAN WOOD, arguably his most popular novel. Give me the surrealist eccentricities of HARD-BOILED WONDERLAND AND THE END OF THE WORLD or A WILD SHEEP...

First Teaser For Tran Anh-Hung's NORWEGIAN WOOD!

Going in to this there can really only be one question. Has Vietnamese director Tran Anh-Hung done justice to the source material? Adapted from a novel by the great Haruki Murakami - the first of his major works to be...

First Images Arrive From Tran Anh Hung's Adaptation of Murakami's NORWEGIAN WOOD!

When word of the upcoming adaptation of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood first came out my only response was "Perfect. Just perfect." While there is very much a aprt of me that would love to see someone tackle one of his...