In Samurai Wolf, director Hideo Gosha shaves his already minimalistic chanbara formula all the way down to the bone. Although...

[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Back in 2020, Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes—Junta Yamaguchi’s...

[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] The opening scene of Kaz I Kiriya’s From the End of the World—an...

In her brief introductory speech preceding Japan Society’s screening of When Morning Comes, I Feel Empty, director Yuho Ishibashi claimed...

I went into Single8 hoping that it would recapture the magic of It’s a Summer Film!—which remains one of the best movies I’ve ever seen...

I Am What I Am is the exact sort of pleasant surprise that defines Japan Cuts for me. The synopsis on the festival website led me to...

After taking last year off due to COVID-related concerns, Japan Cuts has finally returned to NYC! Since I’m feeling a bit out of...

[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] A great mystery requires a certain degree of misdirection. The Last...

Recently, I read an exquisitely curated collection of jisei—Japanese death poetry. It was a thoroughly engrossing volume, offering unique...

[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Loyalty. Tradition. Brotherhood. These are the values that govern...

[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Knightriders is a movie about legacy. I mean, if you want to get...

[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Fall Guy is the perfect English title for Kinji Fukasaku’s scathing...

[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] The Criterion Channel categorizes The Comfort of Strangers as an "erotic...

But I’m a Cheerleader is the epitome of camp. I’m not just talking about the film’s depiction of homosexuality, by the way. Yes, it is...

[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Like many serial killer stories, Vengeance Is Mine begins with the...

Sada is based upon the same infamous true crime that inspired In the Realm of the Senses. Of course, director Nobuhiko Obayashi (best...

Last Hurrah for Chivalry is aptly titled: what begins as a fairly typical revenge narrative gradually evolves into a dark, subversive...

I’ve been meaning to better acquaint myself with Hong Sang-soo’s work for quite a while now. Granted, that’s no easy task; he’s among the...

If you’ve seen one film inspired by playwright Monzaemon Chikamatsu's work, you’ve pretty much seen them all. Gonza the Spearman, Night...

Let’s get this out of the way: the premise of Sailor Suit and Machine Gun is patently absurd. No self-respecting yakuza family—no matter...