Japanese Cinema
Japanese cinema flourished early on and silent films were being made right through the 1930s. Most were accompanied by a 'benshi' or live narrator telling the story as well as live music. Very little survives from this era however; the 1923 earthquake, the bombings of WW2 and the country's high humidity destroyed many of these historical works. Of those that survive, the early works of Kenji Mizoguchi are highly regarded and he went on to make the classic 'The Life of Oharu' in 1952. Of course no discussion on Japanese cinema is possible without mention of their best known son, Akira Kurosawa. With a career spanning 60 years Kurosawa's ground-breaking films (e.g. 'Seven Samurai', 'Kagemusha', 'Ran') influenced film makers around the world. Most recently Japanese cinema hero 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano revitalised the Yakuza genre; and young mavericks like Takashi Miike ('Audition', 'Ichi the Killer) and Hideo Nakata ('Ring', 'Dark Water') have breathed new life into the horror flick, their films often (and promptly!) remade by US production houses.
For Japanime, use the animation link to the left.
Pictured: Kurosawa teamed once more with the incomparable Toshiro Mifune for 'Seven Samurai'
Summer Wars (2010)
7.5/10
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Starring: Voice Of, Nanami Sakuraba, Ryunosuke Kamiki
Kenji is your typical teenage misfit. He's good at math, bad with girls, and spends most of his time hanging out in the all-powerful, online community... Read more
King of Thorn (2009)
6.4/10
Director: Kazuyoshi Katayama
Panic spreads worldwide as the Medousa Virus - a fatal pandemic that solidifies the body to stone - threatens to wipe out the human race. 160 infected... Read more
Eden of the East: Series Collection (2009)
7.8/10
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Akira Takizawa wakes up naked outside the White House with no memories. He's got a gun in one hand, a cell phone in the other, and doesn't know if he'... Read more
Yatterman (2009)
6.1/10
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Kyoko Fukada, Saki Fukuda, Kendo Kobayashi, Sho Sakurai, Anri Okamoto, Katsuhisa...
Gan Takada and his girlfriend Ai-chan are just normal teens who like to tinker away at robotic inventions - that is, when they're not out keeping the... Read more
Goemon (2009)
6.7/10
Director: Kazuaki Kiriya
Starring: Masato Ibu, Yosuke Eguchi, Takao Osawa, Ryoko Hirosue
The year is 1582. A huge chasm exists between rich and poor, and evening things out is super-thief Goemon (a Japanese Robin Hood) who spends his day r... Read more
Robogeisha (2009)
5.3/10
Director: Noboru Iguchi
Starring: Aya Kiguchi, Takumi Saito, Hitomi Hasebe
Yoshie is the beautiful younger sister to the geisha Kikuyakko. Together, they are recruited by the handsome Hikaru to help overthrow the corrupt Japa... Read more
Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (2009)
5.7/10
Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura, Naoyuki Tomomatsu
Starring: Yukie Kawakura, Eihi Shiina, Takumi Saito, Eri Otoguro
The plot is goofy, yet endearing, as sweet young vampire Monami falls for Mizushima, "the only acceptable boy in school." Unfortunately, Mizushima is... Read more
Genius Party Beyond (2009)
7.2/10
Director: Koji Morimoto, Mahiro Maeda, Kazuto Nakazawa, Shinya Ohira, Tatsuyuki Tanaka
From the cutting edge anime production house STUDIO4ºC ('The Animatrix', 'Tekkonkinkreet') comes this collection of five new films from five anime hea... Read more
M.W. (2009)
5.5/10
Director: Hitoshi Iwamoto
Starring: Yuriko Ishida, Ryo Ishibashi, Takayuki Yamada, Hiroshi Tamaki
When a top secret compound called M.W. (pronounced 'mew') infects an island community, the military moves in to kill the victims and cover up the stor... Read more
Blood: The Last Vampire (2009)
5.3/10
Director: Chris Nahon
Starring: Gianna Jun, Allison Miller, Liam Cunningham, JJ Field, Koyuki , Yasuka Kurata, L...
A live action adaptation of Hiroyuki Kitakubo's cult anime, starring Gianna Jun as the centuries' old vampire slayer. Now, in the 20th century, Saya i... Read more