Coffee Coffee and More Coffee (Free subscription) | 11/23/2009
Tora-San, Our Lovable Tramp/Otoko Wa Tsurai Yo Yoji Yamada - 1969 Tora-San's Cherished Mother/Zoku Otoku Wa Tsurai Yo Yoji Yamada - 1969 Tora-San, His Tender Love/Otoku Wa Tsurai Yo: Futen No Tora Azuma Morisaki - 1970 Tora-San's Grand Scheme/Shin...
Fin de Cinema (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
Well, here it is, the first of sure-to-be-many end of the year/decade lists on the blog. As most of the DVD releases for 2009 have already been announced, I figured it safe to cross the Region 1, US DVD premieres off the list early. All of the DVDs below are for films that were previously unavailable on DVD in the States (though it's possible one or two might have had an unofficial bootleg circulating)....
Books are my only friends (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
There can't be a lot of movie plots that hinge on the shaving of pubes. OK, maybe a adult movie with twins and a wacky Three's Company-like misunderstanding plot, but not mainstream movies. Empire of the Passion , submitted for Japan's shot at the 1978 Academy Awards no less, does have a plot where a few thoughtless moments with a razor lead to madness and death. The movie was made by Nagisa Oshima,...
MSNBC.com (Free subscription) | 10/18/2009
Lars von Trier's new film “Antichrist” is but the latest in a long line of shock-tactic art films that date back to 1929. But in the age of “Saw IV,” Internet pornography, and unending real-life reports of torture and terrorism, aren't these bad-boy outrages looking a little tired?
Tiny Mix Tapes (Free subscription) | 09/30/2009
Pigs, Pimps & Prostitutes: 3 Films by Shohei Imamura (Criterion Collection)Dir. Shoehei Imamura[Nikkatsu, 1961, 1963, 1964; Criterion Collection, 2009]Genre: Japanese new waveOthers: The Pornographers, Vengeance is Mine Links:Pigs, Pimps & Prostitutes is an appropriate moniker for a Japanese cinema that, in the early ‘60s, slowly awakened from the domestic dramas of Yosujiro Ozu, the...
The Evening Class (Free subscription) | 09/27/2009
My thanks to Frako Loden for turning me onto Tomorrow's Sun (Asu no Taiyo) , an early short film from the legendary Nagisa Oshima, in the style of a trailer for a feature that doesn't exist.
Cinematical (Free subscription) | 09/20/2009
When the average American film fan thinks of Japanese movies, they'll probably picture one of three things: either a samurai or a gangster -- Toshiro Mifune and his sword, or Takeshi Kitano and his gun -- or a stringy-haired ghost girl. Die-hard fans will know that Yasujiro Ozu, Nagisa Oshima and Mikio Naruse also made contemporary dramas about modern-day citizens, often trying to figure out their...
New Statesman (Free subscription) | 09/10/2009
“What a tremendous eye he has,” said David Bowie of the film-maker Nagisa Oshima after working with him on Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence. Ryan Gilbey celebrates the Japanese director's eroticism and wicked sense of humour
DVD Talk (Free subscription) | 09/01/2009
Tired of the typical Hollywood fare and looking for a place to discuss quality films that don't rely on...
Daily Express (Free subscription) | 08/28/2009
ONCE banned and still controversial, In The Realm Of The Senses (Ai No Corrida) remains the crowning achievement of Japanese director Nagisa Oshima.
Hindu (Free subscription) | 08/26/2009
Thrissur: The Hindi film ‘Sikander’, directed by Piyush Jha, will bring the curtain down on the Fourth Thrissur International Film Festival on Thursday. Some of the other films to be screened are: Salt of this ...
Hindu (Free subscription) | 08/25/2009
Thrissur: A 1971 Japanese classic by Nagisa Oshima, Youssef Chahine’s ‘Chaos’ and the Chinese film, ‘Still Life’ will be the highlights of Wednesday’s programme at the Thrissur International Film Festival ...
Hindu (Free subscription) | 08/22/2009
Thrissur: Meera Nair’s 1988 film, ‘Salaam Mumbai’, Jayaraj’s ‘Gulmohar’, Ferenc Moldovani’s Hungarian film, ‘Another Planet’ and Bimal Roy’s ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ will be the ...
Hindu (Free subscription) | 08/21/2009
Japanese director Nagisa Oshima’s films have marked a departure from the classical, humanist cinema of his equally talented compatriots Ozhu, Mizoguchi and Kurosawa. Along with Imamura and Shinoda, he explored different facets of ...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 08/15/2009
In the Realm of the Senses, Nagisa Oshima's controversial film about a housemaid who mutilates her lover, is often dismissed as art-house porn. But he saw all his work as a 'social act' and a rebellion against traditional Japanese cinema, argues Emilie Bickerton Nagisa Oshima has always had a kamikaze streak. The 77-year-old Japanese director's filmography counts over 25 features, and each serves...
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