Genkina Hito

Shunji Iwai is one of the biggest names amongst Japanese directors who emerged in the 90s. Iwai defined himself against contemporaries like Hirokazu Kore-eda and Takashi Miike by offering a vivid style of romantic aestheticism to his youth-oriented films through expressive lighting and camerawork, the most famous done with cinematographer Noboru Shinoda. Although the imagery can capture the high…

Welcome to the second trailer post of the week Check out part one. Since the last trailer post, I’ve started to watch A Better Tomorrow I, A Better Tomorrow II and I have the third one lined up for tomorrow. I’ve seen these classics before and they are the subject of the next episode of a podcast I will record. The latest episode of Heroic Purgatory covers My Neighbor Totoro (1988). Here are the…

Welcome to the first of two trailer posts for this week. Come back tomorrow for the next part. Last week, I published a review of All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001). I want to keep the momentum going on reviews of Shunji Iwai films, but I’m going to take a bit of a break. Swallow Tail Butterfly (1996) would be the next. Possibly Kyrie no Uta, and Hana and Alice and it’s animated prequel. We’ll see.…

All About Lily Chou-chou     リリイ・シュシュのすべて  「Ririi Shushu no Subete」　 Release Date: October 06th, 2001 Running Time: 146 mins. Director: Shunji Iwai Writer: Shunji Iwai (Screenplay), Starring:  Hayato Ichihara, Shugo Oshinari, Yu Aoi, Ayumi Ito, Takao Ohsawa, Miwako Ichikawa, Chiyo Abe, Yoji Tanaka, Kahori Fujii, Shinji Higuchi, Tetta Sugimoto, Issey Takahashi, Website Twitter: @iwaiff  IMDB After…

Welcome to the third and final trailer post of the week. Check out the first post and the second post. Since the last post, I watched Italian nam-sploitation The Last Hunter (1980) and tonight I will watch the John Woo film Bullet in the Head (1990) for a Vietnam double-bill. Also! I was really taken with the trailer for the film Onslaught. As a fan of The Guest, I’m always up for more from Adam…

Welcome to the second trailer post of the week. Check out the first post and come back tomorrow for the last. Since yesterday’s post, I have watched Max Payne (2008) and The Fury (1978). On top of the films written about here, the Korean movie 404 Still Remain (2025) is also released this weekend. Here are the new films. Continue reading Bottakuri kazoku,  SAMURAI BLUE Project for FIFA World Cup…

Welcome to the first trailer post of the week. Come back over the next two days for the other two posts. Following the news that Shunji Iwai’s Love Letter will be released in North American cinemas from June 05th, I’ve started releasing reviews of his films, starting with Love Letter and now including April Story. I’ll have All About Lily Chou-Chou out by the end of this week. Hana and Alice…

April Story      四月物語 「Shi-gatsu monogatari」 Release Date: March 14th, 1998 Duration: 67 mins. Director: Shunji Iwai Writer: Shunji Iwai (Screenplay), Starring: Takako Matsu, Seiichi Tanabe, Kaori Fujii, Rumi, Tsugumi, Kazuhiko Kato, Ken Mitsuishi, Kanji Tsuda, Website Twitter: @iwaiff IMDB  Shunji Iwai’s April Story (1998) starts out a campus movie but morphs into something more as his portrait…

Welcome to the last trailer post of the week. Check out part one and part two! Sad news emerged yesterday when the death of director Yoshihiro Nishimura was announced. His name was synonymous with splatter/horror movies and the Sushi Typhoon label. Works like Helldriver, Mutant Girls Squad, Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, and Tokyo Gore Police spread far and wide due to their zany action and…

Welcome to the second trailer post of the week. Here is part one and the final part comes out tomorrow. After months of promising reviews and complaining about not having the time or energy to do them, it seems I have overcome my writer’s block. Now I just have to keep going. I’m almost done with Luminous Arc 2 on the Nintendo DS, as well. Here are the films for part two. Continue reading…

Welcome to the first of three trailer posts. Come back over the next few days for the others. In between the last trailer post and this one, I published a review of Shunji Iwai’s 1995 romantic classic Love Letter, his 2001 teen drama All About Lily Chou-Chou and April Story (1995). I’ve also watched 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), and Stay Tuned (1992). Film…

Love Letter 4K Remaster  ラブレター   「rabu reta-」 Release Date: March 25th, 1995 Duration: 117 mins. Director: Shunji Iwai Writer: Shunji Iwai (Screenplay), Starring: Miho Nakayama, Etsushi Toyokawa, Miki Sakai, Takashi Kashiwabara, Mariko Kaga, Website IMDB After making hit music videos and TV movies, Shunji Iwai made his cinematic debut with the 1995 feature film Love Letter, a smash hit across…

Welcome to the last trailer post of the week. Check out part one and part two. Since the last time I posted, I have watched Kimohara kacho: Muramura oppiroge (2020) and How Are You? (2021), a study in contrasts from a quirky and “funny” pink film to a sincere straight drama. Here are the rest of this weeks films! Continue reading Sumiko Haneda’s Documentary Portrait of Kabuki Actor Nizaemon…

Welcome to the second trailer post of the week. Check out the first one and come back tomorrow for the last. Last night I watched Sexy Pudding: Almost Addictive (1981, IMDB) and that was about it for film activity. What are the films in this edition? Continue reading Iroha, Ishii Fukuko 100-sai kokoro no dorama no kiseki, Kuniko kara hajimaru hanashi, HAMA tours presents “omotenashi live”…

Welcome to the first trailer post of the week. There will be three in total, so come back over the next two days to see the others. I have been busy.Last week, I updated my Cannes 2026 post and I also posted about the home format release of Toshiaki Toyoda’s Transcending Dimensions (2025) and the theatrical release of Shunji Iwai’s Love Letter (1995) and All About Lily Chou-chou (2001). Early…

Film Movement Classics will release the 4K restoration of Shunji Iwai’s 1995 Love Letter in US cinemas this June. Specifically, it will be released across North America from June 05th, starting with the Metrograph, where Shunji Iwai will be in attendance to introduce the film on that weekend. This release will be shown in select cinemas with All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), which celebrates its…

Third Window Films has been the biggest supporter of Toshiaki Toyoda over the years by releasing many of his films and they have his latest work, Transcending Dimensions, teed up for release on region free Blu-ray on May 25th. Here is the information: Continue reading Try “Transcending Dimensions” with Toshiaki Toyoda, Courtesy of the Third Window Films Blu-Ray Release on May 25th