Kabei: Our Mother

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Kâbê Release Date: 2008 Director: Yoji Yamada Netflix Link IMDb Link

It takes a big emotional impact to make me shed even a tear by watching a film and Kabei did just that. It is a memoir of the experiences of a child and her family from the lead up to WW2 through to modern times. Kabei is a sentimental and heartfelt story of one family wading through historical context. Japan’s ambitions to rule the world and average citizens opinions thereof are at the core of the narrative. Even though it is a tearjerker, Kabei never once seems contrived. The emotions are genuine and tempered with just the right amount of levity. Yoji Yamada just keeps getting better and better. I highly recommend this film, but be forewarned that it is likely to make you feel something.

Love & Pop

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Release Date: 1998 Director: Hideaki Anno Netflix Link IMDb Link

Considering the title and the cutesy cover art, Love and Pop was a lot rougher than I expected. It’s a pretty emotionally hardcore story about high school girls trying to make money through subsidized dating which is basically being a call girl without a pimp, but not necessarily for sex. Sometimes the callers have strange fetishes that aren’t sexual in the traditional sense. The story consists of psycho pedophiles calling our under-aged heroines to meet their lascivious needs for money. Each successive client increases the level of skeeziness, ramping up to Tadanobu Asano as the most deranged one of them all. Most of the film is shot from the first person point of view using mini spy-cams, giving the whole film a voyeuristic quality and adding to the overall feeling of degradation and helplessness. I am not entirely sure to whom I would recommend this film, but everything from the subject matter to the performances to the cinematography is certainly memorable.

Tokyo Zombie

	Rating: 5 out of 5 Original Title: Tôkyô zonbi Release Date: 2005 Director: Sakichi Sato Netflix Link IMDb Link

The hairstyles of its stars, Tadanobu Asano with a gigantic afro and Sho Aikawa with a shiny bald head, pretty much sum up what you can expect from this film; over the top silliness. Full of almost intentionally bad special effects and more zombies than you can count, Tokyo Zombie is a spectacular addition to the zombie spoof genre. If you are expecting a gory horror film, you will be disappointed. It is much more of an offbeat comedy. Starting with the all too familiar zombie epidemic scenario, Tokyo Zombie adds some of its own really creative and wholly original ingredients to the mix, i.e. how electricity is produced in a post-apocalyptic world. If you liked Shaun of the Dead, you should also enjoy Tokyo Zombie. Just thinking about this film puts a smile on my face.

Party 7

	Rating: 5 out of 5 Release Date: 2000 Director: Katsuhito Ishii Netflix Link IMDb Link

Packed full of Japanese humor, Party 7 is delightfully wacky. It’s not nearly as nonsensical and utterly bizarre as Ishii’s Funky Forest but, then again, what is? It falls more on the Shark Skin Man side of his films. Party 7 has the Katsuhito Ishii brand of subtle humor, interesting sets, strange characters and costume design, and a simply unusual story line. With the great Yoshio Harada as Captain Banana and Tadanobu Asano as a twerpy misfit malcontent, Party 7 tosses some of Japan’s best contemporary actors into roles and circumstances you would never dream they’d agree to. From the opening credits, this movie is silly and fun but you have to be a fan of that typically Japanese offbeat humor to get this movie and find the funny. If you like this movie, I also recommend Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl also by Katsuhito Ishii.

Funky Forest: The First Contact

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Naisu no mori: The First Contact Release Date: 2005 Director: Katsuhito Ishii, Hajime Ishimine, Shunichiro Miki Netflix Link IMDb Link

A rambling assortment of basically unconnected vignettes that swirl around together in their own unusual little universe. Complete with bizarre musical aliens, dance and musical numbers, some butt jokes and lots of phallic symbols, Funky Forrest is absolutely hypnotic. There are parts of it that are hilarious and other parts that make you wonder what they were thinking when they made them and what point they are trying to make. In fact, I’m not entirely sure there is a point other than to put some really interesting visuals and concepts on the big screen tied together with a wonderful soundtrack, several different forms of animation and some of Japan’s best contemporary actors. If you are a fan of oddball Japanese movies, this is the film for you. Just don’t strain your brain trying to figure out what it all means.

Gemini

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Sôseiji Release Date: 1999 Director: Shinya Tsukamoto Netflix Link IMDb Link

I wouldn’t necessarily call Gemini a horror film in the traditional sense. It’s more of a surreal psychological drama. Based on a novel by Rampo Edogawa, it is the strange tale of a doctor with a mischievous doppelganger whose appearance signals the gradual downfall of his staid and tranquil life. If you are a fan of bizarre Japanese films or Shinya Tsukamoto, I’d recommend this film even though it’s not one of his best. Gemini has a tiny Tadanobu Asano cameo. It’s such a small part that he’s not even credited with a character name, just as “Revenger with Sword”. If you like this film, I’d recommend Rampo Noir also based on the writings of Rampo Edogawa.

Screwed

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Neji-Shiki Release Date: 1998 Director: Teruo Ishii Netflix Link IMDb Link

I own this film and I’m not entirely sure why. Let’s just say, if I didn’t already own it, I’m not sure that I would buy it now. After an opening scene of rotting people writhing around on a beach with half-naked girls, Screwed works its way into a comparatively normal story, but after a while, it goes back to the tenor of the opening scene and takes a nosedive into the surreal. Screwed is the perfect example of a film that is not for everyone. In fact, I’m not entirely sure who it is for. I’ve watched it twice now and I’m no closer to figuring out what it all means. I’ve rated it 3 stars simply because it made me curious enough to watch it again.

Rampo Noir

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Rampo jigoku Release Date: 2005 Director: Akio Jissoji, Hisayasu Sato, Atsushi Kaneko, Suguru Takeuchi Netflix Link IMDb Link

Admittedly, I haven’t read the original story by Rampo Edogawa so I can’t comment on the clarity of his vision as portrayed in this film. Rampo Noir is comprised of 4 short stories, each by a different director. The whole film is an interesting exercise in strangeness as only the Japanese can compose. The first three stories hold your interest, but it’s really the fourth story, the one starring Tadanobu Asano, that will stick with you. I would not recommend this movie to anyone who isn’t a fan of eccentric Japanese horror films. There isn’t much by the way of blood-gushing gore but it does get thoroughly disgusting at times. The whole film will leave you wondering what the hell you just witnessed.

Vital

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Release Date: 2004 Director: Shinya Tsukamoto Netflix Link IMDb Link

Other than some visual similarities, Vital is very different from Tetsuo or A Snake Of June. It can be intense at times, but without the frantic movement of Tsukamoto’s other films. Vital is a comparatively slow and restrained drama. It’s not a horror film, there is actually very little gore, but there are moments of creepiness to it. Hiroshi Takagi is the type of understated, internally conflicted role in which Tadanobu Asano excels. In a quiet, deliberate manner, Vital deftly explores the connection between body and soul, past and present. Shinya Tsukamoto wrote, directed and edited this film.

Electric Dragon 80000V

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Release Date: 2001 Director: Sogo Ishii Netflix Link IMDb Link

Even though I own this movie, I will readily admit that it is a case of form over function. The cool cinematography and blazingly loud guitar solos (actually performed by Tadanobu Asano) do little to disguise the fact that there really is no story, just some interesting characters. A lot of that has to do with the fact that it’s less than an hour long. Electric Dragon 80000V is a visual feast akin to Tetsuo: Iron Man but without all the pesky substance of a plot. It is like a manga or anime come to life. If you are looking for a deep, intellectual movie, go elsewhere. But if you are a fan of Japanese Manga, Tadanobu Asano or noisecore without any regard for a linear plot or logic, this is the movie for you. This review may sound harsh for a 4 star rating but I don’t want to recommend Electric Dragon 80,000V to those who wouldn’t enjoy it.