Japanese Cinema

In December 2021, I was made aware of a film challenge on Letterboxd, a social media platform for films. The challenge, simply titled Japanuary Challenge 2022, presented a series of prompts aimed at introducing users…

Underneath the surface of most films about online life are commonplace themes about appearances and authenticity: the consequences of anonymity, the rapid spread of misinformation, the ways that social media limits expression of our genuine…

Driving can be a profound experience. It is difficult to articulate the feeling of what it’s like to ponder a great many things while you drive in solitude, or that quiet mutual moment of bonding…

It shouldn’t take long for audiences to realize they are viewing the birth of a cult classic when they watch Sion Sono’s latest film Prisoners of the Ghostland, which sees him pairing with Nicolas Cage.…

A renowned philosopher and swordsman of the early Edo period, the life of Miyamoto Musashi has been told onscreen countless times since the late 1920s. Most notably in Hiroshi Inagaki’s Samurai Trilogy, where the legendary…

Samurai Marathon desires to be placed among the ranks of impressive historical Japanese films that have come before it. The filmmakers were inspired by history and took a small moment of Japanese history and wrapped…

3 years ago, in 2016, Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name shook both the Japanese box office and the U.S. box office. The film was universally lauded and broke Japanese box office records. Seriously, if you have…

It’s the time of year in which the classic debate rages amongst film buffs: what is Die Hard: an action film or a Christmas film, or both? Well I for one am sick of hearing it.…

It might be sixty years old, but The Hidden Fortress is fun, comedy, and adventure rolled up in an epic package. It is just as good today as when it was first made. A Japanese…