Features 682
Books: Harryhausen’s Lost Movies
by Jeremy Clarke. There’s nothing else quite like the filmography of stop-frame animator and special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013). A new book, Harryhausen: The Lost Movies, is an undeniable treasure trove for those familiar with his films, which include such gems as Jason and the Argonauts and One Million Years B.C. and incorporate fantastical, stop-frame […]
Japanese Box Office in 2019
By Jasper Sharp. As is customary, the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, or Eiren, has just released figures for the previous year’s box office, presenting the opportunity to consider the current state of Japanese cinema as an industry, if not as an art. There is some cause for celebration on this first score, at […]
Making Kakegurui
By Andrew Osmond. Writing in NEO magazine, I described Kakegurui as a larkish, capering fight show, except that its bug-eyed duels are fought at tables with cards, gambling chips, raging egos and molten obsessions. Think Vegas on campus, with a cast of gambling-obsessed maniacs and a new girl, Yumeko, who looks like a lamb to […]
Haruchika
By Andrew Osmond. This blog has previously highlighted Japan’s love for mystery stories, and particularly for what the author P. D. James called the “amateur sleuth” tale, where the puzzle is tackled by a savant outside the police. Think of Holmes, Poirot, Marple or their descendants like Japan’s L or Sweden’s Lisbeth Salander. Haruchika is at […]
Jo Shishido (1933-2020)
Jo Shishido, who died yesterday in Tokyo, will be remembered as the charismatic moon-faced star of many a Nikkatsu Action film from the 1960s. He is best-known in the West for his iconic turn as the cold-hearted contract killer of Seijun Suzuki’s cult classic Branded to Kill (1967).