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An Autumn Afternoon - Criterion Collection
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»rank: 12632
Our review: :Yasujiro Ozu's final film is also his final masterpiece, the gently heartbreaking story of a man's dignified resignation to both life s ever-shifting currents and society's gradual modernization. Though widower Shuhei Hirayama (Ozu's frequent leading man Chishu Ryu) has been living comfortably for years with his grown daughter, a series of events leads him to accept and encourage her marriage and departure. As elegantly composed and achingly tender as any of the Japanese master's films, An Autumn Afternoon (Sanna no aji) is one of cinema s fondest farewells. SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES: New, restored high-definition digital transfer, New audio commentary featuring ...
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Tokyo Story - Criterion Collection
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»rank: 6008
Our review:Description:Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story (Tokyo Monogatari) follows an aging couple, Tomi and Sukichi, on their journey from their rural village to visit their two married children in bustling, post-war Tokyo. Their reception, however, is disappointing: too busy to entertain them, their children send them off to a health spa. After Tomi falls ill, she and Sukichi return home, while the children, grief-stricken, hasten to be with her. From a simple tale unfolds one of the greatest of all Japanese films. Starring Ozu regulars Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara, the film reprises one of the director's favorite themes—that of generational conflict—in a ...
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Eclipse Series #3 - Late Ozu (Early Spring / Tokyo Twilight / Equinox Flower / Late Autumn / The End of Summer) (Criterion Collection)
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»rank: 5877
Our review: : This month, we present five wonderful works of art by Japanese master filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. Made directly after Tokyo Story, widely considered his most perfect film and one of the greatest movies ever made, these titles show Ozu at the top of the game, visually and narratively. Elegant, humorous, rich with joy and sadness, these films further demonstrate why Ozu has become synonymous with the word cinema. Five-Disc Set Includes: Early Spring: A married salaryman in postwar Tokyo enters into an affair with an office mate in this moving portrait of a fragile marriage. Tokyo Twilight: In the dead of ...
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Ikiru - Criterion Collection
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»rank: 17118
Our review:Description:In this film, considered by some critics to be Akira Kurosawa's greatest and most compassionate achievement, Takashi Shimura (Seven Samurai) portrays Kenji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer forced to strip the veneer off his existence and find meaning in his final days. essential video:Blessed with timeless humanity, grace, and heartbreaking compassion, Ikiru is one of the most moving dramas in the history of film. Legendary director Akira Kurosawa is best remembered for his samurai epics, but this contemporary masterpiece ranks among his greatest achievements, matched in every respect by the finest performance of Takashi Shimura's celebrated career. Shimura, ...
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Frankenstein Conquers the World / Frankenstein Vs. Baragon
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»rank: 14491
Our review:Description:During WWII, a human heart taken from a certain lab in Europe (Dr. Frankenstein’s) is kept in a Japanese lab. When it gets exposed to the radiation of the bombing of Hiroshima, the heart grows in size, mutates and sprouts appendages, and eventually grows into a complete body and escapes. Later, a feral boy with a certain physical deformity (a large head with a flat top) is captured by scientists who refer to the boy as Frankenstein. The creature grows to the height of 20 feet, escapes again, fights police and army, and is practically indestructible. Later, a reptilian monster goes ...
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The Bad Sleep Well - Criterion Collection
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»rank: 36025
Our review: essential video:The Bad Sleep Well tells the story of corruption at the highest levels of Japanese business and its tragic consequences. Though flawed by a tedious introductory sequence and by an ending that seems out of sync with the story, it is a fascinating movie and the middle part is especially exciting. Japanese legend Toshiro Mifune plays Koichi Nishi, the seemingly stoic bridegroom who is trying to get ahead by marrying the boss's daughter, Kieko (Kyoko Kagawa), who was crippled as a girl. The bride's brother, in a shocking display, exposes the groom's motives during his wedding toast and threatens ...
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High and Low - Criterion Collection
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»rank: 52715
Our review:Description:Toshiro Mifune stars as a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a ruthless kidnapper in Akira Kurosawa's exemplary film noir. Based on Ed McBain's detective novel King's Ransom, High and Low is both a riveting thriller and a brilliant commentary on contemporary Japanese society. Criterion is proud to present High and Low in a luminous new Tohoscope transfer with new electronic subtitles. essential video:Although best known for his samurai classics, Japanese master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa proved himself equally adept at contemporary dramas and thrillers, and 1962's High and Low offers a powerful showcase for Kurosawa's versatile skill. The ...
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The Yakuza Papers - Battles Without Honor & Humanity (Complete Box Set)
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»rank: 43676
Our review:Description:In the wake of the Bomb, ex-soldier Shozo Hirono [Bunta Sugawara] joins a Hiroshima yakuza gang, the Japanese equivalent of the Mafia–and then the shootings, slashings, betrayals, and scheming begin. Premiering a year after The Godfather, The Yakuza Papers also broke box office records and spawned sequels, but, in contrast, took a ruthlessly de-romanticized view of the underworld. Based on an actual gang boss's memoirs, The Yakuza Papers plunges the audience into a gritty, brutal, violent newsreel of a three-decade struggle for power of Shakespearean complexity, a nihilistic epic unlike any other. :While The Godfather romanticized the American Mafia in the ...
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Dogora
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»rank: 36775
Our review: :Studio: Media Blasters Inc. Release Date: 07/12/2005
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Japan's Longest Day
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»rank: 56000
Our review:Description:On August 15th, 1945, the Japanese people faced utter destruction. Millions of soldiers and civilians were dead, the rest were starving, and their cities had been reduced to piles of rubble — two of them vaporized by atomic bombs. The government was deadlocked; some ministers called for surrender, and others argued that honor demanded a final battle on home soil. To break the impasse, the cabinet took the unprecedented step of asking the Emperor to decide the fate of the nation. Unable to bear the suffering of his people any longer, and finally given the power to do something about it, ...
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