442 - Live with Honor, Die with Dignity does for Japanese-Americans fighting in World War II what Glory did for African-American soldiers in the Civil War. READ MORE
While the Chinese film "The Piano in a Factory" is designed a little too carefully to be a crowd-pleaser for international audiences as well as domestic ones, the film is certainly not without its charms and good humor. READ MORE
Hiromasa Hirosue (and his creative partner Izumi Takahashi) have been feted at festivals for their intense, interrogative gaze at human desperation. Still, considerable patience is required to plough through the daily crises, humiliations and insecurities of "FIT's" unhappy individuals before anyone sees the light at the end of the tunnel. READ MORE
John Woo's "A Better Tomorrow" is not about gangs or guns, but all about the swish of an Italian coat, the dandy way a toothpick is chewed, and the graceful arc in which its heroes (not protagonists) cock their guns.
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A cranky repairman and his footloose and fancy-free brother are at the heart of this extremely modest Uzbek drama, "P.S," wherein simmering resentment, petty jealousy and the weight of familial duty make up the formula for domestic tragedy. READ MORE
TOKYO -- Quadruple threat Shin Su-Won's "Passerby #3" is clearly one of those labors of love that, fortunately for Shin, works more often than not. There's not much going on here and Shin's not saying anything new -- adult boredom is hard to remedy -- but there are enough moments of true insight and gentle humor to make up for any minor grievances. READ MORE
The film succeeds to about the halfway point until its narrative weight becomes overwhelming and it starts to collapse in on itself ahead of a fiery finale. READ MORE
Responses to the film might be divided between those who admire director-writer Natsuki Seta's stylistic audacity, and those who find the whole overwrought conceit and the characters' roller-coaster of emotions artificial. READ MORE
Despite its exclamation mark, this is not a film that generates great excitement but rather small insights into children’s behavior and the emotional strains on adults who choose to spend long hours overseeing their early education. READ MORE
The film is adapted from the autobiography of notable war photographer Yutaka Kamoshida, but meaningful background to his life and behavior is only divulged in a sharing session at the A.A. clinic, which is a poignant yet liberating point in the film, given how unusual it is for Japanese to confess their feelings. READ MORE
Flamingo No. 13 plays out in an achingly beautiful landscape, scarcely touched by civilization, where a handful of characters exchange rudimentary dialogue interspersed with poetic observations and puzzling obsessions. READ MORE
This bizarre black comedy with allegorical overtones about Japanese xenophobia is a variation on the "house intruder" motif, with precedents as diverse as Yoshimitsu Morita's "Family Game" and Max Frisch's play "The Fire Raisers." READ MORE
