Blog Archives

Kamui (2009)

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Posted on September 20, 2010 by Deni

There are levels of disappointment in this world. We all should know this by now. Finding out your latest crush is not at all like you thought is somewhere around the level of a mild case of indigestion. Not getting that pay rise you’d hoped for registers somewhere around that punch-to-the-gut level. Discovering the last Tim Tam is gone is upping the ante somewhat to the equivalent of a great gaping hole in existence, worse if it directly follows the … (read more)

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Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)

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Posted on October 20, 2008 by Deni

It’s no accident the cowboy and the masterless samurai are cinematic characters practically interchangeable in their native landscapes. The settling of the Americas and the breakdown of the Japanese feudal society were both frontiers, delineations into the brutal unknown where the individual ruled with right of might and lived by wits alone. The cowboy and the ronin both are forbidding, potentially dangerous and almost unreservedly tragic icons of independence in their respective worlds.

It is astride both these worlds that … (read more)

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Princess Blade (2001)

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Posted on January 25, 2006 by Alison

This live action manga is enjoyable in a low key way: no flashy sets, a fairly thin plot, but if sword fights are what you’re looking for, then look no further. The lead actress (Shaku Yumiko) apparently did many of her own stunts, and comes off surprisingly well for one who looks so soft and young. Life in her neck of the woods is clearly a lot more difficult than most of the tribulations we have to endure.

I particularly … (read more)

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