In an effort to save some money and also to not put to waste all the videos I’ve been collecting, I’ve started watching my huge pile of Japanese movies. But instead of leaving it at that, and it’s a herculean effort, lemme tell you (not the sitting around and doing nothing part but the finding the time to watch them). As I eventually will pass them to friends, I figured I’d use this space to provide capsule reviews of the movies watched. Partly as a log of said movies and partly to see which ones are a waste of time. There are many I’ve seen, but that list would go on forever, so let me just sum up the most recent ones. Trends I’ve found (cuz J-Horror is sooo 5 years ago): coming of age, time travel, vintage (1960s-80s), tearjerkers.

Death Note I & II follows a boy who can write someone’s name in a book and that person will die. The book belongs to the Grim Reaper and of course, even though he uses it to kill criminals, that much power can’t go unabused. B.
Honey & Clover very typical Japanese youth/coming of age movie. The slight difference is that it’s about artists in college. B.
Hula Girls very sweet Full Monty/Billy Elliot-style story of a mining town becoming obsolete and the girls who learn hula in order to help establish the town’s soon to open Hawaiian Center to draw tourists to the former mining town. A-.
Rampo Noir very noir, very violent, especially against women. Cutting edge by Japanese standards, but a bit intense and hard to watch. B.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time very well voiced and animated about a highschool girl who learns she can manipulate time. Her relationship with her two best guy friends is especially endearing. A.
Always Sunset on Third Street set in Tokyo in the 60s, a slice of life of time back then in the shadow of the Tokyo Tower being built. Sweet and well acted, better than most of the new “period” movies. A- .
Riding on the Metro another time travel/period movie. Kinda hard to swallow the time traveling bits and disjointed. Acting doesn’t get a chance to really shine. J-Movies are on a patriotic/nostalgic vibe which i’m not really liking. Especially ones like this one that basically harkens back to and condone the male-dominated society. C.
Calling for Love From the Center of the World most definitely a tearjerker, but held together by the charm of the highschool girl at the center of the movie. I’ve read the movie really doesn’t do the story justice and that the television series is much better. B+.
A Day on the Planet coming of age movie set in Osaka. That’s about where the charm is, otherwise, again, a little incoherent and the whole story arc involving a beached whale seems very unnecessary. B.
The Uchoten Hotel an homage to Grand Hotel featuring a lot of vignettes and a who’s who of the current crop of Japanese actors. Polished and surprisingly touching for being so cluttered. B+.
The Blessing Bell a very slow-paced movie following a journey of laid-off factory worker. Very deliberate pacing that really pays off for the patient. A.

Yeah, I know I’ve been busy. I’ll be adding more periodically as I watch movies. In this case, I had to lump together several weeks worth of movie watching. Other movies I’ve seen a while back that I can really recommend are Laundry, A Taste of Tea, Resurrection, Tony Takitani, Jam Films 1, Drugstore Girl.