Movies
A fairly simple but loveable and well-executed drama. And Your Bird Can Sing offers a basic love triangle, but one that is quite a bit breezier and warmer than most of its peers. Superb performances, stylish but subtle cinematography and a lack of overly dramatic events make this film a joy to watch. It's an easy sell for fans of Japanese drama, the excruciating finale is merely the icing on the cake.
Miyaki's latest drama is a little atypical, but that's what makes his work stand out. The characters are interesting and their story is endearing, though I'm guessing you need to be a big fan of Japanese cinema to see what makes this one different from a slew of other dramas coming out of Japan each year. The cinematography is proper, the score is commendable and the performances are strong. There's real heart here and even though not much happens in the way of plot, the film never felt slow or meandering. It lacks that tiny bit of extra polish to be a personal favorite, but Miyaki is clearly talented.Read all
A very small, but warm and capable sports drama from Sho Miyake. It's not quite as gripping or moving as And Your Bird Can Sing, but that's probably just personal preference. His former film felt more contemporary, this one is closer to the classic Japanese indie drama. Pleasant, but not 100% for me. Yukino Kishii is stellar in her role here, and the drama feels genuine and heartfelt. There are several poignant moments, the problem for me was that the styling was a tad too pedestrian. Muted colors, a barren score (though functional), and dry cinematography prevented the film from becoming a true personal favorite. Other than that, this was a great film.Read all
I rarely watch mini-series, but since I've seen all the Ju-on films I figured I could handle six short episodes. The franchise is also pretty series-friendly, as the original films too were very fragmented and haphazard. That same structure is still here, though Origins isn't quite as episodic as I expected it to be. They pretty much made a longer Ju-on film with more focus on story. Lately the franchise has been struggling, so some fresh ideas were definitely welcome, but I don't think more plot and fewer scares were really the kind of innovations I was looking for. But that's what happens when you go the mini-series route I guess. Performances were okay and there were a couple of cool horror scenes, but they are few and far between. The rest feels like filler that doesn't really add much to the existing Ju-on universe. The biggest problem is that the series isn't even all that scary, it's just a little edgier. Not a terrible mini-series, but it didn't rekindle the Ju-on franchise.Read all