Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009 Several interwoven plots battle for attention in this manipulative, socially conscious exploitation movie, constructed Crash-style, about the dream of US citizenship and the nightmare it can be to obtain. This clumsy film uses…
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009 Will Ferrell’s a funny guy. Except when he’s not. Like in this deeply mediocre mess based on a campy, barely remembered Saturday morning TV show from the ’70s. A “quantum paleontologist” (Ferrell), a…
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009 It’s a given that romantic comedies are formulaic. You know where they’re going, so the only way to judge them is how they get there and how likable the leads are. This is…
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009 There’s already a lot of buzz surrounding the movie version of Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human), the classic novel by Osamu Dazai that’s set for release next spring. To mark the start of…
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009 This rather standard psychological thriller is of interest chiefly because of its pedigree—the original story is by the esteemed novelist Junichiro Tanizaki. The first film version appeared in 1964, when Tetsuji Takechi, then…
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009 As if sequels and prequels weren’t bad enough, Hollywood has now latched on to yet another way to put fanboy butts in seats: the origin movie. Please, make it stop! This impersonal and…
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009 Wesley Snipes comes out of retirement at the insistence of a government agency (most likely the IRS) to star in this direct-to-video, in-name-only sequel to his stylish-but-formulaic 2000 original. He plays a badass…
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009 Just in time for, um, fall (oops) comes this summer tale set in Okinawa, whose title translates something like “Idiot of the Southern Islands.” The debut directorial effort of popular comedian Gori is…
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2009 When a gang of criminal types audaciously hijacks a New York subway train and takes hostages, a mild-mannered dispatcher must use his vast knowledge of the transit system to try to outwit the…
