Sensei Sensibility

Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour quality Asian cinema;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. The great thing about the  Katsuhito Ishii Collection Box Set  from Third Window Films is that the works selected show the staggering diversity and continued growth of the director they're highlighting. Everything from violent, hyper-surreal, stylized V Cinema pieces to charming, heart warming coming-of-age movies. The genres may change, but Kasuhito Ishii stays very much - wonderfully - the same.  Hello Junichi! (2014): Who doesn't love a Little Rascals-esque coming of age story that shows the beauty of friendship but in a cool, non-saccharine way? The lives of wimpy third grader Junichi Hayashida (Amon Kabe) and his little pals are changed forever when a sassy new student teacher Miss Anna (Mitsushima Hikari) enters their classroom.  The di...

Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour quality Asian cinema;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. Oh sweet baby Jesus gently swaddled in a manger with assorted farm animals lowing reverently in his general mystical direction. The  Katsuhito Ishii  from Third Window Films is the bonkers gift that keeps on giving. I'm rarely stuck for words and yet - here we are! I will attempt to review Party 7 , however, in the interests of journalistic integrity I must admit... I hadn't a bloody clue what going most of the time.  So, without further ado: Elvisly coiffed, pink leather jacket wearing Miki (majestically portrayed by Masatoshi Nagase)  is on the run from his Yakuza family with a suitcase full of stolen syndicate moolah.  He decides to lie low at hotel New Mexico where he bizarrely ends up crossing paths with stunning ex-girlfriend the gold...

  Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour quality Asian cinema;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. If you like girls, guns, gangsters, and bloody hideous (but weirdly fabulous) outfits - then you are in for a treat . Tonight, my dear readers, we have a double-bill of Katushito Ishii related madness that we know will melt your butter. So dim the lights and grab the popcorn, it's time to raid the Third Window Films  Katsuhito Ishii Collection . SHARK SKIN MAN & PEACH HIP GIRL (1998) Based on Minetaro Mochizuki's manga of the same name, SSM&PHG is a violent flick about on-the-run Yakuza Samehada. (Mischievously played by the absolutely gorgeous Tadanobu Asano .)  Samehada has been a very bold boy indeed and has stolen 100 million yen from his syndicate; an act his Bond-Villain-Esque boss Tanuki (coldly played by Ittoku Kishibe) takes exce...

Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour quality Asian cinema;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - Juliet Capulet If cinema is the great zeitgeist reflector it claims to be, what does that say about turn-of-the-millennium Japan? While Isao Yukisada 's adaptation of Kazuki Kaneshiro 's novel GO isn't as dystopian as Battle Royale (2000) , it's still as grim a portrayal of disillusioned, angry youths as Blue Spring   (2001) or Bright Future (2003).  Not exactly a bunch of happy campers, are they? Sugihara, (played with seething perfection by Yosuke Kubozuka) however, has even more cause for displeasure. Part Korean, part Japanese, all " Zainichi ", Sugihara is too Japanese for the Koreans (he wears jeans and listens to Mariah Carey! "Traitor!") and ...

Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour quality Asian cinema;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. Anime Supremacy! is the live action adaptation of the same-name light novel written by Mizuki Tsujimura and illustrated by CLAMP.   Though it may be by women, and about women, this is a story for everyone who's ever wanted to peek behind the curtain into the chaotic Oz that is the anime industry. Just be warned, what has been seen - can't be unseen.  A pox! A pox on both your anime! Hitmoi Saito (played by the understated Riho Yoshioka) is an ambitious young woman on the cusp of her anime directorial debut. Soundback: Playing Stone is a passion project years in the making, and not only must it be a roaring success to prove Saito's prowess as a director, it must surpass the ratings of all other anime so that it's creator may achieve the titular "Anime S...

"An unopened door is a happy door..." - Maurice Moss Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour quality Asian cinema;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. For those concerned about who will gift the world with spellbinding, epic anime once Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazaki finally travels on The Great Cat Bus to the Sky , fear not. Makoto Shinkai is here. Suzume is the latest release from the award-winning director, and like his recent popular works  Your Name  and Weathering With You , Suzume is an, action-packed coming-of-age fantasy, with  Ghibli-esque aesthetics and jaw-dropping animation.  And, forgive the cheesy cliché, a lotta heart.  "Strangers on a hill, exchanging eye contact..." I had the privilege of watching a special preview screening of Suzume at Lighthouse Cinema, Dublin with thanks to Japanese Film Festival Ireland (in ...