Movie Review: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Jiro Ono, at the time of this movie’s production, is the 85-year-old proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a tiny sushi restaurant hidden away in a subway station in Tokyo. The restaurant serves no appetizers and few desserts; it only has ten seats; and meals are designed to start and end quickly.

That being stated, it’s no ordinary restaurant: reservations for this prestigious recipient of multiple awards (including at least one from the Japanese government, according to the movie) start at ¥30,000–more than $300 USD at current exchange rates, according to the currency converter at XE.com–and must be made a month in advance. And this gorgeous film is every bit as elegantly crafted as is the delicious food on display.

Movie Review: Grave of the Fireflies (SPOILERS)

Studio Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata, is a powerful display of the human cost of war that makes up for its narrative shortcomings with plenty of raw and believable emotion. It’s a movie about children that I wouldn’t recommend to them at the least, but it’s a film that in many ways manages to be imaginative and even beautiful as well as tragic. Please note that discussion of several major plot points will follow.

Movie Review: Red Tails

Red Tails, an action movie based on “the first African-American combat unit to serve in World War II” (as read from the back of the DVD case) and named for the distinctive paint scheme the Tuskegee Airmen gave some of their planes, is at turns exciting and boring: while the movie delivers plenty of base thrills, the story and character development feel unfinished and half-explained. The movie does maintain something of a “so bad, it’s good” appeal in terms of the goofy combat banter, but viewers hoping for a story with more subtlety than a hammer may want to look elsewhere.

Movie Review: The Complete “Metropolis”

Fritz Lang’s classic work of science fiction, now nearly a century old, manages to be a grand, impressive performance piece in spite of its age (and of a few questionable story and pacing decisions). The believable setting it depicts is both fascinating and tragic, and beyond having to negotiate a few downright odd and sometimes unnecessary scenes, fans of science fiction will hopefully consider this film to be worthy of their time.

Movie Review: Porco Rosso

The rare Studio Ghibli film I’d never even heard of until recently, Porco Rosso (“Crimson Pig” according to the opening text) is a fun, exciting tale of a World War I fighter pilot, now a bounty hunter, who happens to be a pig in every sense of the word but must learn to be devoted to someone other than himself.