2000s

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One can certainly wonder why the prolific Takashi Miike is hooked on directing such nutty films. First, lactic effusion, a recurring theme in his cinema (Visitor Q), seems to obsess him, even though that doesn’t explain everything!

Be the judge: a yakuza, at his life’s end, starts to exterminate chihuahuas, convinced that the poor animals have fomented the destruction of his fellow human beings. His paranoiac crises multiply, he becomes a threat for his Organization. His boss orders his execution and charges his most faithful friend to take care of the dirty job.Read More »

Plot Synopsis From Allmovie:
Iran is a nation where the government carefully regulates what its citizens may see on television, read in the newspapers, or access on the internet. However, despite the country’s repressive policies, many people enjoy news and entertainment outside the purview of their leaders, and filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof examines what Iranians are viewing on the sly and how they find it in the documentary Baad-e-daboor (aka Head Wind). In order to watch television programming not on the official approved list, well-to-do Iranians need little more than to purchase a satellite dish, which can easily be hidden on their property (and homeowners can use the defense that unauthorized channels were supposed to be blocked on their system). Read More »

Synopsis:
The time has come, as it does every two years, for the senior members of Hong Kong’s oldest Triad,
The Wo Shing Society, to elect a new chairman. Fierce rivalries emerge between the two eligible
candidates. Lok, respected by the Uncles is the favourite to win. But his rival Big D will stop at
nothing to change this, including going against hundreds of years of Triad tradition and influencing
the vote with money and violence.Read More »

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A story of 6 days with 5 people gathered around a small sparkling pool at Chiang Mai in Thailand. 4 years ago, Kyoko started to live in Thailand and has been working in a Guest house outside in Chiang Mai, leaving her mother and her daughter Sayo, in Japan. Just before the graduation of University, Sayo sets foot on Thailand to visit her mother with mixed feelings. However, emotional experiences with the people living there changes such feelings toward her mother.Read More »

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Alejandro, a resourceful street orphan on the verge of adolescence, lives and works in an auto-body repair shop in a sprawling junkyard on the outskirts of Queens, New York. In this chaotic world of adults, Alejandro struggles to make a better life for himself and his sixteen-year-old sister.Read More »

Synopsis:
This is the final movie from Okamoto Kihachi, the filmmaker who directed such great movies as “Sword Of Doom”, “Kill”, and “Red Lion”. With an equal mix of violence and humor he has forged a career that spanned over 4 decades and created some of the most memorable films to ever come out of Japan. This is no exception, and the hand of a master is evident in his treatment of this highly entertaining story. In a world where vendettas are officially sanctioned, the people sometimes needed help in carrying out their vengeance. Read More »

A disabled child of separated parents gets caught up in police espionage due to his uncanny ability to remember license plate numbers.Read More »

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Fired from his part-time job in a restaurant kitchen for absenteeism, rookie boxer Tamura has a lot to be angry and frustrated about in his life. But things start to change when he’s approached at the gym by the artist Hattori, who wants to use him as the new model for the manga character Yellow Kid. Yellow Kid first appeared in an American comic in the late 19th century, and Hattori revived him as an older character a century later. What makes the proposition intriguing for Tamura is that the first model for the revived character was former WBA Lightweight champ Mikuni Tokio, the man who inspired him to take up boxing. And Mikuni now lives as a virtual recluse in what seems to be a very fraught relationship with his girlfriend Mana. And Mana, now pregnant, used to be in a relationship with the artist Hattori… — Vancounver International Film FestivalRead More »

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Saori has always disliked her gay father and has lived her life denying his existence. One rainy day she receives a visit at work from a young man called Haruhiko. He tells her that her father is dying of cancer and that the nursing home he operates is in danger of closing. Out of curiosity and debt, Saori goes to visit her father at the House of Himiko, a nursing home for gay old men. It is a sad place but filled with sardonic good cheer. Surprised but pleased, Haruhiko shows her around. The old men who live there are delighted. Saori is at first repelled by the relationship between Haruhiko and Himiko but she soon sees that their feelings are genuine. She begins taking an interest in keeping the nursing home alive…Read More »