Summertime tends to see the release of big Hollywood blockbusters and action films and one that has been widely marketed is Bullet Train. The film follows mercenary Ladybug (Brad Pitt) who is tasked with acquiring a briefcase from a bullet train that is travelling between Tokyo and Kyoto. Ladybug has undergone therapy after experiencing bouts… Read More Bullet Train (2022)
There are plenty of iconic anime films that have been released throughout the years. From the fantasy worlds created by visionary Hayao Miyazaki to Mamoru Hosoda’s brilliant coming-of-age stories, anime has always been an excellent medium within film for storytelling. One such pioneer of the medium was the late, great Satoshi Kon whose directorial debut,… Read More Perfect Blue (1997)
I was fortunate enough to cover this year’s Cardiff Animation Festival and was able to watch an array of films (over 100 in fact!). One of the highlights was loundraw’s debut, Summer Ghost which has a non-traditional running time of 40 minutes meaning that it can be considered either a long short film or a… Read More Summer Ghost (2021)
Anime is always an exciting medium as it boasts some of the most progressive filmmaking. While most people are familiar with the works of Studio Ghibli, there is another huge animation studio that has become hugely popular in Japan and has a large following worldwide. Studio Chizu was founded by director Mamoru Hosoda and producer… Read More Belle (2021)
It’s an accomplishment for any filmmaker to be able to showcase their work at London Film Festival; however, for Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, he has two films showing at this year’s festival. With his adaptation of Drive My Car sweeping awards at Cannes Film Festival (you can read my review here), his second film Wheel… Read More London Film Festival 2021: Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
One of the many films to captivate audiences at this year’s Cannes Film Festival was Drive My Car where it won three awards including Best Screenplay. Adapted from Haruki Murakami’s short story of the same name from his 2014 short story collection Men Without Women, Drive My Car follows stage actor Yūsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima)… Read More London Film Festival 2021: Drive My Car
People Just Do Nothing is one of the funniest comedies the BBC has had to offer in recent years. Following the incredibly popular mockumentary style that has become increasingly common in the comedy format for TV shows, People Just Do Nothing follows a group of aspiring musicians who run a pirate radio station, Kurupt FM,… Read More People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan (2021)
The latest film by Studio Ghibli is Earwig and the Witch, which has been the subject of controversy among Ghibli fans due to the computer animated style of the film which differs a lot from the signature 2D anime style that the company has become known and lived for. With Hayao Miyazaki’s son, Goro, taking… Read More Earwig and the Witch (2020)
One of my favourite anime shows of all time is the 90s classic Sailor Moon. The original anime based of the hugely successful manga by Naoko Takeuchi ran from 1992-1995 for five seasons following teenager Usagi Tsukino who is an underachieving schoolgirl by day and a crime-fighting hero by night. Along with the other Sailor… Read More Top 5 Sailor Moon Episodes
It’s hard not to think about Hayao Miyazaki when choosing what anime film to watch. Known as one of the founders of the Japanese animation powerhouse Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki has established a name among critics and audiences alike as an important figure in helping Japanese cinema reach a global audience with films that are suitable… Read More Hayao Miyazaki: Film Ranking
Smaller Pictures Film 