Japan Cuts 2014 Review: WOOD JOB! Takes Us Deep Into the World Of Forestry, With Wonderfully Comic Results

Posted: 12 Jul 2014 02:00 PM PDT

The recent Japanese film Wood Job! is not, despite its very suggestive title, a pornographic film, which will either relieve or disappoint you, depending on where your movie tastes happen to lie. Instead, it is the latest comedy by Yaguchi Shinobu, a filmmaker who specializes in a very specific kind of formula: mining all the absurd hijinks that occur when its main character pursues an unusual sort of art, sport, or profession. Prime examples of this are Waterboys (2001), which dealt with the world of high-school synchronized swimming, and Swing Girls (2004), in which high school girls put together a swing big band.Wood Job! takes us deep into the world of forestry, and it proves to be one of Yaguchi's strongest and funniest films to...

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Review: WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE, Ghibli Enters A New Age With A Melancholic Ghost Story

Posted: 12 Jul 2014 01:00 PM PDT

Studio Ghibli and its catalogue of extraordinary animated films has been built on the back of two men: the creator of its most beloved characters and star of the studio, Miyazaki Hayao and the often over-looked, but no less talented, Takahata Isao. Last year saw the announcement of Miyazaki's retirement and the release of his last film, The Wind Rises, followed a few months later by Takahata's latest, The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Takahata may not have announced any desire to quit, but his advanced age (the director is now 78), and the length of time it takes him to put a film together leaves a question mark over the artist's ability to helm another feature length work. Regardless of whether we've seen the last...

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