Eiga Night

This week for our classics episode, Chris and Aruba watch tradition clash with modern times in Kinoshita Keisuke's Carmen Comes Home (1951). We talk this film's legacy as the first post-war colour film ever produced, the tonal clash of its musical numbers, the complex, nuanced portrayal of post-war feminine agency and independence at its core, and how much we just love the illustrious, force of personality that is Takamine Hideko's portrayal of the firebrand Lily Carmen. 

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In our latest episode, Chris and the returning Aruba ramble on about one of the most important and influential anime films of all time, Otomo Katsuhiro's Akira (1988). While trying to sort through the visceral affect of watching this film, they briefly touch on the films legacy, its historical context and relevance, their memories of seeing it for the first time, its status as a qualitative turning point in the history of anime, its gorgeous design and benchmark-setting animation, and its reputation as the large-scale introduction of anime to the west.

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We return to our exploration of the absolute classics with one of the most crushingly human stories of mortality and seizing life in the face of untimely death, Kurosawa Akira's Ikiru (1952). Joined this time by special guest Anthony Moss, we get into Kurosawa's masterpiece and its philosophy of self-actualization and fulfillment, discuss the range and emotional power of Shimura Takashi's performance, pick apart Kurosawa's bitter resentment of stringent bureaucracy, and see what this film has taught us about our own perceptions of life and death. 

Plus, can an English language remake be possible without being as bad as The Bucket List.

Make sure to check Anthony Moss's YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTo7zMyvczWyTUsWkYZHhTQ

And his podcast I Went to Film School at: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/i-went-to-film-school/id1478369436 

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After our summer hiatus, we are back with a special episode on one of the most audacious, provocative and downright gorgeous anime films of the 1990s, Ikuhara Kunihiko's Adolescence of Utena (1999).  Joined by special guest Nikita Helewa, we chat about the film's status as a feminist text, a ostentatious directorial statement, a self-critical series ender, an unending source of eye candy, and a timeless meditation on gender, sexuality and transition...with cars. 

We also wonder why Chris cannot stop talking about Evangelion? 

For our triumphant return from our LONG unplanned break, Aruba and Chris question what it means to be a family with Koreeda Hirokazu's Palme D'or winning masterpiece Shoplifters (2018). We chat about Koreeda's career as the critical darling of the contemporary period, analyze the complex, nuanced morality at work within this makeshift familial unit, and absolutely gush over how great the cast is, especially the wonderful Sakura Ando. And maybe even throw some unnecessary shade at Alfonso Cuaron's Roma (2018)? Find out on our latest episode!

This episode is dedicated to the memory of actress Kirin Kiki (Hatsue Shibata).