Sonatine (1993)

Highly Recommended

Japan

Feature Film

Original Title: ソナチネ

Writer/Director: Kitano Takeshi

Cinematographer: Yanagijima Katsumi

Composer: Hisaishi Jō

Cast: Kitano Takeshi, Kokumai Aya, Watanabe Tetsu, Katsumura Masanobu, Terajima Susumu, Osugi Ren, Zushi Tonbo, Yajima Ken'ichi, Minakata Eiji

In Kitano’s disquieting, dream-like, and sickeningly violent yet strangely, intermittently jovial film, a world-weary, mid-level yakuza boss and several of his men are sent to Okinawa to intervene in a rapidly escalating gang war; but when their efforts only result in more deaths, they retire to an idyllic, secluded beach house and await news of any potential retribution, reconciliation, or respite. Iain.Stott

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Mon Oncle (1958)

Highly Recommended

France

Feature Film

Original Title: Mon oncle

Writer/Director: Jacques Tati

Cinematographer: Jean Bourgoin

Composers: Franck Barcellini, Alain Romans

Cast: Jacques Tati, Jean-Pierre Zola, Adrienne Servantie, Alain Bécourt

In Tati’s hugely inventive, gently satirical, and frequently hilarious look at the alienating effects of progress, Monsieur Hulot struggles to adapt to a rapidly modernising world, particularly when visiting his decidedly snobby sister and family, who live in a cold and frightfully ugly house in which any and everything is automated and charcterless. Iain.Stott

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Greenberg (2010)

Recommended

USA

Feature Film

Director: Noah Baumbach

Writers: Noah Baumbach, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Cinematographer: Harris Savides

Composer: James Murphy

Cast: Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brie Larson, Juno Temple, Mark Duplass, Dave Franco

Baumbach’s oft painfully funny though occasionally merely painful but never less than thoroughly absorbing and acutely well observed film follows the misadventures of Roger – a 41-year-old failed musician turned carpenter, who has recently spent time in a psychiatric hospital – as he house-sits for his holidaying brother and family, fumblingly begins a sort-of relationship with his brother’s 25-year-old assistant, and generally alienates everyone around him. Iain.Stott

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Kinema Junpo's Top 200 Japanese Films of All Time (2009)

1. Tokyo Story (1953)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. Floating Clouds (1955)
4. The Sun Legend of the End of the Tokugawa Era (1957)
5. Battles Without Honour & Humanity (1973)
6. Twenty-Four Eyes (1954)
7. Rashomon (1950)
8. Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (1935)
9. The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979)
10. Family Game (1983)
11. Stray Dog (1949)
12. Typhoon Club (1984)
13. Ikiru (1952)
14. Suzaki Paradise Red Light (1956)
15. High and Low (1963)
16. A Fugitive from the Past (1965)
17. Harakiri (1962)
18. Intentions of Murder (1964)
19. Tokyo Olympiad (1965)
20. The Castle of Sand (1974)
21. Failed Youth (1974)
22. Nausicaä: Of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
23. Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937)
24. Yojimbo (1961)
25. Fighting Elegy (1966)
26. Fall Guy (1982)
27. Boiling Point (1990)
28. Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
29. Chikamatsu Monogatari (1954)
30. She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum (1955)
31. Flowing (1956)
32. Samurai Vendetta (1959)
33. Branded to Kill (1967)
34. Vengeance is mine (1979)
35. Zigeunerweisen (1980)
36. Here's to the Girls (1949)
37. Ball at the Anjo House (1947)
38. Late Spring (1949)
39. Till We Meet Again (1950)
40. The Life of Oharu (1952)
41. A Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji (1955)
42. The Lower Depths (1957)
43. The Chase (1958)
44. Floating Weeds (1959)
45. Good Morning (1959)
46. Desperate Outpost (1959)
47. Her Brother (1960)
48. Naked Youth (1960)
49. The Graceful Brute (1962)
50. Proxy War (1973)
51. The Wanderers (1973)
52. The Youth Killer (1976)
53. Muddy River (1981)
54. The Funeral (1984)
55. Himatsuri (1985)
56. My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
57. Cure (1997)
58. Noriko's Dinner Table (2005)
59. I Was Born, But... (1932)
60. What Did the Lady Forget? (1937)
61. Singing Lovebirds (1939)
62. The Live of Matsu the Untamed (1943)
63. Carmen Comes Home (1951)
64. The Human Condition (1959-61)
65. The Human Vapor (1960)
66. Sanjuro (1962)
67. The Insect Woman (1963)
68. Pale Flower (1964)
69. Yearning (1964)
70. Tokyo Drifter (1966)
71. Japan's Longest Day (1967)
72. The Profound Desire of the Gods (1968)
73. The Human Bullet (1968)
74. Big Time Gambling Boss (1968)
75. I, the Executioner (1968)
76. Boy (1969)
77. Double Suicide (1969)
78. Tora-san (1969-95)
79. Take Care, Red Riding Hood (1970)
80. Red Peony Gambles Her Life (1970)
81. Kaoyaku (1971)
82. Wet Sand in August (1971)
83. Three Mad Dog Brothers (1972)
84. Confidential: Secret Market (1974)
85. Castle of Gagliostro (1979)
86. Kagemusha (1980)
87. Crazy Thunder Road (1980)
88. Crazed Fruit (1981)
89. A Japanese Village (1982)
90. P. P. Rider (1983)
91. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
92. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (1983)
93. Love Hotel (1985)
94. Ran (1985)
95. No More Comics (1986)
96. Castle in the Sky (1986)
97. Tetsuo (1989)
98. Moving (1993)
99. Sonatine (1993)
100. Kids Return (1996)
101. Crazyon Shin-chan (2001)
102. The Twilight Samurai (2002)
103. Bright Future (2003)
104. Rambler (2003)
105. Summer Days with Coo (2007)
106. A Diary of Chuji's Travels (1927)
107. Capricious Young Man (1936)
108. Sisters of the Gion (1936)
109. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (1939)
110. Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
111. Ware Maboroshi No Sakana O Mitari (1950)
112. Early Summer (1951)
113. Lightning (1952)
114. Mother (1952)
115. Jirocho Sangokuchi (1952-54)
116. Godzilla (1954)
117. Street of Shame (1956)
118. Juvenile Passion (1956)
119. Throne of Blood (1957)
120. Tokyo Twilight (1957)
121. Washi to Taka (1957)
122. Enjo (1958)
123. The Hidden Fortress (1958)
124. Ghost Story of Yotsuya (1959)
125. Late Autumn (1960)
126. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)
127. Hito Mo Arukeba (1960)
128. Ten Dark Women (1961)
129. The Last War (1961)
130. A Wife Confesses (1961)
131. Foundry Town (1962)
132. Destiny's Son (1962)
133. The Outcast (1962)
134. The Elegant Life of Mr. Everyman (1963)
135. The Thirteen Assassins (1963)
136. Woman of the Dunes (1964)
137. Red Beard (1965)
138. Seisaku's Wife (1965)
139. Story of a Prostitute (1965)
140. The Hitman (1967)
141. Like a Shooting Star (1967)
142. A Colt Is My Passport (1967)
143. Tora-san: It's Tough Being a Man (1969)
144. Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969)
145. Violence Without a Cause (1969)
146. Dodes'ka-den (1970)
147. Hakucyu No Syugeki (1970)
148. Minata (1972)
149. The Morning Schedule (1972)
150. Night of the Felines (1972)
151. Akai Tori Nigeta? (1973)
152. Tora-san's Forget Me Not (1973)
153. Narita: Heta Village (1973)
154. Street of Joy (1974)
155. Shiranui Sea (1975)
156. Graveyard of Honour (1975)
157. Preparation for the Festival (1975)
158. In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
159. Lullaby of the Earth (1976)
160. House (1977)
161. The Devil's Boucing Ball Song (1977)
162. Shinjuku Midaregai: Ikumade Matte (1977)
163. Mount Hakkoda (1977)
164. Rape! 13th Hour (1977)
165. Third Base (1978)
166. Path of the Beast (1980)
167. Station (1981)
168. Attacked Women (1981)
169. Angel Guts: Red Prono (1981)
170. Something Like It (1981)
171. The Imperial Navy (1981)
172. Transfer Student (1982)
173. Burst City (1982)
174. The Makioka Sisters (1983)
175. Inujini Sesi Mono (1986)
176. The Sea and Poison (1986)
177. Violent Cop (1989)
178. The Sting of Death (1990)
179. A Scene at the Sea (1991)
180. The Rocking Horsemen (1992)
181. Tetsuo 2 (1992)
182. Where is the Moon? (1993)
183. Shall We Dance? (1996)
184. Tokiwa: The Manga Apartment (1996)
185. Gakko 3: the New Voyage (1998)
186. Face (2000)
187. Kaza-Hana (2000)
188. Swing Girls (2004)
189. Nobody Knows (2004)
190. The Reason (2004)
191. Break Through! (2004)
192. Who's Camus Anyway? (2005)
193. Memories of Matsuko (2006)
194. Hula Girls (2006)
195. What the Snow Brings (2005)
196. Departures (2008)
197. All Around Us (2008)
198. Children of the Dark (2008)

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Kinema Junpo's Top 100 Japanese Films of the 20th Century (1995)

1. Tokyo Story (1953)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. Floating Clouds (1955)
4. Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937)
5. The Life of Oharu (1952)
6. A Fugitive from the Past (1965)
7. Rashomon (1950)
8. Ikiru (1952)
9. Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (1935)
10. The Sun Legend of the End of the Tokugawa Era (1957)
11. Early Summer (1951)
12. Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
13. Night and Fog in Japan (1960)
14. A Diary of Chuji's Travels (1927)
15. Chikamatsu Monogatari (1954)
16. The Life of Matsu the Untamed (1943)
17. Twenty-Four Eyes (1954)
18. Yojimbo (1961)
19. Naniwa Elegy (1936)
20. The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959)
21. The Emperor's Naked Army Marches on (1987)
22. Battles Without Honour & Humanity (1973)
23. Crimson Comet (1967)
24. Naked Youth (1960)
25. Late Autumn (1960)
26. Intentions of Murder (1964)
27. Till We Meet Again (1950)
28. Kagirinaki Zenshin (1937)
29. Naked Island (1960)
30. The Insect Woman (1963)
31. Kiru (1962)
32. Muddy River (1981)
33. Capricious Young Man (1936)
34. High and Low (1963)
35. Big Time Gambling Boss (1968)
36. Sisters of the Gion (1936)
37. Vacuum Zone (1952)
38. The Garden of Women (1954)
39. Fighting Elegy (1966)
40. Fire Festival (1985)
41. In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
42. Zigeunerweisen (1980)
43. Godzilla (1954)
44. Drunken Angel (1948)
45. A Japanese Tragedy (1953)
46. Meoto Zenzai (1955)
47. Samurai Vendetta (1959)
48. Harakiri (1962)
49. The Husband Witnessed (1964)
50. One Man of the Gambler's Code (1966)
51. The Yellow Handkerchief (1977)
52. The Green Mountains (1949)
53. The Human Condition (1959-61)
54. Stray Dog (1949)
55. Yearning (1964)
56. I Was Born, But... (1932)
57. A Woman with Red Hair (1979)
58. Sansho Dayu (1954)
59. Tokyo Olympiad (1965)
60. Cupola (1962)
61. The Graceful Brute (1962)
62. Narita: Heta Village (1973)
63. Enjo (1958)
64. The Loyal 47 Ronin of the Genroku Era (1941)
65. The Song Lantern (1943)
66. The Army (1994)
67. Younger Brother (1960)
68. Repast (1951)
69. She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum (1955)
70. Confidential: Secret Market (1974)
71. The Ceremony (1971)
72. Ichijo's Wet Lust (1972)
73. 18 Who Cause a Storm (1963)
74. Zirou Takeshi Kingdoms (1952-54)
75. The Profound Desire of the Gods (1968)
76. Stakeout (1958)
77. Singing Lovebirds (1939)
78. The Ball at the Anjo House (1947)
79. Boy (1969)
80. Throne of Blood (1957)
81. Magino Village: A Tale (1987)
82. Graveyard of Honour (1975)
83. Branded to Kill (1967)
84. An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
85. The Thirteen Assassins (1963)
86. Genta Coast Sleeping with a Dagger (1932)
87. Sandakan 8 (1974)
88. Family Game (1983)
89. Kaoyaku (1971)
90. Once upon a Song (1939)
91. Mr. Thank You (1936)
92. Outlaw Killers: Three Mad Dog Brothers (1972)
93. Tokyo Drifter (1966)
94. Eros Plus Massacre (1969)
95. Nausicaä: Of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
96. Tokyo Brothers (1995)
97. Vengeance is mine (1979)
98. The Age of Assassins (1967)
99. Ballad of Narayama (1958)
100. Scattered Clouds (1967)

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Kinema Junpo's Top 100 Japanese Films of All Time (1999)

1. Seven Samurai (1954)
2. Floating Clouds (1955)
3. A Fugitive from the Past (1965)
4. Tokyo Story (1953)
5. The Sun Legend of the End of the Tokugawa Era (1957)
6. Rashomon (1950)
7. Intentions of Murder (1964)
8. Battles Without Honour & Humanity (1973)
9. Twenty-Four Eyes (1954)
10. Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
11. Ikiru (1952)
12. The Life of Oharu (1952)
13. Vacuum Zone (1952)
14. Harakiri (1962)
15. The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979)
16. My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
17. Muddy River (1981)
18. Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937)
19. The Rickshaw Man (1958)
20. Yojimbo (1961)
21. Fall Guy (1982)
22. Boy (1969)
23. All Under the Moon (1993)
24. Early Summer (1951)
25. Vengeance is mine (1979)
26. Family Game (1983)
27. The Castle of Sand (1974)
28. Naked Youth (1960)
29. The Human Condition (1959-61)
30. Till We Meet Again (1950)
31. Ichijo's Wet Lust (1972)
32. Cupola (1962)
33. Fighting Elegy (1966)
34. The Yellow Handkerchief (1977)
35. Shall We Dance? (1996)
36. The Insect Woman (1963)
37. Marital Relations (1955)
38. Begging for Love (1998)
39. A Woman with Red Hair (1979)
40. Distant Thunder (1981)
41. Graveyard of Honour (1975)
42. Sonatine (1993)
43. High and Low (1963)
44. Japan's Longest Day (1967)
45. Night and Fog in Japan (1960)
46. The Emperor's Naked Army Marches on (1987)
47. Ryuji (1983)
48. Ball at the Anjo House (1947)
49. Young Brother (1960)
50. The Hidden Fortress (1958)
51. The Thirteen Assassins (1963)
52. Chikamatsu Monogatari (1954)
53. Princess Mononoke (1995)
54. Beyond the Green Hills (1963)
55. The Profound Desire of the Gods (1968)
56. Kids Return (1996)
57. The Cherry Orchard (1990)
58. The Youth Killer (1976)
59. Typhoon Club (1984)
60. Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (1935)
61. Angel Guts Red Classroom (1979)
62. Ballad of Narayama (1958)
63. She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum (1955)
64. Miyamoto Musashi (1962-65)
65. Ryoma Assassination (1974)
66. Street of Shame (1956)
67. Red Beard (1965)
68. Station (1981)
69. Twisted Path of Youth (1973)
70. Sado (1978)
71. The Makioka Sisters (1983)
72. Narita: Heta Village (1973)
73. Failed Youth (1974)
74. A Japanese Tragedy (1953)
75. Something Like It (1981)
76. Naked Island (1960)
77. Stakeout (1958)
78. Scattered Clouds (1967)
79. The Rendezvous (1972)
80. The Beast to Die (1980)
81. In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
82. Red Lantern (1974)
83. Capricious Young Man (1936)
84. The Devil's Ballad (1977)
85. Lightning (1952)
86. Singing Lovebirds (1939)
87. The Funeral (1984)
88. Kagemusha (1980)
89. House on Fire (1986)
90. Carmen Comes Home (1951)
91. Listen to the Roar of the Ocean (1950)
92. Cure (1997)
93. One Man of the Gambler's Code (1966)
94. Throne of Blood (1957)
95. Juvenile Passion (1956)
96. A Last Note (1995)
97. An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
98. Jirocho Sangokuchi (1952-54)
99. Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (1969)
100. Woman of the Dunes (1964)

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East of Eden (1955)

Recommended

USA

Feature Film

Director: Elia Kazan

Writers: Paul Osborn, John Steinbeck

Cinematographer: Ted McCord

Composer: Leonard Rosenman

Cast: James Dean, Richard Davalos, Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Jo Van Fleet, Burl Ives, Albert Dekker, Harold Gordon

Kazan’s operatic, vaguely camp, and visually adventurous adaptation of Steinbeck’s novel paints a portrait of a family at the point of implosion, as the black sheep of the family (one of two brothers) learns that his mother is not dead (as his father said) but a brothel madam, becomes dangerously close to his brother’s fiancée, and tries to buy his father’s love with a spot of war profiteering. Iain.Stott

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