A Month of Kurosawa: Red Beard (1965)

A Month of Kurosawa: Red Beard (1965)

Posted inFilms
To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! Red Beard (1965) There has perhaps never been a film partnership as fruitful as the one between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. They made a string of classics together, helping launch one another into international stardom and into the…
A Month of Kurosawa: High and Low (1963)

A Month of Kurosawa: High and Low (1963)

Posted inFilms
To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! High and Low (1963) From the very start of his career, Akira Kurosawa was concerned with exploring the class divide, delving into the things that separates the wealthy from the poor. He had perhaps never explored this idea so…
A Month of Kurosawa: Sanjuro (1962)

A Month of Kurosawa: Sanjuro (1962)

Posted inFilms
To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! Sanjuro (1962) It's interesting that a film best known for its bloody final duel (a scene that proved highly influential to directors like Quentin Tarantino) and a sequel to the often violent Yojimbo is in reality a meditation on…
A Month of Kurosawa: Yojimbo (1961)

A Month of Kurosawa: Yojimbo (1961)

Posted inFilms
To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! Yojimbo (1961) In 1957, Miles Davis released the album Birth of the Cool (though it was actually recorded in 1949 and 1950). It was a landmark record that helped change the face of jazz to come. Akira Kurosawa's 1961…
A Month of Kurosawa: The Hidden Fortress (1958)

A Month of Kurosawa: The Hidden Fortress (1958)

Posted inFilms
To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! The Hidden Fortress (1958) The Hidden Fortress may be best known for being a major inspiration for Star Wars -- George Lucas says the inspiration for R2-D2 and C-3PO came from this movie, but in fact he lifted much…