A Month of Kurosawa: Ran (1985)

A Month of Kurosawa: Ran (1985)

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! Ran (1985) Ran is a masterpiece, one of the greatest films of all time, and you should do everything in your power to see it right away. That really could be the sum total of this capsule review, because…
A Month of Kurosawa: Kagemusha (1980)

A Month of Kurosawa: Kagemusha (1980)

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! Kagemusha (1980) The supposed return to form for Akira Kurosawa that Kagemusha represents is a bit unfair to the works that came before it, such as the greatly overlooked Dersu Uzala, but that's a rant for another time, I…
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…