856 Best Film & TV Releases Translated Into Japanese (Page 6)
The Pope's Exorcist (In Japanese: ヴァチカンのエクソシスト)
Welcome back to Filmmaker of the Month. In honor of the film, and in its spirit, we sent in a young writer, Megan Sunday, and another young writer, Gena Radcliffe, to do spiritual battle with The Exorcist. Continue Reading →
The Morning Show
SimilarGossip Girl, Nine: Nine Time Travels, Off Centre, Tarzan, Taxi, The Alienist, The Beat, The Strain,
StarringJon Hamm,
Aaron Sorkin learned the hard way that no one takes TV as seriously as TV people. When he followed up his critically acclaimed The West Wing, a show about the inner workings of the White House, with Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip he discovered that you can’t treat everything with the gravity of a cabinet meeting and the wit of a theater major who gets straight Bs. His backstage drama about a fake sketch show pleased no one. When he tried to course correct with The Newsroom he tried to portray the American news media out to be brave warriors for the cause of truth. Both shows have lived rich second lives as meme generators about what Andrew Sarris would call "strained seriousness." Continue Reading →
Der Schwarm
SimilarGolden Years, The Incredible Hulk,
The sea is always a great setting for a story. It’s both soothing and menacing; water is cleansing and purifying, and a consistently replenishing source of food. But it’s also dangerous and uncompromising. Water is one of nature’s greatest antagonists, it can get into virtually anything, softening it, weakening it, eventually breaking it apart. But nothing on earth would survive without it. It’s a brilliant metaphor for so many things, as it’s constantly changing and moving and covers wondrous and monstrous secrets. It works even better in visual mediums like TV and film because it’s beautiful to both look at and listen to. The CW’s new eco-thriller, The Swarm, makes good use of its watery locations in establishing an aura of tranquil menace: everything seems calm and orderly, but there’s trouble bubbling up just below the surface. Continue Reading →
Welcome to Wrexham
NetworkFX,
Studio3 Arts Entertainment, FX Productions,
Welcome to Wrexham Season 2 opens with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney telling the audience, directly to camera, that they’ve spoken to the King of England. It’s a good gag, with both demonstrating their talents for comedic timing. It is also the kind of thing that makes avowed anti-Royalists and fans of Season 1—of which this critic is both—a bit nervous. Continue Reading →
Sitting in Bars with Cake (In Japanese: 私がケーキを焼く理由)
Watch afterBarbie (2023) Blue Beetle (2023), Elemental (2023), Shortcomings (2023), The Marvels (2023),
StudioMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
(Editor's note: A previous version of this review included the full name of the presumptive real-life inspiration for the film; upon a subsequent request to maintain their privacy, we have removed that sentence.) Continue Reading →
Meg 2: The Trench (In Japanese: MEG ザ・モンスターズ2)
Ever since James Cameron boldly wrote “S” after ALIEN on a chalkboard and then changed it to a dollar sign, the quickest way to sequel-ize your killer extraterrestrial/reptile/mammal/whatever has been to add more of it. You scored a hit with people fighting one giant mosquito? Great, here’s a sequel with six of them. Continue Reading →
The Wheel of Time
Similar2Moons: The Series, A Dance to the Music of Time,
Agatha Christie's Poirot Ah! My Goddess, Amazing Stories, Animated Classics of Japanese Literature, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Bodies, Brimstone, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cybersix, Des, Fate/Apocrypha, Fearless, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe,
Hilda Furacão House of Cards, I Dream of Jeannie, In the Land of Leadale, Jewels,
Little Women Loveless, Lupin, M*A*S*H, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Monarch of the Glen, Mortal Kombat: Conquest, Mr. Mercedes, Out of This World,
Planet of the Apes Pride and Prejudice Santa Evita,
Sherlock Holmes Spies of Warsaw, Star and Sky: Star in My Mind, Super Pumped, Tales from the Neverending Story, Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills, The Alienist, The Chestnut Man, The Dawn of the Witch, The Family Game, The Lost World, The Serial Killer's Wife, The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, The Slime Diaries: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, The Strain, The Three-Body Problem, Tientsin Mystic, Tira, Unorthodox, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, Wycliffe,
Big-budget fantasy lovers have reason to celebrate this week with Amazon Studio’s The Wheel of Time Season 2's debut. With some careful tweaking by Showrunner Rafe Judkins, Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy of feminine magic and quests of destiny came to life in an impressive if uneven first season. Now, the stakes are higher, the dangers subtler, and the ever-expanding cast of characters more compelling. Continue Reading →
Who Is Erin Carter?
SimilarA Little Princess, Alias Grace, Cleopatra, Elizabeth R, Fallen, G.B.H., Love You Just as You Are, More than Blue: The Series, Narco-Saints, Peter and Paul, Pope John Paul II,
Pride and Prejudice Queen Cleopatra,
Scully Son of the Morning Star, Star and Sky: Star in My Mind, The Buccaneers, The Fire Next Time, The Gangster Chronicles, The Gold Robbers, The Shining, Tiger Lily, 4 femmes dans la vie, Ultraviolet, Unorthodox, World War II: When Lions Roared,
In Who is Erin Carter? ’s precipitating event, the titular character (Evin Ahmad)—a British ex-pat living in Spain and trying to make a living as a substitute teacher—must fight a masked gunman during a grocery store robbery. At stake is the life of nearly blind daughter Harper (Indica Watson), who cowers unseen under a display of oranges. Continue Reading →
Stoker (In Japanese: イノセント・ガーデン)
There's more than one transition going on in Park Chan-wook's 2013 thriller Stoker. Yes, the film tells the story of how the seemingly carefree India (Mia Wasikowska) goes from worshipping her father to worshipping her uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode). But the Hitchcockian thriller -- and it is one, beyond the shadow of a doubt -- was also Director Park’s first English-language title. Continue Reading →
Rebecca (In Japanese: レベッカ)
“Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again…” So begins Daphne du Maurier’s gothic masterwork Rebecca, one of the most famous opening lines in fiction. Rebecca proved a hit upon release in 1938 and has remained in print ever since. Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation, coming just two years later, netted him his first Best Director nomination. That interpretation of the text has come to be considered a classic, and with good reason. Its misty black-and-white photography and mysteries hypnotize. Continue Reading →
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (In Japanese: パイレーツ・オブ・カリビアン/ワールド・エンド)
Though their core plots aren’t similar, all three movies in Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy share the common thread of emotionally immature men clinging to the relics of their youth, often to the detriment of their friendships and romantic lives. Specifically men of Generation X, who tend to glorify their younger days, and the pop culture associated with it, at a level that borders on delusional (and as a Gen X woman I can tell you we’re not much better about it). Continue Reading →
Free Fire (In Japanese: フリー・ファイヤー)
The plot of Free Fire, in many ways, could not be more straightforward. A mix of thugs, gun runners, and revolutionaries meet up to exchange weapons in a Boston warehouse in the 1970s. Things go wrong in a hurry. Continue Reading →
High-Rise (In Japanese: ハイ・ライズ)
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn't exist. Continue Reading →
Strays (In Japanese: スラムドッグス)
SimilarArmageddon (1998), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Bring It On (2000), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), From Russia with Love (1963), Ghostbusters (1984), Goldfinger (1964), Night at the Museum (2006), Ocean's Eleven (1960), Shrek the Third (2007), Snakes on a Plane (2006), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005),
Watch afterBarbie (2023) Blue Beetle (2023), Elemental (2023), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), Meg 2: The Trench (2023),
Oppenheimer (2023) Talk to Me (2023), The Nun II (2023),
Talking animals have been an entertainment staple for practically as long as movies have been around. Most classics of the genre, like 1993’s Homeward Bound, aim squarely at children in the audience. Director Josh Greenbaum’s Strays seeks to subvert that approach by weaving dirty jokes and curse words into familiar genre tropes. The result is considerably more grating and unpleasant to watch. Continue Reading →
Westworld (In Japanese: ウエストワールド)
Similar2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), 2046 (2004), 28 Weeks Later (2007), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), Back to the Future Part III (1990),
Blade Runner (1982) Metropolis (1927), Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Predator (1987), Star Trek: Generations (1994), Strange Days (1995), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), War of the Worlds (2005),
StudioMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
My mother was not much of a movie fan. They just never interested her that much, but when it became obvious that I was obsessed with them by the time I reached preschool age, she did nothing to discourage me. Every once in a while she'd let me know that the feature on the The 3:30 Movie (my primary outlet for watching films in those pre-cable, pre-VCR days) was something that I had to watch. Oddly, her instincts often proved to be correct and I was exposed at a very early (perhaps inappropriately so age to such films as The Producers, Duel and the Joan Rivers-penned TV movie The Girl Most Likely To. . ., all of which would be long-standing favorites of mine. Continue Reading →
A Field in England (In Japanese: ア・フィールド・イン・イングランド)
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn't exist. Continue Reading →
Heart of Stone (In Japanese: ハート・オブ・ストーン)
SimilarAliens (1986), Armageddon (1998), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Code of Silence (1985), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Dr. No (1962), Face/Off (1997), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964),
Live and Let Die (1973) Men in Black II (2002), North by Northwest (1959), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003),
In the 2023 sea of action movies, setting yourself apart from others becomes increasingly hard. John Wick: Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part 1, Extraction 2, and more have sparked an action cinema revival. It’s a rebirth that I am incredibly grateful for, certainly. Continue Reading →
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (In Japanese: ドラキュラ/デメテル号最期の航海)
SimilarBlade Runner (1982) Carrie (1976), Die Hard (1988), Dr. No (1962), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016),
Jackie Brown (1997) King Kong (1933),
Live and Let Die (1973) Mystic River (2003), Poseidon (2006),
Rebecca (1940) Shaft (2000) Shooter (2007), The 39 Steps (1935),
The Name of the Rose (1986) The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Silent Partner (1978), War of the Worlds (2005), Wild at Heart (1990), You Only Live Twice (1967),
Watch afterAmerican Fiction (2023),
Barbie (2023) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), Meg 2: The Trench (2023), Talk to Me (2023), The Nun II (2023),
The Last Voyage of the Demeter feels like a movie from a different era. To a point, it is—writer Bragi Schut first drafted his adaptation of the 'Log of the "Demeter"' sequence in Bram Stoker's Dracula in the early 2000s. It's a capital letters Hollywood Creature Feature—a grimmer straight horror cousin to 2004's action/horror hybrid Van Helsing. At its best, it's an admirably gnarly monster flick—bolstered by sturdy craft from director André Øvredal and consistently good performances from a game ensemble. At its worst, it loses confidence and resorts to bumbling attempts to guide its audience by the hand—most notably in its prologue and epilogue. Continue Reading →
Only Murders in the Building
Similar3rd Rock from the Sun,
Agatha Christie's Poirot American Horror Story,
Black Books Bodies, Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Hospital Playlist I Love Lucy, Komi Can't Communicate, Love, Victor, Loveless, Murder in the Heartland, Murder Most Horrid, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Noah's Arc, Stand Up!!, Star and Sky: Star in My Mind, That '70s Show, The Nanny,
Studio20th Television,
The surprise, sustained hit Only Murders in the Building brands itself as a comedy-mystery on Hulu. But, as season three hits the streaming service, with another murder for the Arconian trio of Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez) to solve, something becomes apparent. The series isn’t going for big laughs. Instead, it provides warmth, small chuckles, and genial goodness between the triumvirate. The show remains about found family, intergenerational friendships, and murder mysteries. It’s perhaps best described as a cozy mystery, a murder show with a heart of gold, an oxymoron of concepts. Continue Reading →
Sightseers (In Japanese: サイトシアーズ〜殺人者のための英国観光ガイド〜)
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn't exist. Continue Reading →
Strange Planet
SimilarA Returner's Magic Should Be Special, Chicken Nugget, Family Guy, Flower Boy Next Door, Go Back Couple, Invincible, The Bride of Habaek, The Sound of Your Heart, Wedding Impossible,
StudioApple Studios,
Continue Reading →