PodBill Just what I expected

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

OG (no actual plot specifics are revealed) I had high hopes for this and was quickly brought down to earth. And interminable movie, made longer by an interminable preamble that did little to enhance anything with the meat of the movie. Based on a book by Shuhei Fusjisawa, who's Twilight Samurai novel was so masterfully adapted by the talented Yoji Yamada, this is a glorified Harlequin Romance of love interrupted. And interrupted. And interrupted. The whole movie could have been cut by 40 minutes, including some scenes which were repetitive and others that made no sense. Perhaps it was even longer and the editor was at a loss?Without revealing anything specific, suffice it to say that this chanbara movie builds up to the one big sword fight scene, doesn't even do it justice after all that foreplay, then falls back to more love interrupted. You feel like hurling your dime store romance paperback at the screen. A few nice camera shots don't make up for endless preamble of furtive glances and halting touches. In fact, I don't think the two lovers touch more than three times their whole lives together. Any allusions to traditional Japanese customs in feudal Japan is bogus, because marriage and divorce was common then, especially in the samurai class.Skip this and watch Twilight Samurai 2x instead to see how a real movie should be made.

deetya What a wonderfully shot film. It's films like these that theaters (or big screen TVs) are meant for :-) For example, when the disgraced Samurai is showing his friend to his new hovel, located in an alley, when it's raining with mud puddles everywhere. However, the scene starts by an overhead shot showing two umbrellas going down the narrow alley, and is shot such that at first we think it is two flower petals floating down a stream. That's a good shot. There's also the acting, with all the emotions indicated simply by a look or a small gesture.The only drawback is that it is too much of a tearjerker kind of movie. I mean, a samurai movie that is also a chick movie? A clang-slash movie that your girlfriend will also like? Oh, wait, that would be a good thing wouldn't it?

itmflmt Mitsuo Kurotsuchi's tender love story, "The Samurai I Loved" is a beautifully shot and crafted gem of a film. Rather than streams of words, Kurotsuchi gives us nuanced emotion conveyed through few words, the actors' eyes, and supported by superb camera work and a soft color palette.Closeups of natural scenes and ever present healing water become metaphors for the deep emotions in the film. Kurotsuchi pays a high compliment to his audience by not using easy gimmicks to get his message across. A master of subtlety, he draws in his audience through the camera lens allowing viewers to feel and intuit the emotions and thoughts of his characters which swirl just below the surface.Applause to The Egyptian Cinemateque in Los Angeles for screening this sensitive film of feudal Japan. It deserves to be released on DVD.

Ian Seta Bunshiro, a young samurai finds himself on the wrong side of clan politics when his father is accused of plotting against the clan and forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). He and his mother find themselves evicted from their home and forced to live in a hovel. But Bunshiro is a talented swordsman and after a time he is reinstated and becomes a magistrate, filling the same job as his father. As he tours the countryside he discovers the political maneuvering which led to his fathers death is still widespread, and his childhood love who is now one of the lord's concubines has become an unwilling pawn. She has given birth to a boy and a rival faction has decided to kill the boy and blame Bunshiro.Based on a story by Shuhei Fujisawa, who also wrote the stories "Twilight Samurai" and "Hidden Blade", Semi Shigure is a personal and intimate portrait of the life of a lowly ranked samurai. For fans of the genre, it's a must see.