13 Assassins

13 Assassins 2010

7.30

A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.

2010

Pulse

Pulse 2001

6.60

In the immense city of Tokyo, the darkness of the afterlife lurks some of its inhabitants who are desperately trying to escape the sadness and isolation of the modern world.

2001

Metropolis

Metropolis 2001

7.12

Kenichi and his detective uncle, Shunsaku Ban, leave Japan to visit Metropolis, in search of the criminal, Dr. Laughton. However, when they finally find Dr. Laughton, Kenichi and Shunsaku find themselves seperated and plunged into the middle of a larger conspiracy. While Shunsaku searches for his nephew and explanations, Kenichi tries to protect Tima (a mysterious young girl), from Duke Red and his adopted son Rock, both of whom have very different reasons for wanting to find her.

2001

Howards End

Howards End 1992

7.00

A saga of class relations and changing times in an Edwardian England on the brink of modernity, the film centers on liberal Margaret Schlegel, who, along with her sister Helen, becomes involved with two couples: wealthy, conservative industrialist Henry Wilcox and his wife Ruth, and the downwardly mobile working-class Leonard Bast and his mistress Jackie.

1992

Azumi 2: Death or Love

Azumi 2: Death or Love 2005

6.60

Young assassins Azumi and Nagara continue their mission to prevent a civil war. In their hunt for Masayuki Sanada, who is protected by both an army and a dangerous clan, they meet Ginkaku, a person who shows a remarking resemblance with former friend Nachi.

2005

Eureka

Eureka 2000

7.67

In rural Japan, the survivors of a tragedy converge and attempt to overcome their damaged selves, all while a serial killer is on the loose.

2000

Cat Soup

Cat Soup 2001

7.00

The surreal black comedy follows Nyatta, an anthropomorphic kitten, on his travel to the land of the dead and back in an effort to save his sister's soul.

2001

The Diary Of Anne Frank

The Diary Of Anne Frank 1995

6.60

During World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.

1995

Onmyoji: The Yin Yang Master

Onmyoji: The Yin Yang Master 2001

6.22

During a dark time in the Heian period, when evil forces threaten the kingdom, the emperor relies on the Onmyoji to keep the supernatural forces in line. But as political events become highly charged, friction within the order leads to betrayal. Now, Seimei (Mansai Nomura), a talented member of the clan, must face down his master, Doson (Hiroyuki Sanada), in the hopes of restoring peace to the kingdom.

2001

Summer Time Machine Blues

Summer Time Machine Blues 2005

7.00

The members of a sci-fi club accidentally spill Coke on the remote controller of an air-conditioner during summer and suddenly a time machine appears in their sweating bath-like clubroom.

2005

Princess Arete

Princess Arete 2001

7.10

Imprisoned by a sorcerer who fears she will rob him of eternal life, guileless young Princess Arete befriends a villager who helps her plan an escape.

2001

Gunhed

Gunhed 1989

4.10

High-concept Sci-Fi adventure about an island that actually is a computer called Kyron 5, itself created to design and manufacture super-advanced robots to be used as slaves for the rest of the world. One day Kyron decides that human beings are unnecessary, so it declares war on the world. But Kyron cannot be tamed, and after many lives are lost in the attempt, mankind decides to leave Kyron to its own devices.

1989

Heaven and Earth

Heaven and Earth 1990

6.20

Warlords Kagetora and Takeda each wish to prevent the other from gaining hegemony in feudal Japan. The two samurai leaders pursue one another across the countryside, engaging in massive battles of cavalry and infantry. Younger and less brutal, Kagetora must find the strength to be as brutal as his opponent, but at what cost?

1990

Sakura Wars: The Movie

Sakura Wars: The Movie 2001

4.70

Following in the aftermath of a terrible Demon-Human war, turn of the century Japan is preparing a new fighting force in case the demons decide to return. A squadron of giant robots are built to be controlled by the spirit of the pilot, but it is discovered that the only people with sufficient spirit are young women. After recruiting a team of youths from around the world, the Japanese government decides to keep them a secret by disguising them as a theater troupe, thus requiring them to spend as much time memorizing Shakespeare as they do on military training.

2001

Aegis

Aegis 2005

4.20

The Isokaze, an Aegis-class escort vessel, sets sail on a routine training exercise, playing host to a platoon from the Fleet Training Group. No sooner is the Isokaze on open water, however, then the FTG reveal themselves to be terrorist stowaways who kill the ship's captain, send the rest of the crew overboard and take control of the vessel. The ship is carrying a secret biological weapon which the terrorists are now threatening to use to level Tokyo! Only a stowaway NCO, Sengoko (played by Sanada Hiroyuki from Ring and Twilight Samurai) is in a position to stop them - but does he really have what it takes to save the day? Playing like a cross between a sea-faring version of Top Gun and Die Hard, director Sakamoto Junji shows that it's not just Hollywood that can produce thrill-a-minute action spectaculars.

2005

700 Days of Battle: Us vs. the Police

700 Days of Battle: Us vs. the Police 2008

7.00

After one of their group is caught for speeding a group of trouble-making teenagers decide to prank the local police officer. It starts with simple speeding pranks but gradually moves to more elaborate and bizarre pranks.

2008

Café Lumière

Café Lumière 2004

6.80

In a distinctly contemporary Tokyo that looks backwards to the city’s disappearing past, Yoko is a writer investigating the life of a modernist composer of the 1930s. She is pregnant by a man she does not want to marry and has found a kindred spirit in a used bookstore owner who aids her research

2004

Distance

Distance 2001

6.80

On the third anniversary of a cult's failed chemical attack on Tokyo and their subsequent mass suicide, family members of those affected gather at the cult's former base on the shores of a lake to observe the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths.

2001

Winter Days

Winter Days 2003

5.70

Winter Days is a 2003 animated film, directed by Kihachirō Kawamoto. It is based on one of the renku (collaborative linked poems) in the 1684 collection of the same name by the 17th-century Japanese poet Bashō. The creation of the film followed the traditional collaborative nature of the source material – the visuals for each of the 36 stanzas were independently created by 35 different animators. As well as many Japanese animators, Kawamoto assembled leading names of animation from across the world. Each animator was asked to contribute at least 30 seconds to illustrate their stanza, and most of the sequences are under a minute (Yuriy Norshteyn's, though, is nearly two minutes long).

2003