Happy Birthday, Akira Kurosawa!
Gutter Comics Editor Carol wrote a little piece on Akira Kurosawa and action films over at the ActionFest Blog in honor of Kurosawa’s 102nd birthday.
Manga Eiga: Old Japanese Animation
The Japan Society had a program featuring Japanese animation from the 1910s-1940s. Even if you missed it, you can still see some shorts —a beautiful 1929 silent featuring Tengu; sing along with a 1930 papercut animation village festival; an unfortunate butterfly from 1931; tricks between a fox spirit […]
David Brothers on Stan Sakai and Usagi Yojimbo
“The true beauty of Sakai’s work in Usagi Yojimbo isn’t just his cartooning (which is very good) or his writing (which is refreshingly to the point). It’s how Sakai manages to take things we’re used to, things that are considered rote or mundane, and make them compelling simply […]
Slashing Cinema
Wendell Jamieson writes about Japanese sword fight films for The New York Times: “I recently asked my sensei, then and now, Noboru Kataoka — himself an actor who goes as Ken Kensai — to name the greatest sword fight film of them all, and he answered, The Sword […]
Most Anticipated Asian Films of 2011
Wildgrounds breaks down their most anticipated films of 2011.
Two Samurai
Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune take a break from filming Sanjuro. Enjoy the juxtaposition of their Meiji era costumes against a 1960s city street.
The Cultural Gutter 