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Shield of Straw (Wara no Tate, 2013, Takashi Miike)
I still think Takashi Miike is able to outmaneuver every stylistic cookbook of any kind of genre, new or old, Western or Eastern, if such rules apply indeed anymore. Shield of Straw is both a wink at Tony Scott (Hunger, Domino), as well as samurai and yakuza flicks. Shield of Straw has both melodrama to…
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Love Exposure
Three emotionally abused individuals from the fringes of society get locked in a convoluted love triangle. Yuu, a Catholic boy searching for true love ends up taking “panty shot” photos of women in public until he discovers Yoko, whom he sees as his Virgin Mary. Yoko, an anti-family, misandrist girl finds that her foster mother…