Death Note: The Last Name (2006) Dir: Shûsuke Kaneko

Conclusion of the live action version of the critically acclaimed anime series.

The plot:
As L continues his investigations, believing himself to be tightening the noose on Kira, whom he suspects to be an alias of Light, his thoughts are confused by the apparent emergence of a second Kira, Kira II, who seems more ruthless than the first. whereas the original Kira would only kill convicted criminals, Kira II will kill anyone he / she deems worthy of death.
Can L uncover the secret of the Death Note and the Gods of Death before Kira II becomes unstoppable?

A direct continuation of the first movie, this has all of the strengths and weaknesses, too.
Plot-wise, this is intriguing, and well played by all concerned.
The addition of the second Kira adds a new element of suspense, and everything plays out in a logical, well-presented manner.
Still the gripe holds that the appearance of the Gods of Death is a little bizarre, though representative of the anime versions, but mixed in with the live action, it all just feels a little bit Roger Rabbit.
Still, an exciting, gripping conclusion to the story.
Liked it a lot.

4 out of 5

My Neighbour Totoro (1988) Dir: Hayao Miyazaki

Let me just put this in context for you.
I've just finished writing my review of A Serbian Film, one of the most ghastly, disturbing, emotionally draining horror movies I have ever seen.
And now I've got to write this one, about a Miyazaki movie.
Simply put, I can't think of a more jarring contrast.
Anyway.....
Hayao Miyazaki, the brilliant mind that later brought us such delights as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, here delivers a more sparing, slighter fantasy, but one that is just as effective.
The plot: A young family are forced to move as the mother is taken ill, leaving the two young daughters in the care of their father. The house they move into sits adjacent to a small wooded area. Investigating one day, the younger of the daughters discovers a magical land apparently existing within the hollow of a tree, and befriends a giant, furry creature that serves as some sort of spirit of the forest, with power over the nature that surrounds it.
What follows is simply a delightful adventure as the girls get to know the spirits that dwell within the woods.
Achingly beautiful in places, laugh out loud funny at others, weirdly jarring on occasion, this is a sensory overload that is just a joy to experience.
Miyazaki's gift is to fuse the extraordinary with the really very ordinary indeed in ways which simply melt the toughest of hearts; the two girls at a bus stop in the pouring rain, standing beside the large furry spirit; acorns sprouting as forest spirits dance ritualistically beside them, and too many others to mention.
Though one of the more 'kiddie' of his offerings, this is far from a children's movie.
Simply enchanting.

5 out of 5

Shinjuku Underworld: Chinese Mafia War (1995) Dir: Takashi Miike

Takashi Miike must be one scary motherfucker, and no mistake.
The plot, or as much as I could glean:
A morally bankrupt detective in Shinjuku, the 'place to be' in Tokyo apparently, is assigned to watch over a new Triad gang muscling into the territory and prevent a full scale Mafia war erupting. When the boss of the new Triad employs the brother of said detective to act as his lawyer, things can only get personal.
And blood will surely flow.
That's about all I could work out in this confusing, ultra-violent though ultimately entertaining tale of Japanese mob culture.
No surprises with Miike at the helm that pretty much every taboo you can name is tackled here, with nerry a flinch from behind the directorial lens: anal male rape to coerce confessions, throat slashings, rent boys, vaginal cavity searches, blow jobs in public toilets and more violence than you could wave a medieval mace at make this one not for the weak of stomach.
And this is proper violence, kids, not that sanitised, Hollywood fetish version that we were brainwashed with in the eighties and nineties from American efforts.
This looks like it hurts.
A lot.
Whilst not as accomplished as some of his later work - Audition and Ichi the killer being two firm favourites when we have the grand kids over in this house - this is still dizzyingly engaging, though there is the suspicion that you are watching against your better judgement, trying to look away but too morbidly curious to actually manage it.
If you want intensity, can cope with subtitles (yes, I'm looking at you Thick McThick of Thicksbury Avenue) and aren't averse to sampling the cinematic offerings of radically different cultures, this should be right up your dirty pipes.
4 out of 5