Kaori Shoji
Kaori Shoji's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer when
published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s):
Japan Times
| Publications: | Japan Times |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5/5 | 63% | Ricky (2009) |
"Ricky" also has its share of weirdness, but it's un-Ozon-like in that the queasy sense of distorted reality isn't in the details, but in the overall story itself.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Feb 1, 2018
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| 3/5 | No Score Yet | Love Disease (Ai no yamai) (2018) |
[Okayama's] performance is sensitive and fragile, forming a nice contrast with Emiko's hard-as-nails type.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Jan 10, 2018
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| 6.5/10 | 38% | Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no renkinjutsushi) (2017) |
Fullmetal Alchemist has some good things going for it, but needs to fix the leaks and sputtering in the narrative's engine. The movie leaves room for a sequel, so maybe we'll get to see a new and improved Hagaren soon.‐ IGN Movies
Read More | Posted Nov 30, 2017
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| 4/5 | No Score Yet | Kokoro (Le coeur régulier) (2016) |
As it is, the dialogue is like poetry - a lovely phrase here, a fleeting and fragile exchange there. Emotions are better conveyed through the astonishing blue of the winter sea.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Nov 1, 2017
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| 4/5 | No Score Yet | Birds Without Names (2017) |
Aoi is impressive as the poisonous Towako but it's Abe who pulls the story along with his small frame and dog-like abjection. The content may be objectionable, but the performances are strong.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Oct 26, 2017
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| 4/5 | No Score Yet | Pelican: 74 Years of Japanese Tradition (2017) |
Perhaps Pelican is less of an infomercial and more of a political manifesto.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 27, 2017
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| 3/5 | No Score Yet | The Miracles of the Namiya General Store (2017) |
Brought to the screen by Ryuichi Hiroki, a master of the genre, "Namiya" comes off like the Japanese version of a Nicholas Sparks vehicle, minus the love story.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 20, 2017
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| 4/5 | 93% | Icarus (2017) |
There's an inescapable sense of loss in the film, mainly because the people involved have been fighting for such a long time.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 6, 2017
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| 4.5/5 | 92% | Wonder Woman (2017) |
Wonder Woman is not a "woman's movie," but an action film with incredible relevance.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Aug 24, 2017
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| 4/5 | 93% | Baby Driver (2017) |
Baby Driver is the kind of bad boy that our mothers (and electric car enthusiasts) are always guilt-tripping us over. Which means you'll only love it more.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Aug 23, 2017
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| 3/5 | 15% | The Mummy (2017) |
The Mummy begins with one main premise: Tom Cruise still has it. It ends with a promise: Tom Cruise will always have it. Assuming you're on board with those statements, you'll have a blast.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Jul 26, 2017
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| 4.5/5 | 86% | Okja (2017) |
Much of Okja is sheer visual poetry, the kind you'll see in Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away but with less dreaminess and much more urgency.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Jul 19, 2017
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| 3/5 | 68% | Life (2017) |
Overall, the film does what it sets out to do: spill blood and guts with abandon, gleefully entrap and torture its characters and delight in building the kind of tense claustrophobia that induces a cold sweat.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Jul 12, 2017
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| 3/5 | 39% | Railroad Tigers (2017) |
The train heist scenes are carefully choreographed, no doubt to give Chan more leeway and CG boost, and the abundant use of explosives takes time away from real break-a-leg stunts.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Jun 21, 2017
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| 3.5/5 | 92% | I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016) |
Co-writer and director Billy O'Brien does a masterful job of building up the creep factor but gets too ambitious in the second half of the story.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Jun 7, 2017
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| 3.5/5 | 76% | Split (2017) |
Split isn't a complete return to form, but it reminded me of what a Shyamalan film used to promise: heart-racing unpredictability and a story that winds into a towering structure of queasy horror.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted May 10, 2017
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| 3/5 | 70% | Café Society (2016) |
You don't have to be an Allen aficionado to enjoy Cafe Society -- in relatively short doses, that is.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted May 3, 2017
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| 3.5/5 | 35% | The Great Wall (2017) |
The battle scenes are spectacularly choreographed, and the narrative hinges on a Westerner who shifts his own perspective from being self-centred to self-sacrificing.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Apr 12, 2017
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| 4/5 | 80% | Author: The JT LeRoy Story (2016) |
Call it a massive literary hoax or twisted identity theft. Or just call it art. Either way, Author: The JT LeRoy Story will fascinate and at the same time cause much frustrated head-scratching.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Mar 29, 2017
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| 3.5/5 | 31% | Passengers (2016) |
Passengers still manages to woo us with the kind of intense love and obsession you don't see often, especially in the world of sci-fi. And some of us tend to be suckers for stuff that has a whiff of "true love."‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Mar 22, 2017
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| 4/5 | 72% | Sing (2016) |
Sing is a hugely enjoyable experience and surely there's no harm in losing yourself for a time in all the music and glittering lights.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Mar 15, 2017
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| 4/5 | 85% | River (2016) |
[Sutherland] pitches his performance at a delicate point between a good man struggling to extricate himself out of a dire situation, and a white man who can't think outside the entitlement box.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Mar 8, 2017
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| 3.5/5 | 86% | Trainwreck (2015) |
For Schumer fans, it's a real treat. For those with less than moderate enthusiasm for the raunchy comedienne, it can get just a wee bit taxing.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Mar 1, 2017
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| 95% | The King's Speech (2010) |
It's the kind of role that's tailor-made for Colin Firth.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Feb 26, 2017
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| 2.5/5 | 17% | Man Down (2016) |
LaBeouf goes above and beyond to make Gabriel a compelling figure, but Adam G. Simon's screenplay gives him relatively little to work with.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Feb 22, 2017
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| 2/5 | 10% | Cell (2016) |
The phone-as-evil concept makes a fast exit as Cell morphs into a zombie-like flick that bears the unmistakable patina of Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Feb 15, 2017
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| 3/5 | 46% | Free State of Jones (2016) |
Free State of Jones is a worthy experience, both instructive and provocative -- a lot of what goes on here is starting to look too familiar for comfort.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Feb 8, 2017
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| 2.5/5 | 63% | Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) |
A date with Tim Burton isn't what it used to be; it hasn't been for a long time.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Feb 1, 2017
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| 4/5 | 72% | Suffragette (2015) |
This is much more than a film about women demanding to vote; it's about women's struggle to be heard and taken seriously, most notably in the workplace as well as in their own homes.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Jan 25, 2017
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| 3.5/5 | 89% | Doctor Strange (2016) |
OK, so Dr. Strange is not as soulful as expected. But in this particular reality, I'll take what I can get.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Jan 18, 2017
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| 4/5 | 97% | Spotlight (2015) |
It's a far more realistic version of journalism than is often portrayed. And yet it's easy to imagine aspiring journalists watching the film being fired with a passion to work on in-depth exposes.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Jan 13, 2017
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| 1.5/5 | 11% | Dirty Grandpa (2016) |
The un-ironic title is like a spray-painted graffiti sign warning everyone to stay away from this sewage-swilling clogged cesspit masquerading as a movie.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Jan 11, 2017
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| 3/5 | 66% | Nerve (2016) |
It's a scary world and it feels way too close for comfort.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Jan 4, 2017
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| 3/5 | 10% | Stonewall (2015) |
It's a good time to see Stonewall, if only to confirm the fragility of human rights and how far society has come, at least within the LGBT community.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Dec 29, 2016
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| 3/5 | 88% | Don't Breathe (2016) |
Clocking in at just under 90 minutes, Don't Breathe keeps the terror going until the very end, but it takes a lot of liberties with credibility, even for the genre.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Dec 14, 2016
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| 3.5/5 | 89% | The Lady In The Van (2015) |
Smith is splendid here -- her whole demeanor is testament to the resilience and toughness of a woman determined to survive, be it through old age or nuclear disaster.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Dec 7, 2016
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| 3.5/5 | 87% | Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) |
Florence Foster Jenkins is a fairy tale of glorious optimism and unclouded love.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Nov 30, 2016
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| 4/5 | 89% | A Bigger Splash (2016) |
A Bigger Splash marks Luca Guadagnino's third team-up with Tilda Swinton, and once again he has assembled just the cast to offset her majestic presence.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Nov 23, 2016
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| 3/5 | 45% | The Girl on the Train (2016) |
This could be the best performance of Emily Blunt's excellent career, but she's often too good -- enacting a woman far less likable and much more screwed up than Hollywood heroines are usually allowed to be. In fact, it's ultimately hard to root for her.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Nov 16, 2016
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| 2.5/5 | 37% | Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) |
The unsmiling, ungracious, completely unfunny Reacher doesn't have a fraction of the personal charm of Ethan Hunt. But as one of a dying breed -- an action dude from the old school -- he deserves a measure of our understanding and sympathy... kind of.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Nov 9, 2016
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| 3/5 | 22% | Inferno (2016) |
As code breaker and Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon, Hanks' age is catching up with the role, but Inferno makes you think he's good for at least one or two more sequels. Langdon has tenure, anyway.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Nov 2, 2016
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| 3.5/5 | 73% | Remember (2016) |
Remember is a hard sell, but like Zev, in the end you reach a point of satisfaction and witness a job well done.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Oct 26, 2016
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| 4/5 | 64% | Hungry Hearts (2015) |
Hungry Hearts draws superb performances from both Driver and Rohrwacher, though the latter is burdened with becoming increasingly hateful as the story progresses.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Oct 12, 2016
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| 3.5/5 | 52% | Genius (2016) |
Genius remains tightly focused on the relationship between Wolfe and Perkins. When their bromance begins to unravel, it feels like a love affair drawing to a close (though the story never makes that suggestion).‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Oct 5, 2016
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| 4/5 | 86% | Sully (2016) |
This is not blockbuster material but it's a delight to spend time in the company of Eastwood and Hanks.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 28, 2016
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| 4/5 | 100% | Seymour: An Introduction (2015) |
Seymour is intriguing, mainly because it brings together two uniquely talented artists -- Hawke and Bernstein -- and captures them in thought and ocasionally in conversation, sometimes together but more often on their own.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 21, 2016
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| 3/5 | 75% | The BFG (2016) |
The BFG turns out to be an affably engaging vehicle but unlike E.T., it leaves precious little in the memory bank.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 14, 2016
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| 2.5/5 | No Score Yet | Bitter Sweet (Nigakute amai) (2016) |
If you can stop your eyes rolling, though, Nigakute Amai peddles the ultimate cliched fantasy: A Japanese single woman over age 28 needn't worry, because a wondrous gay community will have her back and make her meals.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 8, 2016
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| 2.5/5 | 18% | Self/less (2015) |
The story never manages to convince us that Damian may be at times changing because of some residual sense of Mark, and it never defines the moment when Damian decides to become a decent human being.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Aug 31, 2016
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| 3/5 | 76% | Lights Out (2016) |
Lights Out is masterful at building ambience and the contrasting light and dark visuals would have delighted Junichiro Tanizaki (author of "In Praise of Shadows"). But when it comes to developing characters and making sense of their actions, it falters.‐ Japan Times
Read More | Posted Aug 24, 2016
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