Movie toplist: 1 to 25
Avalon
"It's the ultimate live action film, made by a seasoned animator, a director who fully understands and exploits the power and appeal of an all-enveloping atmosphere."
Enter the Void
"Whether you will fully appreciate Noé's film depends on your stamina and your ability to handle his extremely direct approach, but just on a cinematic level alone there is so much to enjoy here."
Honey PuPu
"Everything is a mash-up, a mix, a collage of ideas and perceptions, some personal, some found elsewhere. Watching this executed by a talented director is a truly unique experience"
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
"Innocence is a cinematic celebration. It's an audiovisual delight, it's thematically sound and rich and it invites you to watch and enjoy it time and time again."
Tokyo.sora
"As far as realistic drama goes, this is as close to perfection as I've seen. If you're into Japanese dramas and you haven't seen this yet, there is no better film I could recommend."
Dolls
"Dolls is a tragedy wrapped up in a very stylish and atmospheric cocoon, allowing the audience to be swamped by its sadness, but without ever letting go off the beauty that surrounds it."
Dead Leaves
"Fans of animation and high adrenaline cinema owe it to themselves to check this one out, as long as you embrace its juvenile pleasures, Dead Leaves serves pure and unadulterated bliss."
Umfeld
"There's simply nothing out there that matches the experience of submerging yourself in 56 minutes of moody, ambient glitches tailored to wildly morphing abstract visuals."
Tetsuo: The Iron Man
"Tsukamoto's Tetsuo is an almost perfect cyberpunk endeavor, sporting lush black and white visuals and a superb industrial soundtrack, while providing a nerve-wrecking and overwhelming experience."
Reconstruction
"Reconstruction is a warm, fuzzy and romantic film, set in a world of cold bewilderment and intrigue, scoring high marks in just about every department that matters"
The Limit of Sleeping Beauty
"The presentation is gobsmackingly beautiful, with soundtrack and cinematography constantly feeding off of each other. The acting is superb, the story intriguing and the pacing pretty damn perfect."
Genius Party Beyond
"Studio 4°C establishes and confirms its title of best and most interesting animation house out there and dishes out a set of short films that challenge the medium in all sorts of ways."
Helter Skelter
"The entire film is an oddly compelling and insanely stylized fever dream that left me completely dazed and fully perplexed, a rare and significant accomplishment."
Symbol
"Symbol is a rare type of film. Extremely creative, laugh out loud funny, artistic yet easy digestible and leaving you behind with a slightly bedazzled but contented feeling. It's an experience."
Promare
"Promare is bonkers, hyperactive, grotesque and madcap, a dream come true for those who chase adrenaline cinema, executed in such a way that it oozes unbridled quality and creativity."
Hotel Poseidon
"A celebration of the weird, the absurd and the surreal, constantly adding new layers of wonder, forcing its audience to sit back in submission and let the film wash over them."
Patlabor 2
"A-grade Oshii material that should please his fans. It's an impressive tour de force, delivering a perfect mix of intriguing philosophy, intelligent writing and stunning audiovisual stimuli."
Eden Log
"Eden Log is genre film heaven, featuring a superb audio track, insanely pretty visuals and a good, mysterious outline that keeps the tension going. Genre filmmaking at its best and most intense."
Ritual
"One of the most unique dramas I've ever seen, keeping me interested from start to finish without even a hint of boredom on the horizon. Make sure you don't miss out on this one."
Angel's Egg
"It's a strong, beautiful and extremely personal film that earned its place amongst the best work of Mamoru Oshii (and animation in general) and is the perfect example of mature animation."
Mirrored Mind
"A perfect score and absolutely stunning visuals transport you to a different world, only to let go of you 60 minutes later, comforted and touched by the film's protagonist's struggle."
Survive Style 5+
"Survive Style 5+ is an audiovisual blast, a film that gets better with each successive viewing and one that ranks as one of my favorite comedies ever. A true delight."
Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade
"It's a very mature, accomplished and delicate film and it may take people a couple of viewings in order to fully grasp all the details, but there is plenty of beauty and wonder to return to."
Blessing Bell
"Tanaka's gentle and loving approach and Terajima's superb portrayal of his character take you along on an amazing trip, full of endearing, funny and warm moments."
The Red Spectacles
"A peculiar mix of slapstick, surreal comedy and meditative arthouse, with plenty of Oshii quirks, superb visuals and a strong soundtrack to make it one of the most unique projects of the 80s."