Japanese Cinema: The Essential Handbook, Featuring Japanese Cult Cinema Since 1955: Amazon.ca: Thomas Weisser, Yuko Mihara Weisser: Books

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6 Reviews

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2.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Completist, but a little shallow, Dec 23 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Japanese Cinema: The Essential Handbook, Featuring Japanese Cult Cinema Since 1955 (Paperback)

For an introduction to the odder end of Japanese cinema this is pretty good. There are a lot of films covered, though the descriptions are somewhat sparse, and in certain cases downright misleading (ie 'Bounce Ko Gals' is described as "a respectable sex film"). Also a lot of typos and internal consistencies, and some startling omissions ('Kamikaze Taxi' and 'Tokyo Decadence' for exammple). This seems to be more of a catalogue for Weisser's own semi-legi 'Video Search of Miami' business. Also, it misses out on a lot of films which are covered in his other books, but once you've got one of these books, you're not going to want them all. The writing style is somewhat 'head-in-the-trough' and sensationalist. Similarly it is poorly laid out, though if all this sounds a little negative, it is the only conclusive coverage of Japanese cinema at its price range.

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1.0 out of 5 stars From The Author Of Asian Cult Cinema, Aug 27 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Japanese Cinema: The Essential Handbook, Featuring Japanese Cult Cinema Since 1955 (Paperback)

Althogh the author professes to be a lover of this kind of moviemaking, there are racist undertones. He continually makes fun of Asian men in his books and reduces the women to the level of objects. Also, you have to wonder about a man who has actually WATCHED most of those movies....

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4.0 out of 5 stars Although it's not perfect - definitive a "MUST HAVE", Feb 8 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Japanese Cinema: The Essential Handbook, Featuring Japanese Cult Cinema Since 1955 (Paperback)

Great enziclopedia for the movie-interested Japanophiles - but Tom has a strange taste and also his translations of the titles and of the directors are a bit funny!( but... you find nearly every film you 're looking for !) Never mind - definitive a MUST HAVE !

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars If you liked ASIAN CULT CINEMA (which I did), then.......
Being fairly uninformed about Japanese cinema (the vast cultural differences often make me shy away from it), I did not notice the errors (aside from the occasional typo)... Read more

Published on Mar 12 2002 by Oliver L.

2.0 out of 5 stars 'Survey' would be a better title, sometimes inaccurate.
There is _alot_ in this book that can (and will!) captivate you about Japanese cinema. While the Weissers, like most critics dwell a lot on their personal favorites, the bulk of... Read more

Published on Jan 1 1999