2 Best Movies to Watch by Ryo Iwamatsu

Kindness is universally considered as a virtue, but so too is it considered a weakness– Reciprocation isn’t necessarily guaranteed and some people take advantage of the kindness given to them. But there are few instances when humanity does give back to those who have been generous to others, and one such instance is in Beijing Watermelon. It’s one of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s lesser known films, being released just a few months after the Tiananmen Square massacre, and having a more naturalistic, slice-of-life approach compared to Obayashi’s other films. Nevertheless, the film’s fairly simple message plays out in an earnest and genuine way, depicting the ways ordinary kindness can form communities despite cultural differences, loss, and diplomatic tensions between nations.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Akira Emoto, Bengal, Hana Kino, Haruhiko Saitô, Hiromi Oshima, Masako Motai, Ryo Iwamatsu, Takashi Sasano, Yasufumi Hayashi

Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi

Although this adaptation of the 1960s TV show feels like four episodes of material crammed into a feature runtime, Shin Ultraman really does squeeze as much as it can out of every scene, sometimes to the point of exhaustion. Not only are the action scenes as ridiculous as they should be—still imitating the clunkiness and the theatricality of classic Japanese tokusatsu—but even sequences of exposition are made to feel urgent and breathless by breakneck comedic editing and by placing the camera in the weirdest positions for the quickest shots. And somehow, Shin Ultraman still doesn't feel like it's making fun of its source material. It's an honest-to-goodness sci-fi superhero movie that's much more insightful about the nature of international crises than Hollywood tends to be.

Genre: Action, Science Fiction

Actor: Akari Hayami, Bin Furuya, Daiki Arioka, Hajime Yamazaki, Hideaki Anno, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Issey Takahashi, Keishi Nagatsuka, Kenjiro Tsuda, Koichi Yamadera, Kōji Yamamoto, Kyūsaku Shimada, Masami Nagasawa, Ryo Iwamatsu, Soko Wada, Takumi Saitoh, Tetsushi Tanaka, Toru Masuoka, Yutaka Takenouchi

Director: Shinji Higuchi

Rating: NR