Ken Watanabe

  • Kokuho review: TIFF 2025

    ‘Kokuho’ is a passionate exploration of the Japanese art of Kabuki through the ambitions of two young rival actors.

  • Review: ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ is a problematic ruler (Includes first-hand account)

    Since being introduced by Toho in 1954, Kaiju have fascinated movie audiences with their sheer enormity and devastating destructive abilities. Then they took it up a notch by shifting the beasts’ focus to each other as the giant creatures battle for supremacy while still obliterating everything in their paths. With dozens of pictures in their catalogue and fans all over the world, they’d essentially created a genre. Now, as Hollywood continues to reach back in time for inspiration, they’ve decided to reboot the stories and rebuild the world of “titans.” In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the giant reptile is in hiding but the government would prefer him dead.

  • Review: ‘Pokémon Detective Pikachu’ is the cutest film noir ever (Includes first-hand account)

    Even if they’ve never played any of the games, it’s likely most people have at least heard of Pokémon. Their cuteness turned the challenge into a global phenomenon that continues to attract and engage trainers of all ages. The phrase, “Gotta catch ‘em all,” is both a mantra and the reason the attraction has endured as long as it has with fans. It was only a matter of time before the magical creatures took over the big screen in live action and they’ve decided to do so with a sub-story of the main trainer narrative with Pokémon Detective Pikachu.

  • Review: Wes Anderson’s style transfers brilliantly to ‘Isle of Dogs’ (Includes first-hand account)

    Anthropomorphizing animals has been a common technique in fictional narratives for decades. It allows storytellers to convey tales in a manner that may be more effective or less jarring for viewers… and sometimes, it’s just more entertaining. Writer/director Wes Anderson has focused most of his career on live-action dramas featuring increasingly famous actors and developing a very distinct style, but he now appears to be embracing animation to deliver his unique stories with the latest being Isle of Dogs. Yet if audiences dig a little deeper, they’ll notice many of the same themes as seen in his other pictures — just in a different format.