Tag: Akira Kurosawa

Highest 2 Lowest (2025)

As someone who has yet to visit New York City (still near the top of my bucket list), I in no way feel I can say what director in the history of cinema has best captured the city.

A few names do come to mind: Martin Scorcese, Nora Ephron, Sidney Lumet, and Woody Allen (despite his troubled personal life). Then of course there is Spike Lee. While he has not entirely relied on New York for all of his films, his best ones (namely Do the Right Thing in 1989) have helped shape parts of the city that never sleeps in our movie going psyche.

Tags 2025, Akira Kurosawa, Aubrey Josephy, Denzel Washington, Do the Right Thing, Elijah Wright, High and Low, Highest 2 Lowest, Jeffrey Wright, R, Rated R, Spike Lee

5 Stars Movies Vintage

Ikiru (1952)

Even the most casual of filmgoers have, in some way, shape, or form, heard of the name Akira Kurosawa.

The legendary filmmaker is still felt today in films both domestically and globally, having inspired people such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas (shown here giving Kurosawa an Honorary Oscar). Of his films, Seven Samurai has got to be his most influential: it has been the inspiration for films ranging from The Magnificent Seven (the original and the remake) to Disney/Pixar’s A Bug’s Life. While I am still trying to work through his filmography (thank you Criterion Channel), I would argue the most moving film of his would be what he made two years prior to Samurai: Ikiru (which, translated, means “To live”).

Tags 1952, Akira Kurosawa, Foreign, Foreign Language, George Lucas, Ikiru, Kurosawa, Steven Spielberg, To LIve