51. Summer Wars ( Samâ wôzu )
Year of Release: 2010
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Adventure
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Actors: Ayumu Saitô, Nanami Sakuraba, Mitsuki Tanimura, Takahiro Yokokawa, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Yôji Tanaka
Plot: A shy math genius agrees to to take a job of escorting Natuski, a girl he
secretly has a crush on, as her "fiance" during the summer to celebrate
the 90th birthday of the families matriarch. Yet the real job may be
saving the world.
52. Audition ( Ôdishon )
Year of Release: 2000
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Horror/Thriller
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Takashi Miike
Actors: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura, Renji Ishibashi, Miyuki Matsuda
Plot: When a widower decides to hold a fake movie audition to find the pefect
replacement, what starts out as the pefect dream relationship turns into a
nightmare.
53. Tokyo Godfathers
Year of Release: 2004
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Adventure
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Satoshi Kon, Shôgo Furuya
Actors: Toru Emori, Aya Okamoto, Yoshiaki Umegaki, Shôzô Îzuka, Seizô Katô, Hiroya Ishimaru
Plot: On Christmas a group of homeless outcasts in Tokyo find an abandoned child. They band together to care for it, but who does it belong to and how could anyone abandon a baby at Christmas?
54. Cowboy Bebop
Year of Release: 2003
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Action
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Shinichirô Watanabe
Actors: Steven Jay Blum, Beau Billingslea, Wendee Lee, Melissa Fahn, Jennifer Hale, Nicholas Guest
Plot: Three bounty hunters investigate a truck explosion in order to get an enormous bounty.
55. Sanjuro
Year of Release: 1962
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Action/Adventure
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Actors: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yuzo Kayama, Reiko Dan, Akihiko Hirata
Plot: The wandering samurai once again finds his services are needed, this time
helping a group of naive samurai fight the corruption in their town.
56. 5 Centimeters per Second ( Byôsoku 5 senchimêtoru )
Year of Release: 2007
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Actors: Kenji Mizuhashi, Yoshimi Kondou, Satomi Hanamura, Ayaka Onoue, Risa Mizuno, Yuka Terazaki
Plot: Two childhood friends, pulled apart by family and distance, arrange one final meeting.
57. Human Condition I, The ( Ningen no joken I )
Year of Release: 1959
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Actors: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Ineko Arima, Chikage Awashima, Keiji Sada, Sô Yamamura
Plot: In the first part of a trilogy, a man named Kaji, hoping to avoid military service during WWII instead supervises a Manchurain POW camp, which functions as an iron ore mine. He treats the prisoners with respect and, in turn, improves production. But the influx of a large group of prisoners exposes the corrupt system, and when a foreman organizes an escape attempt, it ultimately leads to Kaji being accused of helping the rebels, being labeled a Red and sent to war after all.
58. Idiot, The ( Hakuchi )
Year of Release: 1951
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Actors: Setsuko Hara, Masayuki Mori, Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Chieko Higashiyama, Chiyoko Fumiya
Plot: Kameda has been on an asylum after the war, but after being released, travels to Hokkaido where he becomes involved in a love triangle between his friend and a woman they both love.
59. Nana
Year of Release: 2005
Overall Rating: 3.3 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Kentarô Ôtani
Actors: Mika Nakashima, Aoi Miyazaki, Hiroki Narimiya, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Saeko, Yuna Ito
60. Samurai 3: Duel on Ganryu Island aka Bushido ( Miyamoto Musashi kanketsuhen: kettô Ganryûjima )
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Adventure/Biography
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
Actors: Koji Tsuruta, Toshirô Mifune, Kaoru Yachigusa, Mariko Okada, Daisuke Katô, Michiko Saga
Plot: The Conclusion of the definitive Samurai trilogy, in which the ultimate warrior Musashi Miyamoto finds his true love, battles his nemesis, and continues along the path of the warrior.
