Kids Return (1996)

Told mostly in flashback, it's the story of two high school friends, Shinji and Masaru (Masanobu Andô and Ken Kaneko, respectively), who occasionally go to school but spend very little time in actual class. The tutors have given up on them, seeing them as either directionless morons or little more than petty thieves in training. In time, the duo would probably agree. But a single event gives them a perspective that eventually leads to insight.
Often in Kitano films the secondary characters are just as interesting as the primaries, but in Kids Return some of the lesser characters actually stole the show, being arguably even more interesting than the two main ones and I'd love to have seen their substories expanded and further explored.
Oddly, even though it's but a tiny portion of the film insofar as running time goes, I was affected more by the scenes set in the present than in flashback.

3 dynamite blows out of 5

Battle Royale (2000)

High-school students are given weapons and told to use them on each other. The cull begins. If only it was real.

4½ backstabbing bitches out of 5

Nightmare Detective (2006)

Sometimes, you want to curl up with a good mystery. And sometimes, you're willing to watch any movie with the word "Detective" in the title. The latter is why I watched Nightmare Detective, but the film wound up being a pleasant surprise. Unbeknownst to me, Nightmare Detective is the work of Shinya Tsukamoto, who has built a cult following thanks to his Tetsuo films. While I wasn't always a fan of the movie's shaky camera work, Tsukamoto's talent for visuals is on full display here, and the dream worlds are wonderful eye candy.

Unfortunately, the film's plot was a little generic. This movie seems to rely on a lot of American horror movie tropes, and the script never measures up to the bleak, creepy visuals. Kyoichi Kagenuma is an interesting hero, but most of the other character were lacking. If you don't mind the film's derivative nature, it's an interesting watch, and even if it does put you off, it's still a visual treat.

3 metaphoric murders out of 5