If your viewing expectations are limited to straightforward action, this film is not for you. Action is only the pretense here. Because of this, I love it. I hope those who haven't yet seen it will feel something similar. It's incredibly beautiful and I still get goosebumps thinking of Reno's final scene. I'm sorry for those disappointed but I think film viewing is best when you throw out all prejudgment.

I cannot look at a tin of fruit drops without thinking of Setsuko! I love her. The characters are so human, their expressions and movements so tangible that it's easy to forget you're watching an animation. Did you realize this is an animation?

Features some of Clint Mansell's best compositions.

i was brought here by the pixies.

racist jokes interspersed with ethnocentric isolation.

after my first viewing, i threw the dvd (still in its case) in frustration, disgusted. after my second viewing, i realized i was watching it for the very first time. i've often viewed it as the darker counterpart to chungking express, and always secondary. however, the more i experience it, carefully and completely, the more i discover its depth. certainly profound, it stands alone, sad and pretty. utterly sublime.

There is a powerful episode in Akira Kurosawa's Dreams that is eerily reminiscent of Japan's plight today. The film in general is mind-blowing and pertinent. This film made me seriously reconsider film. Beautiful. Effective. Nothing I can say can do it justice. See it if you haven't.

arguably wkw's last masterpiece (sorry 2046 and blueberry), ITMFL is one of those impeccable perfect films. true, its slow pacing may not be for everyone. however, i could not find any moment that felt tedious or boring. rather, i loved the feeling of living cheung and leung's characters almost in real time. wkw's eye for subtlety is ridiculous. he sets the bar so high, none of his subsequent films have come close.

heavily dependent on its soundtrack. whether or not it was part of the script, braff is a spud next to the talented portman. one wonders if the film exists solely to rationalize and realize braff's make-out fantasies with portman. could be so much better without the overtly contrived elements.