Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

When describing Tokyo Trash Baby, the words "weird", "gross" and "disturbing" come to mind. There are definitely a few problems with this film....For one, the English subtitles are horrendous containing many grammatical errors and misspelled words which get a little annoying after a while. Second, there are a few long and meaningless shots that go on forever and serve no purpose other than to suggest that the movie is more artistic than it really is. And lastly, the whole production of the film had that cheap quality to it mainly because of the low budget camera they were using. With all that said, I still really enjoyed this movie. I was engrossed the whole time watching it and for some odd reason, really started to care about the main character towards the end of the film. Also noteworthy is the strange music and the eerie mood that was established throughout. I know that the majority will absolutely loathe Tokyo Trash Baby, but if you're a little peculiar yourself and have the patience, then this movie is certainly recommended.

A slow paced but enchanting movie... like Cafe Lumiere, it has some great shots of modern Tokyo and an even more realistic feel. However, I, for one, would probably not have watched an identical movie set in New York, for me much of the fun is in the Tokyo setting.I have added it to the list of 10 or so Japanese/Japan-related movies that I recommend to friends.* A simple story, based on a young Tokyo woman who is obsessed with the man who lives above her in their apartment house, and sorts almost religiously through his trash. Eventually she schemes to run into him in real life and, maybe, the collision between dreams and reality sets her off on a different course. (Not much of a spoiler, but better safe than sorry).The subtitles I saw seemed a bit weak in spots and it was a shame that they didn't translate Yume no Shima**... the place where the main action of the movie ends... kind of stops from completing the loop of the story.The Netflix disc that I saw also had an interesting biography of the director's previous work. The other review on this site says that the movie seems a bit amateurish, but this information makes it clear he's earned his chops.* let's see: Stray DogCafe Lumiere Mr. Baseball Walk Don't Run Bounce KO Gals Tony Takitani Tokyo Monogatari TenKouSei (Changing Schools... I haven't seen a translated version) Always San Choume no Yuuhi (Always 3rd Precinct Evening Sun) Stupeur et Tremblements (Fear and Trembling)** Dream Island (might also be construed as a spoiler)

This was a surprise to me, since I usually watch (hardcore) Japanese horror movies. The fact that I'm very interested in learning Japanese also helped a lot with this particular kind of movie, since most horror movies use a lot of slang, that much I can recognize. It was also interesting to see that *SPOILER* once the girl was involved with the guy she was in love with, she wasn't all too interested anymore (maybe because he told her she wasn't all that good in bed after they slept with each other?), whereas with the persistent guy she pushed off time and time again, she seemed to be more receptive and satisfied.*END SPOILER* All in all, Tokyo Garbage Girl is a pretty interesting character study of an obsessed woman who doesn't seem to be sure what she really wants.

A waitress Miyuki becomes obsessed with a scruffy rock 'n' roll musician Yoshinori that lives in her apartment building. So she scrummage's through his garbage to learn more about him, as she's to shy to introduce her self or to start a conversation. While going through his garbage, she decides keep certain pieces to create a shrine for him in her apartment.Well, this is definitely one quirky and direct film. This is no love story, but actually a bizarre and sometimes bleak tale of adoration. Miyuki would head back home after work and get his garbage and go through it, every night. So it becomes some sort of chore, where she would collect items such as cigarettes butts, Marlboros boxes, cereal boxes, bottles and a worn out shirt. Though, she also would smoke the same cigarettes he did, used the same shampoo and cut pictures of him and put them next to pictures of her or vice versa. As well as Confronting his ex-girlfriend and then trying to be like the woman of his dreams.The story does have some charm to it, with some intriguing and spirited characters thrown into the mix. Especially at the café that Miyuki works at. Though, the actual story started to wore thin or drag the further the along it went. At times some of the sub-plots kind of derailed the main story and they weren't terribly engaging.It started to get tediously repetitious after a while. With to many scenes that drag into nothingness and dwell on empty scenes, where pretty camera work was used. The editing felt as if it could have been far sharper. The ending or last 20mins just felt over-long and out of place. My interest started to fade when she gets the courage to face him and when she learns that he knew about her habit of going through his garbage. The film just came across as feeling longer than it was.The film felt like it was basically shot on a hand held camera, with some scenes coming across like a documentary style and having a TV movie feel. The soundtrack was pretty reasonable and the director captures the sombre undertone of urban life in Tokyo.The leads are fair. Mami Nakamura as the obsessed Miyuki gives such a moody performance and in doing so it's perfect in capturing the fixation of her character. Ignoring the outside world, such as the guy in the café that tries to get her interest. Kazuma Suzuki as the admirably cool Yoshinori, is not bad as the unknown figure we learn more about through Miyuki.Though, it's not terrible, but overall the premise of the film ended up sounding more interesting than it actually was.