'Kamikaze Girls'

Dandy candy

THE ASIAN HORROR zeitgeist may be waning, but nobody better lay their stinkin' American-remake paws on Tetsuya Nakashima's Kamikaze Girls. This genius, endlessly entertaining Japanese comedy follows the opposites-attract friendship that develops between two teenage girls: Momoko (Kyoko Fukada), who dresses like Bo Peep and longs to live in 18th-century France ("Life then was like candy!"), and Ichiko (Anna Tsuchiya), a tough "Yanki" who spits, delivers impulsive head-butts, and rides with a gang called the Ponytails. The movie's breakneck pace begins with frame one – just try to resist a movie that kicks off with a cartoon hell-on-wheels type declaring, "My bike ignites!" before ripping into rock 'n' roll – and never lets up, shooting off on tangents to explain Momoko and Ichiko's backstories; peppering scenes with music and animation; popping in a dream sequence or two; and creating a world where fierce embroidery skills make one impervious to harm, even when surrounded by weapons-toting bikers who mean business. Kamikaze Girls is the most joyously goofy movie of the year – if I didn't hate the phrase "girl power" so much, I'd invoke it here. So I'll just say this: Go see the damn movie! (Cheryl Eddy)