Japanese Movies/Discussion/Recommendations

I had some kind of false joy while reading this. I thought DreamWorks hired Japanese actors. :banghead:

tabana wrote:I had some kind of false joy while reading this. I thought DreamWorks hired Japanese actors. :banghead:

They hire Japanese sushi chefs to cater lunches on the set...but that about it.

tabana wrote:I had some kind of false joy while reading this. I thought DreamWorks hired Japanese actors. :banghead:

They'll get hakujin actors and make them up, a la Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto, et al.... :sweat:

Sidecar ni Inu (2007) a delightful comedy showcasing the long awaited comeback of Yuko Takeuchi. Great chemistry between Takeuchi and her young sidekick, Kana Matsumoto. The inclusion of other notable actors such as Arata Furata (anybody who's seen any of the Kudo Kankuro works such as Drugstore Girl, Kisarazu Cat's Eye (he played Ozzie), Tiger & Dragon) is welcome for his instantly recognizable comic talent. A bit thinner but ever graceful, Yuko Takeuchi shines in this film, notwitstanding its subleties.

Child actress Kana Matsumoto is easily believable as a shy Japanese kid saddled with the reservations of growing up in a dysfunctional family.

Good stuff.

Looks good. :thumbsup:

tabana wrote:Looks good. :thumbsup:

It was a very easygoing movie....just in time for summer.

I started, but didn't finish Sidecar ni Inu last night.

I have to stop doing that. The second half of Maiko Haaan!!! didn't hold up for me when I took a 24 hour break. And now I don't know if the second half just wasn't funny... or if it was becasue I broke the rhythmn of the movie.

Hopefully I haven't ruined "Sidecar" for myself.

Re: the American version of "Yomigaeri"

Why the hell would an American company hire Japanese actors to play in an American version of "Yomigaeri"?

It's not, necessarily, a Japanese specific story. And a good Japanese cast already made the movie.

I was annoyed about the casting for "Memoirs of a Geisha ". That was a Japanese story, and more of an effort should have been made to find Japanese actresses who could handle working in English.

But "Yomigaeri" is a different story. It's a horror story... a ghost story about spooky people living in a remote small town. That can be set anywhere.

Tu_triky wrote:Sidecar ni Inu (2007) a delightful comedy showcasing the long awaited comeback of Yuko Takeuchi. Great chemistry between Takeuchi and her young sidekick, Kana Matsumoto. The inclusion of other notable actors such as Arata Furata (anybody who's seen any of the Kudo Kankuro works such as Drugstore Girl, Kisarazu Cat's Eye (he played Ozzie), Tiger & Dragon) is welcome for his instantly recognizable comic talent. A bit thinner but ever graceful, Yuko Takeuchi shines in this film, notwitstanding its subleties.

Child actress Kana Matsumoto is easily believable as a shy Japanese kid saddled with the reservations of growing up in a dysfunctional family.

Good stuff.

Was the above your review of the film? If so, I take it you'd recommend it?

Curious, did you get the English-subbed version off a DVD or download?

adub2adub wrote:

Was the above your review of the film? If so, I take it you'd recommend it?

Yeah, I guess you could call it that. ;) I did enjoy the movie.

Curious, did you get the English-subbed version off a DVD or download?

I downloaded it off the 'net. It's softsubbed in English.

Tu_triky wrote:Sidecar ni Inu (2007) a delightful comedy showcasing the long awaited comeback of Yuko Takeuchi. Great chemistry between Takeuchi and her young sidekick, Kana Matsumoto. The inclusion of other notable actors such as Arata Furata (anybody who's seen any of the Kudo Kankuro works such as Drugstore Girl, Kisarazu Cat's Eye (he played Ozzie), Tiger & Dragon) is welcome for his instantly recognizable comic talent. A bit thinner but ever graceful, Yuko Takeuchi shines in this film, notwitstanding its subleties.

Child actress Kana Matsumoto is easily believable as a shy Japanese kid saddled with the reservations of growing up in a dysfunctional family.

Good stuff.

Sounds good. Thanks. I downloaded it and was just about to watch it too.

xploring wrote:

Sounds good. Thanks. I downloaded it and was just about to watch it too.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the film.

I recently finished watching Rainbow Song ... as I had been waiting almost 2 years for some English subs to come out ... :banghead:

Mini-Review (non-spoiler):

My main motivation to watch the film was to see Juri Ueno. And, I think she definitely carried the story.
Overall, Rainbow Song was not bad and quite sad, particularly the last 3rd of the movie, ... but too many scenes were slow and some rather unnecessary towards the main plot. I thought more time should've centered on Aoi and Tomoya's relationship.

Rainbow Song had a fine performance by Juri, but I think "Swing Girls" is still the best film that featured Juri. It'll be hard, but here's hoping for a future "Juri" project to top SG. :fingerscrossed:

adub2adub wrote:I recently finished watching Rainbow Song ... as I had been waiting almost 2 years for some English subs to come out ... :banghead:

Mini-Review (non-spoiler):

My main motivation to watch the film was to see Juri Ueno. And, I think she definitely carried the story.
Overall, Rainbow Song was not bad and quite sad, particularly the last 3rd of the movie, ... but too many scenes were slow and some rather unnecessary towards the main plot. I thought more time should've centered on Aoi and Tomoya's relationship.

Rainbow Song had a fine performance by Juri, but I think "Swing Girls" is still the best film that featured Juri. It'll be hard, but here's hoping for a future "Juri" project to top SG. :fingerscrossed:

I think Shiawase no Switch might be good, but no subs exist for that film....


Yet. :sweat: :fingerscrossed:

Geezer wrote:I started, but didn't finish Sidecar ni Inu last night.

I have to stop doing that. The second half of Maiko Haaan!!! didn't hold up for me when I took a 24 hour break. And now I don't know if the second half just wasn't funny... or if it was becasue I broke the rhythmn of the movie.

Hopefully I haven't ruined "Sidecar" for myself.

.

I'm curious...when you go watch a movie in a theater, do you walk out halfway through and then come back later & buy another ticket to watch the last half?

I finished Sidecar ni Inu this evening and... what a wonderful little movie.

No maddness here. No slap stick. No snappy patter. Just a quiet look at how, if you're lucky, a person can enter your life, however briefly, and have a major influence on who you are, and who you'll become.

And I have to mention... Yuko Takeuchi's performance in this movie put her on a whole different level for me.

I've always been a big fan of Yuko's TV work. I've seen and enjoyed her in everything from Nanisama to Bara No Nai Hana Ya.

But in this movie, it's like she took off the TV mask and said, here's a real person. An adult. Not the perfect, polished, shining TV star. But a character completely different from anything she'd done before.

And it was cool to watch the way Mimura changed the way she usually moves and holds herself. She plays the adult version of the child who watched and became attached to Yuko's character. And without pushing the point too much, she was able to mimick the way Yuko held herself throughout the film.

Major thanks, Tu_triky for giving me the chance to see this movie.

Geezer wrote:I finished Sidecar ni Inu this evening and... what a wonderful little movie.

No maddness here. No slap stick. No snappy patter. Just a quiet look at how, if you're lucky, a person can enter your life, however briefly, and have a major influence on who you are, and who you'll become.

Yeah it was almost prosaic in that sense....but it was fun to watch.

Major thanks, Tu_triky for giving me the chance to see this movie.

Heck, they're not all winners but this film was pretty good I thought.

I got the chance to watch Saido kâ ni inu (Dog in a Sidecar) recently. I actually wanted to see this film more than a year ago, eagerly anticipating Yuko's return to the big screen. But I forgot about it due to no English subs .... until, thanks to Tu_triky's, realized they must finally be out.

Here's my 2 cents:

I thought the film was very slow, and at times, a bit dull. There wasn't actually much plot as nothing particularly interesting happened throughout. There weren't any laughs either, though I expected it to be a comedy.

All that being said, I still enjoyed "Saido kâ ni inu" almost solely for the charm of the 2 main ladies, Yoko and Kaoru. It was their interactions that I felt was sweet and honest, without any overacting or histrionics.

So, I'd recommend the movie to anyone that's a Yuko Takeuchi fan, but more generally to anyone that hopes to see 2 charismatic actresses play down-to-earth characters.

One amusing note ...

Spoiler — click to reveal

I was surprised to see some fantastic headbutts near the end. :beaten:

adub2adub wrote:I got the chance to watch Saido kâ ni inu (Dog in a Sidecar) recently. I actually wanted to see this film more than a year ago, eagerly anticipating Yuko's return to the big screen. But I forgot about it due to no English subs .... until, thanks to Tu_triky's, realized they must finally be out.

Here's my 2 cents:

I thought the film was very slow, and at times, a bit dull. There wasn't actually much plot as nothing particularly interesting happened throughout. There weren't any laughs either, though I expected it to be a comedy.

All that being said, I still enjoyed "Saido kâ ni inu" almost solely for the charm of the 2 main ladies, Yoko and Kaoru. It was their interactions that I felt was sweet and honest, without any overacting or histrionics.

So, I'd recommend the movie to anyone that's a Yuko Takeuchi fan, but more generally to anyone that hopes to see 2 charismatic actresses play down-to-earth characters.

One amusing note ...

Spoiler — click to reveal

I was surprised to see some fantastic headbutts near the end. :beaten:

As I said the film had a prosaic quality to it but the acting was nonetheless good. I agree there wasn't any overacting that is often characteristic of Japanese television dramas. After slogging through a bitter divorce to see Yuko Takeuchi come back in a fresh, atypical role (a typical role in the sense she's not playing a meek love interest) was pretty cool.

Glad you liked the film ;)

Tu_triky wrote:

It's two gigs of laughs, man. Goshinpainaku...it's worth it.

Download finished over the weekend. But now i'm out of blank DVD's :(


I also downloaded Man, Woman and the Wall http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.545833/qx/details.htm without knowing Sora Aoi was in it. Now i'm scared to watch it :say_oops:

Sorry for asking AD, but why is a lack of blank DVDs a problem?