overrated. the whole incurable-disease-but-everyone-around-me-is-a-saint thing is kinda old IMO, especially without the backstabbing and talking behind your back thing. but i like Ken Watanabe
I just watched The Choice of Hercules (2002) staring Yakusho Koji.
I wonder if they should just start calling the Japanese "Oscar" the "Koji".
This is the "mostly true" story of one of the greatest Police clusterfucks in the history of modern society.
In 1972, 1500 Japanese policemen spent weeks surrounding a mountain ski resort in Nagano, trying to bring in 5 armed Japanese Red Brigade Anarchists, who were holding one hostage.
2 command officers were killed, and 24 officers were wounded.
And it was as highly rated a TV spectacle in its day as O.J.'s romp in the White Bronco.
It's a comic, tragic, maddening story based on the book written by the guy who was put in charge in the field.
Geezer wrote:I just watched The Choice of Hercules (2002) staring Yakusho Koji.
I wonder if they should just start calling the Japanese "Oscar" the "Koji".
He's a heckuva an actor. The thing is, he's so versatile. I stated awhile back on this thread that when his career finally ends, it'll stack up against any actor in the history of Japanese cinema.
...it'll stack up against any actor in the history of Japanese cinema.
Too many words.
It'll stack up against any actor in the history of cinema.
With the exception of the Kurasawa movies (The horror director not the real Kurasawa) I think I've really liked everything he's done.
But the one that really stood out for me was his performance in "University of Laughs" (Warai no Daigaku). His character's transformation in that piece from stern (freakin' scary) government censor, to comedy writer was subtle, seamless, surprising, and... well hell. It was the work of a master.
(And yeah, back in the days when actors were thought of as craftsmen rather than artists, the great actor managers were called Masters.)
Geez, even being saddled with Goro Inagaki in that movie couldn't hold him down.
Geezer wrote:With the exception of the Kurasawa movies (The horror director not the real Kurasawa) I think I've really liked everything he's done.
Although I'm not a fan of Jhorror or Kiyoshi Kurosawa, there is one movie of his I liked--Doppelganger--in which Yakusho, to borrow your term, turned in a masterful performance in dual and dueling roles. It's somewhat of a black comedy.
Geezer wrote:But the one that really stood out for me was his performance in "University of Laughs" (Warai no Daigaku).
It doesn't hurt that the screenplay was written by another master--Koki Mitani.
I first saw Yakusho in the late Juzo Itami's hilarious 1987 film Tampopo (the best film about food I've ever seen). He played the white-suited gangster who pops up throughout the movie. His opening scene where he chastizes a man in a movie theater for eating too loudly, and his death scene where he longs to eat the yam-filled intestines of wild boar were great.
See? I knew if we kept posting we'd find something to disagree about.
For a few years now I've used "Doppelganger" as proof positive that Kurosawa Kiyoshi is the lowest form of talentless hack.
My two proofs are: He did the impossible. He made Koji look bad. (At least I thought so.)
And second, he actually said that half way through the filming of "Doppelganger" he realized that nothing was working, and he didn't have any idea how to end it... so he decided to turn it into a comedy.
No Sh--!!! He actually said that in the DVD commentary!
With no regard for the structural differences between a horror/thriller, and a comedy, he simply said, make the rest bigger and sillier, and we'll call it a comedy.
Hack hack hack hack.
And the thing about him that really drives me crazy is that he manages to get the very best actors and actresses in Japan to work for him!
I can see giving the man work as a cinematogapher (he knows how to use a camera) or as a casting agent. But as a Director/Writer... the man is a talentless hack, and if he's allowed to continue producing movies the entire Japanese film industry is doomed.
Let me wade in: Awhile back I saw Sakebihttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0843302/ (which somehow got changed to "Retribution" :headscratch: "sakebi" means "scream" or "cry out") It has Koji and my gal Manami. My reaction as the credits were rolling up at the end: "What the hell was THAT all about???" :headscratch:[/list:u]Edit: The ONLY reason I kept watching from about 2/3 on was because of Koji, no denying, the guy IS talented. :applaud:
See? I knew if we kept posting we'd find something to disagree about.
"You say po-tay-to, I say po-taht-to,
You say to-may-to, I say to-maht-to . . ."
Geezer wrote: But as a Director/Writer... the man is a talentless hack, and if he's allowed to continue producing movies the entire Japanese film industry is doomed.
I guess he won't be seeing you anytime soon for a letter of recommendation.
I recently saw Kisaragi (2007) subbed by 8th Sin. This movie was a truly funny look at the world of otaku...an entertaining murder mystery.
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When five members of pop star Miki Kisaragi's online fan club meets for the first time to honor the one-year anniversary of her suicide, what starts out as a cheerful party turns into a terrifying who-done-it, as each man is accused of the gruesome death of their darling . As clues to each man's relationship are slowly revealed, Kisaragi cleverly keeps everyone guessing until the very end.
2007, 108 min. Directed by Yuichi Sato. Shun Oguri, Yusuke Santamaria, Keisuke Koide, Teruyuki Kagawa and Takeo Tsukachi.
Picture of the Year at the 31st Japan Academy Prize.