Japanese Movies/Discussion/Recommendations

ik0n wrote:But yeah, my torrent says it will be done in 16mins. It's been about 5-6 hours that it's downloading lol. ~ 8GB download ain't easy to mess with. :P

But it's cheaper than shelling out $25-$40... :mrgreen:

Oh yeah, that's for sure! It wouldn't have happened without the help of you guys! :D

ik0n wrote:Oh yeah, that's for sure! It wouldn't have happened without the help of you guys! :D

We're a helpful group... :mrgreen: :victory:

The movie finished downloading but tell me how I can convert these files into .avi

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5237/94577941.jpg

Because the sub file is just an .srt and I doubt it would work with these .vob files. I mean I can play all these using VLC but without the English subs. Is there any good converter out there?

ik0n wrote:The movie finished downloading but tell me how I can convert these files into .avi

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5237/94577941.jpg

Because the sub file is just an .srt and I doubt it would work with these .vob files. I mean I can play all these using VLC but without the English subs. Is there any good converter out there?

Ahh, those files are in DVD-Video format... :sweat:

There's a way to get the subs in there... I just don't remember how.

Yeah, I could burn them to a DVD but the subs will the problems. Hm, I'm doing some Google searches on it, hopefully I'll find something out.

ik0n wrote:Yeah, I could burn them to a DVD but the subs will the problems. Hm, I'm doing some Google searches on it, hopefully I'll find something out.

The place to go is videohelp.com... I'm sure they have a guide on how to accomplish this... You're not the first. :victory:

bmwracer wrote:
Oooh.

That just activated my radar. :victory:

Natsukawa has a very small part in that film. I've seen her in perhaps half a dozen theatrical movies, and in most of them she has very minor roles. I think her biggest role to date in a movie was in Aruitemo Aruitemo, and that was a supporting role, albeit an important one. She's a much bigger presence in dorama than in movies.

shin2 wrote:Natsukawa has a very small part in that film. I've seen her in perhaps half a dozen theatrical movies, and in most of them she has very minor roles. I think her biggest role to date in a movie was in Aruitemo Aruitemo, and that was a supporting role, albeit an important one. She's a much bigger presence in dorama than in movies.

That's unfortunate. :(

Hey bmwracer,

The website you suggested really helped. I downloaded 2 programs from there, one to convert all the .vob files into one .vob file and the other to encode it to .avi. Then when I got the subtitles from kloofy.net it was split in two (CD1 and CD2) and I used this website (http://submerge.delarue-berlin.de/) to merge those 2 files into one .srt file. Now I can re-watch the movie in HQ with working subtitles. :D :D

Thank you so much for the help. ^_^

Next movies I'm looking forward to are, Rookies, Gokusen and Drop. If word goes around of those, holla! :D lol.

bmwracer wrote:
That's unfortunate. :(

I DO have the movie, BTW :)

ik0n wrote:Hey bmwracer,

The website you suggested really helped. I downloaded 2 programs from there, one to convert all the .vob files into one .vob file and the other to encode it to .avi. Then when I got the subtitles from kloofy.net it was split in two (CD1 and CD2) and I used this website (http://submerge.delarue-berlin.de/) to merge those 2 files into one .srt file. Now I can re-watch the movie in HQ with working subtitles. :D

That's great... Glad it helped...

Videohelp.com is a terrific site. :victory:

I saw Ichi the other day.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1060256/

It stars Ayase Haruka and Osawa Takao, and it's a Zatoichi; The next generation sort of a thing.

This time Ayase is the blind swords-woman, wandering through the snow, playing her shamisen for whatever coins the mean rich people will throw her way.

If you wanted to see it because you think Ayase is pretty... know that she goes through the whole movie dressed in flowing rags, and there's really only one scene where you can actually see her face. And of course, being blind and poor, she doesn't talk much.

If you wanted to see it because it's somehow related to the Zatoichi movies... the relationship is thin to almost non existent.

As to the sword play. Well, Takao Osawa does most of the heavy lifting there. And while he's at it, he simply steals the movie away from her. He handles what comedy there is in the piece... and he handles most of the bad guys.

It's not a horrible movie. They just didn't take any of the things from the originals that made them work... other than putting a sword in the hands of a blind person.

Geezer wrote:I saw Ichi the other day.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1060256/

It stars Ayase Haruka and Osawa Takao, and it's a Zatoichi; The next generation sort of a thing.

This time Ayase is the blind swords-woman, wandering through the snow, playing her shamisen for whatever coins the mean rich people will throw her way.

If you wanted to see it because you think Ayase is pretty... know that she goes through the whole movie dressed in flowing rags, and there's really only one scene where you can actually see her face. And of course, being blind and poor, she doesn't talk much.

If you wanted to see it because it's somehow related to the Zatoichi movies... the relationship is thin to almost non existent.

As to the sword play. Well, Takao Osawa does most of the heavy lifting there. And while he's at it, he simply steals the movie away from her. He handles what comedy there is in the piece... and he handles most of the bad guys.

It's not a horrible movie. They just didn't take any of the things from the originals that made them work... other than putting a sword in the hands of a blind person.

As a stand-alone movie, I thought it was decent. The makers of the film, knowing Ayase's limitations as an actress and martial arts performer, kept her on a tight leash and didn't require much from her. And it worked.
I liked this movie more than the 2003 Beat Takeshi version, which I thought was visually impressive but very shallow.

^ Looks like everyone's trying a new spin on Zatoichi... :shakehead:

I guess some of the Japanese filmmakers are taking a page from American cinema: recycle, recycle, recycle. :bleh:

BMW

Re: "Ichi". It's about getting butts in the seats. Link it to Zatoichi and you sort of have a built in audience. Heck, I checked it out.

shin 2

We're pretty much on the same page. I thought they could have done this movie without the link to Zatoichi. As a stand alone movie it wasn't bad. It's just that the link kept making me compare it to the originals.

As for Beat's bit'o'nonsense. That one made me furious. If he wanted to do a samurai movie with great effects and a bit of tap dancing... groovy. Do it! But don't call it Zatoichi.

Netflix Alert

There's a 2008 movie called Ramen Girl on netflix that's worth checking out.

It's a Japanese/American production, filmed in Japan.

Brittany Murphy is the star and gets billing. And it's the old... sweet American girl follows boyfriend to Japan, and gets dumped. She's lost, weepy, and sort of annoying. But she discovers this Ramen Shop... begins her training, and the secrets of life are revealed to her through hard work and learning how to cook.

The cool part is... Nishida Toshiyuki is the ramen chef, and her stern task master. Yo Kimiko is his wife. And the customers are a whole slew of our old firends.

Not a bad little piece of fluff. And they chose the perfect guy to come in at the end as the Grand Master to taste her ramen to see if he'd give his blessing to the soup.

Geezer wrote:BMW

Re: "Ichi". It's about getting butts in the seats. Link it to Zatoichi and you sort of have a built in audience. Heck, I checked it out.

Most recycle jobs are about getting butts in the seats, but if it sucks, it won't get those butts back again for return business... :bleh:

shin2 wrote:Aruitemo Aruitemo

I caught that one a few weeks ago when it played at the Lumiere in San Francisco. It had a weird déjà-vu feel, sort of a Kekkon Dekinai Otoko sequel, or Marriage Ain't Bliss After All. I guess none of you Japanese film buffs where in the audience. I didn't hear anyone yell "focus".

Geezer wrote:
There's a 2008 movie called Ramen Girl on netflix that's worth checking out.

It's a Japanese/American production, filmed in Japan.

If they had eliminated all the American actors and actresses and their storylines, that Korean guy, and that yakuza guy and focused on the shop and its customers, it would've been a terrific movie.

Geezer wrote: And they chose the perfect guy to come in at the end as the Grand Master to taste her ramen to see if he'd give his blessing to the soup.

It would have made Itami Juzo proud.

bmwracer wrote:I guess some of the Japanese filmmakers are taking a page from American cinema: recycle, recycle, recycle. :bleh:

The Japanese filmmakers have been doing this since the silent movie era. Do you know how many versions of Chushingura, Shinsengumi, Miyamoto Musashi, Tange Sazen, Kunisada Chuji, Daibosatsu Toge, Yotsuya Kaidan, Kozure Okami, etc. there are?

More than the different varieties of senbei you can buy at Mitsuwa and Marukai combined.