Japanese Movies/Discussion/Recommendations

AsianDVDClub has Okamoto Kihachi's Age of Assassins available:

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Tokyo Story was there :victory: , huge file, gonna take a few days to download it. :shamefulcry:

hitomi #1

I don't know if you're on netflix, but they have a fairly substantial list of Yasujiro Ozu movies. About 15 of them from 1931 to 1963.

hitomi #1 wrote:Interesting book I just picked up was No Borders No Limits, for fans of the '60's Yakuza/mobster/action films from Nikkatsu.

Haven't read this book yet, but I am familiar with the author, Mark Schilling. He writes movie reviews for the Japan Times and has authored four books which I have read and recommend highly: Contemporary Japanese Film (1999), The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture (1997), The Yakuza Movie Book: A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films (2003), and Sumo: A Fan's Guide (1994).
Schilling and Stuart Galbraith IV--both of whom are Americans who have lived and worked in Japan for many years--are the two English-language writers I like to read when it comes to Japanese films.
And since I'm recommending books, here's two by Galbraith that I think are worth reading: The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune (2001), and Japanese Cinema (2009).

Geezer wrote:hitomi #1

I don't know if you're on netflix, but they have a fairly substantial list of Yasujiro Ozu movies. About 15 of them from 1931 to 1963.

Sigh, I'm not with them, :beatyou: do have a box set of his and luckily our library here has some of his films :woot: so I've been able to watch quite a few of them, his worst film is better than a lot of director's best films, not that he has what you would call a worst film. :nut: Download seems to be a little faster than I thought, seems to be a popualr one. :victory:

shin2 wrote:

Haven't read this book yet, but I am familiar with the author, Mark Schilling. He writes movie reviews for the Japan Times and has authored four books which I have read and recommend highly: Contemporary Japanese Film (1999), The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture (1997), The Yakuza Movie Book: A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films (2003), and Sumo: A Fan's Guide (1994).
Schilling and Stuart Galbraith IV--both of whom are Americans who have lived and worked in Japan for many years--are the two English-language writers I like to read when it comes to Japanese films.
And since I'm recommending books, here's two by Galbraith that I think are worth reading: The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune (2001), and Japanese Cinema (2009).

Didn't realize he had that many books, :doh: gonna have to hunt them down, the book I'm reading is very interesting. I've read a lot of his reviews on Japan Times, like his style reviewing them, certainly someone who loves Japanese cinema. :victory:

hitomi #1 wrote:Download seems to be a little faster than I thought, seems to be a popualr one. :victory:

Yup. :victory:

The coolest part of watching old movies:

I just watched "Tora-san's Forget Me Not" (1973?) which featured the first appearance of 'Lily', a character played by Asaoka Ruriko.

For those who prefer newer series to old movies, Asaoka-san played the Boss Lady in the live action version of "Sexy Voice & Robo" and she was the Professor in "Suika".

It's wonderful to get the chance to watch her play the sexy nightclub singer.

And the best part was finding out that they brought "Lily" back in a few of the later Tora movies. (IMDB is a wonderful thing)

hitomi #1 wrote:
Didn't realize he had that many books, :doh: gonna have to hunt them down, the book I'm reading is very interesting. I've read a lot of his reviews on Japan Times, like his style reviewing them, certainly someone who loves Japanese cinema. :victory:

If you like reading Schllling, he's got a website:

http://japanesemovies.homestead.com/

Here you can find a collection of many of his movie reviews, interviews, other articles, and info about his books.

Geezer wrote:The coolest part of watching old movies:

I just watched "Tora-san's Forget Me Not" (1973?) which featured the first appearance of 'Lily', a character played by Asaoka Ruriko.

For those who prefer newer series to old movies, Asaoka-san played the Boss Lady in the live action version of "Sexy Voice & Robo" and she was the Professor in "Suika".

It's wonderful to get the chance to watch her play the sexy nightclub singer.

And the best part was finding out that they brought "Lily" back in a few of the later Tora movies. (IMDB is a wonderful thing)

Until you pointed it out, I never made the connection that Asaoka Ruriko was the professor in Suika. :bonk:

Yeah, Lily does appear in a few of the Tora-san movies. She has a special place in that rascal's life. Fittingly, she's in what was ultimately the 48th and last Tora-san movie.

shin2 wrote:

If you like reading Schllling, he's got a website:

http://japanesemovies.homestead.com/

Here you can find a collection of many of his movie reviews, interviews, other articles, and info about his books.

Thanks for the link, :victory: lotta reviews and such to read thru.

DVD Beaver review of Oshima's Outlaw Sixties: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_reviews51/oshima_outlaws.htm

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bmwracer wrote:DVD Beaver review of Oshima's Outlaw Sixties: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_reviews51/oshima_outlaws.htm

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Looks interesting, they gave it a good review. Criterion does a really good job releasing the older and quite often forgotten Japanese movies. :victory:
Just watched one of their releases, another Ozu film, Late Spring. Like all of his films such a pleasure to view, always like his casts especially Ryu Chishu and Hara Setsuko and yes, that camera never moved at all. :hehe:

hitomi #1 wrote: that camera never moved at all. :hehe:

Saves money on production staff. :beaten:

Well... being trapped by the landscapers around your house serves a purpose. It gave me lots of extra time to search around and find a copy of My Lover Is A Sniper. I'll give it a shot this weekend.

Heck, it features: Mizuno Miki ... Uchimira Teruyoshi (Bus Stop) ... and Hiroshi Abe. How bad can it be?

Turns out the one I got is the 3rd in a series of "Sniper" movies, but one of the reviews says it has no problem standing on its own. (Fingers crossed.)

Geezer wrote: I'll give it a shot this weekend.

*rimshot*

:hehe:

Geezer wrote:

Heck, it features: Mizuno Miki ... Uchimira Teruyoshi (Bus Stop) ... and Hiroshi Abe. How bad can it be?

Turns out the one I got is the 3rd in a series of "Sniper" movies, but one of the reviews says it has no problem standing on its own. (Fingers crossed.)

Forgot I had until I read your post, had to watch it ASAP. I give it a mixed review, little slow in the middle but ends off with a bang. :applaud: Miki was quite good, you'd want her on your side in a fight and of course Abe was top notch as usual, couple non-spoiler pics. :hehe:
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PS- Yeah, you could tell there had been a another movie before this one, would have helped a bit as far as the characters went but it's not essential.

just come back from japan a couple of weeks ago(was actually 3 but spent a week in amsterdam due to the volcano) and watched some interesting japanese movies on the plane.
can't remember the titles but one was about building a castle and the other featured hirosue ryoko searching for her missing husband. she was actually quite impressive in this film.

kenjilina wrote:just come back from japan a couple of weeks ago(was actually 3 but spent a week in amsterdam due to the volcano) and watched some interesting japanese movies on the plane.
can't remember the titles but one was about building a castle and the other featured hirosue ryoko searching for her missing husband. she was actually quite impressive in this film.

The Ryoko film was Zero Focus, it was a remake of a 1961 film, the original is a classic, seen it at least 10 times, highly recommended. :victory:

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