Japanese Movies/Discussion/Recommendations

bmwracer wrote:
If it's got bacon...... :mrgreen: :rofl:

Gotta have bacon, son. :)

Tu_triky wrote:Gotta have bacon, son. :)

Without a doubt. :victory: :applaud:

shin2 wrote:
Thanks for the article, Tu_triky. As you well know, I am an enthusiastic admirer of Yamada as a filmmaker, a man who has scripted and directed somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 films throughout his long career. Most of his films have been both critical and box office successes. And, now in his late 70's, he still continues to create critically acclaimed movies; I can't think of another great filmmaker who, in his 70's, was able to produce films commensurate with his previous work. Virtually all of his films (based on what I've seen and read about) focus on ordinary folks trying to do the best they can under difficult circumstances. His movies are genuinely sentimental, sad and uplifting, wistful and humorous. A great filmmaker imo.

I didn't know Yamada Yoji was that prolific. I only have his Samurai Trilogy. :sweat: But what you wrote gives some good insights into what he's all about as a filmmaker, so thanks. :victory:

WD wrote:
The same thing I'm feeling knowing that Byakuyakou's gonna be remade into a movie, and in my mind there's only 1 Ryoji and 1 Yukiho and that's it!

I know what you mean! :hehe: I'm not really holding my breath that Kengo Kora and Maki will trump Yamada and Ayase's performances, but I still think the movie is worth checking out, if only for purposes of comparison. I've seen the trailers and I have no complaints so far. :victory:

zooey wrote:
Sounds like someone is on the road to recovery... or should I say, Miura rehab? Will see how long this lasts. :hehe:

Rehab???? My addiction has just begun, baby. :naughty: (Speaking of which, KIMI NI TODOKE opens in Japan today. :sweat:)

(I may luff the boy but that doesn't mean I view every project and performance of his as the greatest thing since sliced bread. :victory:)

zooey wrote:
Ditto on this. Pokemon does tend to steal scenes in movies, it's a testament to how good an actor he is. I remember seeing him in "Dragonhead" more than Tsumabuki Satoshi, and he was in it for like less than 40 minutes.

"Pokemon"??? People actually call him this or is it just you? LMAO too funny!!! :mwahaha:

Btw would you rec DRAGONHEAD? Seems like a double treat with Yamada and Satoshi on the cast.

***

My CROWS ZERO I & II review: http://endersgirrrl.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/movie-smackdown-crows-zero-2007-2009-vs-volcano-high-2001/

(It's actually the first half of a CROWS ZERO vs. VOLCANO HIGH smackdown. Still working on Part 2. :sweat:)

^ Samurai Trilogy? :headscratch:

bmwracer wrote:^ Samurai Trilogy? :headscratch:

Yeah, the slice-of-life, samurai-are-normal-people-too! films, based on Fujisawa Shuuhei's short stories:

TWILIGHT SAMURAI (2002)
THE HIDDEN BLADE (2004)
LOVE AND HONOR (2006)

;)

Ender's Girl wrote:Yeah, the slice-of-life, samurai-are-normal-people-too! films, based on Fujisawa Shuuhei's short stories:

TWILIGHT SAMURAI (2002)
THE HIDDEN BLADE (2004)
LOVE AND HONOR (2006)

;)

So ka.

I was thinking of Inagaki Hiroshi's Samurai Trilogy:

Miyamoto Musashi
Duel at Ichijoji Temple
Duel at Ganryu Island :)

^ Egads!!! You mean there are others!??!!!?? :hehe:

Hmmm. I've never sampled Inagaki Hiroshi's work but I do wonder what his take was on the samurai and Edo Japan...

Ender's Girl wrote:^ Egads!!! You mean there are others!??!!!?? :hehe:

Hmmm. I've never sampled Inagaki Hiroshi's work but I do wonder what his take was on the samurai and Edo Japan...

I'd recommend the Trilogy: much shorter than the NHK Taiga and the star is none other than Mifune Toshiro.

And the first movie won the 1955 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. :victory:

EDIT: Wiki entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai_Trilogy

Ender's Girl wrote: "Pokemon"??? People actually call him this or is it just you? LMAO too funny!!! :mwahaha:

Btw would you rec DRAGONHEAD? Seems like a double treat with Yamada and Satoshi on the cast.

Nah, it's just me. I tend to give actors nicknames when they remind me of certain characters or things. Lately, I've come to refer to Arashi's Sakurai Sho as Jollibee...

Hm, I wouldn't recommend watching Dragonhead unless you have time to spare. It started off well enough as a disaster flick but it dragged on shortly after Yamada Takayuki made his exit. Satoshi Tsumabuki's acting in it kinda reminded me of his work in Blackjack ni Yoroshiku-- which is not really good. All that sobbing and sense of helplessness will annoy the hell out of you.

Ender's Girl wrote: ^ Egads!!! You mean there are others!??!!!?? hehe

Hmmm. I've never sampled Inagaki Hiroshi's work but I do wonder what his take was on the samurai and Edo Japan...

When you say "Samurai Trilogy", more often than not, you refer to Inagaki Hiroshi's three movies on Miyamoto Musashi. It has a different feel than Yamada Yoji's own Samurai trilogy and it focuses more on the legendary swordsman's travels and duels than the status of the samurai at the tail end of the Edo period. I guess, a more critical viewing would also yield some insight on the feudal system in Japan but I doubt whether its take on the class system would be as pronounced as the one in Yamada Yoji's films.

bmwracer's right though, it's more advisable to watch the three films then to sit through 49 episodes of the taiga drama produced by NHK. In case you do decide to watch the series, I can guarantee you that there's a number of familiar faces in it, but it's definitely going to take time to finish it.

zooey wrote:bmwracer's right though, it's more advisable to watch the three films then to sit through 49 episodes of the taiga drama produced by NHK. In case you do decide to watch the series, I can guarantee you that there's a number of familiar faces in it, but it's definitely going to take time to finish it.

Yup, a LOT of time. :sweat:

As much as I admire the Taiga version, I thought it was rather slow and bloated in some parts because of (apparently) additional material, maybe to stretch it out for the entire 49 weeks...

bmwracer wrote:Yup, a LOT of time. :sweat:

As much as I admire the Taiga version, I thought it was rather slow and bloated in some parts because of (apparently) additional material, maybe to stretch it out for the entire 49 weeks...

I feel your pain, brother. It's SUPER stretched and it took time for me to adjust to watching a Kabuki actor on tv.

So yeah, definitely start with the movie, E.G. :puppydog:

zooey wrote:I feel your pain, brother. It's SUPER stretched and it took time for me to adjust to watching a Kabuki actor on tv.

LOL, yes. :hehe:

@ beemer and zooey, Thanks for the helpful info/links and the very emphatic recs. :mrgreen: I didn't know these movies were made in the '50s as I'm not that into the classic stuff (I just have some Kurosawas and that's about it). But since I have little (=zilch) patience to sit through a gin-yoo-wine walkin' talkin' 49-eppie Taiga (in the same way that I could never finish those kilometric sageuk Kdramas), I think these 3 movies will do quite nicely thank you very much. :victory:

@ zooey - Jollibee???? Jollibee???? Bwahahahahaha I'll never look at Sakurai Sho the same way again!!!! (Come to think of it, the boy ALWAYS seems to be smiling... just like Jollibee ohgads!!!) Actually I'd keep interchanging Sho with that Aiba fella until just a few months ago. But NOW with the Jollibee mental image I'll never get them mixed up again, haha. But don't tell any Arashi fans or they just might try to turn you into a Regular Yumburger or something, lol... :sweat: (Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Mentally dressing Sho in a red fatsuit and white gloves, then planting him outside a Jollibee branch greeting customers with one of those Arashi rainbowy songs. :hehe:)

Re DRAGONHEAD - okay, probably not touching this even for Yamada and Satoshi... or maybe just the first 40 minutes. :sweat: And wait a minute... Satoshi wasn't all that great in BLACKJACK??? :shocked: But I was just about to ask you if I could have your giveaway copy (saw it on your blog)... I've been looking all over for this drama so if there are no takers ('coz I'd hate to scratch someone else's eyes over a drama) I'd still like to have it. :hehe: Thanks!!!

Ender's Girl wrote:@ beemer and zooey, Thanks for the helpful info/links and the very emphatic recs. :mrgreen: I didn't know these movies were made in the '50s as I'm not that into the classic stuff (I just have some Kurosawas and that's about it). But since I have little (=zilch) patience to sit through a gin-yoo-wine walkin' talkin' 49-eppie Taiga (in the same way that I could never finish those kilometric sageuk Kdramas), I think these 3 movies will do quite nicely thank you very much. :victory:

Glad to be of service... Hope you'll find the trilogy as enjoyable as I did.

Though the trilogy is over 50 years old, I still regard it as my standard bearer for films about Miyamoto Musashi. :victory:

Re: Inagaki's Samurai trilogy. As beemer pointed out, the first film did win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film. And the trilogy, taken as a whole, is solid filmmaking: visually appealing and moderately entertaining. Part 1 was the strongest of the three entries imo; part 2 was definitely the weakest (and a very mediocre film imo). These films are the most prominent examples of the romanticized and most often emulated Miyamoto version.

About a year before, in 1954, Toei released its own version of the Miyamoto saga; a single stand-alone movie that I really want to see but so far have been unsuccessful in procuring a copy. This particular movie, with Mikuni Rentaro in the eponymous role is supposed to be a more realistic, grittier portrait of Musashi. It depicts the swordsman as he really was, based on historical accounts: an unkempt thuggish bully with a personality which paid heed to both the physical and the spiritual.

Because Miyamoto Musashi is such an iconic figure historically and cinematically, there have been tons of films about him, not only as the protagonist but also as a supporting character (thanks to a number films made about Sasaki Kojiro, Miyamoto's supposed greatest rival). To be honest, of the handful of films I've seen, none of them is great imo. The Inagaki version, as a number of people have pointed out, is as good a place to start if you're looking for films about Musashi. There's also a five-part version starring Nakamura Kinnosuke which was made in the early 60's that's also decent; the director was Uchida Tomu (check out his Chiyari Fuji (Bloody Speat at Mt. Fuji) and Yoto Monogatari: Hana no Yoshiwara Hyakuningiri (Killing in Yoshiwara) if you want to see two terrific, largely overlooked jidai-geki films). Geezer recommended a mini-TV series which is unusual in that it picks up the Miyamoto story after his celebrated duel with Sasaki Kojiro; that version, with veteran Kitaoji Kinya is also pretty decent. And, as others have pointed out, stay away from the Taiga drama, and not just because of it length (sorry beem, I know you and I disagree about this one).

Re: Yamada Yoji's prolific career. You have to consider that 48 of his films consisted of the Tora-san series; another 22 were the Tsuri Baka Nisshi series (though he didn't direct any of the 22, he did write or co-write all 22 screenplays). Btw, four of his films--Shiawase no Kiroi Hankachi (The Yellow Handerchief), Gakko I (A Class to Remember), Musuko (My Sons), and Tasogare Sebei (The Twilight Samurai) have won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Picture, the most of any Japanese filmmaker. Only three of his many many films are jidai-geki--films that he made only after turning 70. Yamada doesn't have the arthouse cred of an Ozu, the international reputation of a Kurosawa, or the European approval of a Mizoguchi, but he's my favorite Japanese filmmaker, the one who consistently delivers time after time, decade after decade.

Noboru Iguchi directs next "Tomie" film
Tue, September 28, 2010 (10:50am EDT)
The "Tomie" horror movie series is getting its next installment in the form of "Tomie Unlimited," which is being directed by Noboru Iguchi ("Machine Girl," "RoboGeisha"). Moe Arai is starring as the film's heroine.

Based on the popular manga series "Tomie" by Junji Ito, the films have all involved a mysterious girl named Tomie who haunts and torments people, particularly targeting men with her ability to drive them mad with lust. Throughout the series, the Tomie character has been killed countless times but always comes back to life.

In "Tomie Unlimited," Arai plays the heroine Tsukiko, whose older sister Tomie dies in an accident but comes back to life. Tomie is being played by talento and former gravure idol Miu Nakamura. Both Arai and Nakamura have previously won the title of Miss Young Magazine in the annual Miss Magazine awards.

"Tomie Unlimited" started filming on September 23 and is scheduled for release during spring 2011.

^^ That's good news about Tomie, just can't kill her off. Seen all 7 of the movies so far, too many times to count, somewhat lamish but so addictive. :crazy: Check out the mangas too, they're also quite good. :mrgreen:

[image]

Finished watching Villon's Wife starring Matsu Takako, Tadanobu Asano, Ryoko Hirosue, and Satoshi Tsumabuki.

Based on Osamu Dazai's 1947 novel eeVillon no Tsumaff which was inspired by 15th century French poet Francois Villon. Director Kichitaro Negishi won the best director award at the 33rd Montreal World Film Festival for this film.

It's an unsentimental look at a "tortured" novelist, and his more tortured wife living in postwar Japan. Good acting.

zooey wrote:

Hm, I wouldn't recommend watching Dragonhead unless you have time to spare. It started off well enough as a disaster flick but it dragged on shortly after Yamada Takayuki made his exit.

I've had Dragonhead for the longest time but never start on it despite the presence of Yamada. So I guess now I know what to expect, and be sure to press 'stop' the moment Yamada exits. :hehe:

Tu_triky wrote:[image]

Finished watching Villon's Wife starring Matsu Takako, Tadanobu Asano, Ryoko Hirosue, and Satoshi Tsumabuki.

Based on Osamu Dazai's 1947 novel eeVillon no Tsumaff which was inspired by 15th century French poet Francois Villon. Director Kichitaro Negishi won the best director award at the 33rd Montreal World Film Festival for this film.

It's an unsentimental look at a "tortured" novelist, and his more tortured wife living in postwar Japan. Good acting.

Hmm, didn't see this film on ADC's list of torrents...