Japanese Movies/Discussion/Recommendations

bmwracer wrote:Just finished watching The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (finally! :ashamed:)... Really really good. :applaud:

What I really like about Japanese animated films is that their stories/plots don't pander to kids and have novel, intelligent ideas. :victory: :applaud:

American animated films is typically (mostly?) wise-cracking talking animals or similar BS... :bleh:

The last American animated film that had any intelligence and/or thought to it was probably Fantasia in 1940....

American animated films, for the most part, are feature length commercials to sell merchandise.

Tu_triky wrote:American animated films, for the most part, are feature length commercials to sell merchandise.

That too. :bleh:

bmwracer wrote:
That too. :bleh:

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a rare gem. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Tu_triky wrote:

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a rare gem. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Thanks for the info, I might have to do an online search for it.

qilver wrote:Thanks for the info, I might have to do an online search for it.

You can get it from asiandvdclub.org :)

Cast revealed for Yamada Yojifs gTokyo Kazoku,h starring Sugawara Bunta

Posted on February 22, 2011 Tokyograph

In December, director Yamada Yoji (gOtoutoh) revealed that he is working on an homage to Ozu Yasujirofs gTokyo Story.h It is now known that the filmfs lead actor will be Sugawara Bunta (77), whose last appearance in a movie was in gBatteryh in 2007. He has not been the star of a movie since gWatashi no Grandpah in 2003.

Titled gTokyo Kazoku,h Yamadafs new film marks the 50th anniversary of his directing career. Like gTokyo Story,h the movie will depict the relationship of a family in Tokyo, though Yamadafs version is set in the present day.

Sugawara plays the main character Hirayama Shukichi, while Ichihara Etsuko (75) plays his wife Tomiko. Their last appearance in a movie together was in the 1977 film gYakuza Senso: Nihon no Don.h

The rest of the family are also being portrayed by prominent actors. Nishimura Masahiko (50) plays the oldest son who runs a hospital, and Natsukawa Yui (42) plays his wife. Muroi Shigeru (52) takes on the part of the oldest daughter who manages a beauty parlor, with Hayashiya Shozo (48) as her husband. Tsumabuki Satoshi (30) has been cast as the second son who works in stage art. Aoi Yu (25) plays his girlfriend.

Filming will start on April 1 and is expected to last until late June. Yamada aims to have the post-production complete by early September, in time for a nationwide release in the winter.

Kimura Yuichi gathers 70 comedians for next film gOmuriceh

Posted on February 20, 2011 Tokyograph

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Image from: Sankei Sports

Comedian Kimura Yuichi (48) has decided on his third feature-length film as director. Titled gOmurice,h the movie will have Kimura in the starring role, but approximately 70 of his fellow comedians with management agency Yoshimoto Kogyo will make appearances.

Kimura made his feature-length directorial debut in 2009 with gNisesatsu.h His second film, gWhat a Wonderful Life!!,h opened in theaters just last month.

The storyfs protagonist (Kimura) heads out to buy ingredients for cooking omurice (omelette rice). His imagination runs wild with the scenery and objects along the way, resulting in unpredictable scenes. Some of the characters appearing in his delusions are a manga artist (Akashiya Sanma), a company president (Higashino Koji), and a part-time worker (Okamura Takashi). Other participating comedians include Miyasako Hiroyuki.

However, the cast will also include true actors, including Jinnai Takanori and Minamino Yoko. Counting the comedians and the actors, the cast contains roughly 100 people.

Filming is already finished, and Kimura is currently editing the footage. The release date for the movie has not been set.

^ If anything, the title sounds good. :mrgreen:

bmwracer wrote:^ If anything, the title sounds good. :mrgreen:

Just like the Manami movie!


Chopsticks, bentos and omurice, oh my!

Now available at ADC for download:

Rinco's Restaurant / Shokudo Katasumuri (2010)

A young woman (Kou Shibasaki) in her mid 20's becomes so heart broken she loses her voice. To recover, the woman decides to go back to her hometown and stay with her free-spirited mother whom she has not been very close to in the past. The young woman then decides to open a restaurant which accepts only one customer a day, allowing for thoughtful preparation for that customer. Based on the novel by Ito Ogawa (AsianMediaWiki)

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bmwracer wrote:Now available at ADC for download:

Rinco's Restaurant / Shokudo Katasumuri (2010)

A young woman (Kou Shibasaki) in her mid 20's becomes so heart broken she loses her voice. To recover, the woman decides to go back to her hometown and stay with her free-spirited mother whom she has not been very close to in the past. The young woman then decides to open a restaurant which accepts only one customer a day, allowing for thoughtful preparation for that customer. Based on the novel by Ito Ogawa (AsianMediaWiki)

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This was one of a string of Japanese movies I've watched recently that I found disappointing. :sweat: Too bad since Yo Kimiko, who plays Shibasaki's mother is really good in it. Shibasaki, who is getting better as an actress, also does a decent job. But I found the animated interludes distracting and the movie disjointed.

Tu_triky wrote:Cast revealed for Yamada Yojifs gTokyo Kazoku,h starring Sugawara Bunta

Posted on February 22, 2011 Tokyograph

In December, director Yamada Yoji (gOtoutoh) revealed that he is working on an homage to Ozu Yasujirofs gTokyo Story.h It is now known that the filmfs lead actor will be Sugawara Bunta (77), whose last appearance in a movie was in gBatteryh in 2007. He has not been the star of a movie since gWatashi no Grandpah in 2003.

Titled gTokyo Kazoku,h Yamadafs new film marks the 50th anniversary of his directing career. Like gTokyo Story,h the movie will depict the relationship of a family in Tokyo, though Yamadafs version is set in the present day.

Sugawara plays the main character Hirayama Shukichi, while Ichihara Etsuko (75) plays his wife Tomiko. Their last appearance in a movie together was in the 1977 film gYakuza Senso: Nihon no Don.h

The rest of the family are also being portrayed by prominent actors. Nishimura Masahiko (50) plays the oldest son who runs a hospital, and Natsukawa Yui (42) plays his wife. Muroi Shigeru (52) takes on the part of the oldest daughter who manages a beauty parlor, with Hayashiya Shozo (48) as her husband. Tsumabuki Satoshi (30) has been cast as the second son who works in stage art. Aoi Yu (25) plays his girlfriend.

Filming will start on April 1 and is expected to last until late June. Yamada aims to have the post-production complete by early September, in time for a nationwide release in the winter.

Impressive cast. Great director. Should be good.

shin2 wrote:This was one of a string of Japanese movies I've watched recently that I found disappointing. :sweat: Too bad since Yo Kimiko, who plays Shibasaki's mother is really good in it. Shibasaki, who is getting better as an actress, also does a decent job. But I found the animated interludes distracting and the movie disjointed.

Hmm... I still might download it and check it out...

bmwracer wrote:
Hmm... I still might download it and check it out...

Go for it. Before watching it, I looked up three or four reviews of it. All were generally positive, so there's a good chance you'll like it. I'm probably becoming overly critical as I get older.

shin2 wrote:Go for it. Before watching it, I looked up three or four reviews of it. All were generally positive, so there's a good chance you'll like it. I'm probably becoming overly critical as I get older.

Yeah, it's worth a look: Shibasaki Kou and food... A good combination. :victory:

Eita to lead "Wild 7" movie adaptation

It was announced on Friday that Mochizuki Mikiyafs action manga gWild 7h is being turned into a live-action film, starring actor Eita. The adaptation is being directed by Hasumi Eiichiro (gUmizaruh) and produced by Abe Shuji (gUmizaru,h gAlways: Sanchome no Yuhih).

gWild 7 was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen King from 1969 to 1979. The story revolved around a group of seven motorcyle-riding outlaws who are authorized by the police as a special unit to fight criminals and terrorists. The comic was adapted as a live-action drama series in 1972-1973. Mochizuki later wrote multiple sequels to the series, and it received both an OVA project in 1994-1995 and an animated series in 2002.

In the new version, Eita plays the leader Hiba Dairoku, who is the youngest of the group.

Warner Bros. is distributing the film, which is expected to shoot from late March to May. The release date has not been decided.

Sources:
Anime News Network
Mantan Web

DVD Beaver review of Nausicaa (Blu-Ray): http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare9/nausica.htm

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Otouto (Her Younger Brother): Yamada Yoji's 2010 film reunites two actors from his 2008 movie Kabei (a superb work about what it was like to live in Japan during WWII)--Yoshinaga Sayuri and Shofukutei Tsurube. In this film the two play siblings--Yoshinaga is a widow who runs a neighborhood pharmacy while Shofukutei is her ne'er-do-well brother who after years of being away shows up for the wedding of her daughter (Aoi Yu, who is putting together a pretty good resume of film work). There are faint echoes of Tora-san here (there's even a brief clip from a Tora-san movie), but the story was originally an Ichikawa Kon movie from 1960 (Yamada re-wrote the script, updating it and changing parts of it to fit his vision). The result is another excellent movie from a master filmmaker and typical Yamada--funny and sad, real and sentimental.

Futoko (Dark Harbor): This is a 2009 movie, written and directed by a young filmmaker, Takatsugu Naito. The protagonist is a middle-aged lonely fisherman (Kote Shinya) who is desperate for female companionship. However, as a prize catch, he's more chum than blue fin. Bearish in appearance and definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer, he ekes out a meager living, wears a perpetually glum expression, and hardly talks at all. But one day, he discovers that a woman and a child have been surreptitiously hiding out in his closet. The result is an instant family for a man who yearns to break out of his solitary existence. But his newfound joy will not continue . . . .
There are a number of very funny moments in this film--most of it visual rather than verbal, although there's a hilarious scene which manages to work in Neil Armstrong and Johnny Depp references--but at its heart, it's a character study about the basic human needs of people. Overall a pretty decent movie imo.

Oda Yuji, Ito Hideaki team up for "Amalfi" sequel
February 28, 2011

Oda Yuji and Ito Hideaki, the stars of two of Japanfs most successful movie franchises, are teaming up for a movie called gAndalucia.h The film is a continuation of the gGaikoukan Kuroda Kosakuh action series, which started with the hit 2009 movie gAmalfi: Megami no Hoshuh and continued with a drama series that is currently on the air.

The gAmalfih sequel was first revealed by Toho during its 2011 lineup presentation last December. Like gAmalfi,h gAndaluciah is named for the setting of the film. Oda is reprising his role as the diplomat Kuroda Kosaku, sent to Spain after a Japanese investor is murdered. Ito plays Kotari Makoto, an Interpol detective who is at odds with Kuroda.

The last time that Oda and Ito acted together was in a special episode of the gOdoru Daisousasenh drama series 14 years ago, before Ito got his big break in gUmizaru.h Since then, their respective franchises have become highly successful. gOdoru Daisousasenh lays claim to the #1 and #3 highest-grossing live-action Japanese films of all times, and its third installment was the #2 live-action Japanese film of 2010. Overall, gUmizaruh has not been quite as popular, but that seriesf third film was #1 in 2010.

Director Nishitani Hiroshi has already finished on-location filming in Spain for gAndaluciah and is currently shooting the rest in Japan. The moviefs release date is set for June 25, 2011.

Sources:
Sankei Sports
Cinema Today

Two more films I saw this weekend:

Zero no Shoten (Zero Focus): Made in 2009, based on a story by Matsumoto Seicho (a writer who popularized mysteries and detective fiction in the second half of the 20th century).
Set in 1957, the movie is about a newly wed woman (Hirosue Ryoko) whose husband fails to return from a business trip to Kanazawa. She travels there to find out what happened and things really become complicated as she discovers her husband's disappearance is part of a larger and more mysterious situation. Among those involved are a receptionist (Kimura Tae) and a businessman's wife (Nakatani Miki). As the plot unfolds, secrets keep emerging, and the death toll keeps rising.
The story holds your interest, the acting is good, and the film is impressively photographed. Nakatani's performance dominates the movie as she proves once again what a superb actress she is. I liked this film a lot.

Golden Slumber: I have mixed feelings about this 2010 movie. Sakai Masato is excellent as a delivery man falsely accused of assassinating the prime minister. Takeuchi Yuko gives a good performance playing the protagonist's ex-girlfriend. Ito Shiro (one of my favorite actors) is great in a brief scene playing Sakai's father, and I was happy to see Kanjiya Shihori (another favorite) appear in the movie, albeit in only a couple of brief scenes. The plot--basically one long chase--moved along at a brisk clip, and despite the seriousness of the event, there were dollops of humor to lighten the intensity.
However . . . to buy into this movie, one has to have a whopping amount of suspension of disbelief. A number of why and how questions that are bound to come up on the part of the audience are either totally ignored or insufficiently glossed over. And some of the set-ups, like a serial killer as a good samaritan . . . c'mon, really?