Japanese Movies/Discussion/Recommendations

im bout to go rent ju-on the grudge and dark water this weekend. i've seen audition, which was pretty good. any other ones you guys/gals recommend?

PistonHondaEM1 wrote:im bout to go rent ju-on the grudge and dark water this weekend. i've seen audition, which was pretty good. any other ones you guys/gals recommend?

Inugami (more of a thought-provoking, horror film. Good Atsuro Watabe vehicle -- you hear that, Geezer? :D )

Aragami (horror/Silence of the Lambs-like/samurai horror offering from Ryuhei Kitamura [he who did Versus, which you should also see)

Cure (you're missing a significant part of J-horror film if you haven't seen this one.)

Suicide Club (not supernatural horrific, but, inhumane-like horrific.)

Onibaba (a description does not do this film justice. Read the direct Criterion write-up for an inkling: http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=226)

Ringu (Japan's answer to Carrie.)

Those should keep you busy.

well i suggest the Ringu series, the move "the ring" was actually based on the japanese version "ringu"

kaosrave wrote:well i suggest the Ringu series, the move "the ring" was actually based on the japanese version "ringu"

i fully agree !!!
i saw the original sub, it was on a black labeless tape and the pocket only showed the eye... :shocked: listened to it with a couple friends in my 2 1/2 appart (at the time) we where 6 in there. Wasn't that bad at first. When they all went away after the film, at about 2h30 am, when i came back in the room, i could only see the eye on the pocket looking at me, no matter where i was in the room ... SCARY !!! BUT i made some other ppl listen to it 6 days after. :twisted: it is almost the only horror movie i've seen in my life. (other horror thingies, i found them funny! horror=comedy)

PistonHondaEM1 wrote:im bout to go rent ju-on the grudge and dark water this weekend. i've seen audition, which was pretty good. any other ones you guys/gals recommend?

if you havent yet, you should check out the original 2 ju-ons. but i figure since u are renting "the grudge" you may have already seen them. suicide club is also quite good. Anything by kiyoshi kurosawa is interesting. "pulse" or "kairo" is also kind of creepy though hard to understand on a lot of levels.

Manny,

I've seen "Inugami", or at least, most of it. It was on either IC or the Independant Movie Channel about two months ago... but I couldn't get into it.

I'm a Horror movie freak. But so far, the Japanese horror movies I've seen don't get to me.

I keep trying. A quick look at my shelf shows copies of:

"Another Heaven"
"Audition"
"Dark Water"
"Isola" Kimura Yoshino stars. I had to buy it.
"Moho Han" See above.
"Ring"
"Ring 2" Miki Nakatani stars. I had to buy it.
The other "Ring 2"
"Ring Rasen"
"Ring 0"
"Tomie" Kanno Miho stars. I had to buy it.
"Dark Water"
"Onibaba" I liked this one. Sort of Twilight Zone-ish.

and a dozen more. But I don't recall ever going back to watch any of them a second time. Too much form and atmosphere... not enough substance or plot for my taste. Besides, they tend to abandon their own internal logic.

But, if I'm allowed to go to Chinese Horror; I loved "Chinese Ghost Story". And "Mr. Vampire" is a trip.



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Geezer wrote:Manny,

. . .

I'm a Horror movie freak. But so far, the Japanese horror movies I've seen don't get to me.

I keep trying. A quick look at my shelf shows copies of:

"Another Heaven"

Oh. . . yes. You MUST be a horror movie freak, and you get the l'Japon Horror Movie Esotericque award of the day for your Another Heaven citation, Geezer (or is it Geenny or Gammy? OK, just kidding, HEY, YOU KEEP PLAYING W/MY NAME! :beaten: :nut: ).

The brain-sucking, side detective story, futuristic, respectable ending'd Another Heaven. I think this one's available as region 1 on DVD . . . yes, I think it is (http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?userid=FK1TUGj90F&ean=619935406339&FRM=0), so, don't miss it the way I apparently forgot about THE film that initially showed me that Japan has the potential to make sci-fi' films outside o' Gojira. Friggin' great title for a film too.

Here's one not mentioned yet, and, it's good because the "horror" element of the film is only one part of it: Moonchild.

Sadly enough, I can't remember the name of the movie I wanted to suggest. though it involoved a man kissing his zombie ex-girlfriend on some roof. :x Maybe someone else will know the title.

But, Suicide Circle is a good one. And if you don't mind a Chinese movie, The Eye was pretty scary. :P

thanks, i will be looking into those.

I have watched several jmovies in the summer, can't recall all the titles.

Whiteout
A Japanese Cliffhanger, buncha terrorists takin over the big dam or they will blow up the place. Sounds familiar?
Our hero Yuji Oda saves the day! Nanako got a silly role in the movie, poor girl.

Bayside Shakedown 2
A total letdown, despite few funny and clever scenes the rest of the scenes were weak. Nothing much happened in the movie. Where is Miki Mizuno? :sweat: Don't expect any gunfight scenes despite Yuji Oda is holdin a gun in the poster.

Go
This movie rocked! what a splendid performance from Yosuke Kubozuka for his role portrayin a Japanese Korean youngster and his difficulties in the Japanese society, being hated and discriminated.

NO!!! A jmovie, Unagi (Eel) was aired on the telly last night! I forgot to watch it!?! A rare stuff, japanese movies being aired here are very rare! I've missed my chance...no worries, internet to the rescue :D
Gotta check the programme schedules from now on, dun wanna miss any jmovies anymore.

^ is hooked on jmovies. :thumbsup: Jmovies are one of the best.

Pemu wrote:

NO!!! A jmovie, Unagi (Eel) was aired on the telly last night! I forgot to watch it!?!

Ouch! "Eel" is one of my all time favorite J-Movies. I hope you get another chance to see it.

I finally got around to watching G@ME last night.

Nakama Yuki is very pretty.

The movie is very long (Almost a full 2 hours). And that's about all I have to say about it.

It's a long, forgettable, made for TV movie, staring a very pretty girl.

I kinda liked G@me, but it might be because I enjoyed staring at Fujiki Naohito :hehe:

From the makers of WaterBoys movie, director Shinobu Yaguchi delivers another interesting movie of this year, Swing Girls!!!
In WaterBoys, the boys broke the boundary by performin a female's sports, synchronized swimming!
This time it's the girls wantin to learn at playin the musical instruments and perform in front audience and of course they face obstacles in their way to the goal. Masterin at playin the instruments isn't easy and they are very determined to master as seen in the trailers. It's always enjoyable to see Naoto Takenaka performin silly roles, he's a music coach this time, perhaps :woot:
After seeing Swing Girls trailers, it's another MUST see movie :applaud: We get to see an interesting theme, listen to jazzy music and of course the girls :love_eyes:

See the trailers (MUST!!!):
http://www.apple.com/jp/quicktime/trailers/toho/swinggirls_large.html
http://www.apple.com/jp/quicktime/trailers/toho/swinggirls2_large.html

Official homepage:
www.swinggirls.jp

Can't wait to see!!! :mrgreen:

I watched 4TEEN, the book based movie.

It's very good. :woot:

http://www.wowow.co.jp/stock/4teen/

Pemu

Thanks for putting up the links for "SWING GIRLS".

It looks fantastic, but I'm not gonna say I can't wait... because I'm gonna have to.

After seeing 5 or 6 of Shunji Iwai's movies I've become a big fan.


Yesterday I watched "Riri Shushu no subete" (All About Lily Chou-Chou)

I'm still a big Iwai fan... but I have no idea what he was trying to do / say / comment on with this pointless, meandering, self-indulgent mess of a movie.

I guess you really can't please all of the people all of the time.

Here's a comparison of various DVD releases for Inagaki Hiroshi's Miyamoto Musashi: http://207.136.67.23/film/DVDCompare3/samuraii-3.htm :)

anybody knows if the movie SABU is any good?.. im thinking of buying

kyouki wrote:anybody knows if the movie SABU is any good?.. im thinking of buying

Well, Miike movies are quite guaranteed for being good stuff. I haven't seen any "bad" movies from him. Here is a review of the movie http://www.destroy-all-monsters.com/sabu.shtml.