Japanese Movies/Discussion/Recommendations

shin2 wrote:Read somewhere that Galbraith has written another book entitled Cinema Nippon, published by Taschen and scheduled to be released some time in 2005.

Oooh. That'll immediately go on my shopping list, judging from Galbraith's past works... :D

Gamera 2: Attack of Legion

I'm not sure how this one got passed me, but I was just going through Netflix's list of Japanese movies, looking for anything with Mizuno Miki in it, and came across this little bit of goofiness from 1996.

It's kind of cool because Miki's grandmother is the great Mizuno Kumi who was one of the real Queens of the cheezy Japanese SciFi / Horror movies of the late 60's early 70's. (She was Phil's date in Woody Allen's "What's Up Tiger Lilly")

What a trip. Can't wait until it arrives.

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Geezer wrote:(She was Phil's date in Woody Allen's "What's Up Tiger Lilly")

Which one, Suki or Teri??? :sweat:

Neither one. She had a smaller part. She was his date in the nightclub scene.

Now I have to go try to read the credits in 47 Ronin (1962) to see if I can pick her out.

In most of her movies Kumi Mizuno was the brainy babe in the white lab coat, searching for ways to kill whatever monster was currently gobbling and smashing Tokyo.

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Aside from the monster movies, she also played the lead in a couple of Mifune movies... and she's still working.

She was pretty much the face of Toho in the mid 60s.

And grand daughter Miki ain't bad either.

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Geezer wrote:Neither one. She had a smaller part. She was his date in the nightclub scene.

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Ahh! Now I recognize her...! Yep, a very familiar face... :D

she does look pretty familiar. i wonder if she was in some kurosawa films.

jholic wrote:she does look pretty familiar. i wonder if she was in some kurosawa films.

Check imdB.com... :D

I think she was in the Godzilla/Ghidrah/Rodan monster flick, Monster Zero...

jholic wrote:she does look pretty familiar. i wonder if she was in some kurosawa films.

I just checked and it made no mention of any Kurosawa films... Here's a semi-bio from imdB:

Born on New Years Day of 1937 in Nigata, Japan, Kumi Mizuno made her acting debut in the Minoru Shibuya film Crazy Society in 1957 after graduating from acting school. Her attractive looks and pleasant demeanor made her a favorite of director Ishiro Honda. She was one of the most popular actresses in Japan's "Golden Age" of movie cinema, appearing in numerous drama and comedy films. But, she is probably most notable for appearing in Toho Studios' sci-fi films. She was the female lead opposite actor Nick Adams in Furankenshutain tai chitei kaijû Baragon (1965) and Kaijû daisenso (1965). Mizuno and Adams were supposedly romantically linked during filming of the two films at the time, but Mizuno denied and stated these stories were un-founded studio gossip. Her role as "Daiyo" in Gojira-Ebira-Mosura: Nankai no daiketto (1966) is one of her most memorable performances. This film was originally written to star King Kong, hence the "beauty and the beast" relationship between Godzilla and Mizuno--a relationship more associated with King Kong. Even though today she has few specific memories of her work on sci-fi films during the 1960s, she does look back on those films fondly. She remains a fan favorite to this day, and has made appearances in the third series of Godzilla films.

bmwracer: thanks for the info. i saw her bio, but i just thought that they may have left out her credits in kurosawa films or something. guess not.

geez: those have got to be the sexiest photos of miki mizuno i've seen yet. usuallly, she's very conservative in her photos.

Anyone heard of the new movie Yaku Sanju no Gonzo no Uso ? I haven't seen any posts about it yet.

Here's the trailer http://www.apple.com/jp/quicktime/trailers/asmik-ace/30lies_large.html

Here's the official site
http://www.30uso.com/

It looks interesting (I only base that on how they presented the trailer, the music, the cast, etc.)

It came out on DVD in Japan on Dec. 3rd. Cdjapan already has it in stock for $17. I'm trying to find some more info before picking it up.

Anyone know anything about it?

Just to clear up any misunderstandings... I said Kumi Mizuno appeared in a bunch of Mifune films. Not Kurosawa films.

According to the IMDB, Mizuno and Mifune worked together in:

Holiday in Tokyo '58

Nippon Tanjo (Birth of Japan) '59

The Gambling Samuri (Kunisada Chuji) '60

47 Ronin '62

Sinbad (Daitozoku) '63

Whirlwind '64

By the way, I watched Miki's "Gamera vs. Legion" tonight, and what can I say?

She was beautiful.

The monster was a big, saber-toothed turtle with a rocket up his butt.

The movie is exactly what you'd expect the movie to be.

If you liked those old, "guy in a rubber suit" monster movies, you'll like this one.

Nick Morera wrote:Anyone heard of the new movie Yaku Sanju no Gonzo no Uso ? I haven't seen any posts about it yet.

Here's the trailer http://www.apple.com/jp/quicktime/trailers/asmik-ace/30lies_large.html

Here's the official site
http://www.30uso.com/

It looks interesting (I only base that on how they presented the trailer, the music, the cast, etc.)

It came out on DVD in Japan on Dec. 3rd. Cdjapan already has it in stock for $17. I'm trying to find some more info before picking it up.

Anyone know anything about it?

"Thirty Lies or So"? I've heard about it.

I put up a link to the home page on the Miki Nakatani thread. http://jdorama.com/viewtopic.2253.30.htm

Pestered some friends to look around for an English Subtitled version of it.

But beyond that... nothing yet.

Geezer wrote:The monster was a big, saber-toothed turtle with a rocket up his butt.

Actually, Gamera had jets/flames which came out if his leg holes for propulsion... :)

During Christmas Holidays, we hase some very old japanese dramas on TV.

I watched : Typhoon on Nagasaki ( 1956 -_-)

Really sad... there is a typhoon. A french engineer is in love with a french but he falls in love with a japanese woman -_-
And he decides to live with the japanese woman. But at the end the woman die :shamefulcry:

And there was another from 2001 I think, if I try to translate, it would be "Love near a bridge" (sorry -_-).

bmwracer wrote:
Actually, Gamera had jets/flames which came out if his leg holes for propulsion... :)

I stand corrected.

Then I bend over and laugh myself blue.

Geezer wrote:I stand corrected.

Then I bend over and laugh myself blue.

I don't blame you one bit. :hehe:

i was able to watch kurosawa's "yume" a few days ago. it's supposed to be a collection of kurosawa's actual dreams. but, man, that was a really hard movie to watch. i had no idea what was going on. i mean, i know it was trying to convey several messages, but i thought it came off as a little too artistic. i guess it just wasn't as dynamic as i usually expect kurosawa films to be.

I had a double Feature Ju-On and Battle Royale last night. Excellent.

I just watched Hotel Venus, and I was floored.

I guess most know the back story on this film. A Japanese / Korean movie, the cast made up of actors from both countries, with everyone speaking Korean... all filmed in an unnamed city, which was actually Vladivostok.

This is a movie that just doesn't fit into any of the normal catagories that Japanese movies usually fit into these days. A stylish, melancholy, character study of a group of unrelated losers. They've each, for their own reasons, gathered at the Hotel Venus as sort of a safe refuge. A last chance to gather themselves, to see if they can regain their balance... to see if they can handle the weight of their lives.

Okay, it's a lot better than I just made it sound.

To be honest, I got this movie simply because Miki Nakatani was in it. But as with "When the Last Sword is Drawn" I got it to see Miki, and ended up really liking the whole movie.