Japanese Movies/Discussion/Recommendations

K.T.Tran wrote:Nope, way to late to cancel it, but i found it a lil stupid, with some very odd humor in it. I only got like 4 laughs out of it, but o well. I'll look up The lone wolf and cub series, thanks though

sorry to hear about that, man. wish i had known earlier.

have you watched 'kill bill v2'? the little girl is watching a movie in her room, and it's called 'shogun assassin'? shog asssn is actually the 'americanized/condensed' version of the lone wolf and cub series.

Saw Crying out love, in the centre of the world last night. Just wonderin, does the movie differ from the tv series by being shortened to 2.5 hrs long? is that all? I haven't seen the tv series myself, thought if the movie had seen, then seeing the tv series wouldn't have been necessary.

Swing Girls out in a month!

DVD Beaver comparison of All About Lily Chou-Chou: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare9/all_about_lily_chou-chou.htm

Pemu wrote:Saw Crying out love, in the centre of the world last night. Just wonderin, does the movie differ from the tv series by being shortened to 2.5 hrs long? is that all? I haven't seen the tv series myself, thought if the movie had seen, then seeing the tv series wouldn't have been necessary.

Swing Girls out in a month!

the return of pemu!!!! whatsup, brah! now that you are finished interning, you must be making the $$$$ nowadays (or kroners) hahaha. good to see ya back (unless you disappear again!)

niko2x wrote:(unless you disappear again!)

I think he did.

It was just a cameo appearance.

Has anyone seen Lady Snowblood? It's so bad, it's good. I didn't realize how much Kill Bill had been influenced by it.

I've been desperately trying to increase my library of Japanese movies, both recent and classic, but as a college student, I have no money! I love it :goddammit:.

Lady Snowblood is great. It's just that many people misunderstood the whole thing after Tarantino hyped the film so much. Lady Snowblood ain't no Lawrence of Arabia, it's just an exploitation movie. But as an exploitation movie it's great. At the end of the movie I actually had started caring about the characters, and that doesn't happen too often in movies like this.

I have to admit I was bit dissappointed when I saw Lady Snowblood for the first time but now it gets better every time I see it. And Meiko Kaji is really great in it. :thumbsup:

kitakaze wrote:I've been desperately trying to increase my library of Japanese movies, both recent and classic, but as a college student, I have no money! I love it :goddammit:.

You've gotta start with the classics Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi, and Inagaki....

Once you get some cash. :)

some short films from "jam films" and "jam films2" are really great.

Shurayuki-hime wrote:Lady Snowblood is great. It's just that many people misunderstood the whole thing after Tarantino hyped the film so much. Lady Snowblood ain't no Lawrence of Arabia, it's just an exploitation movie.

Exactly. The movie is great. I saw it during my senior seminar class "Class and Gender in Modern Asia," and the blood splatter scenes always get a laugh (in a good way).

bmwracer wrote:You've gotta start with the classics Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi, and Inagaki....

Once you get some cash. :smile:

Yep...although I do have Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Throne of Blood. I also have Onibaba, thought that was interesting.

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kitakaze wrote:Yep...although I do have Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Throne of Blood. I also have Onibaba, thought that was interesting.

Oh man, if you've got Yojimbo, then you've gotta get the sequel, Sanjuro... The final duel is awesome. :thumbsup:

bmwracer wrote:
Oh man, if you've got Yojimbo, then you've gotta get the sequel, Sanjuro... The final duel is awesome. :thumbsup:

Yeah, I was going to record that off the Independent Film Channel, widescreen and everything and I forgot to put the blank tape in! :puppydog: I've wanted to see that....

kitakaze wrote:Yeah, I was going to record that off the Independent Film Channel, widescreen and everything and I forgot to put the blank tape in! :puppydog: I've wanted to see that....

This is sorta off topic (sue me), but I noticed you're a Japanese history guy: can you recommend a book or two on Japanese history? Most of the stuff I've browsed through in the bookstores is too condensed for my tastes...

bmwracer wrote:
This is sorta off topic (sue me), but I noticed you're a Japanese history guy: can you recommend a book or two on Japanese history? Most of the stuff I've browsed through in the bookstores is too condensed for my tastes...

Heh, too bad I can't refer you to my website, I never got the time to write a history for it :bonk:.

There aren't a whole lot of good books on Japanese history that isn't condensed. Besides the updated Oxford History of Japan series, two good books to read concurrently would be A History of Japan by Kenneth G. Henshall and Japanese Culture by Paul Varley. These two books complement each other pretty well. Both are still pretty condensed, and provide a general history to the present. Henshall's book is adaquet, but Varely's book, although more about cultural history, is much better. Avoid George Sansom's A History of Japan in three volumes. It's basically a piece of historical crap....

A good book on modern Japan would be the The Making of Modern Japan by Marius B. Jansen. It covers the Edo period to the present, and is a pretty weighty book at 769 pages.

Other books on certain areas of Japanese history would be The World of the Shining Prince by Ivan Morris, Recreating Japanese Women: 1600-1945 edited by Gail Lee Bernstein, and Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John W. Dower.

Heh, you may have been sorry you asked now because you're talking to a history major focusing on Japanese history :nut: .

kitakaze wrote:Heh, too bad I can't refer you to my website, I never got the time to write a history for it :bonk:.

Yeah, I checked it out. Maybe for your thesis. :D

There aren't a whole lot of good books on Japanese history that isn't condensed. Besides the updated Oxford History of Japan series, two good books to read concurrently would be A History of Japan by Kenneth G. Henshall and Japanese Culture by Paul Varley. These two books complement each other pretty well. Both are still pretty condensed, and provide a general history to the present. Henshall's book is adaquet, but Varely's book, although more about cultural history, is much better. Avoid George Sansom's A History of Japan in three volumes. It's basically a piece of historical crap....

A good book on modern Japan would be the The Making of Modern Japan by Marius B. Jansen. It covers the Edo period to the present, and is a pretty weighty book at 769 pages.

Other books on certain areas of Japanese history would be The World of the Shining Prince by Ivan Morris, Recreating Japanese Women: 1600-1945 edited by Gail Lee Bernstein, and Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John W. Dower.

Thanks for the info. I'll check 'em out.

Heh, you may have been sorry you asked now because you're talking to a history major focusing on Japanese history :nut: .

Not at all. Japan's history (as well as the people) fascinates the hell out of me... :beaten:

No problem. :)

I didn't put any Japanese authors down, although I would have liked to. Not many general history books written by Japanese are translated from Japanese into English. The few that are seem to be mainly the recent feminist history. I've just started learning Japanese, and my kanji ability is nul...wich is something I really need to learn, especially if I want to handle primary documents. I need to get over and teach in Japan anyway for master degree programs to take me seriously. :sweat:

kitakaze wrote:I've just started learning Japanese, and my kanji ability is nul...

Same here. But I'm at a point where I'll probably never learn it unless I get bonked on the head by you-know-who and she takes me to live in Japan permanently.



Hey, that sounds pretty good. :beaten:

I need to get over and teach in Japan anyway for master degree programs to take me seriously. :sweat:

Interestingly, my cousin had two stints in Japan teaching kids English. Wish she was still there: It'd give me an excuse to fly out there and visit.

bmwracer wrote:Same here. But I'm at a point where I'll probably never learn it unless I get bonked on the head by you-know-who and she takes me to live in Japan permanently.

You need to perfect your ultimate seduction technique. The bigger club she gets to do it, the better....:beatyou:

I don't know if I'd live there permanently. The two biggest reasons for me to do that would be that I'd fall in love with teaching English, or I fall in love with someone there. I guess there could be a third reason: to escape a sinking ship, but that's just me....

Did your cousin do any special program? I applied for the JET program, but got rejected...I'm looking into private programs, but I need to generate income here first.... :shamefulcry:

kitakaze wrote:You need to perfect your ultimate seduction technique. The bigger club she gets to do it, the better....:beatyou:

I was picturing a cast iron skillet from Williams-Sonoma. :hehe:

Did your cousin do any special program? I applied for the JET program, but got rejected...I'm looking into private programs, but I need to generate income here first.... :shamefulcry:

If memory serves, she landed the job through church, sort of a mission thing...

bmwracer wrote:I was picturing a cast iron skillet from Williams-Sonoma. hehe

Ouch. That'll leave a mark....

If memory serves, she landed the job through church, sort of a mission thing...

That's a good way to do it. I don't have that kind of connection though...although there's a good chance I could get some kind of English teaching job. I've been told to avoid NOVA like the plague though.