Japanese Movies/Discussion/Recommendations

Terryb wrote:Watched Azumi 2 last week, Azumi 1 was great, 2 is just a very average flick where in nothing really happens..a shame.

True. I thought the action was decent in Azumi, which was pretty much all it really had going for it, IMHO. Kitamura is an ok action director.

But Azumi 2 was a really limp movie. I found it pretty boring and predictable.

haven't seen the film myself, but i thought it was just another excuse to see ueto aya. no complaints here.

Here's a trailer for a new Takashi Miike movie, Yokai Daisenso:
http://yokai-movie.com/movies/yokai_yokoku_big.wmv (5.7MB)

Looks like it is a remake or homage to the 1968 Yokai Daisenso (imdb link), which wasn't very good, but had a certain goofy charm.

But it had all the usual Japanese mythological monsters: kappa, tengu, the umbrella dude with one leg, the rokurokubi, etc. and soforth.

DVD Beaver review of Tokyo Twilight: http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews15/tokyo_twilight.htm

been watching the 'lone wolf and cub' series. only watched 'shogun assassin' before this. great series! haven't finished it, but i don't mind taking my time since it's such a great story!

Just saw "Ima, ai ni yukimasu" (Be with you), starring Takeuchi Yuko and Nakamura Shido. It was a nice movie, sort of sweet, reminded me a lot of Yomigaeri, and not just because Yuko was in both. Although I did like Yomigaeri more, I thought this was a pretty good movie.

I just watched "Ronin Gai " and I'm sort of torn about it.

Outrageously fine performances by Katsu Shintaro and Yoshio Harada. I mean, these two guys are actors. Movie stars. You can't not pay attention to whatever they are doing on the screen.

But the script was... slow. Not exactly---compelling.

There was some action at the end. A really fine fight scene.

For the most part I enjoyed the movie... but I can't really imagine watching it again.

Geezer wrote:I just watched "Ronin Gai " and I'm sort of torn about it.

Outrageously fine performances by Katsu Shintaro and Yoshio Harada. I mean, these two guys are actors. Movie stars. You can't not pay attention to whatever they are doing on the screen.

But the script was... slow. Not exactly---compelling.

There was some action at the end. A really fine fight scene.

For the most part I enjoyed the movie... but I can't really imagine watching it again.

I'm still waiting for my copy in the mail... :sweat:

BMW

I think you'll like the ending. I did. I won't hit you with any spoilers, but as in all Samurai movies, there is a fight scene at the end. And it is memorable. (And I'm not being sarcastic here.)

I'm just not sure if I think it was worth the effort to get there. I'll have to stew about this movie for a while.

one of the best films i've seen recently is 'love letter' starring nakayama miho. i defy anybody not to be moved by this movie. i think the japanese excel at stories concerning lost loves.

p.s. my favourite movie of all time is ugetsu monogatari

I liked "Love Letter" a lot. Love the opening shot of Nakayama Miho walking down the snowy hillside.

Ugetsu Monogatari is a classic.

I didn't care for Ronin Gai (1990). It was a big dissappointment for me. I didn't like the plot or the characters or the direction.

my favourite kurosawa film would have to be 'kagemusha' followed by 'kumo no su jou'(throne of blood).

i thought 'the last samurai' although enjoyable portrayed samurai as the stereotypical perfect warrior.

'kakushi ken oni no tsume' starring matsu takako i thought was refreshing because it showed that samurai were human and indeed at time s they were clumsy as seen in the scene when they were learning how to use the canon!

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Japanese films I've seen in the last month.
Warai no Daigaku (University of Laughs): An excellent movie dealing with Japanese censorship in the entertainment industry just prior to WWII. Koji Yakusho gives another fine performance as the bureaucratic censor. Deals with some serious issues in both a dramatic and humorous way. Some of the scenes are fall-out-of-your-seat hilarious.
Swing Girls: Delightful, feel-good, entertaining movie.
Kakushi Ken Oni no Tsume (Hidden Blade): Director Yoji Yamada's second period movie. It will probably draw comparisions with his first period picture, Tasogare Seibei (Twilight Samurai) which swept the top honors at the Japanese Academy Awards a couple of years ago. The plots are similiar. I liked both movies immensely. Hidden Blade, I think, is a little more characteristic of the types of movies Yamada is known for: sentimentality, drama, and comedy all rolled into a warm, character-driven film.
Cha no Aji (Taste of Tea): I was disappointed overall with this film. It's the story of a quirky, dysfunctional family in contemporary Japan. I had read a couple of good reviews of it, but after watching it, I found it did not come near to living up to the praise it got. Slow-paced, aimless, and distant are words I would use to describe this film.
Supermarket Woman: One of the last films of Juzo Itami. I really enjoyed this film a lot. If you like Itami's other films like Tampopo, The Taxing Woman movies, and Minbo, you'll like this one.
Radio no Jikan (Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald): I just saw this movie for around the fifth time, and it is one of my favorite contemporary Japanese films. A well-written, immensely funny, screwball comedy by Koki Mitani. I am a great fan of Mitani, a screenwriter and occasional producer/director of both dorama and theatrical films (Warai no Daigaku, which I mentioned above was written by Mitani). I am always trying to find works by him, but unfortunately, only a few of his titles have been subtitled in English. He reminds me a lot of Juzo Itami.
Zatoichi Jigokutabi (Zatoichi and the Chess Expert): I think I've seen all of the Zatoichi theatrical releases, most of them several times. Watching this movie last weekend just reminded me of what a great character Shintaro Katsu created. Any fan of jidaigeki movies is sure to be a Zatoichi fan. This particular film was directed by Kenji Masumi, who, imo, was the best of the Zatoichi directors.

I watched Samurai Seven last week. It's a very good movie, and I like Kurosawa Akira.

It's a good week for Japanese Movies released on Netflix.

Movies I just put on my waiting list:

"Gore From Outer Space" 2001, staring Abe Hiroshi as an FBI agent. Now that's gonna be tough to beat.

"Premonition" staring Sakai Noriko. Sort of like the U.S. TV show, Early Edition where Noriko's husband keeps getting these news papers with stories from the near future. The twist being, the stories are about horrible things happening to his family, and people he cares about.

And finally! The 2nd and 3rd movies in the Mike Hama series. I"m especially excited about the 3rd one, "The Trap" since Yamaguchi Tomoko guest stars as the mysterious evil woman. I"ve been waiting to see this one for a very long time.



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kitano takeshi movies are also good to watch. not all violent.

kikujiro no natsu was so funny. it's a must!

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Geezer wrote:I think you'll like the ending. I did. I won't hit you with any spoilers, but as in all Samurai movies, there is a fight scene at the end. And it is memorable. (And I'm not being sarcastic here.)

As memorable as the ending of Sanjuro? ;)

Anybody seen that new movie starring Rie Miyazawa and Issey Ogata, entitled Tony Takitani? I believe it's aired in Japan as well as some other European nations...I can't wait to see it...it's not airing in the U.S. until late July, early August depending what city you live in. it's played at several int'l film festivals already including Sundance, to good reviews i might add.

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from the official website, www.tonytakitani.com:

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Tony Takitani had a solitary childhood. Being alone was normal since his mother died young and his father was always away with his jazz band. At school he studied art, but while his sketches are accurate and detailed they lack feeling. Used to being self-sufficient, Tony seems to find emotions illogical and immature.




After finding his true vocation as a technical illustrator, he becomes fascinated by Eiko, a client who in turn is fascinated by high end fashion. Eventually he marries her, and his life changes. He feels vibrantly alive and for the first time he understands and fears loneliness. But her obsession with designer clothes begins to worry him. When he asks her to
economize, the consequences are tragic.


Alone again, Tony sits in his wife's closet gazing at her treasured couture pieces, the whispering ghosts of her soul. Finally, Tony places an ad in the paper searching for a woman who is a perfect Size 7.

Wow, sounds like pretty heavy drama.

Of course, Rie-chan is always watchable, though. ;)