Japanese Movies/Discussion/Recommendations

DougFunnieee wrote:I saw Shunji Iwai's latest flick last night, "Hana and Alice." It's about the friendship of two girls. One of them falls for a guy she sees on the train, and when she witnesses him bang his head and become momentarily unconscious while walking down a street, she convinces him that she is his girlfriend. She also convinces him that he doesn't remember this because she tells him that he has amnesia! :rofl: Needless to say, things get more complicated from there.

It's a very charming and innocent film, and not to mention very beautiful. Highly recommended! :thumbsup:

I watched this movie a few days ago and tend to agree with your thought. Personally my Shunji Iwai favourite is "Love Letter", although "April Story" is also very charming.

turtlespeed wrote:Can someone recomend me more movies like:
A Day On The Planet
Blue Spring
Ping Pong
Go (my favorite)
Swing Girls
Waterboys

I like movies about highschool/college students.

Greetings from a fellow "Swing Girls" fan! :applaud:

After watching Swing Girls I checked out "Waterboys" and am also highly amused by this movie.

DougFunnieee wrote:Jozee, the Tiger, and the Fish (2003)

Starring: Satoshi Tsumabuki (and some Juri Ueno :victory:)

Really great film about a boy who falls in love with a girl with cerebral palsy. The chemistry between the two is superb and it's just nice to watch how their relationship unfolds. I originally watched this movie just to see Juri Ueno again (even though she isn't even the lead female), but I was pleasantly surprised by the movie.

Juri Ueno, pre-Swing Girls :mrgreen:

[image]

Thanks for the nice photo. I've ordered a copy of "Jozee" and will get my hands on it in a couple of week. As a matter of fact I've also ordered "Chirusoku no Natsu" which also feathers Ueno Juri. Unfortunately this one is not subtitled so I'll be guessing the plot as I watch. :doh:

DVD Beaver review of Goyokin: http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews20/goyokin_dvd_review.htm

bmwracer wrote:DVD Beaver review of Goyokin: http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews20/goyokin_dvd_review.htm

Thanks, I've been waiting for this review. Too bad about the dvd. I guess I'll be getting the french disc after all.

thtl wrote:

I watched this movie a few days ago and tend to agree with your thought. Personally my Shunji Iwai favourite is "Love Letter", although "April Story" is also very charming.

I've seen April Story too and I liked it a lot. I still need to check out Love Letter though. I might get that this week.

delta_young wrote:hello,

does anyone know whether Nana live-action movie starred by Mika Nakashima has already been shown in Japan?
i only saw the DVD release ad which supposed to be on 3 March 2006... but then i try to search for this title in JDorama database and it seems it's not there yet... so i'm a bit puzzled... the OST by Nakashima has already been released so should the movie, isn't it...?

i would like to watch the movie very much, but there is not much info about it :crazy:

anyone can give some info about this movie? thanks a lot!!

yea, d/l'ed but can't view it...got it off d-addicts, must have to do with the codecs or something....i thought i had the right codecs... :headscratch:
oh well..maybe'll wait until i get another version of the movie..

qilver wrote:

yea, d/l'ed but can't view it...got it off d-addicts, must have to do with the codecs or something....i thought i had the right codecs... :headscratch:
oh well..maybe'll wait until i get another version of the movie..

It's encoded with x264. If you use FFDShow to decode video you just need to enable decoding (switch it on in the Codecs panel (H.264)). Or if you have a slow computer (1ghz or less) try and get the CoreAVC directshow decoder.

I'm waiting on the HK DVD and hoping they do a good job. Can't believe they released this unsubbed in Japan. Idiots!

I borrowed Fantastipo the other day. The beginning is weird and funny, but it gets slow and boring after 45 minutes. :(

I don't recommend it.

MomoNyo wrote:
It's encoded with x264. If you use FFDShow to decode video you just need to enable decoding (switch it on in the Codecs panel (H.264)). Or if you have a slow computer (1ghz or less) try and get the CoreAVC directshow decoder.

I'm waiting on the HK DVD and hoping they do a good job. Can't believe they released this unsubbed in Japan. Idiots!

maybe it will come out with another version where you won't need all that special codec stuff, cause i got cutey honey movie and never need that stuff...
and hope it comes out sub'd in eng soon. :bonk:

DougFunnieee wrote:

I've seen April Story too and I liked it a lot. I still need to check out Love Letter though. I might get that this week.

If April Story is your cup of tea then I'm sure you'll like Love Letter too. While the plot is simple, as in all Iwai's movies, Love Letter has a tighter pace (if you could call it that). The cinematography is superior in Love Letter, IMHO, with Otaru in winter as the backdrop.

delta_young wrote:hello,

does anyone know whether Nana live-action movie starred by Mika Nakashima has already been shown in Japan?
i only saw the DVD release ad which supposed to be on 3 March 2006... but then i try to search for this title in JDorama database and it seems it's not there yet... so i'm a bit puzzled... the OST by Nakashima has already been released so should the movie, isn't it...?

i would like to watch the movie very much, but there is not much info about it :crazy:

anyone can give some info about this movie? thanks a lot!!

The movie is going to be out with the subtitle later.
here's the info on it: http://nana-nana.net/news53.html

If you've downloaded the x264 dvd-rip of Nana, I think they have the subtitles over at kloofy.net.

thtl wrote:

If April Story is your cup of tea then I'm sure you'll like Love Letter too. While the plot is simple, as in all Iwai's movies, Love Letter has a tighter pace (if you could call it that). The cinematography is superior in Love Letter, IMHO, with Otaru in winter as the backdrop.

i thought 'love letter' was fantastic. very touching. :mrgreen:

kenjilina wrote:

i thought 'love letter' was fantastic. very touching. :mrgreen:

Love Letter is one of my all time faves. Shunji Iwai's movies are always enjoyable.

The first fansubs are also out for the Nana movie now. Get them at kloofy.net :)

MomoNyo wrote:
Love Letter is one of my all time faves. Shunji Iwai's movies are always enjoyable.

The first fansubs are also out for the Nana movie now. Get them at kloofy.net :)

i just finished watching NANA...despite it being based on shoujo manga i really enjoyed the movie. m. nakashima did a really great job . she portrayed the character very realistically...i don't really spend much time watching japanese movies but i had fun watching this one. it's fun and believeable. in its exploration of youth and dreams.


i think a lot of female board members here might really enjoy this film since that basically is the target audience. but i think i'd give it a general rec for all to see.

Finished watching Shinobi - Heart Under Blade. definitely loving every minute of it even though some of the CGI looked unreal. Nakama Yukie and Odagiri Joe were great. Nevertheless I wish I have Oboro's "Eyes of Destruction" real life :sweat: :hehe:

MomoNyo wrote:
Love Letter is one of my all time faves. Shunji Iwai's movies are always enjoyable.

The first fansubs are also out for the Nana movie now. Get them at kloofy.net :)

I just got Love Letter but I haven't watched it yet. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna love it though, like all of Iwai's movies. :bonk:

Tu_triky wrote:


i just finished watching NANA...despite it being based on shoujo manga i really enjoyed the movie. m. nakashima did a really great job . she portrayed the character very realistically...i don't really spend much time watching japanese movies but i had fun watching this one. it's fun and believeable. in its exploration of youth and dreams.


i think a lot of female board members here might really enjoy this film since that basically is the target audience. but i think i'd give it a general rec for all to see.

Haha, I just got this one today too. I'm gonna watch it tomorrow... it looks good. After watching the trailer, it also seems that the movie has good music, so I'm gonna get the soundtrack after I watch the movie, heh heh...

laramatsu wrote:Finished watching Shinobi - Heart Under Blade. definitely loving every minute of it even though some of the CGI looked unreal. Nakama Yukie and Odagiri Joe were great. Nevertheless I wish I have Oboro's "Eyes of Destruction" real life :sweat: :hehe:

Shinobi was alright. It's pretty overhyped, but it was good none the less. I'd like to watch the rest of Basilisk now (I only saw the first ep) so I can get more of the story and the character development.

Have any of you guys got the version of NANA from Mendoi Fansubs? I'm trying to get the subtitles as I hear they're the best ones so far.

If so, is there any chance you could rip them and hook me up :puppydog:

Here's how:

Get VirtualDubMod. Open the mkv file in it (if you have the x264 version it might give an error about not being able to decode the video. Don't worry, you don't need to.) Go to the Streams menu, then Stream List. At the end you should see a text stream. Click on it and click the demux button on the right side. That will save out the subs.

laramatsu wrote:Finished watching Shinobi - Heart Under Blade. definitely loving every minute of it even though some of the CGI looked unreal. Nakama Yukie and Odagiri Joe were great. Nevertheless I wish I have Oboro's "Eyes of Destruction" real life :sweat: :hehe:

I also had a go at Shinobi last weekend, and found it very beautifully done. Because the movie was trying to fit a whole manga series into a 2-hour time slot, it is hard to get a real grip on the characters - they all seem to die off in a hurry.

Nevertheless I really love the cinematography. The scenary was breath-taking and the movie scores complimented each scene nicely. I'd watch it again for its artistic value, not necessarily the story itself.