EstherM wrote:

ohh no... Love the manga

I've only seen the anime which is fun but the ending of the first season was wack, but then it's left open ended for future episodes I presume. The manga is bookmarked..I'm eager to read it, given your "review."

Thanks for Geezer's recommendation and watched Messengers with Naoko Iijima and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi. Quite a movie, you wouldn't think delivering messages with bikes could be so exciting but it was. You knew after 20 minutes or so how it would end, still didn't stop it from being such a fun movie, that race at the end was worth the price of admission, I'd rate it 9/10, nice change of pace movie.
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Ayase, Okada, Tsutsumi star in "Princess Toyotomi"

Haruka Ayase, Masaki Okada, and Shinichi Tsutsumi will co-star in a new movie by television director Masayuki Suzuki, titled "Princess Toyotomi." The story is based on a novel of the same name by writer Manabu Makime.

Makime's previous works include "Kamogawa Horumo" and "Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi," which have both been given live-action adaptations. Suzuki was one of the directors involved in Fuji TV's 2008 drama series based on "Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi." Ayase also played a main character on that show.

"Princess Toyotomi" is described as a historical mystery, likened to the Dan Brown thriller "The Da Vinci Code." Blending fiction and historical fact, the novel was published last year and was nominated for the prestigious Naoki Prize.

Ayase, Okada, and Tsutsumi play three elite bureaucrats in the national Board of Audit. While reviewing the government's spending, they stumble upon a discrepancy in Osaka, leading them to unravel a secret that has been kept hidden for 400 years.

Filming starts in July. The movie is expected to be released during early summer 2011.

hitomi #1

I'm glad you enjoyed "Messengers". It was just a fun TV movie.

This week I watched "Tora-San's Dear Old Home", number 9 in the series... and Mizuno Miki's "Hard Revenge Milly"...

Which pretty much tells you that I'm an old Geezer who never really outgrew his adolescence. But what the heck... I enjoyed them both immensely.

shin2 was right. The Tora-san movies are Mother's Milk to old farts like me. And I'm at the point now where I know that every time I stick one of them into my DVD player... I'm gonna be happy for at least a couple of hours.

"Hard Revenge Milly", on the other hand is just a trip. There are actually two titles right now. The first was a 43 minute short film, which was followed by a longer (theatrical?) release, which picks up the story where the first one left off. And I do use the term "story" loosely.

It's sort of "Mad Max", without the restraint.

It's a low budget, gore fest where Mizuno (Milly) slices and dices, shoots, blows up, beats to death, and occasionally cooks the gang that killed her family, and left her for dead. (She, of course, comes back as part mad Milly, part killer robot. It's a trip.)

Mizuno is one of my all time favorite actresses, and it's always fun to see her sneak off and do something she really likes to do. Which is to show off what an accomplished martial artist she is.

What can I say... I love stuff like this. Oooo! I liked "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl" too. I think I'm hopeless.
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Just watched "TAIYOU NO UTA" and I really enjoyed it
YUI's acting was so-so..... but well she's not an actress so it's ok... LOL at least she's cute and the role suits her.

Gonna watch "Kimi Ni Shika Kikoenai" with Narumi Riko and Koide Keisuke.... looks great!!! hmmm let's see...

Nice little 'arty' film I just watched for the 5th time was Body Drop Asphalt, about a young neurotic novelist who pens a popular book, believe me, she puts the rotic into neu!
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Geezer wrote:

Mizuno is one of my all time favorite actresses, and it's always fun to see her sneak off and do something she really likes to do. Which is to show off what an accomplished martial artist she is.

Oh Geezer, you should have been born Belgian. Mizuno Miki was a special guest at the Brussels Fantasy Film Festival last week. Having said that, I didn�Lt go on the day she visited and missed the opprotunity to participate in her Q&A.

Speaking of the festival so far, we have watched Fish Story (quirky but forgettable) starring Atsushi Ito, Kengo Kora and a trashy vampire movie called Higanjima (crappy CGIs), starring Dai Watanabe, Asami Mizukawa, Koji Yamamoto. Both were fun to watch on the big screen with an hyperactive audience but neither was truly grand.

Tomorrow the last installment of 20th century boys!

Geezer wrote:

hitomi #1 I'm glad you enjoyed "Messengers". It was just a fun TV movie. Mizuno is one of my all time favorite actresses, and it's always fun to see her sneak off and do something she really likes to do. Which is to show off what an accomplished martial artist she is.

No, thank you for the recommendation, didn't know it was a TV movie. Speaking of Mizuno, have you seen My Lover is a Sniper? Heard it was so-so in some of the reviews I read though trust the judgements of others here so much more.
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Air Doll......Interesting, to say the least..Bae Du-na was terrific..

niknik wrote:

Air Doll......Interesting, to say the least..Bae Du-na was terrific..

Excellent, I have it on my hard drive, just didn�Lt find the time to watch it.

I am just back from a screening of 20th Century Boys 3 - Redemption. I had mixed feeling with the franchise but had to admit defeat and I made peace with it.

You may get confused with all the characters, it is way too long and follows the manga perhaps too closely (after all, what works well on paper may be boring in an action movie, or three action movies). But the CGI is well done and it�Ls so much fun to try to recognise beloved actors in their 20th century boys make-up. Shiro Sano for instance, or Arata, or Toyokawa Etsushi, Kamiki Ryunosuke etc.

EstherM

Quote:

Oh Geezer, you should have been born Belgian

I know!!! If for no other reason than the waffles.

Re: 20th Century Boys. Hmmm. I loved the first one. Sort of watched the second in installments. You know... watched for a while, then had to turn it off to go do something else... then came back to it a few days later.

I always get so annoyed when they turn a story into a series, and then the series just kind of trails off.


hitomi #1

I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of "My Lover is a Sniper." I hope you see it and hate it... because it's gonna drive me nuts if you like it.

If you can handle horror / supernatural thriller type movies... Kuchisake-onna aka Slit Mouthed Woman, or Carved Mouth Woman... is a trip. I've been a Mizuno nut for 10 years. Heck, I was a fan of her Grandmother's. And I've watched just about all of her series. But I didn't realize that she'd played the title character in "Carved Mouth Woman" until I'd finished the movie and was watching the DVD extras.

Yeah, she was in some pretty extreme make-up when she was going around killing all the children in the neighborhood... but there was a big section when she wore no make-up at all... and she was playing such a different character that I didn't even recognize her.

It's not a great movie. But boy was that one heck of a performance. Put her on a whole new level in my head.
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Manga is to Literature
what Graffiti is to Art

niknik wrote:

Air Doll......Interesting, to say the least..Bae Du-na was terrific..

I saw it. Overall, I thought it was a solid film. But at times it was slow, which to make it feel a bit long. Doo na was good as always.

Geezer wrote:

hitomi #1 I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of "My Lover is a Sniper." I hope you see it and hate it... because it's gonna drive me nuts if you like it.

Found it on LJ, just downloaded it, although the reviews were so-so Miki is supposed to be one tough female in it.

Just viewed Autumn Afternoon, Ozu's last film from 1962. Will say it lived up to it's hype, something about his films that just make most of them classics. All his movies tend to slow paced, no over the top acting, plus the camera is always still. If you like real down to earth people plus the older, traditional Japan lifestyle then check his films out, especially this one.
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hitomi #1 wrote:

Just viewed Autumn Afternoon, Ozu's last film from 1962. Will say it lived up to it's hype, something about his films that just make most of them classics. All his movies tend to slow paced, no over the top acting, plus the camera is always still. If you like real down to earth people plus the older, traditional Japan lifestyle then check his films out, especially this one.

I have all of Ozu's Criterion/Eclipse releases: he's a master of the low-angle camera position.

bmwracer wrote:

I have all of Ozu's Criterion/Eclipse releases: he's a master of the low-angle camera position.

Yeah, you're right about the low angle position, don't know if I've seen anyone ever sit in a chair. What was a nice surprise was the the main library here had it, they've got quite a good inventory of older Japanese films, though sadly no Tokyo Story, that's one by him I really need to see.
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hitomi #1 wrote:

Yeah, you're right about the low angle position, don't know if I've seen anyone ever sit in a chair. What was a nice surprise was the the main library here had it, they've got quite a good inventory of older Japanese films, though sadly no Tokyo Story, that's one by him I really need to see.

Not sure, but I'll bet asiandvdclub has it.

(No, I don't get any kickbacks from them--they're just a great download site)

bmwracer wrote:

Not sure, but I'll bet asiandvdclub has it. (No, I don't get any kickbacks from them--they're just a great download site)

Thanks, I'll check them out.

EDIT- They are down, they estimate they will be back up Thursday or Friday.
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hitomi #1 wrote:

Thanks, I'll check them out. EDIT- They are down, they estimate they will be back up Thursday or Friday.

Ooops, sorry... I forgot about that.

bmwracer wrote:

Ooops, sorry... I forgot about that.

That's okay, gives me a good reason now to watch My Lover is a Sniper.
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Interesting book I just picked up was No Borders No Limits, for fans of the '60's Yakuza/mobster/action films from Nikkatsu. Any book that has Joe Shishido on the cover plus a 10 page interview with him is a must for all fans of that era.

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