EstherM wrote:

Third post in a row While flying around Asia in the last few weeks I had the opportunity to check out a few Japanese movies. A movie I can recommend very warmly is one whose title I forgot - maybe fellow Jdorama fans (sugicam perhaps) know what movie I am talking about, the word penguin is in the title. Based on real events, Nishida Toshiyuki stars as the director of a declining Hokkaido zoo who tries with the help of his little oddball team to save the zoo and its wildlife animals. It�Ls a sweet, sometimes sad and touching story.

Looks like it's this one?
Penguins in the sky - Asahiyama zoo (International: English title)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1313094/

Thanks for the rec. Sounds like a good one.

EstherM wrote:

Supercar is my favourite Japanese band (I have my issues with Japanese pop/rock/dance/indie - besides Supercar, Cornelius, Pizzicato, Number Girl and Quruli there is not much I like) - I am going to check the Ping Pong soundtrack though, maybe I�Lll discover more innovative Japanese music. Thanks for bringing it up.

I've been a fan of Cornelius and The Pizzicato Five for ages, and only just discovered Supercar because of Ping Pong. Buffalo Daughter is another of my favourites. I'll have to try the others you mentioned. I saw Cornelius live and he had the most onstage equipment I've ever seen at a concert.

On topic: I watched Denchu Kozo no boken. Unmistakably a Tsukamoto Shinya film and similar to his Tetsuo movies. Very low budget, shot in Super 8 and it uses a lot of stop motion. Extremely weird, involving vampires, time travel, and the hero has an electric rod growing out of his back. I enjoyed it immensely.

xploring wrote:

Looks like it's this one? Penguins in the sky - Asahiyama zoo (International: English title) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1313094/ Thanks for the rec. Sounds like a good one.

Yep that�Ls the one, thanks for digging the info out.

Cerebus wrote:

I've been a fan of Cornelius and The Pizzicato Five for ages, and only just discovered Supercar because of Ping Pong. Buffalo Daughter is another of my favourites. I'll have to try the others you mentioned. I saw Cornelius live and he had the most onstage equipment I've ever seen at a concert.

Check out Kahimi Karie, you might like her as well ... on my side I will try out Buffalo Daughter thanks

On topic: I went to the movies last night to watch Tokyo Sonata, starring Koizumi Kyoko and Kagawa Teruyuki. It�Ls a rather bleak Dogme 95-like (hand camera, natural lights, realistic sets etc) story about an average Japanese family. When the salaryman dad loses his job, things go in rather wrong directions. Difficult watch but excellent acting.

Watched Virus (�����̓�, Fukkatsu no hi)...

Never in my life would I've believed that I'd see a movie with a fistfight between Bo Svenson (Walking Tall) and Masao Kusakari ( Jodan Janai! )...

and in Antarctica, no less!

For you Virus aficianados, I watched the full 155 minute Japanese version...
_________________

I've watched another of the films translated and uploaded by 8thSin as batch torrent some time ago. In Kisaragi five men get together a year after the death of an D-list idol for a memorial party, but nothing is as first seems. It's basically just five actors in one room, it could easily have been a stage play. Expertly written with twists following twists, some obvious, some not so. I wasn't so sure about the ending, but it's highly recommended.

Slightly off topic, I also watched The Yakuza, a 1974 Sydney Pollock/Robert Mitchum effort. It's all rather cliche riddled, never have so many characters chopped off their own little fingers in one film. It's worth the effort mainly for a chance to see Tokyo in the seventies and to hear Mitchum speaking Japanese.

Cerebus wrote:

Slightly off topic, I also watched The Yakuza, a 1974 Sydney Pollock/Robert Mitchum effort. It's all rather cliche riddled, never have so many characters chopped off their own little fingers in one film. It's worth the effort mainly for a chance to see Tokyo in the seventies and to hear Mitchum speaking Japanese.

Is it really that interesting to see Robert Mitchum speak Nihon-go?

bmwracer wrote:

Is it really that interesting to see Robert Mitchum speak Nihon-go?

With his accent manner of speaking, it would probably be quite funny

The Yakusa was a pretty good action flick for it's day. And what seems cliched now sure didn't in 1974.

And I think that's the movie that introduced Ken Takakura to American audiences.
_________________

Geezer wrote:

The Yakusa was a pretty good action flick for it's day. And what seems cliched now sure didn't in 1974. And I think that's the movie that introduced Ken Takakura to American audiences.

Yes, the action sequences where good, espically the final fight scene.

Watched Conspiracy of the Yagyu Clan (US title Shogun's Samurai). Excellent movie with an all star cast of the time(1978) and a few actors of today during their younger days. It's an alternate history story centering around the murder of Tokugawa Hidetada and the clash of his son's to become the next Shogun. (In reality, Hidetada abdicated and eventually died of natural causes.) Different groups ally themselves with each side, all of them having their own personal reasons for doing so. At first it seemed like their introductions and demises meant nothing until you reach the end of the film and realized what their true purpose was to illustrate. Battle and fight scenes are quick and the pace of these scenes are done very well. More importantly, even though Chiba Shinichi was the choreographer, as well as playing a bad-ass Yagyu Jubei, the fight scenes were not what made the movie. It's so common these days to watch a movie where the story serves only to get you from one action scene to another. Instead it was all the political scheming with the battles serving as necessary parts of moving the plot. And the ending was sweet!

^ If you can get a hold of it, your you should check out the entire series Yagyu Ichizoku no Inbo (The Yagyu Conspiracy)... It's much more detailed...

Opening video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1G9eQRrFRY

JDorama thread: http://www.jdorama.com/viewpost.656022.htm

hi minna
let us discuss this for a bit, i know this isn't that important but anyway it's about the movie "Blood: The Last Vampire"

if you guys were to choose who would play Saya instead of Korean Gianna Jun, who would it be? pick a Japanese actress...

i choose Chiaki Kuriyama, any idea guys? interested ones?
_________________

nippon addict wrote:

i choose Chiaki Kuriyama, any idea guys? interested ones?

Good choice, I would go with Kou Shibasaki.

gaijinmark wrote:

Good choice, I would go with Kou Shibasaki.

+1.

Aren't Shibasaki and Kuriyama both getting a bit long in the tooth to be playing school girls in sailor suits?

I haven't seen the movie but I looked at a couple of clips, and truth to tell, I'd be rooting for Koyuki.

If I was gonna make a vampire movie my first two choices would be Kichise Michiko or Koyuki. Maybe even both. Make them rivals.

But then, I'm not big on the little girl in the Sailor Suit battling demons theme.
_________________

bmwracer wrote:

^ If you can get a hold of it, your you should check out the entire series Yagyu Ichizoku no Inbo (The Yagyu Conspiracy)... It's much more detailed... Opening video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1G9eQRrFRY JDorama thread: http://www.jdorama.com/viewpost.656022.htm

Having watched that opening, I'm on it like a hobo on a ham sandwich! One of the things I liked about the movie was that the action scenes were secondary to the political intrigue, serving to strengthen it rather than be the purpose for watching. I hope the series will be like that. Of course there's nothing wrong with watching Chiba Shinichi as Yagyu Jubei chopping down ninja and nobles left and right.

Kijinnmaru wrote:

Having watched that opening, I'm on it like a hobo on a ham sandwich!

Tell me about it... That opening is badass.

Quote:

One of the things I liked about the movie was that the action scenes were secondary to the political intrigue, serving to strengthen it rather than be the purpose for watching. I hope the series will be like that. Of course there's nothing wrong with watching Chiba Shinichi as Yagyu Jubei chopping down ninja and nobles left and right.

Again, I hear ya: the drama series really elaborates on the political intrigue and maneuvering that went on... Not sure how historically accurate it was, but it was really fascinating stuff... And honestly, better than most of the bloated Taigas that have aired over the years...

EstherM wrote:

Still Walking is going to be released next week in a few movie theaters in Belgium I am super pleased because so few Japanese movies get European distribution.

I finally made it to the theatres and watched Still Walking last night. It has been voted must-see-movie three weeks in a row in Belgium's most read publication, the Metro.

Made me think that families are all alike, Japanese, mine or other.

I also watched 20th Century Boys part 2 (I still believe the manga is better), and K-20: Kaijin niju menso den with Kaneshiro Takeshi and Takako Matsu. Both are big popcorn productions and the story takes places in alternative universes.

DVD Beaver review of Tokyo Sonata: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews46/tokyo_sonata_blu-ray.htm

has anyone seen IKIGAMI already?.. i watched it last night and it was great