From the makers of The Matrix, this new flick Ninja Assassin looks to be the next title to capitalize on the recent popularity of all things Ninja. Produced by the Wachowski brothers, this flick will not be lacking in star power either, as they’ve recruited Korean hunk-extraordinaire Rain for the lead role.
From the looks of the trailer this one looks to be pretty action packed. Very dark, very violent. Very cool. What do you think? Is Rain a good choice for this movie? Or is there another Asian actor that you’d like to see in the title role? Ninjas are supposed to be Japanese aren’t they? Is there any Japanese actor that can equal Rain’s fame? Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s an interesting little short from Takena on Youtube. It’s kind of like Wallace & Grommit, but a little more beastial, sexy, and violent. Like, really violent. I should warn you that although it’s just clay, I would recommend this only for mature audiences. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m going to be very specific here and say that these are just my favorite, and certainly not a definitive list of the best movies out there. I’m not a huge anime fan, but I do have a few flicks that I’ve enjoyed watching over the years, along with their trailers. Read the rest of this entry »
If you’re a fan of the “Koshonin – The Negotiator” TV series, you won’t want to miss the movie that’s scheduled for release in February of 2010.
The movie will reportedly take place aboard an airplane, where the hero Reiko Usagi just happens to be on board. Picture “Snakes on a Plane” without snakes or Samuel Jackson. Ok, that sounds awful — I promise it will be much better than that. Read the rest of this entry »
The line-up of japanese movie at this year’s Venice film festival is pretty impressive. Mamoru Oshii, Satoshi Kon, Shinji Aoyama, Kyoshi Kurosawa and Katsuhiro Otomo are sending their last effort there. Only two films are actually in competition and surprisingly enough those are anime.
On top of that studio Ghibli’s last effort Gedo Senki will also be shown. It’s the first full length directed by Hayao Myazaki’s son, Goro Miyazaki.
I was kind of surprised to hear about a new Otomo movie. Apparently Mushi shi, is a film adaptation of the anime tv show of the same name. Here’s the official website for the tv show in japanese of course.
It’s also interesting to note that the two movie in the official competion are from Otomo and Kon. Kon started his career at Otomo’s studio, he notably directed one of the sketches of Memories.
So we have a Master/student battle here, nice.
I have no idea what Kon’s movie, Paprika, is about, but the few images on the official site are just gorgeous. You can watch the trailer here, but it’s really a small. Up until now Kon has slowly imposed himself as an important animation filmmaker. His last effort the anime serie Paranoia Agent is probably one of the best thing coming out of japanese tv since Serial Experiment Lain.
Here’s the listing of all the japanese films for the Venice Biennale :
Competition
Paprika, Kon SatoshiMushi-shi, Ôtomo Katsuhiro
Out of Competition
Gedo senki (Tales from Earthsea), Miyazaki Goro
Out of Competition (Midnight)
Horizons
Horizons (Documentary)
Tachiguishi retsuden, Oshii Mamoru
Via
One of the most celebrated japanese director in recent years, Imamura Shohei has died on May 30th. He ’s mostly known for two movies in the west, The Ballad of Narayama and The Eel (Unagi), both having won him the Palme d’Or at the Cannes festival in 83 & 97. Imamura was one of the most prominent member of what was called the japanese new wave along with Nagisa Oshima and Masahiro Shinoda.
My personal favourite of his was Doctor Akagi (Kanzo Sensei).
There’s an obituary on the New-York Times, it barely made the news in Japan.
Hiroyuki Nakano who is best known for having directed the post-modern ninja parody Red Shadow and the post-modern samurai music video Samurai Fiction has won a prize for his short movie Iron.
“This short film deals with the troubled mind of an eccentric guy with peculiar ironing obsession.”
The movie won the OFAJ (Very) Young Critic Award. Each year the Cannes film festival organizes a critic’s contest with the highschools of France and Germany participating. The authors of the best ones are invited to a special jury within the Semaine de la Critique competition. This is the prize Nakano won.
Not much but at least he won a prize at Cannes. What did you win you slob ?
This is no joke, Gamera is indeed back and his return was witnessed by the most dedicated of the 3yen contributors.
All praise the kaiju gods. Gamera is back in a new movie that’ll take a closer look at his wild youth. Yes, the new Gamera is a prequel and it will unveiled the mystery behind my favourite atomic turtle origins. I can’t wait. I like to think that this modest blog inspired japanese producers to revive Gamera, since Gamera was the subject of the first post of the site, proving the renewing interest in that magnificent beast.
Shrine of Gamera has quite a documented report on the movie with shots taken from the set.
The trailer has already been uploaded on youtube with a lenghty description of the movie.
There’s also the official website full of information in Japanese and where you can listen to the theme song from Mink.
Gamera : Little Braves (Gamera: Chiisaki yusha-tachi) is going to be released on the 29th of April. Yes, it’s not been released yet and i’m talking about it which pretty rare, i’m so proud of myself. It actually still qualifies as “news”.
I’m going to eat a suppon to celebrate then, i’ll start lobbying for a Gamera vs Negadon movie.
Brooklyn rail has recently featured a guide to japanese 70’s sexloitation movies on dvd. I have no other choice but to link it.
It’s good and full of female convicts, snow blood, and stray cats. What’s not to like ?
Initially a cheap raunchy flick, The Glamorous Life of Shachiko Hanai is gathering good press from around the network of japanese film buffs.
I remember seeing a mention of the movie in midnight eye and unsurprisingly it made the best of the year list of Eye writer Jasper Sharp.
It’s has been recently showed at the raindance festival where a guy from twitch saw it and is providing a review.
The Glamourous Life of Sachiko Hanai is actually a director’s cut of a movie named “Horny Home Tutor: Teacher’s Love Juice”.
After being shot in the head, a call-girl realise that she has become a kind of genius capable of absorbing any piece of knowledge that comes across. At the same time she mysteriously end up in possession of a replica of George W. Bush finger giving her the potential power of launching a nuclear attack.
Yep, yet again another super wacky japanese flick is gaining hype in various festival. What sets The Glamorous Life…” a part is its clear pinku eiga origins.
That reminds me of director Tastsumi Kumashiro that was rediscovered at the end of the 90’s. Kumashiro was from the generation of the japanese new wave and most of his movies were set in the Roman Porno genre of the 70’s. While clearly fullfiling his duty to the codes of the genre, he also was tremendously modern for the time, creating post-modern softcore flicks that are to be seen to be believed.
He basically went under the radar of most critics at the time because of the poor reputation of the Roman Porno flicks. Much like Seijun Suzuki he ended up being rediscovered later when he was given a retrospective that toured around the globe at the end of the 90’s.
Kumashiro is not the first example either. In the 60’s Bergman ’s Monika was showned only in small adult film theatre in Paris where the guys that would form the french new wave discovered the movie and held it as a masterpiece of modern filmaking.
Is Mitsuru Meike (The Life’s director) destined to a similar fate is a guess i won’t take.
Heres the trailer(.asx), and here’s the one page official website.
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