General Japanese Movie Thread

[Yoshino]

Family Game was such a good and quirky film, he also directed one of my other faves The Mamiya Brothers/ Mamiya Kyodai. This guiltily could be be my fave song of all time, tell me if the video is not a play on the Family Game movie.

[Yoshino]

Ended the Hideko month on a good note, my fave from hers and as usual one directed by Naruse, from 1957 Arakure aka Untamed Woman. Hideko played a woman who really had been beaten down so many times in her life and kept getting back up only to see something else go wrong, usually though the men she was married to or worked with. This was nominated for best Foreign Film for 1957 but didn't make the final cut but had I been around back then to vote....

[winner]

Andarushia - Megami no Houfuku. Big improvement in story pacing compared to Amalfi.

Normally, I think it's a waste of money for movies to be shot overseas when they can be done locally.
This one did pretty well though showing a lot of nice scenes.

[winner]

Princess Toyotomi - Story gets crazy in a large scale. Really interesting stuff.
Lucky I watched Gou, otherwise I would not get all the Sengoku references.
LOL, didn't notice Tamaki Hiroshi's guest appearance until seeing his name in the credits and rewinding back.

[Yoshino]

So wanna talk about some movies....uh, you can't, you're going to a what? Oh, a B-Day party, that sounds cool, is it someone we know who's celebrating being another year older today?

[winner]

SPEC movie trailer

[Yoshino]

MPAJ releases yearly box office ranking for 2011

The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (or ‘MPAJ‘ for short) have released their annual official box office rankings for 2011.

Unlike 2010, the film industry experienced a sharp decline in terms of sold movie tickets and revenue for 2011. The number of sold tickets dropped by 17% (from 174,358,000 to 144,726,000), while the revenue declined by 17.9% (from 220,737,000,000 Yen to 181,197,000,000 Yen), although the number of movies screened increased by 83 (from 716 to 799).

Of course the Great Tohoku Earthquake was the major culprit for the decline. The number of screens in Japan decreased by 73 compared to 2010, with 40 of them gone because of the earthquake.

Although revenue declined for both Japanese and Western films, it was the fourth consecutive year for Japanese films to be more successful than its Western counterparts. 54.9% of the total revenue was earned by Japanese films, while 45.1% was earned by Western films.

As for the most successful films, please check out the rankings below!

Rank :: Revenue ¥ (billion) / $ (million) :: Title :: Release :: Distributor
01 :: ¥4.46 / $57.48 :: Kokuriko-zaka Kara :: July :: Toho
02 :: ¥4.33 / $56.00 :: Pokémon the Movie: Black and White** :: July :: Toho
03 :: ¥4.28 / $55.36 :: Suteki na Kanashibari :: October :: Toho
04 :: ¥4.10 / $53.03 :: SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO :: Dec’10 :: Toho

05 :: ¥3.45 / $44.62 :: GANTZ :: January :: Toho
06 :: ¥3.33 / $43.07 :: SP: The Motion Picture Kakumei Hen :: March :: Toho
07 :: ¥3.18 / $41.13 :: Aibou The Movie II :: Dec’10 :: Toei
08 :: ¥3.15 / $40.74 :: Meitantei Conan: Chinmoku no Kuota :: April :: Toho

09 :: ¥2.82 / $36.47 :: GANTZ PERFECT ANSWER :: April :: Toho
10 :: ¥2.46 / $31.82 :: Doraemon Shin Nobita to Tetsujin Heidan :: March :: Toho
11 :: ¥2.34 / $30.26 :: Unfair: The Answer :: September :: Toho
12 :: ¥2.22 / $28.71 :: Moteki :: September :: Toho

13 :: ¥1.89 / $24.44 :: Kamisama no Karute :: August :: Toho
14 :: ¥1.88 / $24.31 :: Andalucia: Megami no Houfuku :: June :: Toho
15 :: ¥1.77 / $22.89 :: Inazuma Eleven: Saikyo Gundan Oga Shurai :: Dec’10 :: Toho
16 :: ¥1.76 / $22.76 :: Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful & Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger** :: August :: Toei
17 :: ¥1.63 / $21.08 :: Gaku :: May :: Toho
18 :: ¥1.62 / $20.95 :: Princess Toyotomi :: May :: Toho
19 :: ¥1.61 / $20.82 :: Kaiji 2 :: November :: Toho
20 :: ¥1.57 / $20.30 :: Taiheiyo no Kiseki :: February :: Toho
21 :: ¥1.50 / $19.40 :: Bushi no Kakeibo :: Dec’10 :: Asmik Ace/Shochiku

22 :: ¥1.40 / $18.10 :: Norwegian Wood :: Dec’10 :: Toho
23 :: ¥1.39 / $17.97 :: Paradise Kiss :: June :: Warner Bros.
24 :: ¥1.38 / $17.85 :: Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider OOO & W Featuring Skull :: Dec’10 :: Toei
25 :: ¥1.33 / $17.20 :: OOO. Den-O. All Riders: Let’s Go Kamen Riders :: April :: Toei

MPAJ

[Saburo]

Finally caught "Instant Numa," a movie my friend INSISTED I see ASAP. Of course that was months ago...

Really sweet profile of quirky lives and dreams and all those question marks we carry with us in this crazy mixed-up world.

[Saburo]

I'll be visiting Tottori later this Spring so I decided to watch "Woman in the Dunes" on the Everest Principle. For so long this title was just that: a famous movie title and little more.

What a far-freakin' out experience this was. Arty-farty to the core, rich in allegory, symbolism, precise black-and-white photography, and a pretty creepy soundtrack that screeches eeriness and spookiness and get-me-the-hell-outta-here-ness.

Also noteworthy: pretty HOT lovemaking scenes for mid-60s Japanese cinema. Even with that obake/Kwaidan siren soundtrack lingering about.

At over two hours, thirty minutes there's a lot of stuffiness to be had so patience is a virtue. Look forward to playing in the sand later this year!

[Yoshino]

Haven't watched a film for a while, too many dramas but gonna change that, just viewed Uchu daikaiju Girara from 1967, really one of the more cheesy movies from that era, least so much it made it an okay watch, probably one of the few sci-fi films from that period that wasn't directed by Honda, could have used him.

[winner]

Kaiji 2. Checked how long it was, and thought how on earth are they going to challenge a pachinko machine for 2 hours.
Then it basically turns into a bank heist movie. Overall pretty fun.

[muppet]

This film will be released in August- something I would like to see.

Entitled 日本の噓　/ Nippon no Uso (The Deception of Japan)

From the Asahi Shimbun story by writer Louis Templado:

Japan has needed a chronicler dedicated to tracing the roots of its nuclear tragedy--and it's found an old one in the form of Kikujiro Fukushima. Ninety-one years old and still shooting, the photojournalist is among the longest-serving in the profession.

A witness to immediate aftereffects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Fukushima the photographer is the subject of a soon-to-be-released documentary that describes his path to Fukushima, the nuclear accident, which at his age can only be a natural close to a career of nearly seven decades..........

full story: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/AJ201203220075

[Yoshino]

Seeing as how my fave era of Japanese films is from the 60's-early 70's naturally KenTakakura is high on my list of best actors, here's some info from Oricon on his new film, his 205(!!) and the trailer for it, good cast besides him.

The full trailer for the upcoming movie road movie ‘Anata e‘, starring Takakura Ken in his 205th movie, has finally been released on the official website.

‘Anata e’ is directed by Furuhata Yasuo, who already worked with Takakura in 20 other films. It tells the story of a Japanese prison counselor called ‘Kurashima Eiji‘ (Takakura) who lost his beloved wife (Tanaka) at the relatively young age of 53. In her last ‘etegami’ (picture letter) to him, she wrote down that she would like to have her ashes scattered over the sea in her hometown. In order to fulfill her last wish and in order to find out more about his late wife, Kurashima takes her ashes and begins his travel from Toyama to Nagasaki with his camper van. Along the way, he’ll run into many different people and experience an unforgettable journey.

The movie is based on a draft by the late Ichiko Seichi and was completed by scriptwriter Aoshima Takeshi. The distance between Toyama and Nagasaki is 1,200 kilometers (745 miles), but due to some scenes having to be filmed in various outskirts, the team around Takakura had to travel for a total of 9,050 kilometers (5,623 miles) during a period of two and a half months.

A breathtaking ensemble of actors are appearing in smaller and bigger roles throughout the movie, including Kitano Takeshi, Sato Koichi, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, Tanaka Yuko, Nagatsuka Kyozo, Harada Mieko, Yo Kimiko, Ayase Haruka, Miura Takahiro, Otaki Hideji, Asano Tadanobu, Okamura Takashi, and many more. The trailer already introduces many of the characters they are portraying in the movie.

‘Anata e’ is going to open in cinemas nationwide on August 25th.

[winner]

Checked out SPEC~ Ten

A lot better than expected. Doesn't have the drama-to-movie habit of making the pacing slow and boring.
Instead the story is kept simple with really fun scenes all through it.
It's probably on the same level if not better than the series. Really good watch.
Also gave me a huge hunger for gyoza.

[muppet]

Just saw a really nice family film- if you like dogs, you will enjoy this film.

LOVE　まさお君が行く!  / Love Masao Kimi ga Iku! (English Title is 'Go Masao!')

A very nice film starring  the talented youngest member of SMAP, Shingo Katori and a wonderful Labrador playing Masao.

Based on the true story of a television program where a comedian, Hideki Matsumoto,and a Labrador named Masao, starred in a televsion series called 'まさおくんが 行く！ぽちたまペットの旅' 　/ "Masao-kun ga iku! Pochitama petto no tabi"　（"Itinerant Dog Masao's Trip"), Katori plays Matsumoto.

It is a fine film for pet lovers, as it really explores the love between people and their pets, and how everyone's lives improve when that love is allowed to grow.


Great supporting cast with the always wonderful  Ryoko Hirosue as Matsumoto's love interest who has drifted away after many years of relationship that has not culminated in marriage. One of the best of the young generation of actresses, Riko Narumi plays the assistant director who is under the guidance of veteran actor Ken Mitsuishi as the director. Susumu Terajima, one of the most familiar character actors in Japanese cinema, has a supporting role as the manager of the talent agency that provides human and canine actors.

Hideki Matsumoto has a very small role in the film, but very memorable indeed. Pictured below is Matsumoto with Masao while promoting the television series.

A bonus to the film is the ending song is  AKB48's Atsuko Maeda's 'Kimi Wa Bokuda', written by Yasushi Akimoto.

A link to the trailer which includes Shingo Katori: http://www.nipponcinema.com/trailers/love-masao-kun-ga-iku-trailer

The YouTube link does not include Katori, but does have Matsumoto with Masao, and Maeda's song.

[winner]

SPEC finale is coming:

http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/12/spec-to-spawn-another-movie-and-drama-special-next-fall/

[hwangmagic]

 Um, guys, if you haven't seen this movie......what has been going on in your life? Seriously.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN0HVJ5tkIM[/video]

[muppet]

^ I bet Tim Burton has seen that film............

[Yuling]

Just finished "Another", it was released on bluray a few weeks back. It was alright but the anime was better. You don't need to see the anime to see this. It's probably best if you don't. The anime will spoil it a bit. I'm not sure if subs are out yet for it, if not they will be shortly. Here's the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/f8YnXpleVhs

[Yoshino]

SPEC finale is coming:

http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/12/spec-to-spawn-another-movie-and-drama-special-next-fall/

Think SPEC deserved it's own thread, from Oricon yesterday:

It was announced that upcoming movie “SPEC ~Close~“, which is the concluding episode of the “SPEC” series, will be a 2 part movie titled “Gekijouban SPEC ~Close~ Zen no Hen” and “Gekijouban SPEC ~Close~ Kou no Hen.” Both parts will be  released successively this fall.

“SPEC” series started as a serial drama (on TBS) that aired back in October of 2010, and it follows the odd duo of “Toma Saya” (played by Toda Erika) and “Sebumi Takeru” (played by Kase Ryo), who are the special agents of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Public Security Bureau and tackle difficult and mysterious cases related to criminals with certain special abilities (called as “SPEC HOLDER”). There was also a special drama “SPEC ~Sho~” (aired in April 2012), as well as a movie “SPEC ~Ten~” (released in April 2012).

Including the regular cast members from the drama, such as Ryu Raita (as “Nonomura Kotaro”), and Arimura Kasumi (as “Masaki Miyabi”), there will be appearances of the successive “SPEC HOLDERS” who also appeared in the drama which include  Asano Yuko (as “Madam Yang”), Kamiki Ryunosuke (as “Ninomae Juichi”), Fukuda Saki (as “Shimura Mirei”), Shirota Yu (as “Chii Satoshi”), Tanaka Tetsushi (as “Reisen Toshiaki”), Yasuda Ken (as “Unno Ryota”), and Mano Erina (as “Satori”).

Also, Kitamura Kazuki (as “Kikkawa Shu”), who made a guest appearance on the previous special drama “SPEC ~Sho~”, and Kuriyama Chiaki (as “Aoike Satoko”), who appeared in the previous film “SPEC ~Ten~”, will be appearing. Moreover, Kashii Yu, KENCHI (EXILE), and Endo Kenichi will be joining as new characters.

Additionally, it was announced that Mukai Osamu and Oshima Yuko will be making appearances as well. Mukai’s role will be “Sekai”, a mysterious man in white, who appeared in the last scene of the previous movie “SPEC ~Ten~”, and Oshima’s role will be a mysterious woman who will be the key to the story.

Prior to the release of the movies, another special drama “SPEC ~Zero~” is also set to be aired this fall, and it will depict the story of how Toma ended up losing her left hand. The guest characters for the special drama include Osugi Ren, Kawashima Umika, and Takashima Masanobu.