Topic: Japanese Movies

[Spymon]

Japan has made many a fine film, unfortunately I've not watched many of them.  Here is the place to recommend your favourites.

If you've seen any films directed by the legend from the past Ozu, or the big name star Takeshi Kitano then I wanna know.  Oh and don't forget the horror king, Takeshi Mike!

[Demn]

Some fun ones off the top of my head:
Dolls (Kitano)
Go (stars long haired actor from SOS)
Kids Return (Kitano's son or something)
Kikujiro (Kitano)
Ping Pong (stars long haired actor from SOS)
Stacy - Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies
Suicide Club
--
Movies on my to watch list:
Audition (miike)
Dark Water
Hanabi (Kitano)
tokyo.Sora (the 1% of this movie with music is done by Yoko Kanno)
--
Other Japanese movies, not worth noting above because of cultural setting, but that I have to watch/delete soon:
Lone Wolf and Cub 2-5
Ugetsu

[Spymon]

Audition was excellent, I need to watch it again as I though it was a fantastic allegory for the alienation of the young from the old in Japan, though it could have just been the way it was translated.  Great atmosphere and a well made film, not the gore fest I was expecting.

[sosanimeboy]

The only movie I've seen is The Seven Samurais (I think I got the title correct  )

It was pretty good, and the story was moving and historically significant and informative. The fight scenes weren't too bad for a movie that old....but the worst was that a lot of the good characters died towards the end  

[Demn]

    The Seven Samurai was an awesome movie.  Akira Kurosawa (the director) is one of the greatest. :-/ If you liked it go see Yojimbo first and foremost.  Anything else he did is rad too.

   However if you really just want lots of samurai fighting go see Ran (a new remastered dvd just came out, much better than my shitty old one).  Ran is like King Leer but samurai, which is funny because alot of Kurosawa's films were also converted culturally, but into Western films!

[Spymon]

I missed the chance to see some Akira Kurosawa  classics on 35mm, oh well, there's always DVD, but it's not the same

[Demn]

Just find yourself a projector.  

[chii]

I love Kurosawa!!!!! he really needs more recongition in the west.  But if  you're more in the mood for postmodern madness, I recommend  Takahashi Miike's "Happiness of the Katakuris"!!!  That movie is freaking nuts!  I worte my final paper for a pomo film class on it last summer (and got a 3.9- oh yeah!)  

Don't watch "Audition" unless you have a very strong stomach adn don't care too much about plot continuity. Oh, and you'll never be able to call your kitty again!

Kichi, kichi,kichi...  kichi, kichi, kichi... ergghhhh!!!

[Spymon]

Kurosawa is very highly rated in the west, here in the UK they've been doing retrospectives and DVD re-releases.  I think Ozu is a lot less well known in the West.  I gotta see more Ozu, but hard to find on DVD/VHS now I'm not at Uni any more.

[Subu]

Ichi the killer is great and battle royale, versus arent bad either. dark water and suicide club I found rather boring.

Now I am waiting for BR2 and Kitano's Zatoichi to come out...

[Zentron]

I'm a bit of an admirer of Kurosawa movies, though that funny 'Ichi the Killer' did grab me as being quite excellent, although the dialogue could have been better.

[Spymon]

Dolls is out on DVD later this month, I'll have to check it out.

[chii]

What is Dolls about? I haven't heard of it.

[ugliduckey]

  well i'm new.. but i just finish watching battle royal.. it a great movie.. you guy shuold watch it.. the story is crazy...

[Spymon]

Battle Royale is great, not seen the sequal yet though.

Dolls is a Kitano film made up of multipe stories, will tell you more when I see it, or just check the imdb.

[Bangy]

lol, is this the movie wehre the students massacre each other?  My friend was trying to get me to watch it

[Spymon]

Yes, it is.

[Spymon]

I just saw dark water the other week.  Nice creepy horror film from the director of ring.  The DVD also gas a DTS soundtrack which is nice for home cinema nerdy type people.

[beenbaggs]

The Princess Blade is a pretty good action flick; I stumbled upon it at the local arthouse cinema here and enjoyed it as such.

Onmyoji is pretty good as well, though some of the special effects are very B as far as current Hollywood standards go.

I have seen both for sale here in the states on DVD and would recommend them.

[Danzig]

Alas... I am not into any current Japanese movies... I like the old 80's Movies... staring Sonny Chiba!!!!

Yeah the 7 Samurai Was good I did see that one...

But the "Legend of the Eight Samurai" had a lot of b-movie special effects, but was overall good... My favorite Japanese 80's Martialarts movie has to be "Shogun's Ninja" Staring Sonny Chiba, Sue Shiomi and Henry Sanada.  Its pretty Bad ass... with ninja on ninja action, do not miss.  Sonny Chiba, is sorta like Rocky meets Bruce Lee... He has the martial arts skill, and the "I gotta be the best, work hard... ect" attitude.

I'll copy the summery on the back of the DVD...
THE NINJA,
MASTERS
OF TERROR

In this martial arts film, two 16th century ninja clans revisit their old rivalry when they compete to find an ancient dagger that contains the directions to a hidden cache of gold.

Now this movie is an Action/Comedey to some... Its DAMN Good... Especially when Sonny Chiba reaches Japan... ooo.... he goes to a bar and... well YOU HAVE TO SEE!!!

[KillJoy]

I watched Ringu 1 and 2.  
Hollywood made basically the same movie from the first one.  The Ring.  The Japanese version was more interesting in a way I guess because I saw it first and didn't know the Ring was the same movie going in so I was just sitting there not jumping at anything since I already knew what would happen.  

Since I think I heard they are making a “The Ring 2” I can only assume it will be based on the second movie.  Which means you can catch it in Japanese before it hits theaters if you like.

Almost like finding out there is no Santa or something to already know what happens in a thriller horror movie.

[BasouKazuma]

The american sequel to The Ring is gonna be directed by Hideo Nakata. He was the director for the original japanese versions so it'll be interestin to see how it turns out.

And since no one said it yet ... Battle Royal 2 suxxxs especially since the director died in the middle of filming and his son took over. Either way though the story wasnt nearly as good as the first one. Granted i only watched the first 30 minutes but many people told me not to even bother watchin any of it. So i eventually just pressed the stop button.

This was already said but i reallly recommend that everyone watch Ping Pong. Its just basically about a bunch of kids who compete in Ping Pong tournaments though theres more to it than that.

GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka) is good too, it has been made as an anime, live action tv series and a live action movie. Ive only watched the latter 2 of the 3. I dont know, guess im a sucker for J-Drama. The series consists of 13 one hour episodes. Its basically about this delinquent karate expert who wants to be a teacher and he finally gets his chance to prove himself. Yosuke Kubozuka plays a computer hacker kid whos in Onizuka's class and he was also the main character in Ping Pong (Peco). Nanako Matsushima plays Onizuka's love interest and was also the main character in Ringu.

Another Heaven is a good suggestion for a horror movie. Its about this .... guy (forgot his name) who is a detective and there has been a few murders that seem linked together which means theres a serial killer on the loose. Its a supernatural kind of horror movie .. i'll leave it at that before i start giving stuff away.

Well thats all i can think about at the moment.

[KillJoy]

I've been wanting to see "Infernal Affairs" and I was wondering if anyone had seen it yet.  Our theaters around here take forever to bring in anything that isn't 100% mainstream.

I read the reviews and it is going to be quite interesting.

[DeadAlready911]

Porn

[KillJoy]

King.

If this is a word association game now.

[Korrawi]

One Japan film i watched A Tale Of Two Sister, it was cool movie but near the end i kinda got confused and lost the plot if anyone has seen it could they please explain it to me. Also i watched Battle Royale 2 a couple of nights ago and it's way cool worth getting/downloading it to watch it.

[hostghost]

I watched Audition a while back, anyone else seen that. Found it quite nice, especially the "pace". How everything just calmly progresses towards disaster 

[PlasticYakuza]

I just watched Love Song For Rapper the other day. Pretty funny movie up to the end. Need a strong stomach for the end. Otherwise I highly recommend it.

Been trying to watch all of Miike Takashi's movies. Just have Zebraman and Audition left. Visitor Q and Gozu I think were his best so far. Both were incredibly funny while still holding their shock and gore value. Good stuff.

[hostghost]

Many great films have been mentioned here, like Audition.

But one that I haven't seen mentioned here is Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.
Allthough it is a international production, this is the movie where Takeshi Kitano makes his break into serious film (he is originally a comedian). It is directed by award winning Nagisa Oshima. Also starring Ryuichi Sakamoto, who does an amazingly presentation of a second world war officer, compulsive perfectionist and filled with japanese pride. He has also composed the beautiful soundtrack that plays emotional harmonies truly beyond what you normaly see in POW movies. As Sakamoto himself says, this music is mysterious to both japanese and westerners.
David Bowie plays as well, a genuine portrait he performs. And his whole character contrasts the very existence that the rest of the people in the film are experiencing. Tom Conti, and actor I haven't seen much of also avoids the cliché's that british soldier roles often fall into.

Overall this film is amazing, it has a pace and a narrative that differs from any other film, but not in a why that alienates it. Rather contrary, after watching I wanted to become a part of the situation and understand even more. There are far too many aspects that come through in this film to even start to explain them here, you should all just watch it. And take your time, leave the popcorn in the kitchen, because you don't want to miss any of the tention or the drama.

  -hostghost

[Tsubasa]

I like any Japanese horror/mystery/suspense movie with less action and more twisted plot.

-Tsubasa

[hostghost]

Ok, I'm back again.
I've been on a bit of a Kitano rush these past weeks, well not really. But I have seen some of his films.
The one I wanted to mention today was one that I receive in the mail just a few days ago. "Hana-bi"

The story is that of a cop (Kitano) and his terminal sick wife. In frustration over many things, many that perhaps never is explained in the film, Kitano turns cold and overly brutal at his job. And after the shooting and paralyzation of his friend and partner he decides to make the best of the time he and his wife has left. In his own way he decides to rob a bank to take his wife on a trip around Japan, and we experience a man who acts instead of talks.
If I where to characterize this film one thing comes to mind. And that is the fact that all the characters in this movie are learning, they are all chanced and it is portrayed so naturally. So human.

The story might seem a bit cliché when you hear about it, but it differs from this totally and proves a special piece that truly affected me.
Now I am deeply in love. And this movie, hana-bi wich means fireworks, opened my mind to some of the feelings that makes up the whole experience of being in love. It is a true drama, actually a spectacular drama, of victory and defeat, of friendship and hate, of love and broken hearts. It has perhaps the most humor out of all the Takeshi Kitano movies I've seen, but you have to be able to see some tragical comedy. I never laughed, I don't laugh easily, but smiled a lot. And Takeshi once again makes me dig far into my perception of the human being. Watching this film is like having that true meaningfull conversation that we long for. That one conversation that support you, yet carry you forward at the same time. A conversation with a kind and wise man...

I hope some of you will watch and enjoy it.

PS: Here I add the imdb link to both "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" as I talked about earlier and "Hana-bi


  -hostghost

[MrPhil]

Ok, I'm back again.
I've been on a bit of a Kitano rush these past weeks, well not really. But I have seen some of his films.

If you haven't already seen Violent Cop, Sonatine and Brother yet then you really should, as they're awesome.

In Violent Cop, Kitano plays a character in the Dirty Harry-archetype. It's a gritty drama with dashes of dark humour. A strong directorial debut for Kitano.

Sonatine I'd say is easily the best out of three films. Joe Hisaishi's synth score is wonderful. Kitano plays a mob boss who is just sick of everything and who just doesn't care anymore.

Brother is great. It's about the true brotherhood of amongst mobsters.

BTW Boiling Point is garbage, do yourself a favour and skip it.

I have Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. Great film.  The exploration of the clash between the two different cultures was very interesting. I've got Gohatto coming in the mail, the film where Oshima, Kitano and Sakamoto reunite.