Sion Sono

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Re: Sion Sono

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The last time I heard Third Window Films was waiting for a new HD transfer from Japan, so it's probably gonna be the same one on both discs. With UK I'd have to
a) wait longer till it's released
b) import it
c) probably end up with a region B dics (A is more convenient for a film I may be watching with friends outside my own room...)

But yes, the price would be much cheaper, and the UK's gonna have much more extras if the specs are correct (though I already have those same extras on the 3 Disc R2J DVD, I think...)
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Re: Sion Sono

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Opens Oct 20.
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Re: Sion Sono

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Re: Sion Sono

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First comments:
James Hadfield wrote:"Still shaken after watching Sion Sono's Fukushima-themed THE LAND OF HOPE today. I can't believe quite how bad that was. This was just 130 mins of daytime TV-grade melodrama."
- https://twitter.com/JamesHadfield/statu ... 3080934400
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Re: Sion Sono

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HungFist wrote:Holy motherfucker! The best news of the year just came true!
SION SONO EARLY WORKS: BEFORE SUICIDE DVD collection will be released on Oct. 2 in JAPAN. 13 titles (8 are never been released titles)
- https://twitter.com/#!/picturesdept
The DVD BOX includes 13 titles including 8 “never-released” titles and one “unfinished” work titled “BAD FILM”. Sono is now doing post-production of this great piece of work in his 80′s.
- http://picturesdept.com/2012/06/01/511/

8 Disc Collection by Happinet

・『ラブソング』★(1984年、9分) (Love Song, 1984, 9 min)
・『俺は園子温だ!!』(1985年、36分) ※ぴあフィルムフェスティバル入選 (Ore wa Sono Sion da! / I am Sion Sono 1985, 36 mim)
・『愛』 ★(1986年、31分) ) (Ai / Love, 1986 31 min)
・『男の花道』 ★(1988年、102分) ※ぴあフィルムフェスティバルグランプリ受賞第一部「丸ごと一匹野郎」/第二部「斜線」 (Otoko no hanamichi / A Man's Flower Road, 1988, 102 min)
・『決戦!女子寮VS男子寮』 ★(1990年、102分) (Kessen! Joshiryou tai Danshiryou / Decisive Match! Boy's Dorm vs Girls's Dorm, 1990, 102 min)
・『自転車吐息』(1990年、93分) (Jitensha toiki / Bicycle Sighs, 1990, 93 min)
・『部屋 THE ROOM』(1993年、93分) (The Room, 1993, 93 min)
・『BAD FILM』 ★(1995年、100分予定) (Bad Film, 1995, 100 min)
・『桂子ですけど』(1997年、61分) ※サンダンス映画祭審査員特別賞受賞 (Keiko desu kedo / I am Keiko, 1997, 61 min)
・『風』 ★(1998年、27分) (Kaze / Wind, 1998, 27 min)
・『0cm4』パリコレバージョン★(1999年、22分) (0cm4, 1999, 22 min)
・『うつしみ』(1999年、98分) (Utsushimi, 1999, 98 min)
・『父の日』★(2001年、15分) (Chichi no hi / Father's Day, 2001, 15 min)
・「"グレイトリッチーズMV 遠い夜空をDEEP INTO THE DAYDREAM~余裕がない~」(ミュージックビデオ、5分) (Great Riches Music Video, 5 min)
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Re: Sion Sono

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Re: Sion Sono

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Re: Sion Sono

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Why Don't You Play in Hell? teaser:
- http://play-in-hell.com/
- http://youtu.be/YHtRfHTOT1M

via twitch

Bad sign when there's CGI blood already in the teaser...
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Re: Sion Sono

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Re: Sion Sono

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HungFist wrote:Why Don't You Play in Hell? teaser:
- http://play-in-hell.com/
- http://youtu.be/YHtRfHTOT1M

via twitch

Bad sign when there's CGI blood already in the teaser...
Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9u_ca4NvdU

Looks boring. Hope the film is better.
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Re: Sion Sono

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HungFist wrote:
HungFist wrote:Why Don't You Play in Hell? teaser:
- http://play-in-hell.com/
- http://youtu.be/YHtRfHTOT1M

via twitch

Bad sign when there's CGI blood already in the teaser...
Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9u_ca4NvdU

Looks boring. Hope the film is better.
Most of the reviews claim it is better:

"Comes pretty damn close to Love Exposure in its renegade spirit and leaps of imagination." - Film Business Asia

Tedious, over-the-top gorefest - Variety

A madcap salute to cinema and yakuzas - Hollywood Reporter

A classic cult title that will keep midnight movie fans entertained and amused - Screen Daily

A gore-filled joy - The Telegraph

Aspiring midnight movie is suitably manic but lacks real feeling - Hitfix

...in a truly spectacular extended melée that sees CGI blood and limbs flying - The Playlist

anyone receptive to the works of John Woo, Johnnie To or Takeshi Kitano will undoubtedly find much to enjoy - Cine Vue

I'll see for myself at the end of the month.

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Re: Sion Sono

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Saw Why Don't You Play in Hell last weekend. Disappointing. Has promise and many good scenes, but the ending is a CGI blood mess beyond belief. I can't believe Sono is now doing that kind of CGI crap that is such a disgrace to real action cinema.

Tak Sakaguchi is kinda awesome as a Japanese Bruce Lee wannabe, though.

There's a lot of fun references. The film Tak and guys are filming within the film is Blood of the Wolves - a movie Sono and Sakaguchi were to co-direct and probably even started filming but never finished. Also, in the movie theater scene they play The Room, which is a Sono film from the early 90's. Mickey Curtis plays the projectionist.

The best thing about the film is Fumi Nikaido. Japanese pretty girls tough playing tough usually end up being just cute with zero credibility, but Nikaido is simply amazing. Guys are gonna be in love.

It's just a shame that the film is so uneven. It doesn't find any proper balance - too many characters, some embarrassing comedy acts, recycled music from older Sono films, and the when the ending comes you get about 3000 liters of blood and it's all CGI.

It's a better film than the last few Sono's, but a far cry from the amazing Sono films like Hazard, Noriko's Dinner Table, Suicide Club, and Love Exposure.
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Re: Sion Sono

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Funny thing, I ended up seeing Why Don't You Play in Hell in cinema for the second time (had 3 hours to kill while waiting for the gf, the film played at that exact time, in the same building I were in, and I had review responsibility for Monday anyway).

In some ways more enjoyable on the second time when I knew not to expect too much. Basically: the first 30 min kicks major ass. Sono samples his music selection like Tarantino in his best days. Halfway slows down a bit. The ending is lame with tons of CGI and could also benefit from better editing.

Here's the fantastic toothpaste commercial from the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viU4P_XG_eA
In a nutshell, it is a disappointing film, nowhere near Sono's best movies, but it has lots of good things to it too, especially parts of the soundtrack and some actors.
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Re: Sion Sono

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Did a shortened English translation of my Finnish review:
http://sketchesofcinema.wordpress.com/2 ... y-in-hell/

Also finally watched Land of Hope a few weeks ago. Not much to write home about:

Land of Hope (Japan, 2012) [DVD]
Sion Sono’s second 3/11 film is a TV-level nuclear disaster drama. Sono uses a fictional Nakashima prefecture to re-create the Fukushima disaster. Strong criticism on the government aside, the film is a restrained family drama, playing much like a sentimental TV film. Sono’s usual bite is nowhere to be found. Isao Natsuyagi’s performance is the film’s strongest asset.
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Re: Sion Sono

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Why Don't You Play in Hell Japanese DVD and BD 2014/03/12
- http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_dvd. ... sid=912960

Listed at 130 min... same as Japanese theatrical then.

To be honest, I'll probably rent it at some point just to watch the opening scene again. The rest of the film, I doubt.
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Re: Sion Sono

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No word on release date for Tokyo Tribe yet, but Sono starts filming his new movie Shinjuku Swan this week.
- http://asianwiki.com/Shinjuku_Swan_%28Japanese_Movie%29
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Re: Sion Sono

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HungFist wrote:Saw Why Don't You Play in Hell last weekend. Disappointing. Has promise and many good scenes, but the ending is a CGI blood mess beyond belief. I can't believe Sono is now doing that kind of CGI crap that is such a disgrace to real action cinema.

Tak Sakaguchi is kinda awesome as a Japanese Bruce Lee wannabe, though.

There's a lot of fun references. The film Tak and guys are filming within the film is Blood of the Wolves - a movie Sono and Sakaguchi were to co-direct and probably even started filming but never finished. Also, in the movie theater scene they play The Room, which is a Sono film from the early 90's. Mickey Curtis plays the projectionist.

The best thing about the film is Fumi Nikaido. Japanese pretty girls tough playing tough usually end up being just cute with zero credibility, but Nikaido is simply amazing. Guys are gonna be in love.

It's just a shame that the film is so uneven. It doesn't find any proper balance - too many characters, some embarrassing comedy acts, recycled music from older Sono films, and the when the ending comes you get about 3000 liters of blood and it's all CGI.

It's a better film than the last few Sono's, but a far cry from the amazing Sono films like Hazard, Noriko's Dinner Table, Suicide Club, and Love Exposure.
Well... While I generally agree with your comment, I will have to comment: To Be fair, if you look at the splatter massacre of the ending of this movie, it must've been pretty difficult to set up - especially on a tight budget. They would probably have had to shoot the final sequence for a much longer time, had they not used CGI blood effects - it would've been very hard. I agree, it comes off as really lazy; yet, at the same time, I also don't blame Sono for deciding upon it. Just look at the small place in which they shot the movie; with practical effects, it would mess up the cameras, and they would probably have to shoot most of it in, like, one take, or something. It made total sense to me they used CGI, even though it looks cheap.

I suppose one solution they could've come up with for this movie, could have been to create a bigger space for the final showdown, like Kill Bill Vol.1 'House of Blue Leaves' studio. That way, they could've utilized practical effects, given they would've had more space to set up cameras and whatnot. They do reference to Kill Bill a lot, too. It makes sense, though; Sono is a genre film kind of a guy, right. Sono draws inspiration from that Western, postmodern aesthetic, and he mixes his Classical music with J-pop rock stuff, and messes with stuff all the time. I like how they threw in the 'Battles Without Honor and Humanity' beginning theme, in this humorous way. I guess classics always end up getting parodied in our modern times - 'Seventh Seal', 'Psycho', 'Exorcist', etc. etc. Next Sono movie should be a parody of a movie of his own - a parody of a parody!

I totally agree about Fumi Nikaido! OMG! This is the dangers of watching movies - you'll end up getting these painful crushes on the female leads, lol... :roll: Those Japanese; they surely work a lot, don't they! She is such a young, little girl, and yet she's already been in several cool movies, including that Miike flick. I am looking forward to seeing the Asano Tadanobu movie, in which she co-stars - she deserves to be in good movies, acting with top stars! She is special, for sure!

I guess, even though I am not even that huge of a Sono fan, I do admire his youthful spirit. To me, Sono is a kid at heart - he's this 52 year old little boy. He looks young, I think, and he focuses on making these adolescent, adorable artsy-fartsy movies about modern Japanese youth. In a way, I would say a movie such as 'Love Exposure', is kind of like a Japanese equivalent of a Bollywood kind of a movie. I see it now - the amusing, goofy stuff he puts in there so to make it colorful and entertaining. In that sense, I think he does a pretty good job, depicting Japanese pop-culture, youth-culture, in an amusing fashion. Personally, I do find his youthful demeanor quite inspiring - it shows that you are only as old as you feel. :)
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Re: Sion Sono

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Or maybe Sono is just an old fart who can't accept oldness, thereby making 'Tokyo Tribe' to Hip-level up himself at topics he doesn't really understand. :)

Meanwhile, this commercial with Fumi Nikaido in it, is just the sweetest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5iyRaF3T-4 :love: I love how the Japanese say Choco-late! It's sooo cute... The Japanese are so cute, I just want to pet them.
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Re: Sion Sono

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Good reasoning there, though it still doesn't make me any more forgiving for the ending. One of the problems with CGI is that it allows filmmakers to do something they don't have the necessary resouces / skill for. If Sono knew couldn't do it well, he shouldn't have tried it at all, but instead do something else that he can do well.

But I am getting the feeling that Sono, and most of the audiences, just love CGI blood. Very few people these days critisize the use of CGI blood, even in splatter films, even if it was made with Playstation 1 generation graphics. I hate to see even people like Yoshihiro Nishimura go for CGI blood these days. I really don't get it, but maybe that's just me...
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Re: Sion Sono

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HungFist wrote:Good reasoning there, though it still doesn't make me any more forgiving for the ending. One of the problems with CGI is that it allows filmmakers to do something they don't have the necessary resouces / skill for. If Sono knew couldn't do it well, he shouldn't have tried it at all, but instead do something else that he can do well.

But I am getting the feeling that Sono, and most of the audiences, just love CGI blood. Very few people these days critisize the use of CGI blood, even in splatter films, even if it was made with Playstation 1 generation graphics. I hate to see even people like Yoshihiro Nishimura go for CGI blood these days. I really don't get it, but maybe that's just me...
No, I agree. I wasn't defending Sono's decision to use those CGI effects. Just gave my input on why it made sense to me. It's true, he could probably have done it differently, had he planned it better (bigger space studio, more precise cinematography, etc. etc.)

I remember around when the Kitano 'Zatoichi' movie came out, I liked the CGI blood effects. I liked how it had this comic, stylized effect on the screen, where the blood looked like cut flowers. I was like 14 years old when I saw it, and Japanese cinema was such a new thing to me, and all. Now..., I watched Kitano's 'Zatoichi' again, and I see that the CGI effects feels very incompatible with the otherwise beautiful photography and contrast of the movie. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that CGI ages very quickly - just like flash animation. Same with movies shot on HD-DV - HD-DV still can't compete with the timelessness of movies shot on real film, in my opinion. Or maybe I am just being snobby... When I watch Tsukamoto's early movies, I just really enjoy that unique 16mm print, and how the colors shine over the screen when you shoot in that format. At the same time, those Blu Ray restorations are transfers from film to digital - so, even movies shot on film, get viewed by home audiences through a digital filter anyway.

But, yeah, I agree with you on CGI blood effects - I'd take that fake 1970's pink blood over CGI crap, any day. I am not even that huge of a CGI fan, in general. I like it when you use CG subtlety to polish/adjust certain scenes, like, for example, the way James Gunn used it in his movie 'SUPER' when Crimson Bolt cracks the head open on that dude butting in line. :) It's a 50/50 mix in 'SUPER', where they combined practical effects with CG effects. Or, when you subtlety create CGI backgrounds and blend them with real scenery. etc. etc.
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Re: Sion Sono (+ Tokyo Tribe)

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I split Tokyo Tribe into a topic of its own (finally. Should have done that a long time ago)
- viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6803

Happinet is releasing Bad Film (1995/2012) on DVD January 6, 2015. It's already available in the Sion Sono box set, though. I saw the some time ago.

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Re: Sion Sono

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Why Don't You Play in Hell US BD January 27th
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=15257
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Re: Sion Sono

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Just very brief comments and screencaps for Bad Film

This was Sono's legendary unfinished film until 2012. The footage is from 1995, when he shot over 150 hours of footage. I don't think he knew what to do with it, so the project was abandoned. He finally edited it together into a 160 min film in 2012. It was shown on a number of film festivals, although it doesn’t look all that hot with the footage having been shot on video (lower resolution than DVD).

The film itself is a mixed bag. It’s too long, it looks cheap, and the soundtrack (much of which was made in 2012) reuses a lot of music from Love Exposure, Cold Fish etc. It’s also brutally powerful, funny and mesmerizingly beautiful at times! It’s an amazing look into mid 1990’s Japan – the graffiti on the walls, the political tension, racism, Tokyo GaGaGa, sexual minorities, street violence, all kinds of sub-cultures... you can spot Yoshihiro Nishimura in a minor acting role as well. The storyline is about a racist Japanese gang (serving as Sono's gross parody of Japanese political right wing groups) who fights for turf with a Chinese gang. Not an easy viewing, and not a masterpiece by any means, but it’s a fascinating piece of cinema!

VoD screenshots:

This shot is just beautiful
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Sono. He plays the main character
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Find a famous splatter director in the picture!
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And his work on display
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Sono again. This shot is fucking amazing in motion!
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Re: Sion Sono

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Shinkuku Swan teaser:
http://youtu.be/NUY6w9iROuU

Site:
http://shinjuku-swan.jp/

Based on manga by Ken Wakui.

This doesn't look too good...

Opens May 30

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A bit amused by the text "Kabukicho Scout Survival" on the manga cover :lol:
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