Bullets 'n' Babes

Custom Made 10.30 (2005)

What started as a concert document evolved into a feature film. The fictional story follows two sisters (pop star Kaela Kimura and Erika Saimon) who dream of playing in a band. The storyline ultimately takes them to the Hiroshima Stadium, not as performing artists, but to witness rock legend Tamio Okuda’s epic concert. Custom Made 10.30 divides into two uneven parts. The first 80 minutes is miserable, full of dull visual tricks and appalling supporting characters. Susumu Terajima and Shingo Yanagisawa’s performances are nerve wrecking experiences. The beautiful Hiroshima landscapes is the only redeeming factor. However, the final 40 minutes is terrific. Most of it consist of Okuda performing several songs live. This footage is not only musically impressive but also visually first grade. Whether it makes the first 2/3 of the film worth enduring is a different story.

2 Disc and 1 Disc R2J releases exists. I own the 1 Disc release which comes with trailers, tv spots, music videos and interviews (18 min). Three artwork cards are also included. The 2 Disc Premium edition comes with additional extras and t-shirt.















Read more about Tamio Okuda:
http://www.furinkan.com/tomobiki/wagaku ... /tamio.htm

HungFist wrote:Trailer for Ichikawa's last
http://www.tiff-jp.net/en/lineup/works.php?id=144

DVD in December
http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_dvd. ... sid=706515

I will have English subtitles.

HungFist wrote:

HungFist wrote:Trailer for Ichikawa's last
http://www.tiff-jp.net/en/lineup/works.php?id=144

DVD in December
http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_dvd. ... sid=706515

I will have English subtitles. Muwahahaha!!

Quoted for dramatic effect!

Sion Sono's Be Sure to Share R2J 18.12. No subs listed.


http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BIBJ-7698

Kimi no tomodachi (2008)

Ryuichi Hiroki’s career is certainly not one without development. In the 1980’s one could find his name attached to sadistic pink films, sometimes made under the alias Go Ijuin (also used by Genji Nakamura and Hitoshi Ishikawa). Fast forward two decades and Hiroki has become a pioneer in digital filmmaking in Japan. His masterful 2005 film It's Only Talk is one of the best Japanese movies from the past 10 years. Now Hiroki has made a beautiful movie about friendship between kids. Kimi no tomodachi follows two girls who become friends at the age of 10. The main part of the film takes place 5 years later, the present day being yet another five years later. Both girls are sick or injured; Yuka (Ayu Kitaura) has a kidney disease, and Emi’s (Anna Ishibashi) leg was permanently damaged in a car accident.

While Yuka and Emi are the core of the film, the storyline almost unnoticeably introduces new characters and smaller branches. It’s not obvious from the beginning, but just like these shorter stories that aren’t always brought to a conclusion, the entire film is more about friendship than telling any specific storyline. This structure is one of the aspects that Hiroki handles well in a film that is relatively conventional, but greatly benefits from the director’s touch. Hiroki doesn’t turn the film into a sad sickness story, or the most typical kind of ”memories of the good old days” offering that Japan is so keen on producing nowadays. There are some unsuccessful parts - such as bullying scenes that play out like All About Lily Chou Chou – but the numerous long takes and beautiful digital cinematography create several terrific scenes. In many ways Kimi no tomodachi is reminiscent of Hiroki’s earlier but inferior film Love on Sunday, which also was a very mainstream oriented screenplay seen though Hiroki’s sharp lens. Kimi no tomodachi is a greatly enjoyable film, even if not as good as the director's best efforts.

Some edge enhancement aside the R2J looks good. Extras only feature trailer and 9 minute promotional making off (almost zero information value). No English subtitles, but the recent Korean dvd apparently has them.

Shingster wrote:

HungFist wrote:

HungFist wrote:Trailer for Ichikawa's last
http://www.tiff-jp.net/en/lineup/works.php?id=144

DVD in December
http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_dvd. ... sid=706515

I will have English subtitles. Muwahahaha!!

Quoted for dramatic effect!

Now I will also have a beautiful cover art!

Thanks for the Review. "Kimi no Tomodachi" looks like a movie I might enjoy; after all I missed it on last year's
Viennale-Festival. By the way, if you're still interested, there are now fan-subs available for "Two in Tracksuits".

Or are you fluent in Japanese yet?

diceman wrote:Thanks for the Review. "Kimi no Tomodachi" looks like a movie I might enjoy; after all I missed it on last year's
Viennale-Festival. By the way, if you're still interested, there are now fan-subs available for "Two in Tracksuits".

Or are you fluent in Japanese yet?

subs are still very useful

It's more about convincing me to buy the film, though. So much cool stuff in the stores, so little money available. And time, too. I haven't watched more than 4 movies during the last 3½ weeks. In the other thread I'm posting archive reviews... stuff I watched a month ago but never had time to write about...

And I need to save money for the upcoming Remembering Jun Ichikawa box set (I've been meaning to post these news for the last 2 months, but my memory has been making fun of me)

Limited to 2000 copies. The films included are Bu su, Kaisha monogatari: Memories of You, Tsugumi, Tokyo Lullaby, and Buy a Suit. The set also includes a 48 page booklet and bonus disc containing a documentary and tons of TV CM’s directed by Ichikawa. The release date is Oct 28, but the films will also be available separately from Dec 23.



Bu su (1987)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204926/


Kaisha monogatari: Memories of You (1988)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203608/


Tsugumi (1990)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100820/


Tokyo Lullaby (1997)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120346/


Buy a Suit (2008)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1313102/


Also to be released (Oct. 28) by another company is Tokiwa: The Manga Apartment (1996)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117933/


and Hyo ryu ki (漂流姫) (1987) (Oct. 21). Unfortunately I’m not quite sure what Hyo ryu ki is, but what I do know is it stars Yuki Saito, it’s 45 minutes long, and shot in 1.33:1, and made for video market. And there’s a photo book with the same name, released in 1986) so I’m guessing it’s some sort idol product. If my memory serves me correctly the Horikita Maki – Kuroki Meisa short movie Kimi no yubisaki was also a project where a movie was made to support a photobook, or vice versa. I’m not sure Hyo ryu ki is the same, that was just a guess.

Here’s a picture of the VHS release from 1987.


and a few pics of the photobook which you can bid at yahoo

Girlfriend - Someone Please Stop the World (2004)

Girlfriend is Ryuichi Hiroki's contribution to the Love Collection – a series of digitally shot films, similar to the early 2000's Love Cinema series that also featured a film by Hiroki (Tokyo Trash Baby, 2000). Being one of the pioneers of digital cinematography is Japan, Hiroki knows how to capture beautifully grainy images that give his indie dramas an additional touch of intimate realism. Girlfriend is not a standout effort, but it’s a pleasing little movie. Hiroki follows a promising young female photographer (Kinuwo Yamada) who finds a model from a troubled hairdresser (Aoba Kawai). The two go through a brief friendship, perhaps an affair, too. Hiroki takes a non-chronological and sentimentalism free approach that keeps big emotions and epic romances out of the pic. It’s also worth noting the irony; the director started his career by directing pink film in the 80's when censorship set its limitations on display of bare skin. In Girlfriend full frontal nudity is featured, but it's played purely for characterization purposes, rather than for the viewer's arousal.

Pony Canyon's R2J is non-anamorphic and interlaced. No subtitles. Extras feature brief cast and crew bios, and trailers for all 6 Love Collection films.

Ran into this film by accident. 14-sai no harawata. Has a lovely trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG7jyxCIeZ0

Here's some info:

"This is the 4th series of Tollywood Studio’s “commercial film production by the students” project. A female college student directed the film based on her own experience from her junior high school days. Harada Wataru who calls herself “Hara Wata”, is a 14 year old girl who lives life at her own pace. She is not interested in being at the top in her class, nor being an attractive fashionable girl. Hara Wata’s plain world reminds us of something warm in our life. 60 min."
- http://www.newyork-tokyo.com/wp/j-film2009-database/


- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1525783/

Trailer looks like it was shot for TV or something, and the supporting cast look well over 14, which is always a turnoff...*

(* = it's a turn-off in the way that they're supposed to play 14 year olds but are clearly older.... not a turn-off in the way that I'm some sick perverted pedophile who only likes young asian schoolgirls.... like Grim)

I don't know if it will be good, but visually it's pure greatness judging by the trailer. Wish more directors could do good looking films like this.

And damn Reina's hair looks so great in this one.

As for supporting cast Mizuki Mizushima was 14 when the film was made, Reiko Igarashi was 15.

HungFist wrote:I don't know if it will be good, but visually it's pure greatness judging by the trailer. Wish more directors could do good looking films like this.

And damn Reina's hair looks so great in this one.

As for supporting cast Mizuki Mizushima was 14 when the film was made, Reiko Igarashi was 15.

Supporting cast LOOKS older, so I assumed they were 18-19 or something. Maybe japanese schoolgirls really are freaks. Now the whole schoolgirl fetish makes a whole lot more sense as well.

Good Morning to the World!! (Sekai Gudo Moningu!!) (世界グッドモーニング!!)

Stupid sounding plot aside this sounds promising. The pictures at leat look great. Hoping the film will be in the same alley-

http://jfilmpowwow.blogspot.com/2010/10 ... world.html

+

Recent semi-interesting dvd release: Echo of Silence (コトバのない冬) (Kotoba no nai fuyu).


I don't like the visual look if this but the film looks a little bit interesting. It's taken forever to come to dvd. I think I first saw this trailer like two years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZYEWdkFc7s

Hatsukoi （初恋） looks interesting. No, not the Miyazaki film, but a 14 minute short film directed by Takehiro Uchima (aka TAKE), and produced by Theater Picture Works (an Okinawa based indie production team). It's had a few festical screenings but no dvd release as far as I can tell. Some of their other works look interesting too. Hopefully a compilation dvd will come out sooner or later.



Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrPmV4VByCw

More info
http://theaterpictureworks.ti-da.net/c140755.html

Ordered a bunch of interesting looking stuff... Tojiru hi (A Closing Day), Zeitaku na hone (Luxurius Bone), Ame no tsubasa (see trailer), and 20th Century Nostalgia. Will try to post more about them once I've received and watched them.

Some other interesting looking films

Life (Shin Sasaki)
available on oop R2J
http://getafilms.com/geta/data/l/Life/Life.html

Double Suicide Elegy (Toru Kamei)
available on R2J
http://getafilms.com/geta/data/d/Double ... y/DSE.html

Boys on the Run (Daisuke Miura)
available on R2J
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnFhga_jfj8
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ ... 205a1.html

My Feelings Inside (Ayato Matsuda)
available on R2J
this one doesn't look so good, but it sounded a bit interesting and the trailer was a bit difficult to locate so I post it here
http://vision.ameba.jp/watch.do?movie=1587214 (trailer)
http://getafilms.com/geta/data/o/OnnaGo ... okoro.html (trailer here not working)

And from the pink-genre a few potential pseudo-pink films. I'm not really interested in pink films, but the genre includes a load of films that actually aren't pink at all, just sold as such.

Cream Lemon - Another Day of Ami (Shinya Nishimura)
available on R2J
The 1st one is great, by Nobuhiro Yamashita. It's not a pink film at all. This 4th shows some promise too.
http://getafilms.com/geta/data/c/CL_Mat ... anohi.html

The Suicide Chain (Rei Sakamoto)
available on R2J, sold to R1 also but not announced
http://www.pinkeiga.com/films/the-suicide-chain/

Ame no tsubasa (2008)

A girl who loves rain. A boy who loves the girl. 35 minute running time. Cinematic perfection!

Every once in a while you discover a movie that reminds you that there are indeed directors who are not completely lost. Filmmakers, that don’t need the feel to cripple their movies twists and melodrama. Directors, who believe in image and sound.

Ame no tsubasa was born in unusual but inspired way. United Cinema held a writing competition, with the theme being rain. The winning story was adapted into a movie screenplay. Next, Kumami composed the soundtrack in prior to the shooting. Director Naoto Kumazawa assembled the film based on the music. Kumami later returend to provide live soundtrack to limited theatrical screenings.

Most of the film takes place on high school rooftop. The film comes with minimal flaws. The male lead (Takuya Ishida) is a bit rough. I don’t care. Kumazawa uses digital cinematography to achieve grainy yet breathtakingly honest hyper-reality. Colors, details, and rain dominate. The camera is occasionally brought so close that the protecting cinematic lens between the viewer and the cast disappears. Kumazawa achieves images of “pure”.

Ame no tsubasa is one of the most beautifully shot movies I have ever seen. It is the reward for all the hard hours spent on looking for Japanese cinematic gems.











The R2J comes with a 25 minute making of. Theatrical trailer is found at the end of it. The package also includes a 16 page photo booklet.

Birthright (Saitai)

Terrible taglines and posters, unpromising subject, the trailer nevertheless looks intriguing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao7bA1xn2zc

- http://www.saitai-film.com/index_e.html
- http://www.elevenarts.net/Feature/Titles/Birthright/

Festival screenings so far, dvd presumably sometime this year.

via AVManiacs / Sheldon Warnock



The director's previous film, Hikari sasu umi, boku no fune (ヒカリサス海、ボクノ船 ), doesn't look that good, though:
http://video.jp.msn.com/watch/video/...B7%A8/1m4w8h3o

Soredake (2008, 26 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwusaf1Y8xY

This film by Hiroshi Inagawa (born 1985) looks absolutely beautiful. Bet it's one of the best films of 2008. Fingers crossed it will receive a dvd release some day.

English:
http://shinsedai-fest.com/films/thats-a ... -soredake/

Japanese:
http://web.mac.com/akop_hi/iWeb/HIROSHI/Top.html
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/iwana00/
http://www.tamajin.jp/degiorigi/?w=11&n=00010

20th Century Nostalgia (20 seiki nostalgia) (1997)

A video message from the 20th century!

Two high school students set out with video cameras to capture the life in the mid-1990’s Tokyo on film in Masato Hara’s sought after cinematic feast. Inspired by? Nobuhiko Obayashi. Gave inspiration to? Probably Hideaki Anno.

20th Century Nostalgia is a two way movie. The already nostalgic present day that faded but colorful, like an old movie, with backgrounds looking almost like paintings or models. Cut to harshly beautiful video camera footage painted in blue. On top of it, it’s an idol movie. In principle, at least.

Just turned 15 at the beginning of the production, the late 90’s idol and current quality actress Ryoko Hirosue stars in her first film role. A summer vacation film project was nearly completed, only short of ending, and editing. What would this world look like to a space traveler from the future?

The thin red line between idol film and art house can sometimes be fuzzy. Same with innovative cinema and pop art explosion free of coherent form. The mainstream viewer’s burning questions is: is it ethically right to call 20th Century Nostalgia "a movie"?

Hara’s video camera footage is cinematic heroin. He lets the characters do the cinematography for him, often with Hirosuse and co-star Tsutomu Marushima shooting themselves with handheld camera. The following year’s Love & Pop (Hideaki Anno, 1998) is the closest comparison.

But the two are worlds apart. Anno’s darkly themed enjou kousai exploration is a technical bravura playing the game at pop-culture’s own rules. Revealing, revolutionizing. Hara’s energy comes from the heart. His camerawork is a side product of the film’s characters. They run, dance, and sing – yes, Hirosue was a pop idol after all – and do all that while holding a camera. It’s silly, childish, Obayashimish, thoroughly charming.

Hara picked the newcomer of the year award for his work. That was ironic – Hara’s been active behind the camera since 1968 when Art Theater Guild and Tokyo Film Festival awarded his 12-minute student film. After more than a dozen productions along the years, 20th Century Nostalgia was his first financial film project. But great did not come easy. The filming kicked off in August 1995, only to be suspended for a long time and eventually finished in 1997.

For those looking for a deep analysis on an era, 20th Century Nostalgia may not be one to search for. Commentary is there, but thankfully as supporting element. A director should provide the viewer with the questions, not the answers. But all this can be beside the point if so preferred: Hara’s film can be enjoyed as a purely visual journey.

The structure is uneven. One of the main characters walks out of the story halfway into the film. The project is left in the air. This is true to the entire movie. The most mesmerizing material comes during the first half. The rest of the film is good, but suffers in comparison, partly due to change of tempo.

The criticism is justified, yes. But, the inspiration! During its best moments 20th Century Nostalgia nearly forces the viewer out of the movie room and to the streets to film one’s own movies. Its impact is enormous. The world just might be a better place if 35 millimeter filmmaking was banned. Don’t you think so?



















(screencaps from Pioneer R2J)

Ryoko Hirosue in 20th Century Nostalgia: Infinity

Since 20th Century Nostalgia is one of the most inspiring movies ever made, you may feel one DVD release is not enough. That’s why there’s another disc available, called Infinity. But first, let’s look at what the 2002 Deluxe Edition DVD by Pioneer comes with.

The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen, with an excellent transfer. No subtitles, of course. The extras are limited but not bad. Aside the original trailer, there’s a 29 minute making of documentary. The making of is not revolutionary by any means, but you do get to see:

Ryoko smile
Ryoko smile more
Ryoko laugh and smile
Ryoko look cute while laughing and smiling.



In other words, this is quality supplement. The film’s songs are played constantly on the background, and you get plenty of behind the scenes footage.

If you can’t find the Pioneer DVD but instead come across the Geneon dvd, then don’t worry, all signs tell me you’ve got the exact same product with different publisher logo. The catalogue number being the same, I’m convinced the Geneon DVD is a re-issue of the Pioneer disc that I own. There’s a third release out there, too, the original 1998 Happinet / Daiei release. This DVD comes in jewel case, and reportedly features Laserdisc transfer. Any listing I could find only specifies bonus materials as 10 minutes of “something”. I see no reason to hunt down this disc. All of the 20th Century Nostalgia releases are out of print, including Infinity.

Ryoko Hirosue in 20th Century Nostalgia: Infinity is making of DVD released by Pioneer the same time as their feature film DVD. Infinity does not feature the film, but instead comes with the following content:

Making of movie (57 min)
Making of movie 2 (11 min)
Making of movie 3 (20 min)
Theatrical Trailer
4 Page booklet

What you get is three more documentaries, and the same theatrical trailer that is on the film disc, except non-anamorphic this time. Infinity is purely a fan product – the documentaries are nothing too special. Of course, you get plenty of more Ryoko footage, behind the scenes footage, opening day footage, press conference etc. But even through idol megane this disc isn’t especially exciting. The 29 minute documentary found on the film disc actually comes with a lot of same footage as Infinity.

Here's some of the best stuff from Infinity:

Kantoku Hara-kun








Ryoko sleeping


Kantoku receiving massage from Ryoko










For hard core Ryoko fans, yes, it would be a good purchase. It’s also a rare chance to see director Masato Hara at his art. He comes across as a real nice guy. But then again, the most important stuff can also be found on the film disc.

Still, it is kinda nice to have as a collector’s item considering what a gem the film itself is.

Here's some release arts

Original Daiei release, picture stolen from the web



2002 Pioneer release


Infinity + booklet

Never Ending Blue (終わらない青） looks somewhat interesting. Love the stills and the visual style of the trailer, but may drown in tragic drama. Nevertheless, worth keeping an eye on.



Directed by first timer Takaomi Ogata. The film stars Maki Mizui, who has become one of my favorite people working in film industry. She's Yoshihiro Nishimura's assistant, actress, super-cutie, and she ran off from her manager to watch Tetsuo 3 in cinema alone. Her age is a national secret. I even forgive her for being part time AV star. I just pray to God she hasn't been / won't be involved in Noburo Iguchi's AV's.

Before Never Ending Blue her most notable appearance was Mutant Girls Squad, in which she played Atro Mutant. See the Sushi Typhoon thread for more Maki-chan.

Site:
http://paranoidkitchen.com/movie/nevere ... index.html

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P02N2wGuXAI

wow, Hiroki's new film Keibetsu ( 軽蔑) has a great trailer:
http://www.keibetsu.jp/

via nipponcinema

Ann-chan! I can't believe my eyes

But damn, this one looks great. I have skipped the last few Hiroki films, but he used to be one of the most interesting directors.

Abed: Hatachi no koi looking better than the title had me expecting
http://www.nipponcinema.com/trailers/ab ... oi-trailer

If they don't play that song until the end credits, and keep the storyline to the minimum, this could be good.

Yuya Ishii's 2009 film Kimi to arukou (君と歩こう) will finally be released on R2J June 24th.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL-r6C9u8WQ