| I watched "Smile", pretty average family movie about some kids who play ice hockey. |
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| Last movie I saw, about a month and a half ago, at the local cineplex was "Soshite Chichi ni Naru" (Like Father, Like Son). I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a lot of potential for the typical overacting seen in Japanese films and it really didn't rear its head at all. |
| I saw A Bittersweet Life last night Quite good, though not as good as people on IMDB claim. Sometimes I was very confused and I am sure that somewhere I've missed something important but I will probably see it again this year. Also, the ending was great and strange at the same time. Perfect combination. |
If you are a fan of (or simply interested in) Japanese films then please join the Cinema of Japan club! Thank you (: |
| Ryakushou renzoku shasatsuma (aka Serial killer) by Masao Adachi. Well, I can't say I liked it. I'm not even sure what the film is really about and why someone should like almost 90 minutes of random footage with a commentary that barely explains what's going on. If you've seen it, please enlighten me |
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| A few films that I recently watched were Ddongpari (Breathless) by Ik-Joon Yang. I only have great things to say about it. The social commentary on the argument towards how ones environment does perpetuate the cycle of violence is compelling. Probably one the best anti-hero films that I've seen in a long time. Very impressed with this film. Last night I watched Takashi Ishii's, A Night in Nude. A very enjoyable revenge film with some interesting twists. And I already mentioned that I also watched Shunji Iwai's Love Letter last night as well and really enjoyed it. I think I still like some of his other more stylistic films, but I'm surely the minority. Edit: Was fortunate enough to watch Kaguya-hime no Monogatari a few days ago. Can't say enough about my love of Isao Takahata's work and this film. It goes down as one of the best swan songs I can think of right now. Pretty much liked everything about it, from it's minimalism art style, to it's loaded imagery and allusions reinforcing themes like naturalism and ruralism, vs. society, including it's authoritarianism culture, plagued with cast/class warfare.The music composed byJoe Hisaishi was nothing less than spectacular, as always contributing to the emotive narrative and visual imagery. The soundtrack is intoxicating. Takahata's continued surreal journey continues to be everything I wish for in an animated film. I will really miss his work if this is his last film. However, if it is. I think he has accomplished some amazing work. |
Orion1Dec 28, 2014 4:13 AM
| I just finished to rewatch "Hiroshima my love(Hiroshima mon amour in French) |
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| Watched "Boyhood" on the plane whilst returning to Japan. Last movie I saw at the local theatre was "The Asahi of Vancouver" (Banku-ba no Asahi). The former was captivating and the latter was decent. |
| Thanks for the Survive Style 5+ recommendation Amarantos! That movie was fantastic. No idea how I missed it. But that's why we have groups like this. |
| Last night I watched Outrage. |
| I finally got around to watching Sabu's Postman Blues. Loved it. Highly recommend it. Watch it if you haven't . :) |
Orion1Oct 3, 2015 10:26 PM
| Blind beast is amazing. A very extreme and disturbing tale of kidnapping, abuse that could very easily become exploitative, but somehow it doesn't, it never crosses the line but stays in its entirety at a fragile limit, delivering its story with an amazing display of elegance and sense of screwed up, yet ultimately sincere and effective, beauty. The acting just flawless, the dynamics of the two main characters are amazing. In short, a wonderful experience. And it's not the first time that Masumura makes me say this. I'll need to pay more attention to the rest of his work. |
It is, really good movie! Today I watched Million Dollar Baby by Eastwood. Sad. |
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| Ichi The Killer. One of the most bizarre and transgressive movies I have ever seen, Japanese or otherwise. And I enjoyed the hell out of it. |
Take care of yourself |
| Saw "Shin Gojira" (aka: Godzilla Resurgence) tonight. Not a bad movie. Very much orientated towards Japanese audiences. Fellow who runs the eatery I went to after the movie has seen it twice. He related well to all the talking head scenes and the gist of the story, especially the social commentary. |
d-yaro said: Saw "Shin Gojira" (aka: Godzilla Resurgence) tonight. Not a bad movie. Very much orientated towards Japanese audiences. Fellow who runs the eatery I went to after the movie has seen it twice. He related well to all the talking head scenes and the gist of the story, especially the social commentary. Wow dude you are so lucky. I wonder how well the movie will be seen outside of Japan though I am not sure if foreigners are looking for social commentaries in a Godzilla movie. |
If you are a fan of (or simply interested in) Japanese films then please join the Cinema of Japan club! Thank you (: |
| Saw "Kimi no Na" tonight. The opening sequence wasn't what I was expecting and it didn't click with me. It was like watching the trailer again. The rest of the movie was quite good. The depiction of buildings and stations in Tokyo is quite up to date. The story was engaging and, in some parts, quite entertainingly funny. After it was all over I felt there were a few parts where my sense of belief in the story was stretched a bit thin. I'd hazard to sum it up as a wonderful modern fairy tale. Might be tempted to go see it again. |
| I got a pretty good deal on the もののけ姫 [Princess Mononoke] blu-ray and thus finally rewatched it for the first time in years. I wanted to quickly check if this was still one of my 10/10 movies, and the answer is an overwhelming YES. In fact, the experience was so great that I had to restrain myself not to demote more than one of my other 10/10 movies. The only criticism I have is that the ending wraps up everything a little bit too nicely, but it's so beautifully executed that I can't bring myself to dislike it. I also went to the Swiss premiere of 海よりもまだ深く [After the Storm] last week, attended by the the director Hirokazu Koreeda himself. He gave a little introduction and afterwards stayed for a Q&A, which was nothing special but a pretty neat experience nonetheless. As for the move itself, no big surprises. It's a well-executed, subdued little slice of life family drama, and I got exactly what I expected and wanted. I reckon if you don't like his other movies, this won't change your opinion of Koreeda. Anyway, the cast is one of the main reasons why I like this almost as much as 歩いても 歩いても [Still Walking]. Hiroshi Abe's performance is spot-on, but it's Kirin Kiki (who plays the grandmother) who really stole the show and garnered a lot of praise from the audience. She's simply fantastic, delivering a truly delightful and (for her age) energetic performance, while also managing to hit the nail on the head during her more melancholic moments. Now I totally regret not having seen あん [An: Sweet Red Bean Paste] when I had the chance. |
| I recently watched Gojira the original, great movie, I wouldn't call it a masterpiece but it was pretty close to it. As I've only seen the American versions of Godzilla before in my life this one felt very different compared to them. But that doesn't come as a surprise to me, what I liked the most about this movie is how they handled the humans to finding about Godzilla and how to handle him if they should try to cover it all up, go all in etc. This movie had lots of politics, science and military compared to the American ones I've seen, or atleast on the COMPETENT levels of it. It was written very well and progressed nicely without me feeling bored or thinking "I hate this person" like I did with Godzilla 1998 & Godzilla 2014, also it was a lot darker too seeing how Godzilla/Gojira killed parents and children (well implied) too in all the wreckage making him a real bad guy rather than ambiguous but maybe he gets more ambiguous in later movies when he fights against other Kaijus, I really don't know but I will find out myself. Here he just fought humans and created carnage so maybe that makes him more of a bad guy. The Ending also was really well made given it's time, it had an actual emotional impact which I didn't expect. I liked how they mentioned even though THIS Godzilla is dead there may be more and other creatures out there, setting the whole thing up, loved that. It's interesting to go through all these different Kaiju movies, both the American and Japanese. |
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| Yesterday I just watched hirokazu koreeda's after the storm (2016) and kiyoshi kurosawa's creepy (2016). One deliver the other one was disappointing. |
 la critique de l'intention pure |
jeanseberg said: Yesterday I just watched hirokazu koreeda's after the storm (2016) and kiyoshi kurosawa's creepy (2016). One deliver the other one was disappointing. Was it After the Storm that delivered? Been meaning to get around to it myself. |
Touka said: yeah, it was like Still Walking.jeanseberg said: Yesterday I just watched hirokazu koreeda's after the storm (2016) and kiyoshi kurosawa's creepy (2016). One deliver the other one was disappointing. Was it After the Storm that delivered? Been meaning to get around to it myself. |
la critique de l'intention pure |
| The last japanese feature I watched was Norwegian Wood Must said it got uninteresting premise - I don't read and familiar with murakami's work, by book, but it seems from my slightest, dullest, observation of the movie itself, it's like he want romanticized absurdity - which was boring thing to think about - a really boring source material? well idk, I can't accuse it of as I even read any pages of norwegian wood The cast, was merely thing that made me - pretty much made me- interesting , to naming like kengo kora, kenichi matsuyama, rinko kikuchi, kiko mizuhara etc. + the soundtrack, which was pretty much filled by CAN-one of my fave- the filmaker have taste must said- but as I'd seen it, in the end I don't feel their sole existence in the story quiet carry something significance to mine The Director, french-vietnamese tranh anh hung got his props - quiet done so well with colorfull cinematography, interesting imagery, playfull jump cut for momentary transition , left the artistic impression of french new wave style - but again it don't bring anything even for a bit amusement of mine Pretty much it's just getting nowhere when it blend the kind of absurdity romance I hardly have feel about it, bland af |
karambiaMay 9, 2017 1:35 AM
la critique de l'intention pure |
karambia said: a really boring source material? God, no. Norwegian Wood is masterful. It was my first Murakami and is probably still my favourite. Tran Anh Hung's adaptation really misses the mark. Murakami writes of melancholy in such a distinct and beautiful way, sadly the film was just straightforwardly depressing and though an effort had been made to include Murakami's prose, it just loses all the magic of his writing. The cinematography and soundtrack were good, though. I also really enjoyed Rinko Kikuchi as Naoko, she embodied the character well. I haven't seen it yet, but I hear Tony Takitani is the best adaptation of a Murakami story. Honestly, his short work is generally more suited to film. Though Norwegian Wood is by far my favourite, I think South of the Border, West of the Sun would have made a more poignant film. Sputnik Sweetheart would have been good, too. I don't think Murakami is generally keen on allowing adaptations of his work, though. I read that Anh Hung spent years persuading Murakami before he eventually received his blessing. |
Touka said: haha yeah, my remark obviously dull. it sound like another problem of adaption which can't cope with the aesthetic storytelling/narrative of the original source. yup, rinko nailed it, seems it's only for her character that the script demanded to perform.karambia said: a really boring source material? God, no. Norwegian Wood is masterful. It was my first Murakami and is probably still my favourite. Tran Anh Hung's adaptation really misses the mark. Murakami writes of melancholy in such a distinct and beautiful way, sadly the film was just straightforwardly depressing and though an effort had been made to include Murakami's prose, it just loses all the magic of his writing. The cinematography and soundtrack were good, though. I also really enjoyed Rinko Kikuchi as Naoko, she embodied the character well. I haven't seen it yet, but I hear Tony Takitani is the best adaptation of a Murakami story. Honestly, his short work is generally more suited to film. Though Norwegian Wood is by far my favourite, I think South of the Border, West of the Sun would have made a more poignant film. Sputnik Sweetheart would have been good, too. I don't think Murakami is generally keen on allowing adaptations of his work, though. I read that Anh Hung spent years persuading Murakami before he eventually received his blessing. i just heard about them, really unfamilar with murakami's work, only heard some of his famous work, and the like recent IQ84 was like everywhere in bookstore lol. yeah, i can see that. suppose when the thing like short works/short story more suited on film format, as probably, it's hardly condensed/cut out in compare of longer story and even it can be improved that adding more weight to the story itself. |
la critique de l'intention pure |
| What I've seen in the local cineplex in the past few months... - "Mary to Majou no Hana" (Mary and the Witch's Flower) - Not really out of the ordinary but still a fun movie to watch. - "Gintama" - A movie that stars Oguri Shun...you weren't expecting art were you? I wasn't and I got a few chuckles out of the movie. - "Uchiage Hanabi. Yoko kara Miru ka, Shita kara Miru?" - I commented on this one in its thread on MAL. At this point in time I will chalk this one up as experience. The original TV show had more of an impact on me. |
| Karera ga honki de amu toki wa / Close-Knit This is the First Japanese movie I liked since Happy Hour from 2015. It is a bit more serious than Ogigami's movies I previously watched, with good storytelling and excellent performance from Toma Ikuta who basically carries the movie by himself. |
| Went and saw "Sakamichi no Apollon" (Kids on the Slope) a couple of weeks ago. Was thinking of going to see "Black Panther" but didn't, for some reason or another. That was probably a blessing in disguise as they weren't screening a subbed version where I live...the version shown here is dubbed in Japanese. As for "Sakamichi", I enjoyed most of the movie. The ending tied up loose ends but didn't have much punch to it. Plus the actors weren't made to look as if they had aged. The rest of movie was quite good, even though I can't quite follow the particular Kyushu dialect employed in the movie. I checked out the anime afterwards and I think they did a good job with casting. |
| The Pornographers by the great Shohei Imamura. |
Just Me |
| I watched Lee Chang-dong's Burning a couple of nights ago. It's still on my mind; will certainly end up as one of this years best for me. |
| Outrage directed by and starring Beat Takeshi. 2nd time watching it, and I liked it better the second time around. I haven't watched many Yakuza movies, but I like the serious and realistic approach to the Japanese underworld that this movie takes. |
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