Genkina Hito

This Japan Cuts preview is late but one that has been on my mind since there is that typical wealth of films that you hope people can enjoy. The festival returns to cinema screens in New York from July 08th – July 18th and Suzu Hirose will be given the CUT ABOVE Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film and she will host the New York Premiere of A Pale View of Hills, the Centrepiece Film of the…

Welcome to the second trailer post of the week. Check out the first if you haven’t already. I’ve got my PSP out again after a three-year break in order to play my Japanese games as part of Japanese language practice. I’ve still got Nintendo DS games to finish. I’ve got the Etrian Odyssey series on the DS in Japanese, too. I completed the first in English a long time ago. That might be better to…

Welcome to the first trailer post of the week. Come back tomorrow for the last one for this week. I’m not likely to get any substantive previews out for Japan Cuts or New York Asian Film Festival this year due to a lack of time. It’s a shame but real life calls. I’ll endeavour to do better next year. In other film related news, following an episode of A Better Tomorrow for Heroic Purgatory, I…

Welcome to the second and last trailer post for THIS WEEK. Check out part one, if you haven’t! I’m not on track for Japan Cuts or the New York Asian Film Festival since I have too much on my plate but I will endeavour. In terms of films, I’m watching The Sect (1991). What are the rest of this week’s films? (more…)

Welcome to the first trailer post of THIS WEEK! Come back tomorrow for the last. There are fewer films released this week so I’m getting back on track. Nothing new as far as I’m going other than I watched the 1994 supernatural neo-noir Witch Hunt. Here are the first films! (more…)

Welcome to the last trailer post from last week. Check out part one and part two. I’m writing while having movies on in the background. Mostly low-budget horror movies from the 80s and 90s. Stage Fright (1987) was the most recent. What are the last of the new Japanese films from last week? (more…)

Welcome to the second trailer post of the week. Check out part one and come back tomorrow for the final part. I’m behind on writing since I normally have the previews for Japan Cuts and the New York Asian Film Festival up. Tickets are already on sale for both events. I’ll try and get something up soon! Here are the rest of the films. (more…)

Welcome to the first of a very late trailer post. Come back tomorrow and the day after for the next two. These trailers are for films that released last weekend. They are late because I was recently on holiday in Prague in the Czech Republic. I balanced enjoying high culture and history with food and drink. The architecture and sights were great, the food and drink tasty, the film museums…

Welcome to the last trailer post of the week. Check out part one and part two if you haven’t read the rest. I’m behind again! Summer is almost on top of us and I’m feeling flat while also having lots of things to do. Anyway, I posted an interview with Shunji Iwai last week and I’m glad that I got to talk to a master filmmaker! Please check it out! What are the films left to check? (more…)

Welcome to the second trailer post of three. Check out the first one, if you haven’t already. After that, come back to the last one tomorrow. I spent Sunday practicing Japanese and then talking about John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow (1986) for Heroic Purgatory. What are the films in this entry? (more…)

Welcome to the first of three trailer posts. Come back on Thursday and Friday for the next one. These posts are a bit delayed as I am planning a short holiday and I went to the cinema to watch The Backrooms, which I enjoyed for the most part since the eerie atmosphere and the suspense of wandering around a strange space while “something” is around was generated by the film. There are two films…

Shunji Iwai is one of the biggest names amongst Japanese directors who emerged in the 90s. Iwai defined himself against contemporaries like Hirokazu Kore-eda and Takashi Miike by offering a vivid style of romantic aestheticism to his youth-oriented films through expressive lighting and camerawork, the most famous done with cinematographer Noboru Shinoda. Although the imagery can capture the high…

Welcome to the second trailer post of the week Check out part one. Since the last trailer post, I’ve started to watch A Better Tomorrow I, A Better Tomorrow II and I have the third one lined up for tomorrow. I’ve seen these classics before and they are the subject of the next episode of a podcast I will record. The latest episode of Heroic Purgatory covers My Neighbor Totoro (1988). Here are the…

Welcome to the first of two trailer posts for this week. Come back tomorrow for the next part. Last week, I published a review of All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001). I want to keep the momentum going on reviews of Shunji Iwai films, but I’m going to take a bit of a break. Swallow Tail Butterfly (1996) would be the next. Possibly Kyrie no Uta, and Hana and Alice and it’s animated prequel. We’ll see.…

All About Lily Chou-chou     リリイ・シュシュのすべて  「Ririi Shushu no Subete」　 Release Date: October 06th, 2001 Running Time: 146 mins. Director: Shunji Iwai Writer: Shunji Iwai (Screenplay), Starring:  Hayato Ichihara, Shugo Oshinari, Yu Aoi, Ayumi Ito, Takao Ohsawa, Miwako Ichikawa, Chiyo Abe, Yoji Tanaka, Kahori Fujii, Shinji Higuchi, Tetta Sugimoto, Issey Takahashi, Website Twitter: @iwaiff  IMDB After…

Welcome to the third and final trailer post of the week. Check out the first post and the second post. Since the last post, I watched Italian nam-sploitation The Last Hunter (1980) and tonight I will watch the John Woo film Bullet in the Head (1990) for a Vietnam double-bill. Also! I was really taken with the trailer for the film Onslaught. As a fan of The Guest, I’m always up for more from Adam…

Welcome to the second trailer post of the week. Check out the first post and come back tomorrow for the last. Since yesterday’s post, I have watched Max Payne (2008) and The Fury (1978). On top of the films written about here, the Korean movie 404 Still Remain (2025) is also released this weekend. Here are the new films. Continue reading Bottakuri kazoku,  SAMURAI BLUE Project for FIFA World Cup…