Love my Life

Love my Life  is a movie based on a manga about two lesbians.  It probably makes a cool comic, but the episodic nature of the story meant that the film didn't have any real focus or conflict.  There were a lot of scenes of happy lovers...not a good movie to watch when you're lonely :'(

The soundtrack by noodles is really great.

The movie ends in an epic lesbian makeout scene.

極道恐怖大劇場 牛頭

Somehow during the past few busy days I found time to watch Gozu (cow's head).  I've seen many of Takashi Miike's other films and have usually enjoyed them...and I really loved Gozu.  The film is like a weird dream or trip on mushrooms...the hero just keeps meeting weird person after weird person and strange thing after strange thing happens.  But in a good way. I think that in the last few years Japanese cinema has gotten to weird for its own good (Gozu came out in 2003, though).  Trying to top the last bizarre thing with something even more depraved gets old, but Gozu is genuinely like "WTF LOL."  Terrible, but accurate review.  Awesome.

PS: If I were the type to pray, I would about the earthquake in Japan.  So sad :'( ugh

悲愁物語

this was an awesome shot/scene. i couldn't find more pics from the scenes i loved, and i don't have screenshot taking capabilities

Story of Sorrow and Sadness was released by Cinema Epoch as "Tale of Sorrow", but I like "Story of Sorrow and Sadness" better...has a better ring to it and is a more accurate translation (as far as I can tell).  I may as well call it by whatever name I like, because their subtitles were pretty bad (sorry guys).

The opening credits are really great with just the shots of various interesting golf clubs and the cool old song. I wish I knew what song it was!  I also wish I could find a video of the opening online.  Oh well!  I need help with being able to make videos & screenshots...someday I'll work on that.

The film follows golfer and up & coming celebrity Reiko Sakuraba.  She's embroiled in some kind of golf rigging scandal...the explanation of the golf stuff wasn't very clear... Actually, the beginning of the movie was all boring golf stuff and I was kind of worried, but then the film got to the heart of its true subject--celebrity obsession and ruin.  A neighbor of Reiko's gets obsessed with and blackmails her, and that (along with the golf stuff) prove to be Reiko's ruin.  The film examines what makes and breaks a celebrity and why people are obsessed with celebrities but simultaneously anticipate their ruin.

The nail polish colors were an interesting theme.

This was a very unique Suzuki film because it was made in the 70s.  It isn't like his 60s yakuza flicks...the atmosphere is totally different.  It was just a contemporary movie about contemporary subject matter.  His films after this were period pieces, so this was really interesting and unique.  It was a lot less surreal than his other works as well.  I loved the ending.

^ as far as I know, anyway

PS: the spellcheck on here is pretty terrible

陽炎座

In watching Kagero-za, I finally finished Seijun Suzuki's  Taisho trilogy.  The Taisho is an interesting period in Japanese history, and Suzuki's take on it is just fascinating.  I'm glad he made this trilogy!  The Taisho is a great period to make a film about because there is just a lot of material available for great visuals eg. a guy in a suit wearing a tophat and a woman in kimono, etc...  Kagero-za is really good, along with Yumeji. Oh, the trilogy DVD covers are pretty funny, too.  Like 90s photoshop awesome.

As far as I can tell, "kagero" means "mist" or "fog"--a reference to the ghostliness of the story and characters. The film is really surreal and that's what I love about Suzuki (my favorite director of all time).  This film makes more sense story & theme-wise than some of Suzuki's other surreal films, and that's what really makes this work.  The acting in the movie is really deliberate; every action was taken so delicately, it was amazing.  The actors were all just great.  Most of them moved (or held still) like professional acrobats or dancers.   They were all really good at portraying sadness as well, it was so real and palpable.

The film had interesting themes as well...the man with two wives, one Japanese and the other German masquerading as Japanese...classic East vs. West themes?  I wonder...

drag geisha

super arty sex scene

this scene was just amazing...filmed using reflections in water.  ghostly.

ok ok another amazing scene

in closing: an awesome picture i found of my favorite director

ゴジラ

Today I finally watched Gojira, AKA Godzilla.  I was pleasantly surprised to see Takashi Shimura in the film!  Liked the music.  Liked the eye patch guy.  Thought overall that the film is more engaging than most old monster flicks.  It's pretty amazing that they made 20+ of these movies.  The scene where the guy is reporting his own impending death was pretty bleak.  It's really fascinating to see the Japanese post WWII mentality through this film (re: the atomic bomb).  It's pretty funny/interesting that Gojira goes down in a cascade of bubbles rather than something more dramatic like a laser beam.

キャシャーン

Casshern  is a movie about post-apocalyptic Japan...and the apocalypse has evidentially turned the world steampunk.  Some of the steampunk visuals were cool...they reminded me of animation sequences from a Final Fantasy game or something.

The movie is based on an old anime...

...and the story follows a young man named Tetsuya who through a freak accident is "chosen by the lightning" (whatever that means) to save humanity--already in dire straits--from complete annihilation.  Pictured above is Tetsuya's faithful anime dog, Friender.  WHAT AN AWESOME NAME.  Friender names a cameo in the film...but the name is romanized as "Flender", which is whack.

OK, so what then is "Casshern"?   Well, Casshern is the peace-loving god that people worshiped before war broke out.  

When I first saw the trailer for this film back in 2004, I was pumped up for it.  However, since then, I'd heard a lot of terrible stuff about it.  I'd have to say that the movie isn't as bad as some of its detractors say...but it isn't that great, either?  The visuals are nice but the action sequences are really boring.  I don't know if it was just the DVD I had, either, but the timing on the subtitles was late and even with an only basic understanding of Japanese I could tell they were kind of crappy/left stuff out.

I did love the casting, though.  Everyone in the film was beautiful!

^ Mayumi Sada, who is hapa and therefore gorgeous

I also thought the blue eye contacts were great!

拳銃は俺のパスポート

I def. watched this while wearing my snuggie.

So, I've finally finished the Nikkatsu noir boxset & A Colt is my Passport (cool title, eh?) was my hands-down favorite.  If you watch one movie from this boxset, watch this.  The other movies are really only of niche interest...the boxset is a great gift for any hardcore Japanese film fans or noir fans, but otherwise they're not of general interest.  

Anyway, this movie is one of Jo Shishido's best.  The film has a lot of beautiful shots.  I also liked the music--kind of a lonely Spanish/western sort of soundtrack with a lot of horns.  The final shoot out is great and shot in an empty landscape so the action speaks for itself.  It's a nice change of pace from the usual shootouts where people are hiding behind things and it's just bullets ricocheting everywhere.

main theme:

poster:

Cruel Gun Story

Watching more of the  Nikkatsu noir box set.  Cruel Gun Story was my favorite thus far (I have one movie left to watch).  I really liked the film's ending.  It starred Jo Shishido, who is a personal favorite.  He's the guy who got the cheek implants to make his face more interesting:

And interesting it was!  Also interesting:  Jo Shishido's official website, DIRTY JOKER (in Japanese).

This t-shirt is for sale on his website.  I need to figure out a way to buy it!!

錆びたナイフ

Rusty Knife.  Another one from the Nikkatsu noir box set.  My complaint about the box set is that the stories kind of all have the same ending...bad guy who you thought was a good guy that gets killed by some deus ex machina device.  Yujiro Ishihara has some fucked up teeth and sometimes it makes it hard to understand his facial expressions...is that a smile? A snarl? Hrm.  There are some cool scenes in this.  Worth a watch for noir fans.

その護送車を狙え

Take Aim at the Police Van was directed by Seijun Suzuki, my favorite direct of all time.  ALL TIME.  It's a lot more straightforward than his other works (read: it makes sense).  It's just a standard noir story, but Japanese.  If you like noir and you like Japanese cinema, this is the flick for you!  I own the DVD--got it with the Nikkatsu noir box set when Criterion was having one of their sales.  Now to watch the rest of the set!

宮本武蔵

Musashi Miyamoto was a famous Japanese swordsman.  Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto is the first in a trilogy about him...the origin story.  Miyamoto is played by the great Toshiro Mifune.  I thought all the actors did a great job with facial expressions.  Example:

Now to see the next two movies!

たそがれ清兵衛

The Twilight Samurai is the story of a down on his luck samurai's redemption.  All in all an entertaining movie, worth a watch if you like samurai films.  Some beautiful sets, costumes, and props, too.  The main character is a likable, scrupulous guy you will be rooting for.  Kind of a good Japanese film for a Japanese film newbie.

二十四の瞳

Twenty-Four Eyes is a sentimental movie following a woman who teachers in a far-flung island of Japan and her first group of students as they grow up through WWII.  The movie has many scenes with children's folk songs, and those really elevate the film and made it one of my favorites.  There are so many songs it's almost like a musical.  The look into rural Japanese life is interesting as well.  I am not sure what the status of this film is in Japan, but it has all the makings of being something like a Japanese It's a Wonderful Life or The Sound of Music ... just a classic remembered fondly by all.  A must for all fans of Japanese cinema.

one of the songs:

晩春

Late Spring is the usual Ozu family drama with his usual actors.  I thought it started off too slowly and too quaint (even the music is terribly, gratingly quaint), but the story eventually captured my interest.  The "drama" involved surrounds a woman, Noriko, who doesn't want to get married and the pressures the people around her are putting on her.  This is something many young women (myself included) should be able to relate to, but the Noriko's motivations are never really made clear, making her a borderline unlikeable character.  The story also centers around her relationship with her father, played by Chishu Ryu, who is a delightful actor with a happy face.  There are many subtly filmed moments of the father's story that were done extremely well.  There are also some "Japanese slice of life" scenes that are of interest (eg a noh performance, tea ceremony).  All in all a must for fans of Japanese postwar stories.  I enjoyed this more than Tokyo Story.

カミュなんて知らない

Who's Camus Anyway?  is a movie about film students making a movie.  As one might imagine, it gets dull at certain points.  There is a contrived segment that descends into soapopera-esque string of love declarations with so and so who likes so and so who likes so and so.  Certain scenes are nicely filmed with fluid movements.  The slice of campus life depicted is interesting.  The casting is also good, with many unique and interesting looks/faces.  Made me wanna read The Stranger.