The Girl And The Picture USC Shoah Foundation Reviewed by: Harvey Karten Director: Vanessa Roth Cast: Xia Shuqin, Chris Magee, Xia Yuan, Li Yuhan Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 4/8/18 Opens: April 27, 2018 As right-wing, authoritarian parties are gaining influence in the West—think Hungary, Greece, France, Germany, Russia, and (gulp) the U.S.– we would […]
The post The Girl and the Picture Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post The Girl and the Picture Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 4/27/2018
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Founded in 1999 by students at the University of Frankfurt, Germany, the Nippon Connection film festival has become the biggest platform for current Japanese cinema outside of Japan. The festival prides itself on the proportion of premieres: in 2012, of 142 shorts and features screened, 42 were world premieres and 14 international premieres. Most of the remaining films were either European or German premieres. In short, if you want to see the latest Japanese films without actually going to Japan, Frankfurt is the place to be.
It’s worth having a look at Nippon Connection’s web site, not just for information about the festival (in both German and English), but also to appreciate its award-winning design, which could serve as an example to many larger film festivals. Last year’s site was framed by imbricated petals in varying shades of pink, evoking a digital carpet of cherry blossoms, a magical anime fish, or even...
It’s worth having a look at Nippon Connection’s web site, not just for information about the festival (in both German and English), but also to appreciate its award-winning design, which could serve as an example to many larger film festivals. Last year’s site was framed by imbricated petals in varying shades of pink, evoking a digital carpet of cherry blossoms, a magical anime fish, or even...
- 5/16/2013
- by Alison Frank
- The Moving Arts Journal
Tokyo Chorus
Directed by Yasujirô Ozu
Written by Kôgo Noda
Japan, 1931
After launching its 2013 schedule with one of the most unrelentingly somber works of art ever committed to celluloid, the Tsff took a more genial tack on the second night of its run. Revered for his celebrated series of post-World War Two family melodramas, Yasujirô Ozu actually began his career as a comedic filmmaker – and this rambunctious movie (which befited immensely from keyboardist Laura Silberberg’s jaunty live accompaniment) reflects that. As special guest speaker (and Shinsedai Cinema Festival co-programmer and co-director) Chris MaGee argued during his introductory remarks, Tokyo Chorus occupies a crucial place in Ozu’s oeuvre, announcing a “familial turn” that would eventually produce masterpieces like Late Spring (1949) and Tokyo Story (1953).
The intense dramatics of those later efforts are mostly absent from Tokyo Chorus, but that does not mean that this isn’t a serious film. In fact,...
Directed by Yasujirô Ozu
Written by Kôgo Noda
Japan, 1931
After launching its 2013 schedule with one of the most unrelentingly somber works of art ever committed to celluloid, the Tsff took a more genial tack on the second night of its run. Revered for his celebrated series of post-World War Two family melodramas, Yasujirô Ozu actually began his career as a comedic filmmaker – and this rambunctious movie (which befited immensely from keyboardist Laura Silberberg’s jaunty live accompaniment) reflects that. As special guest speaker (and Shinsedai Cinema Festival co-programmer and co-director) Chris MaGee argued during his introductory remarks, Tokyo Chorus occupies a crucial place in Ozu’s oeuvre, announcing a “familial turn” that would eventually produce masterpieces like Late Spring (1949) and Tokyo Story (1953).
The intense dramatics of those later efforts are mostly absent from Tokyo Chorus, but that does not mean that this isn’t a serious film. In fact,...
- 4/6/2013
- by David Fiore
- SoundOnSight
The 36th annual Hong Kong International Film Festival has opened today and will screen 283 films from 50 countries through April 4. Betsy Sharkey's there for the Los Angeles Times: "It is a time of transition for the Pearl of the Orient, a territory of 7 million that reverted from British to Chinese rule 15 years ago. Hong Kong, perhaps more than any other place outside the mainland, has felt the rise of this new superpower in its art, commerce and politics, and the many of city's movies in the three-week festival capture that dynamic. Consider the opening night film, Love in the Buff, director Pang Ho-Cheung's sardonic look at two former lovers who are part of the relatively recent reverse wave of migration — moving from the ex-colony to Beijing, where job prospects are suddenly brighter." It's a sequel to 2010's Love in a Puff. "In Life Without Principle, Johnnie To crafts an action-satire commenting on wealth-obsessed Hong Kong.
- 3/23/2012
- MUBI
It's been a newsy day. We lost Tonino Guerra and Ulu Grosbard, the Hong Kong and New Directors/New Films festivals have opened, Takashi Miike has yet another film on the way and Casablanca, celebrating its 70th, is playing coast to coast. It's also been a fine day for posters, so I'm pepping up today's Briefing with a few for festivals and events happening soon or already ongoing. Kevin Tong designed the one above for the three films that Edgar Wright will be on hand to present at the opening of the Alamo Drafthouse on Slaughter Lane in Austin this weekend.
The lineup and schedule for Ebertfest 2012, running April 25 through 29, has been set and Roger Ebert discusses each of the titles in his Journal. Among the highlights: David Bordwell will lead a discussion of Citizen Kane, Patton Oswalt will host a session on Kind Hearts and Coronets and it looks...
The lineup and schedule for Ebertfest 2012, running April 25 through 29, has been set and Roger Ebert discusses each of the titles in his Journal. Among the highlights: David Bordwell will lead a discussion of Citizen Kane, Patton Oswalt will host a session on Kind Hearts and Coronets and it looks...
- 3/21/2012
- MUBI
The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, opening today and running through March 18, turns 30 this year. "Highlights of 2012's anniversary line-up include an in-person tribute to Joan Chen, a pair of world premieres from the talents behind Colma: The Musical, and Patrick Wang's In the Family, one of the most acclaimed American indies from last year," writes Michael Hawley in an extensive overview. And Michael Guillén interviews Wang at the Evening Class.
For the Bay Guardian's Kimberly Chun, Sfiaaff "seems to be in the throes of a youth movement." More previews come from Peter Martin (Twitch) and Kelly Vance (East Bay Express).
Los Angeles. The Beauty of the Long Day: An In-Person Terence Davies Tribute happens Sunday and Monday at the Aero Theater and Doug Cummings has a preview in the La Weekly.
Seattle. In the Stranger, Charles Mudede argues (briefly) that the Dreileben trilogy, Christian Petzold's Beats Being Dead,...
For the Bay Guardian's Kimberly Chun, Sfiaaff "seems to be in the throes of a youth movement." More previews come from Peter Martin (Twitch) and Kelly Vance (East Bay Express).
Los Angeles. The Beauty of the Long Day: An In-Person Terence Davies Tribute happens Sunday and Monday at the Aero Theater and Doug Cummings has a preview in the La Weekly.
Seattle. In the Stranger, Charles Mudede argues (briefly) that the Dreileben trilogy, Christian Petzold's Beats Being Dead,...
- 3/8/2012
- MUBI
Hideaki Nitani and Yujiro Ishihara
in Toshio Masuda's Red Handkerchief (1964)
Via Cinema Strikes Back
"Sad news the weekend for fans of Nikkatsu action films of the 1960s," writes Chris MaGee at J-Film Pow-Wow. "Actor Hideaki Nitani, best known for his supporting roles in such films as Underworld Beauty and Tokyo Drifter, died of pneumonia on Saturday, January 7th at a Tokyo hospital. He was 81…. In 1954 Nikkatsu had finally begun to produce films again after having temporarily shuttering itself during the post-war Us Occupation. Joining Nitani during this hiring blitz were stars like Akira Kobayashi, Yujiro Ishihara and Jo Shishido. Nitani made his screen debut in 1956 in Takumi Furukawa's The People of Okinawa. This would begin a string of roles, mostly as tough guys and gangsters, in the films of Seijun Suzuki, Yuzo Kawashima, Ko Nakahira, and Koreyoshi Kurahara, amongst others."
From the Mainichi Daily News: "Nitani shifted his...
in Toshio Masuda's Red Handkerchief (1964)
Via Cinema Strikes Back
"Sad news the weekend for fans of Nikkatsu action films of the 1960s," writes Chris MaGee at J-Film Pow-Wow. "Actor Hideaki Nitani, best known for his supporting roles in such films as Underworld Beauty and Tokyo Drifter, died of pneumonia on Saturday, January 7th at a Tokyo hospital. He was 81…. In 1954 Nikkatsu had finally begun to produce films again after having temporarily shuttering itself during the post-war Us Occupation. Joining Nitani during this hiring blitz were stars like Akira Kobayashi, Yujiro Ishihara and Jo Shishido. Nitani made his screen debut in 1956 in Takumi Furukawa's The People of Okinawa. This would begin a string of roles, mostly as tough guys and gangsters, in the films of Seijun Suzuki, Yuzo Kawashima, Ko Nakahira, and Koreyoshi Kurahara, amongst others."
From the Mainichi Daily News: "Nitani shifted his...
- 1/9/2012
- MUBI
"Yoshimitsu Morita, whose films depicted the absurdity and vulnerability of everyday life in conformist Japan, has died," reports Yuri Kagayama for the AP. "He was 61." His breakthrough came with The Family Game (1983), winner of five Kinema Junpo Awards — Best Film, Director, Screenplay, Actor (Yusaku Matsuda) and Supporting Actor (Jûzô Itami) — in which Matsuda plays "an offbeat tutor who forms a heartwarming relationship with a young man in a stereotypical middle-class family."
"Though even its most perceptive commentators reduce Kazoku geimu (Family Game) to a critique of 'affluent, middle-class nuclear family life in the city and nose-to-the-grindstone education systems' [Keiko McDonald in 1989], Morita's most widely known film is before all else hilarious," wrote Bob Davis in Senses of Cinema in 2006. "Its laughs derive from inappropriate and idiosyncratic behavior, unseemly frankness, slapstick antics, gross-out tactics, repetitions, exaggerations, explosive contrasts, and unnatural pacing." In Davis's "brazen 'ranking' of Morita's films, Family Game, Deaths in Tokimeki, Sorekara [And Then], Keiho,...
"Though even its most perceptive commentators reduce Kazoku geimu (Family Game) to a critique of 'affluent, middle-class nuclear family life in the city and nose-to-the-grindstone education systems' [Keiko McDonald in 1989], Morita's most widely known film is before all else hilarious," wrote Bob Davis in Senses of Cinema in 2006. "Its laughs derive from inappropriate and idiosyncratic behavior, unseemly frankness, slapstick antics, gross-out tactics, repetitions, exaggerations, explosive contrasts, and unnatural pacing." In Davis's "brazen 'ranking' of Morita's films, Family Game, Deaths in Tokimeki, Sorekara [And Then], Keiho,...
- 12/23/2011
- MUBI
The "Hammer Horror" on the cover of the new 49th issue of Cinema Scope refers to Kill List, "which strikes me as the key horror movie of the new century so far," writes Adam Nayman, introducing his interview with director Ben Wheatley. Before moving on to the rest of the issue, let me note that Marcus Hearn has a relatively new book out about the original Hammer, The Hammer Vault: Treasures From the Archive of Hammer Films and Kimberly Lindbergs talks with him about it for Movie Morlocks. It's one of her favorite film-related books of the year and, at the Playlist, Drew Taylor gives it an "A."
But back to Cinema Scope. Olivier Père talks with William Friedkin about Killer Joe and, in something of a coup, Jp Sniadecki scores an interview with Ai Weiwei: "He is not officially allowed to give interviews, nor to produce any films,...
But back to Cinema Scope. Olivier Père talks with William Friedkin about Killer Joe and, in something of a coup, Jp Sniadecki scores an interview with Ai Weiwei: "He is not officially allowed to give interviews, nor to produce any films,...
- 12/23/2011
- MUBI
"Bearing a 2008 copyright, the film Human Zoo pops up for a one-week run at the New Beverly, presented by the theater's benefactor, Quentin Tarantino," writes Mark Olsen in the La Weekly. "Best known to moviegoers as the star of Luc Besson's Parisian fantasy Angel-a, model/artist Rie Rasmussen is here writer, director, star and even co-editor, with the story apparently based on the experiences of her adopted sister." Tarantino, notes Jeff Otto at the Playlist, calls Human Zoo "an electrifying directorial debut. It's as shocking and violent as it is moving and charming." Olsen, on the other hand: "Incoherent and self-indulgent, the film can't even manage to be particularly fun — even the supermodel sex scenes are disconcertingly disengaged, and everything is shot with a dingy patina that parades about as gritty realism."
Back to Otto: "Tarantino and Rasmussen have become good chums. She visited the set of Inglourious Basterds...
Back to Otto: "Tarantino and Rasmussen have become good chums. She visited the set of Inglourious Basterds...
- 11/12/2011
- MUBI
"If everything moves along and there's no major catastrophes, we're basically headed towards holograms. Why can't you have Hamlet in 3D who comes out to the audience and does 'To be or not to be?' I mean, they do in the theater. You have to think that way. Don't let the economics, and fashion, inhibit you if you're being creative."
That's Martin Scorsese, as quoted by Todd Gilchrist at the Playlist. As Steven Zeitchik also reports for the Los Angeles Times, the comments followed an enthusiastic endorsement of 3D, which in turn followed this weekend's Los Angeles premiere of Hugo, Scorsese's adaptation of Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. We saw a few early reviews last month when Hugo was still a work-in-progress. Zeitchik: "Set in the late 1920s, Hugo tells of the titular orphan (Asa Butterfield) who lives in a train station, his relationship...
That's Martin Scorsese, as quoted by Todd Gilchrist at the Playlist. As Steven Zeitchik also reports for the Los Angeles Times, the comments followed an enthusiastic endorsement of 3D, which in turn followed this weekend's Los Angeles premiere of Hugo, Scorsese's adaptation of Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. We saw a few early reviews last month when Hugo was still a work-in-progress. Zeitchik: "Set in the late 1920s, Hugo tells of the titular orphan (Asa Butterfield) who lives in a train station, his relationship...
- 11/7/2011
- MUBI
Just a couple of weeks ago, we were taking our first look at Koji Wakamatsu's 11.25 Jiketsu no Hi: Mishima Yukio to Wakamonotachi, based, of course, on the final days of Yukio Mishima. Now comes word from Wildgrounds and Chris MaGee at Toronto J-Film Pow Wow that we can look forward to not one but two films from Wakamatsu in 2012.
MaGee: "Either while he was shooting 11.25 Jiketsu no Hi: Mishima Yukio to Wakamonotachi or afterwards, Wakamatsu had the energy to bang out Kaien Hotel Blue, a contemporary drama about an ex-con whose plans for revenge are complicated after he meets a young woman. Once again Arata stars."
Wildgrounds: "Some shots from this trailer are reminiscent of Wakamatsu's early films, like for example, the deserted landscape from Violent Virgin/Ecstasy of the Angels. Also, it has this impossible love story vibe a la Running in Madness, Dying in Love…"
For news and...
MaGee: "Either while he was shooting 11.25 Jiketsu no Hi: Mishima Yukio to Wakamonotachi or afterwards, Wakamatsu had the energy to bang out Kaien Hotel Blue, a contemporary drama about an ex-con whose plans for revenge are complicated after he meets a young woman. Once again Arata stars."
Wildgrounds: "Some shots from this trailer are reminiscent of Wakamatsu's early films, like for example, the deserted landscape from Violent Virgin/Ecstasy of the Angels. Also, it has this impossible love story vibe a la Running in Madness, Dying in Love…"
For news and...
- 11/7/2011
- MUBI
Following rounds 1 and 2, this one will take us right on through the countdown to Halloween and will surely be the most actively updated of the bunch. Best to begin, then, by grounding it in a classic, so we turn to David Kalat: "Frankenstein isn't a science fiction story about an arrogant scientist who intrudes on God's domain, it's a metaphor about our relationship to God." That's his argument, and I'll let him explain, but I want to pull back to a couple of earlier sentences in his piece. Mary Shelley's novel, "and the 1910 film version, treated the 'science' of Frankenstein as just so much folderol, a MacGuffin to introduce the artificial man into the story. Whale was so good at providing a reasonably convincing visualization of reviving the dead — no, more than that, a stunningly satisfying visualization of reviving the dead — it focused popular attention on that part of...
- 10/27/2011
- MUBI
"Romanian films set in the era after the fall of Communism suggest the nation suffers a hell of a hangover from the ideology," writes Steve Erickson in Gay City News. "For instance, Corneliu Porumboiu's Police, Adjective attacks draconian drug laws left over from the old regime. Tuesday, After Christmas presents a very different vision of Romania. Its characters can afford to buy expensive Christmas gifts; one of them picks up a 3,300 Euro telescope. It may not be entirely accurate to call the film apolitical, but the most political thing about it is its avoidance of Eastern European miserabilism and its depiction of people who could be living much the same lifestyles in Western Europe."
Damon Smith introduces an interview with director Radu Muntean for Filmmaker: "Tuesday, After Christmas, which premiered at Cannes last year, opens on a dreamy scene: sunlight bathes a naked couple, middle-aged Paul (Mimi Branescu) and pretty,...
Damon Smith introduces an interview with director Radu Muntean for Filmmaker: "Tuesday, After Christmas, which premiered at Cannes last year, opens on a dreamy scene: sunlight bathes a naked couple, middle-aged Paul (Mimi Branescu) and pretty,...
- 5/26/2011
- MUBI
The first two labels I have profiled for Twitch have been mainly focused on bringing older or forgotten films to home video, so I thought it was time to check up on a label whose focus is on contemporary cinema, and I can hardly think of a better example than Third Window Films. With our exclusive first look at Third Window's acquisition of Sion Sono's Cold Fish, a film that has just started making the festival rounds a couple of months ago, you can tell that they have their finger on the pulse of Asian cinema and they strive to stay ahead of the curve and we get the benefit of that foresight.
Third Window Films focuses on contemporary films from the Far East, so far that means Hong Kong, Korea, and especially Japan. They began with several Korean box office and art-house favorites like Kick The Moon, Friend, Peppermint Candy,...
Third Window Films focuses on contemporary films from the Far East, so far that means Hong Kong, Korea, and especially Japan. They began with several Korean box office and art-house favorites like Kick The Moon, Friend, Peppermint Candy,...
- 12/6/2010
- Screen Anarchy
"Actor Ryo Ikebe died of sepsis at a Tokyo hospital on October 8," reports Tokyograph News. "He was 92."
For Variety, Mark Schilling notes that Ikebe originally intended to become a director for the Toho studio. "His soft-featured, city-bred good looks drew the attention of Toho helmer Yasujiro Shimazu, who cast Ikebe in the 1941 pic Fighting Fish (Togyo)." Following World War II, "Ikebe moved from young leading man roles to a wider range of parts, such as the elite bureaucrat who falls into self-destructive dissipation in Minoru Shibuya's Modern Man (Gendaijin, 1952) and the cheating businessman in a troubled marriage in Yasujiro Ozu's Early Spring (Soshun, 1956)." He then rode the Japanese New Wave, "starring as an ex-con who takes up with a fast-living younger women in Masahiro Shinoda's seminal gangster pic Pale Flower (Kawaita Hana, 1964)," which, of course, has just screened in the Shinoda Masterworks series at this year's New York Film Festival.
For Variety, Mark Schilling notes that Ikebe originally intended to become a director for the Toho studio. "His soft-featured, city-bred good looks drew the attention of Toho helmer Yasujiro Shimazu, who cast Ikebe in the 1941 pic Fighting Fish (Togyo)." Following World War II, "Ikebe moved from young leading man roles to a wider range of parts, such as the elite bureaucrat who falls into self-destructive dissipation in Minoru Shibuya's Modern Man (Gendaijin, 1952) and the cheating businessman in a troubled marriage in Yasujiro Ozu's Early Spring (Soshun, 1956)." He then rode the Japanese New Wave, "starring as an ex-con who takes up with a fast-living younger women in Masahiro Shinoda's seminal gangster pic Pale Flower (Kawaita Hana, 1964)," which, of course, has just screened in the Shinoda Masterworks series at this year's New York Film Festival.
- 10/13/2010
- MUBI
The Shinsedai Cinema Festival opens today in Toronto and runs through Sunday. James McNally: "After a successful inaugural edition last August, co-programmers Chris Magee and Jasper Sharp have curated an even stronger lineup of new independent Japanese cinema." Twitch has already begun posting reviews from the festival, too.
A Laugh-Out-Loud Weekend With Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner begins tonight at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. Michael Joshua Rowin tells the story of the partnership in the Weekly; Susan King has more — and more local goings on — in the Times.
For news and tips throughout the day every day, follow The Daily Notebook on Twitter and/or the RSS feed.
A Laugh-Out-Loud Weekend With Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner begins tonight at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. Michael Joshua Rowin tells the story of the partnership in the Weekly; Susan King has more — and more local goings on — in the Times.
For news and tips throughout the day every day, follow The Daily Notebook on Twitter and/or the RSS feed.
- 7/22/2010
- MUBI
[This review initially appeared when the film screened at Germany's Nippon Connection and with the film appearing this weekend at the Shinsedai Festival in Toronto we present it again now.]
When I think of concert films I tend to think of them as static. Even if the filmmaker is following a band on tour things tend to progress from one stage show to the next. If the music is great then it can be electrifying, but concert films still present a real challenge to a director. How can people playing music on stage carry an entire feature film? Some have found that magic formula, namely my favorites like Chris Blum's film of Tom Waits's 1988 American tour "Big Time", Laurie Anderson's groundbreaking "Home of the Brave" and that little piece of Toronto punk rock history "The Last Pogo" shot at the city's Horseshoe Tavern. I was lucky enough to recently add to my list of favorite concert films when I got a chance to see Tetsuaki Matsue's "Live Tape", the winner of the top prize in the...
When I think of concert films I tend to think of them as static. Even if the filmmaker is following a band on tour things tend to progress from one stage show to the next. If the music is great then it can be electrifying, but concert films still present a real challenge to a director. How can people playing music on stage carry an entire feature film? Some have found that magic formula, namely my favorites like Chris Blum's film of Tom Waits's 1988 American tour "Big Time", Laurie Anderson's groundbreaking "Home of the Brave" and that little piece of Toronto punk rock history "The Last Pogo" shot at the city's Horseshoe Tavern. I was lucky enough to recently add to my list of favorite concert films when I got a chance to see Tetsuaki Matsue's "Live Tape", the winner of the top prize in the...
- 7/21/2010
- Screen Anarchy
[This review initially appeared when the film screened at Germany's Nippon Connection and with the film appearing this weekend at the Shinsedai Festival in Toronto we present it again now..]
If there is one "buzz" film at this year's Nippon Connection it would have to be Momoko Ando's same sex romance "Kakera: A Piece of Your Life". The debut film by the daughter of actor/ director Eiji Okuda (Shoujyo, ) and TV personality and essayist Kazu Ando got its international premiere at last year's Raindance Film Festival in London in September, was quickly snatched up by UK distributor Third Window Films shortly after, and by the end of the year it was being included on a number of Top Ten Best of 2009 critics lists. When any film is so quickly showered with ovations I always get a little suspicious, and going into a film festival I always prioritize my "must-see" list not by buzz, but by films that I may never get a chance to see again, so with that in mind "Kakera" was somewhere on my "maybe" list -...
If there is one "buzz" film at this year's Nippon Connection it would have to be Momoko Ando's same sex romance "Kakera: A Piece of Your Life". The debut film by the daughter of actor/ director Eiji Okuda (Shoujyo, ) and TV personality and essayist Kazu Ando got its international premiere at last year's Raindance Film Festival in London in September, was quickly snatched up by UK distributor Third Window Films shortly after, and by the end of the year it was being included on a number of Top Ten Best of 2009 critics lists. When any film is so quickly showered with ovations I always get a little suspicious, and going into a film festival I always prioritize my "must-see" list not by buzz, but by films that I may never get a chance to see again, so with that in mind "Kakera" was somewhere on my "maybe" list -...
- 7/21/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Though The Blood Of Rebirth isn't autobiographical, it is apparently indicative of director Toshiaki Toyoda's tumultuous past five years. What you know of his life and previous films will greatly affect how you view his latest, which by most accounts seems to be a creative and personal cleansing - indeed, something of a rebirth.
As for me.. well, this was my first Toyoda film, and I knew nothing of the stakes surrounding the production, nor it's director, until after I saw it - like for instance the shooting schedule was a mere ten days. For this reason I won't go into any more behind-the-scenes in this review, as it wouldn't be pertinent to my actual viewing experience (for further deets on that story I refer you to the better informed review by Chris Magee and Mark Saint-Cyr from April's Nippon Connection).
So the film, as a film... how is it?...
As for me.. well, this was my first Toyoda film, and I knew nothing of the stakes surrounding the production, nor it's director, until after I saw it - like for instance the shooting schedule was a mere ten days. For this reason I won't go into any more behind-the-scenes in this review, as it wouldn't be pertinent to my actual viewing experience (for further deets on that story I refer you to the better informed review by Chris Magee and Mark Saint-Cyr from April's Nippon Connection).
So the film, as a film... how is it?...
- 7/1/2010
- Screen Anarchy
A moment here to say a very public well done to Shinsedai Festival organizers Chris MaGee and Jasper Sharp. The complete festival lineup and schedule have been announced today and it's a stellar, diverse lineup of titles. Here's the announcement of the second block of titles:
The anticipation has been building for the past few weeks, but now we are very proud to announce the full line-up and screening schedule for the 2nd annual Shinsedai Cinema Festival taking place at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto. Joining the already announced screenings of Kenji Mizoguchi's silent classic "The Water Magician" (with live musical accompaniment by Toronto's Vowls), the Canadian Premiere of Gen Takahashi's police epic "Confessions of a Dog" and the Toronto Premiere of the ward-winning concert documentary "Live Tape" are:
Kakera: A Piece Of Our Life (Toronto Premiere/ Opening Night Film): Haru (Hikari Mitsushima) is a...
The anticipation has been building for the past few weeks, but now we are very proud to announce the full line-up and screening schedule for the 2nd annual Shinsedai Cinema Festival taking place at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto. Joining the already announced screenings of Kenji Mizoguchi's silent classic "The Water Magician" (with live musical accompaniment by Toronto's Vowls), the Canadian Premiere of Gen Takahashi's police epic "Confessions of a Dog" and the Toronto Premiere of the ward-winning concert documentary "Live Tape" are:
Kakera: A Piece Of Our Life (Toronto Premiere/ Opening Night Film): Haru (Hikari Mitsushima) is a...
- 6/17/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The Toronto-based Shinsedai Festival got off to a roaring start in 2009 and though it hardly seems like a year has passed the first block of titles has already been announced for the 2010 edition.
Once again curated by Chris MaGee and Jasper Sharp, the festival will present the finest in Japanese independent film from the past year. And here's the initial announcement:
Since our inaugural year in 2009 so many great films have come out of Japan. Shinsedai Cinema Festival co-programmers Jasper Sharp (Midnight Eye) and Chris MaGee (Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow)have spent the past eight months watching as many of these films as humanly possible so that they can bring the best independent, and in many cases under-appreciated, Japanese films to movie audiences here in Toronto. From July 22nd to July 25th, 2010 the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre will be hosting this celebration of Japanese film, and while Sharp and MaGee are...
Once again curated by Chris MaGee and Jasper Sharp, the festival will present the finest in Japanese independent film from the past year. And here's the initial announcement:
Since our inaugural year in 2009 so many great films have come out of Japan. Shinsedai Cinema Festival co-programmers Jasper Sharp (Midnight Eye) and Chris MaGee (Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow)have spent the past eight months watching as many of these films as humanly possible so that they can bring the best independent, and in many cases under-appreciated, Japanese films to movie audiences here in Toronto. From July 22nd to July 25th, 2010 the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre will be hosting this celebration of Japanese film, and while Sharp and MaGee are...
- 5/25/2010
- Screen Anarchy
[Our thanks go out to Chris MaGee and Marc Saint-Cyr at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow for sharing their coverage of the 2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival.]
In the past 20-years in North America we've been treated to a steady stream of comic book adaptations starting off with Tim Burton's "Batman" and continuing with every super hero from Spiderman to Iron Man. Japan has also been steadily converting their comics, properly known as manga, to the big screen, but manga encompass a much broader range of subjects than most comic books in North America. I say most because there has been a thriving underground comics scene and it too has been used for movie fodder. The best examples of this would be Terry Zwigoff's adaptation of Daniel Clowes' "Ghost World" and Shari Springer Berman's and Robert Pulcini's take on Harvey Pekar's "American Splendor". In my recent interview with manga artist and animator Akino Kondoh we talked about how in aamongst the popular manga adaptations like "Crows Zero" and "Tsurikichi Sanpei" there...
In the past 20-years in North America we've been treated to a steady stream of comic book adaptations starting off with Tim Burton's "Batman" and continuing with every super hero from Spiderman to Iron Man. Japan has also been steadily converting their comics, properly known as manga, to the big screen, but manga encompass a much broader range of subjects than most comic books in North America. I say most because there has been a thriving underground comics scene and it too has been used for movie fodder. The best examples of this would be Terry Zwigoff's adaptation of Daniel Clowes' "Ghost World" and Shari Springer Berman's and Robert Pulcini's take on Harvey Pekar's "American Splendor". In my recent interview with manga artist and animator Akino Kondoh we talked about how in aamongst the popular manga adaptations like "Crows Zero" and "Tsurikichi Sanpei" there...
- 4/18/2010
- Screen Anarchy
[Our thanks go out to Chris MaGee and Marc Saint-Cyr at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow for sharing their coverage of the 2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival.]
In 2005 director Toshiaki Toyoda was poised to take his career to the next level. At that point only 35-years-old Toyoda had already gained a reputation as one of Japan's most promising filmmakers. Throughout films like "Pornostar (a.k.a. "Tokyo Rampage")", the Taiyo Matsumoto manga adaptation "Blue Spring", and the masterful ensemble prison break film "9 Souls" he showed that he could combine tongue-in-cheek comedy with brutal drama, but by mid-decade he was ready to release a film that would place him alongside the likes of international festival favorites Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Hirokazu Kore-eda. "Hanging Garden" was an unblinking look at the disintegration of the Japanese family starring Kyoko Kozumi and Itsuji Itao as parents who demand 100% honesty from each other and their children, but who end up holding damaging secrets from each other. Not since Yoshimitsu Morita's "The Family Game" had a filmmaker presented such a damning llok at the core of Japanse society.
In 2005 director Toshiaki Toyoda was poised to take his career to the next level. At that point only 35-years-old Toyoda had already gained a reputation as one of Japan's most promising filmmakers. Throughout films like "Pornostar (a.k.a. "Tokyo Rampage")", the Taiyo Matsumoto manga adaptation "Blue Spring", and the masterful ensemble prison break film "9 Souls" he showed that he could combine tongue-in-cheek comedy with brutal drama, but by mid-decade he was ready to release a film that would place him alongside the likes of international festival favorites Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Hirokazu Kore-eda. "Hanging Garden" was an unblinking look at the disintegration of the Japanese family starring Kyoko Kozumi and Itsuji Itao as parents who demand 100% honesty from each other and their children, but who end up holding damaging secrets from each other. Not since Yoshimitsu Morita's "The Family Game" had a filmmaker presented such a damning llok at the core of Japanse society.
- 4/17/2010
- Screen Anarchy
[Our thanks go out to Chris MaGee and Marc Saint-Cyr at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow for sharing their coverage of the 2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival.]
If there is one "buzz" film at this year's Nippon Connection it would have to be Momoko Ando's same sex romance "Kakera: A Piece of Your Life". The debut film by the daughter of actor/ director Eiji Okuda (Shoujyo, ) and TV personality and essayist Kazu Ando got its international premiere at last year's Raindance Film Festival in London in September, was quickly snatched up by UK distributor Third Window Films shortly after, and by the end of the year it was being included on a number of Top Ten Best of 2009 critics lists. When any film is so quickly showered with ovations I always get a little suspicious, and going into a film festival I always prioritize my "must-see" list not by buzz, but by films that I may never get a chance to see again, so with that in mind "Kakera" was somewhere on my "maybe" list -...
If there is one "buzz" film at this year's Nippon Connection it would have to be Momoko Ando's same sex romance "Kakera: A Piece of Your Life". The debut film by the daughter of actor/ director Eiji Okuda (Shoujyo, ) and TV personality and essayist Kazu Ando got its international premiere at last year's Raindance Film Festival in London in September, was quickly snatched up by UK distributor Third Window Films shortly after, and by the end of the year it was being included on a number of Top Ten Best of 2009 critics lists. When any film is so quickly showered with ovations I always get a little suspicious, and going into a film festival I always prioritize my "must-see" list not by buzz, but by films that I may never get a chance to see again, so with that in mind "Kakera" was somewhere on my "maybe" list -...
- 4/16/2010
- Screen Anarchy
[Our thanks go out to Chris MaGee and Marc Saint-Cyr at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow for sharing their coverage of the 2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival.]
Kaiji Ito (Tatsuya Fujiwara) has a problem. Not only is he working at a dead end job as a check out clerk at a convenience store, but he's also a gambling addict. His once 300,000 yen debt has ballooned with interest to a painful 2 million and he simply doesn't know what to do... that is until he is given (to quote "The Godfather") an offer he can't refuse. A beautiful debt collector (Yuki Amami) tells Kaiji about a gambling cruise ship named Espoir, French for "hope", where if he's lucky Kaiji can erase his debts in a single night. A bit suspicious Kaiji boards the ship and finds himself, along with a room full of dozens of other "losers", participating in the 23rd annual Creative Cruise hosted by the the lizard-like Tonegawa (Teruyuki Kagawa). The goal of the cruise is simple - play a game of rock, paper, scissors and come out with your debts cleared.
Kaiji Ito (Tatsuya Fujiwara) has a problem. Not only is he working at a dead end job as a check out clerk at a convenience store, but he's also a gambling addict. His once 300,000 yen debt has ballooned with interest to a painful 2 million and he simply doesn't know what to do... that is until he is given (to quote "The Godfather") an offer he can't refuse. A beautiful debt collector (Yuki Amami) tells Kaiji about a gambling cruise ship named Espoir, French for "hope", where if he's lucky Kaiji can erase his debts in a single night. A bit suspicious Kaiji boards the ship and finds himself, along with a room full of dozens of other "losers", participating in the 23rd annual Creative Cruise hosted by the the lizard-like Tonegawa (Teruyuki Kagawa). The goal of the cruise is simple - play a game of rock, paper, scissors and come out with your debts cleared.
- 4/15/2010
- Screen Anarchy
[Our thanks go out to Chris MaGee and Marc Saint-Cyr at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow for sharing their coverage of the 2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival.]
Osamu Ino (Tsurube Shôfukutei), a small town doctor in rural Japan, has gone missing. Except for a white lab coat found in a nearby field there is no sign of the much loved physician. Police begin to investigate his disappearance, but very quickly they discover that the details of Dr. Ino's life just doesn't add up. First off the locals, mostly senior citizens, people who normally know everyone's business in town, can't agree on what exactly Dr. Ino's background is. Some are certain that his father was a factory owner from Osaka, others say Ino comes from a family of woodworkers in Kyoto. There's also the sense that his colleagues at the local medical clinic, nurse Akemi Otake (Kimiko Yo), young medical intern Keiskue Soma (Eita), as well as phramaceutical rep Saimon (Teruyuki Kagawa), weren't entirely convinced of Dr Ino's skills despite their deep admiration of him. They aren't the...
Osamu Ino (Tsurube Shôfukutei), a small town doctor in rural Japan, has gone missing. Except for a white lab coat found in a nearby field there is no sign of the much loved physician. Police begin to investigate his disappearance, but very quickly they discover that the details of Dr. Ino's life just doesn't add up. First off the locals, mostly senior citizens, people who normally know everyone's business in town, can't agree on what exactly Dr. Ino's background is. Some are certain that his father was a factory owner from Osaka, others say Ino comes from a family of woodworkers in Kyoto. There's also the sense that his colleagues at the local medical clinic, nurse Akemi Otake (Kimiko Yo), young medical intern Keiskue Soma (Eita), as well as phramaceutical rep Saimon (Teruyuki Kagawa), weren't entirely convinced of Dr Ino's skills despite their deep admiration of him. They aren't the...
- 4/15/2010
- Screen Anarchy
[Our thanks go out to Chris MaGee and Marc Saint-Cyr at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow for sharing their coverage of the 2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival.]
When I think of concert films I tend to think of them as static. Even if the filmmaker is following a band on tour things tend to progress from one stage show to the next. If the music is great then it can be electrifying, but concert films still present a real challenge to a director. How can people playing music on stage carry an entire feature film? Some have found that magic formula, namely my favorites like Chris Blum's film of Tom Waits's 1988 American tour "Big Time", Laurie Anderson's groundbreaking "Home of the Brave" and that little piece of Toronto punk rock history "The Last Pogo" shot at the city's Horseshoe Tavern. I was lucky enough to recently add to my list of favorite concert films when I got a chance to see Tetsuaki Matsue's "Live Tape", the winner of the top prize in the...
When I think of concert films I tend to think of them as static. Even if the filmmaker is following a band on tour things tend to progress from one stage show to the next. If the music is great then it can be electrifying, but concert films still present a real challenge to a director. How can people playing music on stage carry an entire feature film? Some have found that magic formula, namely my favorites like Chris Blum's film of Tom Waits's 1988 American tour "Big Time", Laurie Anderson's groundbreaking "Home of the Brave" and that little piece of Toronto punk rock history "The Last Pogo" shot at the city's Horseshoe Tavern. I was lucky enough to recently add to my list of favorite concert films when I got a chance to see Tetsuaki Matsue's "Live Tape", the winner of the top prize in the...
- 4/15/2010
- Screen Anarchy
A brand new festival has popped up the Twitchfilm radar this weekend. The inaugural Shinsedai [New Generation] Festival has just announced the first wave of titles playing this year here in Toronto. Co-programmed by Midnight Eye’s Jasper Sharp and Toronto’s greatest Jfan Chris Magee from JFilm Pow Wow their purpose and goal with Shinsedai is to turn the spotlight on some of Japan’s great independent filmmakers that have emerged this past decade.
Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi, Oshima, Kitano - around the world these names immediately bring to mind the best that Japanese cinema has to offer, but now that we’re at the beginning of a new century many film fans are wondering who the next generation of great filmmakers from Japan will be. Toronto’s first Shinsedai Cinema Festival tries to answer that question by bringing some of the best work by independent Japanese filmmakers to Toronto, many for the very first time.
Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi, Oshima, Kitano - around the world these names immediately bring to mind the best that Japanese cinema has to offer, but now that we’re at the beginning of a new century many film fans are wondering who the next generation of great filmmakers from Japan will be. Toronto’s first Shinsedai Cinema Festival tries to answer that question by bringing some of the best work by independent Japanese filmmakers to Toronto, many for the very first time.
- 6/7/2009
- by Mack
- Screen Anarchy
Korean actress Bae Doo-Na stars in this film by Japanese director Kore-Eda (Hana, Nobody Knows). Kuuki Ningyo is adapted from a manga by Yoshiie Goda. It also stars Ping Pong‘s Arata in the role of the video clerk. Susumu Terajima, Jo Odagiri and Ryo Iwamatsu also star.
Chris Magee over at JFilm Pow Wow has done his darndest to translate the synopsis over at CinemaTopicsOnline
The kuuki ningyo, or “air doll” of the film’s title is owned by a man named Hideo. One day while he’s at work the doll comes to life and ventures out into the city. On one of her trips she stumbles across a video store and meets Junichi who works there part-time. Suddenly the doll experiences something she’s never felt before… feelings.
As it goes with any site launch for a film there isn’t much to look at yet. And...
Chris Magee over at JFilm Pow Wow has done his darndest to translate the synopsis over at CinemaTopicsOnline
The kuuki ningyo, or “air doll” of the film’s title is owned by a man named Hideo. One day while he’s at work the doll comes to life and ventures out into the city. On one of her trips she stumbles across a video store and meets Junichi who works there part-time. Suddenly the doll experiences something she’s never felt before… feelings.
As it goes with any site launch for a film there isn’t much to look at yet. And...
- 3/19/2009
- by Mack
- Screen Anarchy
Chris Magee over at JFilm Pow Wow related an old adage a friend of his who worked in the Japanese film industry told him, “There’s a formula in Japan. First you have a manga, then you have a TV show, then you have a movie”. So it would seem that the hugely popular manga turned television series Gokusen is following that exact pattern. The popular drama series “Gokusen” is getting a movie version this summer. After three highly-rated seasons, the film will be the last time that lead actress Yukie Nakama plays the role of the teacher Yankumi.
Newly graduated Kumiko Yamaguchi wants to make her mark on the Japanese educational system as a teacher. All well and good until she finds out that the class she’ll be in charge of is full of troublemakers and rabble-rousers. But those guys don’t frighten her though for she has...
Newly graduated Kumiko Yamaguchi wants to make her mark on the Japanese educational system as a teacher. All well and good until she finds out that the class she’ll be in charge of is full of troublemakers and rabble-rousers. But those guys don’t frighten her though for she has...
- 3/6/2009
- by Mack
- Screen Anarchy
With guys like Chris MaGee around over at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow I barely have to lift a finger; he’s done all the work for me. But seriously now, Chris is a good friend of mine and he wanted to make sure that the Twitchees knew about the upcoming adaptation of- wait for it- Osamu Tezuka’s 1976- here it comes- manga “Mw” to the big screen. Osamu Tezuka of course was the Father of Anime and creator of classics like Astro Boy and Metropolis.
A diligent and efficient bank employee, Yuuki Michio, has another side: that of a brutal kidnapper who commits horrible crimes, one after the other. Yuuki frequently visits Father Garai at his church, repenting for his sins each time he commits a crime. The two had witnessed a terrible event on Okinomabune Island in the neighboring of Okinawa Island fifteen years ago. During the incident,...
A diligent and efficient bank employee, Yuuki Michio, has another side: that of a brutal kidnapper who commits horrible crimes, one after the other. Yuuki frequently visits Father Garai at his church, repenting for his sins each time he commits a crime. The two had witnessed a terrible event on Okinomabune Island in the neighboring of Okinawa Island fifteen years ago. During the incident,...
- 7/29/2008
- by Mack
- Screen Anarchy
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