Hellevator: The Bottled Fools グシャノビンツメ (2005)

Hellevator: The Bottled Fools   

The Bottled Fools Film Poster

Japanese:　 グシャノビンツメ

Romaji: Gusha no Bintsume

Release Date: June 13^th, 2005

Running Time: 96 mins.

Director: Hiroki Yamaguchi

Writer: Hiroki Yamaguchi (Screenplay),

Starring: Luchino Fujisaki, Yoshiichi Kawadam Ryosuke Koshiba, Kae Minami, Yuuka Nakabo,

Hellevator: The Bottled Fools is such a funny title because it makes

gushanobinzume film Poster

one think of a killer elevator but if you want one of those you will have to watch the silly, schlocky Dutch film called De Lift (1983). As fearsome and as fearsomely silly as the title sounds, the elevator isn’t so much of a threat rather it’s the people who are trapped inside it (the bottled fools) who make things hellish for themselves. As Jean-Paul Satre once said, ‘hell is other people.”

The film starts impressively with some world-building. The opening shot after the credits takes place in a long shadowy corridor full of grimey people dressed in odd clothes who are loitering around like homeless people under a bridge waiting for food to be handed out. Cutting through this crowd and walking towards the screen in a distinctive and familiar sailor suit is Luchino, a girl on her way to school.

From the site: http://koow840.blog96.fc2.com/blog-category-4.html

 

She is our main character. She likes to smoke, a felony in her country, and a cigarette she discards has disastrous consequences later on…

You Are a Good Kid, Kimi wa Ii Ko, Love and Peace, Chasuke’s Journey, Strayer’s Chronicle, Attack on Titan Part 2: Wings of Liberty, Michi Te Iku and Other Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend, people!

I am so behind writing up the new season of anime and that is because I would rather review live-action movies, manga and that is what I have been doing. I am in the middle of my season of horror, splatter, and gore with two films reviewed so far. Only one review for this week and that is As the Gods Will (2014). I’ll post two reviews next week and then one the week after. I’ve got plenty of horror films to get through and after I finish writing this weekend blurb I’ll get going with another one for another death game film.

As the Gods Will 神さまの言うとおり Kami-sama no Iutoori (2014)

As the Gods Will      

As the Gods Will Film Poster 1

Japanese: 神さまの言うとおり

Romaji: Kami-sama no Iutoori

Release Date: November 15^th, 2014 (Japan)

Running Time: 117 mins.

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer: Hiroyuki Yatsu (Screenplay), Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Akeji Fujimura (Original Manga)

Starring: Sota Fukushi, Hirona Yamazaki, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mio Yuki, Shota Sometani, Nao Omori, Lily Franky

Website

As the Gods Will is the big-budget adaptation of a horror-survival manga series written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Akeji Fujimura. I picked up on it at the end of last year because it looked great and was directed by Takashi Miike who has gone back to his V-cinema horror/action roots as of late. The DVD/blu-ray was released at the end of May and I’m happy to report that this film doesn’t disappoint fans of Miike. The film is a star-studded affair with talented actors like Ryunosuke Kamiki, Shota Sometani, Lily Franky being led by Sota Fukushi in a tale about a bored schoolboy who wants a bit of excitement in his life and gets more than he bargained for.

The Ninja War of Torakage, Ju-on: The Final, Ghost in the Shell: New Movie, Hold Your Breath Like a Lover, KIRI: Shokugyo Koroshiya Gaiden and Other Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend people!!!

This post is super-late because I have been writing reviews for two J-horror films as part of my splatter season of horror and gore and all sorts of other stuff. I also wrote a bunch of manga reviews. WHAT A FINALE TO JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE!!! Not enough respect is given to that show which has been a gripping affair and I had tears in my eyes at certain points!

Anyway, I posted about my Splatter Season and a review for White Panic (2005).

What’s released this weekend?

White Panic 怖来 (2005)

White Panic   

Japanese:　 怖来

Romaji: Fu-Rai

Release Date: June 13^th, 2005

Running Time: 70 mins.

Director: Shugo Fujii

Writer: Shugo Fujii (Screenplay), Akio Morisawa (Original Story)

Starring:  Shugo Oshinari, Ayaka Maeda, Kazuo Yashiro, Fumiaki Mitsuyama

Fu-Rai has a start that could potentially grip the viewer:

The first thing we hear is the sound of panting. The first thing we see is a foot. The camera leeringly pans from the foot to the thigh of a naked young woman and she is covered in a mysterious powdery white substance. She is not alone. A man clutches her. Despite the focus on the young woman’s body, there is nothing remotely sexy about this scene. We view them from a high angle shot and see them bathed in red light with a look of fear on their faces as they stare at a point just above the camera. Cut to a POV shot and we see what they are looking at: an electronic counter is nearing 0. The closer it gets the more ragged their breathing becomes and then… Cut to black as they scream.

And then the film gets into the real meat of the action which is when it falls apart.

Genkina hito’s Summer of Splatter Films

It has been a while since I have done a season based on something or someone…

Love Live! The School Idol Movie, Yowamushi Pedal Re: ROAD, Sakana-kun Kenkyuujo Sakana no Sekai he Rettsugyo-! Tobu! Tatakau! Odoru! Hen, Our Little Sister, Umimachi Diary, Lyre no Inori, Rolling, and Other Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend!

I have been busy writing away this week for a season of film and manga reviews I will announce on Monday. I spent a couple of hours during the first part of this month updating old reviews with information and posters and whilst doing that I got a bit nostalgiac for a period four years ago (for various reasons) and decided I wanted to watch lots of films and write about them once again for fun so I hit my DVD/film backlog and purchased some new ones. I only watched one film this week and that was the Dutch horror film The Elevator (1983). Only one post this week and that was for Japan Cuts 2015.

What’s released in Japan this weekend?

Japan Cuts 2015 Coming in July

Japan Cuts is North America’s largest festival dedicated to contemporary Japanese cinema and the 2015 edition of the event will be its ninth year since it first began. The dates for this year’s festival have been announced and it takes place in New York from July 09^th to the 19^th. Also confirmed are the films that have been programmed and the stars attending, all of which can be found on the site as well as details on special offers on tickets which go on sale today.

When I think of New York I think of the New York-set anime Baccano! so here’s some music to listen to while you read the rest of this.

There’s an awesome amount of films on offer, a great selection with some of this year’s big releases and some that have not been screened in Japan yet, so international premieres are plentiful and there are guests invited over to take part in Q&As and parties! In some way this can be called the Sakura Ando, Fumi Nikaido and Sosuke Ikematsu festival because films there are so many films that they stars or feature in. This is a great way to get introduced to three of Japan’s hottest young actors. Alternatively you could read my long-winded reviews of films they have appeared in but that probably wouldn’t be as much fun…

Overall, there are lots of films to list so like I did with the Nippon Connection post I choose highlights. Some of these will be available on DVD but others will be harder to track down especially the indies and documentaries (believe me, I’ve tried with older titles) so I would suggest getting to screenings of the one’s highlighted. Of course, it’s all down to what you want to see and I have included all of the titles plus links so you can make a selection.

Here’s the list of films which I think looks brilliant:

Mother’s Tree, Pieta in the Toilet, Prophecy, Seven Days: Monday – Thursday, Typhoon Noruda, Anata wo Zutto Aishiteru, Hito mazususume, Happy Landing, Samurai Rock Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend!

I only watched three films this week the first, Breakmode (2014), a Japanese-Korean film about a salaryman chasing after a stolen car in Korea with the aid of his high-kicking Korean colleague. The second was Drugstore Girl (2003), a silly comedy written by Kankuro Kudo about old men drawn into the dog-eat-dog world of lacrosse because they are lusting over a female player. The third film I watched was Caravaggio (1986), a film about the great artist which features performances from a young Tilda Swinton and Sean Bean. In terms of anime, Ore Monogatari!! (oh, the emotions on the latest episode) and the entire series of The Record of Lodoss War, a nice anime with great character designs and a simple story. I also started Baccanno!!, a series I haven’t seen since university.

Anyway, there were two posts this week, the first about the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the second about the Annecy International Animation Festival.

What’s released in cinemas this week?

Japanese Films at the 2015 Annecy International Animation Film Festival

Annecy 2015 Banner

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival takes place later this month (from June 15^th to the 20^th) with a number of anime movies playing at the festival, many of which I have already written about because of the quality of titles. Here’s what will be playing:

Features

There are quite a few features showing in the festival, some of them the biggest and most interesting anime movies that will be released this year. Top of the bill are The Case of Hana & Alice (Hana to Alice Satsujin Jiken), and Miss Hokusai (Sarusuberi -Miss HOKUSAI–) both selected for the Official Feature Film Competition.