Hello dear audience!
I took the time to sign up to letterboxd (I’m Genkinahito), an online service where people can list the films they have watched. Since I have watched lots and lots of films I haven’t even dented my lists plus I want to post reviews as well. This will be a year-long project or maybe even decades at the rate I watch films… I’ve added to that list this week with A Dangerous Method, Vampire Hunter D, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Disciples of Hippocrates. I posted two articles this week, both about the legendary director Akira Kurosawa. The first was about a screening of the film Stray Dog in New York and then second was about the cinematic and Blu-ray release of the jidaigeki epic Ran in the UK.
What’s released this weekend?
The Bride of Rip Van Winkle
リップヴァンウィンクルノ花嫁 「Rippu van winkuru no hanayome 」
Running Time: 180 mins.
Release Date: March 26th, 2016
Director: Shunji Iwai
Writer: Shunji Iwai (Screenplay),
Starring: Haru Kuroki, Gou Ayano, Cocco, Soko Wada, Nana Natsume, Hideko Hara,
Synopsis: Nanami (Haru Kuroki ) works as a part-time junior high school teacher. She lives an apathetic life, her only solace coming from connecting with others on a new social network service named “Planet”. She makes a connection with a man named Tetsuya and the two quickly become engaged but Tetsuya’s mother confronts Nanami with allegations of lying and cheating forcing Nanami to flee to a hotel where she gets a job as a maid. Nanami’s online-friend Amuro, a man who hires actors to play people’s friends, offers Nanami a housekeeping job in an old mansion, whose sole resident’s infectious spirit helps Nanami to open her heart. However, Nanami soon realizes that Amuro, the mansion, and its occupant aren’t what they seem…
Sweetheart Chocolate
スイートハートチョコレット 「Sui-to ha-to chokoretto」
Release Date: March 26th, 2016
Running Time: 105 mins.
Director: Tetsuo Shinohara
Writer: Michelle Mi (Screenplay),
Starring: Lin Chi-Ling, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Yusuke Fukuchi, Kei Yamamoto,
Synopsis: An exchange student from Shanghai named Yue Lin (Lin Chi-Ling) meets a ski patrol officer (IkeuchI) in Yubari, Hokkaido. The two make a connection but love does not flow smoothly and a tragic story unfolds over twenty years.
Mubanso
無伴奏 「Mubansou」
Running Time: 132 mins.
Release Date: March 26th, 2016
Director: Hitoshi Yazaki
Writer: Chiai Takeda, Masa Asanishi (Screenplay), Mariko Koike (Original Novel)
Starring: Riko Narumi, Sosuke Ikematsu, Takumi Saito, Nina Endo, Wakana Matsumoto, Ken Mitsuishi, Tomoko Fujita,
Synopsis: It is 1969 and there is change in the air what with Japanese students involved in campus riots, anti-war rallies, and the growth of subcultures in music, cinema, literature, and theatre. A high school girl named Kyoko (Riko Narumi) is influenced by these things and forms an “Anti-Uniform Committee” and joins a rally at a university which gets violent. She is wounded and this leads Kyoko to realise that she is not committed to politics, she is only copying others. This changes when she shelters from the chaos of a protest gone bad at a club called “A Cappella” and meets and falls in love with a college student, named Wataru (Sosuke Ikematsu). She undergoes a sexual awakening and loses her virginity but the politics of the age puts their love in great danger…
Assassination Classroom: The Graduation
暗殺教室卒業編 「Ansatsu Kyoshitsu Sotsugyo hen」
Release Date: March 25th, 2016
Running Time: 118 mins.
Director: Eiichiro Hasumi
Writer: Tatsuya Kanazawa (Screenplay), Yusei Matsui (Original Manga)
Starring: Kazunari Ninomiya, Mirei Kiritani, Ryosuke Yamada, Kippei Shiina, Masaki Suda, Miku Uehara, Rena Takeda, Wakana Aoi, Seishiro Kato,
Synopsis: The moon has been destroyed! Or at least 70% of it. It’s the work of an alien octopus named Koro with bizarre powers and super strength and he promises that the Earth is next. However, before we get to that, he has some demands and that is he becomes the homeroom teacher at a junior high school and is given the chance to teach a class of misfits! The situation seems pretty bizarre and it gets weirder for the kids because his students must destroy him to save the Earth. However, Koro proves to be a great teacher and very popular…
Dorome: Boys
ドロメ 男子篇 「Dorome: Danshihen」
Running Time: 92 mins.
Release Date: March 26th, 2016
Director: Eisuke Naito
Writer: Eisuke Naito, Naruki Matsuhisa (Screenplay)
Starring: Yuta Koseki, Aoi Morikawa, Tatsuya Nakayama, Toko Miura,
Synopsis: Two schools are set to merge the following year. One is an all-boys high school and an all-girls high school. The drama clubs from the schools work together at a training camp in the mountains but strange things begin to happen and it looks like students are being hunted be a legendary creature that lives in the mountains. The students learn that the creature is Dorome, an old mountain legend.
Dorome: Girls
ドロメ女子篇 「Dorome: Joshihen」
Running Time: 98 mins.
Release Date: March 26th, 2016
Director: Eisuke Naito
Writer: Eisuke Naito, Naruki Matsuhisa (Screenplay)
Starring: Aoi Morikawa, Yuta Koseki, Tatsuya Nakayama, Toko Miura, Kensuke Owada, Misaki Kinoshita,
Synopsis: Two schools are set to merge the following year. One is an all-boys high school and an all-girls high school. The drama clubs from the schools work together at a training camp in the mountains but strange things begin to happen and it looks like students are being hunted be a legendary creature that lives in the mountains. The students learn that the creature is Dorome, an old mountain legend.
The Masked Rider #1
仮面ライダー1号 「Kamen Raida- 1 go 」
Running Time: 96 mins.
Release Date: March 26th, 2016
Director: Osamu Kaneda
Writer: Toshiki Inoue, Hiroshi Fujioka (Screenplay), Shotaro Ishinomori (Original Creator),
Starring: Hiroshi Fujioka, Shun Nishime, Hikaru Ohsawa, Ryosuke Yamamoto, Takayuki Yanagi, Naoto Takenaka, Ren Ohsugi,
Synopsis: Takeshi Hongo was subjected to the experiments of the secret organization Shocker and became the first Kamen Rider, a cyborg dedicated to protecting humanity and justice from the threat of Shocker. After a long battle overseas, Hongo hears a certain girl is in danger and immediately returns to Japan where he meets Takeru Tenkuji, Kamen Rider Ghost, who had been investigating the girl’s whereabouts.
Yukata Cowboy
浴衣カウボーイ 「Yukata Kaubo-i」
Running Time: N/A
Release Date: March 26th, 2016
Director: Atsushi Ogata
Writer: Atsushi Ogata (Screenplay)
Starring: Atsushi Ogata
Synopsis: Japanese-American filmmaker Atsushi Ogata takes the lead in a cross-cultural comedy story where he dons a cowboy hat and wears a yukata. Atsushi is the Yukata Cowboy and he travels across North America, Europe and Asia getting into misadventures as he tries to fit in with the locals he encounters.
Koko no Toboe
孤高の遠吠 「Koko no Toboe」
Running Time: 126 mins.
Release Date: March 26th, 2016
Director: Yuki Kobayashi
Writer: Yuki Kobayashi
Starring: Yuzuki Watanabe, Kazuki Kamio, Shoya Hibino, Ryota Masuda, Yukiya Akaike, Yoshiki Umemoto,
Synopsis: A group of young people in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture get involved in the world of crime and violence.
Japanese Movie Box Office Results for this Week:
Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Birth of Japan 2016 (2016/03/05)
The Town Where Only I Am Missing (2016/03/19)
The Good Dinosaur (2016/03/12)
Chihayafuru (2016/03/19)
Everest: The Summit of the Gods (2016/03/12)
Eiga Precure All Stars: Minna de Utau Kiseki no Mahou! (2016/03/19)
What a Wonderful Family! (2016/03/12)
I’m Not Just Going to Do What Kurosaki-kun Says (2016/02/27)
Tenshi ni “I’m Fine” (2016/03/19)
The Martian (2016/02/05)
Re: Mubanso
Except for the phone booth I couldn’t tell it was 1969.
Student riots. Whenever you see student riots/protests it’s the ’60s or ’70s. What about the fashion, anyway?
You may be correct. I have less of an idea of what Japan would look like in the 60s. I often see Hollywood movies that get the look/feel of the sixties wrong.
I agree with you in that it is hard for some films to get the period details to be exact so that takes you out of the experience.
My first response to seeing student riots and protests depicted in Japanese films is to automatically think that the time period of the setting is during the social upheaval in Japan in the ’60s and ’70s when there was controversy over defence deals. The fashion then comes second and that’s when I start looking for items of clothing like flares and things like that – shorthand visual identifiers and things I would never wear 😉
Followed on Letterboxd 🙂
Really want to see Rip Van Winkle, Mubanso seems interesting too (I think the English title is “A Cappella”). I know it’s not cool to admit but I actually really enjoyed Assassination Classroom so I’m looking forward to the next one ☺️
Thanks! 🙂
I’ll follow you. Letterboxd looks like a great service but it’s going to take a lot of work!
This is the best weekend for films I have seen so far this year. I would see at nearly half of these if I had the time. Rip Van Winkle comes from Shunji Iwai and I’m a fan. The trailer doesn’t give too much away but reveals a lot of dramatic potential. Great cast as well.
Dorome: Girls/Boys is a horror film so I’m interested and it’s directed by Eisuke Naito so I’m sold. I really enjoyed watching Puzzle and while I don’t think it looks to be on the same level of craziness, intensity and darkness it does look fun.
Mubanso translates as A Capella and a quick check show that that’s the title used by The Japan Times (plus it’s the name of the club in the film).
Assassination Classroom is an anime that I didn’t bother with so the live-action was off my radar. If you say it is fun then it probably is since our taste in films seems to be similar.
‘scuse me while I watch Vampire Hunter D again 😉
Welcome to Letterboxd! 🙂 Reading the varying reviews on there is like IMDB but without the pretension! 😉
Not seen the first “Assassination Classroom” live action film but I am enjoying the anime. I just hope the trailer for the second film isn’t a spoiler for the second series of the anime which is still airing! >.<
What is the deal with the "Dorome" films? Are they the same film simply marketed to both audiences for double the box office?
I’m looking forward to using Letterboxed more. For now I’m just adding all of the films I have watched into a list. I always kept meaning to put reviews on IMDB but kept kicking that idea into the long grass.
The Dorome films are told from different perspectives. You see that sort of film every so often so there’s got to be enough unique content to justify it.
Assassination Classroom looks like a hoot but it’s a question of time for me.
What I do if a film doesn’t already have a review – which may be a bit naughty – is to post the concluding paragraph on LB then link to my site for the full review! Don’t know if it works but it’s worth a go! 😉 😛
Thanks for the advice. It’s an exciting website to use and it came at the right time since I was considering posting a list of films I have seen on this blog. I’m spending thirty minutes a day logging films I have seen. The site takes its time so I can only do so many. Reviews will have to come later.
Welcome to letterboxd! It’s quite handy to have it, to record your movie diary or watch list. I’ll add your username
Thanks! I was vaguely aware of it for a while but only decided to take the plunge last week. I have a lot of films to add to my list! I’ll follow you on there as well.