Hello everyone!
I hope you are all well.
This is part one of my weekend trailer post.
This week, I’ve posted reviews for the Lisa Takeba films Wandering Alien Detective Robin and The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time. I’ve split this trailer post into two, the first today and the second tomorrow to allow space for all of the films released. These are just Japanese ones but the Chinese film The Crossing gets a Japanese release.
What have I watched this week? The Departed, Umberto D, V/H/S 2, The House of Exorcism, Door III, The Revenge I: A Visit from Fate, To the Ends of the Earth.
What is released this weekend? A lot of films I have already written about for festivals this year!
Tezuka’s Barbara 
ばるぼら 「Barubora」
Release Date: November 20th, 2020
Duration: 100 mins.
Director: Macoto Tezuka
Writer: Hisako Kurosawa (Screenplay), Osamu Tezuka (Manga)
Starring: Goro Inagaki, Fumi Nikaido, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Shizuka Ishibashi, Minami, Eri Watanabe, Moemi Katayama,
Macoto Tezka, son of famous manga-ka Osamu Tezuka, turns his father’s novel into a film with Goro Inagaki and top actress Fumi Nikaido taking the lead in the “writer and his muse” story that mixes pink film thrills with weird tales. The cinematography is done by Christopher Doyle and it looks extremely erotic and a little magical. This one is backed by Third Window Films and it has been on the international festival circuit for a while, starting at Tokyo last year and appearing more recently at Fantasia. This was made for the 90th Anniversary of Osamu Tezuka’s birth.
Synopsis: Osamu Tezuka re-imagines The Tales of Hoffmann which creates a series of meetings wrapped up in lust, forbidden love, the occult, art and all-round weirdness for a famous writer named Yosuke Mikura and a mysterious girl named “Barbara” who he meets in an overpass tunnel. When he takes her home, his life takes a bizarre turn.
Food Luck 
フード・ラック!食運「Fu-do Rakku! Shaun」
Release Date: November 20th, 2020
Duration: 104 mins.
Director: Jimon Terakado
Writer: Jimon Terakado (Script),
Starring: Naoto, Tao Tsuchiya, Ken Ishiguro, Satoru Matsuo, Yasufumi Terawaki, Chizuru Azuma, Miwako Kakei, Yo Oizumi,
Synopsis: Following the death of his father, Yoshito (Naoto) and his mother Yasue (Ryo) continued to live in the yakiniku restaurant he ran. His mother worked hard to make it a success and Yoshito enjoyed his mother’s cooking and their restaurant was loved by many people. Unfortunately, when a popular food critic named Tatsuya Furuyama (Satoru Matsuo), ruins the reputation of the restaurant, Yasue had to work harder than ever to recover business and Yoshito began to act out to get her attention. 18 years later, Yoshito lives alone and has lost contact with his mother. As a freelance writer he takes work from a new online foodie website about yakiniku. Around that time, Yoshito hears that his estranged mother Yasue has collapsed.
Runway 
滑走路 「Kassoro」
Release Date: November 20th, 2020
Duration: 135 mins.
Director: Norichika Oba
Writer: Sayaka Kuwamura (Script), Shinichiro Hagihara (Original Poetry)
Starring: Asami Mizukawa, Kodai Asaka, Uta Yorikawa, Kei Kinoshita, Yuto Ikeda, Kenji Mizuhashi, Maki Sakai, Shota Sometani,
A human drama that depicts the anguish and hope of people struggling to live in the present age, based on the poetry collection that was the debut work of Shinichiro Hagihara, a poet who died at the age of 32.
Synopsis: Takano (Kodai Asaka) is a 25-year-old bureaucrat at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. He is under severe stress at work and loses his vigour. One day, an NPO he works with gives him a list of people who committed suicide due to temporary employment. On that list, he becomes interested in a 25-year-old man and begins to investigate the background of the death. Meanwhile, Midori (Asami Mizukawa) is a woman in her late 30’s and is a cutout picture artist. She has anxiety about her future since she is uncomfortable with her husband and yet the idea of having children is still floating around. And just to add more misery to this story, a high schooler becomes the target of bullying but keeps his problems to himself so as not to worry his mother. The lives of these three people, each with their own worries, will eventually lead to a single path.
Me & My Brother’s Mistress 
おろかもの 「Orokamono」
Release Date: November 20th, 2020
Duration: 96 mins.
Director: Takashi Haga, Sho Suzuki
Writer: Masataka Numata (Script),
Starring: Nanami Kasamatsu, Yui Murata, Satoshi Iwago, Hachi Nekome,
This one is cute. The chief delight is exploring how the mistress is more complex than first perceived and the relationship she develops with the main character.
Synopsis: High schooler Yoko has been looked after by her older brother Kenji since their parents died. He is about to get married so Yoko is trying to deal with a new normal but when she spies her brother dating another woman, she begins to investigate. A confrontation turns to understanding as Yoko finds this other woman more relatable and figures she is a better match for Kenji. But, guilt remains over the love triangle…
Any Crybabies Around? 
泣く子はいねぇが 「Nakuko wa ineega」
Release Date: November 20th, 2020
Duration: 95 mins.
Director: Takuma Sato
Writer: Takuma Sato (Script),
Starring: Taiga Nakano, Riho Yoshioka, Kanichiro, Takashi Yamanaka, Yoki Miko, Toshiro Yanagiba, Kimiko Yo
Takuma Sato has four films to his name so far, all original stories, with two released last year (link to a trailer post), and he has worked with Taiga Nakano (Au revoir l’ete, Harmonium, Japanese Girls Never Die). For this film, he draws upon the Namahage festival that takes place in Akita Prefecture and uses this ancient tradition to tell a story depicting young adults in contemporary society.
Synopsis: Tasuku (Taiga Nakano) isn’t the best husband around, as proven by the fact that it is New Year’s Eve and he is out drinking with his friends while his wife Kotone is pregnant and about to give birth. Deciding to turn over a new leaf, he declares he will go home. But not before a last sip of sake. This sends him over the edge and he tears off his clothes and tears out into the street. This being Oga, it is the time of Namahage – an ancient tradition where men wear costumes and go door-to-door to scare kids. A naked Tasuku crashes this event and it is caught on television. This shameful moment causes a national uproar that causes Kotone to divorce him and Tasuku to flee to Tokyo.
Two years later, Tasuku returns after he discovers that Kotone is now working in a red-light district and raising their daughter alone but the situation is more difficult than he anticipates…
Stand By Me Doraemon 2 
STAND BY ME ドラえもん 2 「Stand By Me Doraemon 2」
Release Date: November 20th, 2020
Duration: 127 mins.
Director: Ryuichi Yagi, Takashi Yamazaki
Writer: Takashi Yamazaki (Script), Fujiko F. Fujio (Original Creator)
Starring: Mizuta Wasabi (Doraemon), Megumi Oohara (Nobita Nobi), Yumi Kakazu (Shizuka Minamoto), Subaru Kimura (Takeshi Gouda), Tomokazu Seki (Suneo Honekawa), Satoshi Tsumabuki (Adult Nobita)
Animation Production: Robot, Shin-Eei Animation, Shirogumi Inc.
According to an Anime News Network report:
The film’s story will largely be based on the franchise’s 2000 film Doraemon: Obāchan no Omoide (Doraemon: A Grandmother’s Recollections), but will add original elements, including the love story of Shizuka and Nobita that was also present in the previous Stand By Me Doraemon film. The 2000 film, in turn, was based on a chapter from the fourth manga volume.
Synopsis: Nobita finds his old teddy bear among the trash after his mother partially cleaned up their shed and tells her not to throw it away. The stuffed animal is a precious gift from his beloved grandmother. Reminiscing about her makes Nobita ask Doraemon to take him back to when he was still three years old and his grandma was still alive.
Genkinahito 