Mr.Children「GIFT for you」, Ginji the Speculator, Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars, Miyuki Nakajima Live History 2 Japanese Film Trailers

Happy Weekend!

This is the last trailer post for the year. If you are reading this, thanks for joining in!

There are only four new Japanese films released this weekend in Japan and so there is only one trailer post.

My Christmas holiday was spent eating good food made by my sister and watching great films. Two highlights for me were Eternity and a Day by Theo Angelopoulos and Wages of Fear by Georges-Henri Cluzot. These films were absolutely stunning and after panicking about not being moved by many films this year, they came in to the rescue!!!

Other things I have watched include the Robert Mitchum film Out of the Past and William Friedkin’s film Sorcerer. I will end the year with Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo. I am also playing the game Muramasa: Rebirth on the PS Vita and having an absolute blast with this brawler set in Edo-era Japan.

I posted about a couple of shows on Netflix: Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities and Ju-On: The Origin.

Also, the final episode of Heroic Purgatory season 3 was released earlier this week. It covers Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love and it was an enjoyable conversation. Please check it out if you have time.

I’ll be releasing a top ten of 2022 soon so come back for that if you want.

What are the final films of 2022?

Ju-On: Origins 呪怨: 呪いの家 Director: Sho Miyake (2020)

From its origins as shorts Takashi Shimizu made for Kansai TV’s 1998 Haunted School G series to his low-budget V-Cinema debut to becoming a banner title during the J-horror boom, the Ju-On franchise has shown a considerable lifespan with around ten Japanese feature films, four American adaptations, numerous novelisations, and a Nintendo Wii video game.

Key to its success was the elegant simplicity of the structure of the initial films: each is structured as a series of vignettes featuring people entering a haunted house and getting cursed to be tormented the resident ghosts of Kayako and her little boy Toshio. Tension ratchets up as the two make their presence felt in everyday environments. They slowly make offices and hallways and even beds alien through their manipulations, before pulling off some shocking (and genuinely surprising) coup de graces, often with the scare delivered with just a simple switch in camera angle and an actor contorting themselves in some way. 

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix)

Since the days of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, there have been many attempts at sci-fi and horror anthology shows, from a reboot of that franchise in the 1980s to Tales from the Darkside (created with involvement from George A. Romero), and Tales from the Crypt (based on the EC Comics), and The Outer Limits into the 90s. Aside from the original Twilight Zone, the various shows eventually fell into a pattern of repetition over the course of their many episodes but all are staples of 20th Century TV.

Jumping into the 21st Century, Netflix has become a hotbed of anthology series with Love Death + Robots providing 10 minute sci-fi shorts of so-so quality and Black Mirror consistently tapping into the current cultural zeitgeist to skewer contemporary society. Which leads me to the most recent anthology show I have watched and wrote a long rambling post about…

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

This is an anthology series consisting of eight episodes that run the gamut of scary tales. Haunted houses, demonic possession, alien invasions, and a creature feature all sit neatly alongside each other as hour-long tales. The quality ranges but there are a breadth of ideas and top-quality technical aspects that make most episodes impressive enough to watch all the way through.

Amnesiac Love, Wolf The Last Stuntman, Players Talk, At Baywalk, REVOLUTION+1 Japanese Film Trailers

Happy Weekend

Today is Christmas Eve but that doesn’t mean the movies stop! This week, I watched Stand By Me, Ju-On: Origins, Eyes Without a Face and Out of the Past.

On Tuesday, Japan Foundation UK announced their programme for the 2023 edition of the Touring Film Programme and I posted about that.

What else was released this weekend?

The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburgh Part 1, Japanese Style, Lonely Castle in the Mirror, Black Night Parade, Shin Jikko Bukken Part 2 Zenmetsu, Kamen Rider Geats x Revice: Movie Battle Royale, Japanese Film Trailers

Happy Weekend

This is the first of a two-part trailer post. Come back tomorrow for the rest of the line-up of new films.

What are the first lot of films released this weekend?

Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2023 – Always Evolving – Japanese Cinema Then, Now, and for the Future

 

In the year of its 20th anniversary, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme will grace the screens of arthouse cinemas across the UK from  February 03 to March 31. During that time audiences in the region will be able to see a selection of 20 films that have been selected to fit this year’s theme, “the evolution of Japanese cinema” and audiences will have the chance to watch films that have a connection to themes of previous editions of the programme. The idea is to get viewers to think about the path of Japanese cinema.

Here are trailers for the films:

Bokura wa Mi-nna Ikiteiru, MADO, EROSION, Urayasu Fish Market, Pet Shop, Manibusu Seeds, Kaguya-sama: Love is War – The First Kiss That Never Ends -, Japanese Film Trailers

Happy Weekend

This is the second part of a two-part trailer post (first part here). We’re a week away from Christmas and temperatures have dropped enough for it to feel like winter. I’ve been staying in most evenings and watching films. On Netflix I watched The Game (1997), The Sting (1973), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Lost Bullet (2020), Werewolves Within (2021), Clear and Present Danger (1994), and the Fear Street films. Outside of Netflix I watched Eternal Waltz (1995) and Hibiki (2018).

This week I wrote about the high-quality indie films that will be streamed on JFF+ and I will be watching those over the next coming months! For free! Check the post out for more details!

What are the other films released this weekend?

Small Slow But Steady, Vertigo (Memai), Dr. Coto’s Clinic, Grandfather’s Clock, Doomsday Detective, Old School, Senjo Kisha, Sobakasu, My Name is Lucien, Japanese Film Trailers

Happy Weekend

Kanagawa University of Fine Arts, Office of Film Research

This is the first of a two-part trailer post. Come back tomorrow for the second part.

What are the first batch of films released this weekend?

JFF+ INDEPENDENT CINEMA: A Selection of Japanese Independent Films to Stream in 2022/23

Over the last few years. the Japan Foundation has set up opportunities for people around the world to watch Japanese films via streaming via Japanese Film Festival+. This year, they have teamed up with mini theatres (small independent cinemas) across Japan to programme 12 indie films for people to stream online for free.

From December 15th, people can go to the website JFF+ INDEPENDENT CINEMA to watch independent films selected by the managers of mini theatres from across Japan. This is a novel way to programme films and it offers an insight into the mini theatre ecosystem which supports Japanese filmmakers and the cultural life of local communities – the majority of films on my weekend trailer posts get played at these small venues.

The films are available to many countries outside of Japan and the films and the theatres that select them are reveal something of specific regional culture. There is ample background on each of the titles and the program is going to be complemented by interview videos with directors and actors, and interview articles with managers of the mini-theatres to give you more of an insight into the films. If you click on the links for the films below, you can read information already.

The films will be screened over two periods:

– First term: 6 films streamed from December 15, 2022, to March 15, 2023,
– Second term: 6 films streamed March 15, 2023, to June 15 2023,

Check the website for more

Some of these are bang up-to-date titles while others are nearly a decade old so you’re going to get some views on how films have fared over time. Some directors even give advice on how to watch the films! There are dramas, documentaries, and experimental works. I’ve only seen a couple of them but can highly recommend them (links to reviews and an interview included) while the others I have heard good things about.

How can one stream the films? When the streaming period is active, just go to the website and register online by clicking on the ‘Watch for Free’ button to jump to the streaming page and sign up to create an account via your email address.

There’s the opportunity to sign up for a newsletter and offer feedback and so you can drop a message to give your thoughts and thanks for the free films. Feedback always helps and it looks like the mini theatre managers want to hear from viewers!

What are the films on offer? 

Kawaita Hachi, Kita Kaze Dattari Taiyou Dattari, Tsuibamu Kuchibashi, Niwa no Sunaba GARDEN SANDBOX, Bird in the Peninsula, Anxious Body, Eternity, I’m Late, Japanese Film Trailers

Happy Weekend

This is the second part of the two-part trailer post for this week. You can find the first part here.

I have been a very busy bee when it comes to movies as I have recently got access to Netflix and binged a number of shows like Spriggan and Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. I have also watched Silver Streak, Taxi Driver, Warriors of Future and Triple Frontier. On top of that,  I watched Torso, 13, and I have resumed festival work. Also prepping for an episode of Heroic Purgatory dedicated to Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love.

What are the other films that are released this weekend?