There is a woman who roams a riverbank in a contemporary Japanese city. She pulls a cart which has a selection of cats in the back. This is actually part of her business. As she moves at a leisurely pace she calls out to people through a megaphone with simple slogans and questions to attract the right customers:
“Rent-a-cat. Rent-aaaaaaaaaa-cat. Feeling lonely? I’ll lend you a cat.”
Today is a big day in Japan. Sadako 3D is released and you can bet that it’s going to dominate the Japanese charts for the next few weeks which is only to be expected but I hope that other films get a look in. By other films I mean Rent a Cat. Totally at the other end of the movie spectrum, ever since this indie film debuted at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year it has interested me.
Detective Conan: The Mystery of the Eleventh Striker
Kamen Rider X Super Sentai Super Hero Taisen
We Were Here: Part 2
Last week’s newest release, Space Brothers, managed to get in at number two but was held off the top spot by Thermae Romae, another manga adaptation which is spending the second week at number one. Chronicle of my Mother dropped down two places to number 7 with SPEC: The Movie at 8 while Home remains at number ten. There’s only one American film in the top ten but since it stars Tadanobu Asano it’s not totally unreasonable.
I first saw this title when I wrote my post rounding-up the Japanese films at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival where it garnered glowing reviews. Now that its Japanese release is here more critics have heaped praise on the film. I hope that someone in the UK picks it up for distribution. It stars Mikako Ichikawa (Memories of Matsuko) and Ken Mitsuishi (Himizu).
Sayoko (Ichikawa) walks along a river daily with a cart full of cats. Why? Well she rents cats to lonely people. Unfortunately Sayoko is lonely herself and finds it easier to deal with cats than people but things get interesting when a face (Tanaka) from her past turns up.
I first saw this title when I wrote my posts rounding-up the Japanese films at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. Unfortunately there was no trailer available until now. It stars Mikako Ichikawa (Memories of Matsuko) and Ken Mitsuishi (Himizu) and Kei Tanaka (Tajomaru). This looks like a genuinely charming title and I hope it gets a release in the UK.
Sayoko (Ichikawa) walks along a river daily with a cart full of cats. Why? Well she rents cats to lonely people. Unfortunately Sayoko is lonely herself and finds it easier to deal with cats than people but things get interesting when a face from her past (Tanaka) turns up.
