Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Naomi Nishida
Genre: Japan, Comedy, Curious, Fantasy
When Chris and I first saw Happiness of the Katakuris several years ago, we weren’t exactly impressed. Sometimes it just takes a second round. Lately I find it delightfully campy like the Rocky Horror Picture Show with its random wacky balls-out awkwardly endearing song and dance numbers (even enka karaoke), or harkening Beetlejuice when it employs grim prosthetics and surreal stop-animation, or even Sound of Music on acid. Anything now, it seems, is amazingly tame …

Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Kaori Moimoi, Hideaki Ito, Yoshino Kimura
Genre: Indie, Bad Ass Chicks, Japan, Action
This film has been covered ad-nauseum on other websites, so I’ll make this relatively short. For those of you not in the know, Sukiyaki Western Django is Takashi Miike’s Japanese western. Now, each and every film student knows about the interplay between the American Western and the Japanese Samurai, but a full on Japanese western is pretty unusual. While the mash-up has been tested in the realm of videogames (ie: Rising Zan and Samurai Western), …

HE SAID
Ah, Takashi Miike. I think I’ve covered him enough in previous reviews to forgo the usual introduction. I mean, his popularity has grown to the point where I’ve even heard little children mentioning his name in excited tones at the local video store (I would imagine he would have it no other way). So it’s safe to say you probably know who he is, and if not, shame on you.
But even if you know Miike, and know how out of left field his oddest of odd projects can be, …

They say nihilism loses its appeal after a certain age. Maybe it has to do with a change in lifestyle that comes with lasting relationships, fulfilling work, and true freedom of choice. Teenagers often are drawn toward nihilistic works because of the absence of these elements in their lives. Whether that’s truly the case, I don’t know. However, I have noticed a personal drifting away from such works in recent years (I’ve even stopped reading Palahniuk). I do feel that had I seen this film at an earlier age, under …

I figure it’s about time for another round of trailer links. There’s actually a lot of interesting stuff coming up. For the most part, this lineup looks to be a nice break from the summer grind, if I do say so myself.
Sukiyaki Western Django . Most of you probably are familiar with Takashi Miike’s latest, a gonzo Japanese western, and have probably seen your fair share of trailers. But now there’s a trailer in quicktime! Check it out here.
Jigyaku no uta . Insane romantic comedy starring Miki Nakatani (Ring 2, …

I guess it’s about time for another round of trailer watch.
Bubble (aka: Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust) – No, no the Steven Soderbergh one. This one’s about a time traveling washing machine. The target date? Japan’s economic-bubble days. I think. Check out the trailer here.
Spider-Man 3 – Spider Man’s back and spidery-er than ever. Yah, you already know all there is to know about this one. Check out the final trailer here and the international trailer (en espanol) here.
Sukiyaki Western Django – Takashi Miike’s East-meets-Spaghetti Western looks surprisingly fun. A …

No, I haven’t been slacking on the film reviews. It’s just that we haven’t seen a lot worth talking about. This latest batch could be perceived as a nice drink after drought. Note that since Johnny To’s Exiled is playing at this year’s SFIAAFF I’ll try to have a review up this weekend. Read on for the reviews.
Love & Pop
Given the fact it features the directing talent of Hideaki Anno (of Neon Genesis fame), is based on a story by Ryu Murakami, and features both Tadanobu Asano and Yukie Nakama, …

If you dig Takashi Miike, or the show Masters of Horror you probably heard something regarding his “Banned” episode, Imprint; an hour of horror so foul that Showtime refused to air it in the United States. And you also probably heard a few reasons for the denial: the numerous shots of dead fetuses, the torture sequence, Billy Drago’s acting skills, etc. Well, we’ve now seen it, and while it may not be a textbook Video Nasty, it certainly is something extreme.
In Takashi Miike’s Imprint, Drago plays Christopher, an American on …

The revenge genre has seen a noticeable rise in popularity in the past few years, fueled by hits such as Kill Bill and Chan Wook Park’s Vengeance trilogy. While those films have received quite a bit of critical acclaim (with style often being confused for substance, and academics making quite a many misplaced proclamations of genre reinvention), they fail to deal with the true nature of violence, vengeance, and the corruptive quality even the most juvenile transgression has on a victim’s psyche. Cronenberg’s A History of Violence tried something like …

With director Takashi Miike, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get. Whether stoic dramas (Sabu), gonzo comedies (Zebraman), gross-out masterpieces (Ichi the Killer) or radical takes on tried and true genres (Gozu), you can be sure you’re in for something you’ve never seen before. This film has been described as a live action Miyazaki tale, and while it certainly has a lot in common with Spirited Away, it’s definitely more Miike than Miyazaki. In fact, this cinematic tale of fantastical goblins and heroic tweens is actually a …

Just came across this on Fangoria.

Variety reports that Alcon Entertainment, Intermedia and Kadokawa Pictures will produce and Warner Bros. will release an English-language remake of ONE MISSED CALL, Takashi Miike?s 2003 chiller. The original (pictured) was Miike?s entry in the post-RINGU cycle of supernatural films, in which a group of young friends receive mysterious calls on their cell phones which presage their own deaths. The story centers on one girl who gets the fateful message and must figure out how to cheat death within three days. The original is out …

These past sixteen weeks have been insanely busy for me. A semester of Java, Discrete Math, Calculus and American History more than put a damper on my free time (I’m proud to say I passed all classes with flying colors). What I’d like to do is to present a few quick blurbs about films we saw over the past few months (and possibly longer) that I enjoyed, but did not have material for to warrant a full review. A sort of house-cleaning if you will. Note that if any of …

Due for US remake in 2007 Chris and I have somehow managed to avoid the infectious plague of ubiquitous cell phone abuse. It is only through obstinate willpower that we haven’t allowed ourselves to be drawn into the modern lifestyle adaptation where possessions actually possess their owners, where some are left crippled without the items they don’t actually need. Billions of the world’s population of course, aren’t so lucky. In Japan, children are often rewarded with the most technologically superfluous gadgets and accessories to adorn and …

The last film in Miike’s Dead or Alive trilogy brings the series around full circle. For their final incarnation Sho Aikawa’s and Riki Takeuchi’s characters are each other’s nemeses once again, only this time they have switched roles of outlaw and lawman; cyborg and Blade Runner, respectively. The film takes place in Yokohama 2346. Japan has become extremely overcrowded, polluted, and chaotic. It now resembles less the Japan we are familiar with, and more the port city of Hong Kong. To curb this overpopulation and hopefully bring some order to …

SHE SAID: Wow, incredible. I’m just gonna say right off the bat that if surreal is your dig, you’ll love this movie. If you’ve ever pondered mortality, take a test-run. You’ll hop into anti-hero Minami’s 1965 Mustang convertible (my aunt had one of these bad-boys; they are niiice!) and vroom off to Nagoya to drop off excessively paranoid Ozaki at a “disposal” facility, as ordered by the Yakuza head-honcho. This is a particularly difficult task for the reluctant chauffeur because he is indebted to Ozaki for saving his life. …

THE NAKED CHICK’S CORPSE HIT THE PAVEMENT LIKE A COLOSTOMY BAG FILLED WITH CHEESE Like Lynch, Miike’s films demand to be watched at least twice. Once for the purely visceral impact, and once to pick up on the symbolism and subtle nuances of the story. But if Lynch is Jazz, Miike is pure rock and roll. I had originally planned to review all three films in one encapsulating review, but upon returning to the first Dead or Alive I realized, to cram all the films into one review would …

Dead or Alive 2 is something of a surprise. Of course, following the first film’s ending it would be impossible to make a continuation of the story, so what’s a director to do? Flip everything up. Change tempos. Continue the story once the two souls have been reincarnated. Make a mellower, more reflective, more thought provoking film. Give the audience something they can savor. And y’know what? It works. Dead or Alive 2: Birds, is by far my favourite of Miike’s trilogy.
The film, again, stars both Sho Aikawa and Riki …

WHAT’S A HOMICIDAL PSYCHOPATH TO DO?
SHE SAID:
Yakuza boss Anjo has been eviscerated. Entrails are scattered across the floor, ceiling, even the fish tank. A clean-up crew of rejected Yakuza erases every trace, including 300 million yen. But they have seen this all before; they are the ones who orchestrated it +have tidied up previous jobs. Even though Anjo’s clan thinks he has fled with the money, the traitor crew has little time to celebrate.. in the Syndicate Underworld of Japan, no enemy is safe for very long. Anjo’s implied …