Saturday, June 30, 2007
Shinoda's Silence Makes Noise
I just read a confirmation via The Golden Rock that Shinoda Masahiro's Silence (Chinmoku, 『沈黙』) will get its first foreign English-subtitled DVD release through the Masters Of Cinema label. More details in this Twitch article.
I wrote some feelings about Scorsese's remake last October (also see this other post from last month).
In other news, in the sweltering heat yesterday I went to the wrong screening facility for Sad Vacation (damn microprinted hagaki), but luckily there are a couple more screenings next week. Hope to see it Monday.
Also might be helping out on a documentary about a topic I never expected to revisit. More about that later (if it happens).
That's it for now.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Shibasaki Sweat
The heat and especially humidity are escalating in Tokyo, but strangely June's rainy season was skipped over this year. I'm not complaining, but it's definitely a sign of some odd climate changes. I'm tempted to pick up some kûchôfuku -- that's right, air-conditioned clothing.
Was busy working on a sizable database of upcoming Japanese films for Screen's production listing service. It was quite a lot of work but gave me a good overview of what's on the horizon.
While digging for info on Shaolin Shôjo /『少林少女』, I came across the official production blog. They've been shooting for over two months now and star Shibasaki Kou seems to be well in shape for what's basically the female lacrosse version of Shaolin Soccer (see Ryuganji's summary here). It's a cute blog.
I've always liked Shibasaki Kou (see my February entry on Dororo). There's a fetish where men want to be beaten up and humiliated by women -- I can almost understand it when I look at this image.
Looking for a job? There's an opening at Ikebukuro's CineRoman pink cinema (which has its own blog). Duties include working the ticket counter, projecting and editing. Pays Y800/hour (25% more if you work the all-night weekend shift).
Off to a press screening of Aoyama Shinji's (青山真治監督) Sad Vacation (official site, Twitch article). Very much looking forward to it.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
JG Podcast
Back in March I considered doing a podcast, but I was loathe to ramble on by myself so I roped in Don "Ryuganji" Brown to join me. It took a while before we could coordinate a date and time but we managed to meet on a rainy day just over a week ago.
I cut great swathes out but it still runs one hour (I was aiming for 40-45 minutes), not to mention the extra 90 minutes we talked after my iPod ran out of space.
And blimey, I'm not as articulate and interesting as I thought, but luckily Don brings some kiwi klarity to the proceedings.
The podcast covers topics including Wings Of Defeat (Tokkô, 『特攻』), which I think I mistakenly refer to as "Winds Of Defeat" (a better title?), Dai Nipponjin/Kantoku Banzai!, The Mourning Forest, some of Japan's many film festivals, my background, J-horror, pink films and more.
Jason Gray Podcast, June 2007 (stereo mp3 file, 1:00:46, 51.8MB)
In case I decide to do another episode -- which is unlikely unless there are extraordinary circumstances, like getting paid -- you can also subscribe to the podcast's feed in iTunes. It'll take a few days before it turns up in the iTunes Store search engine, but just right click or ctrl-click on this link, copy it and go to the "Advanced" menu in iTunes where you can subscribe.
Edit: Forgot to mention that the song is "This Charming Man" by The Smiths. This is no reflection on me.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Nightmare Directives
Cameras roll next month. Tsukamoto Shinya and Matsuda Ryûhei should never be prompted to create soundbites or pose for the press, God bless them.
Back to more regular posts soon...ish.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Tokyo Tôchaku Tarantino
People have been wondering why Tarantino wasn't featured in the trailers for Miike's Sukiyaki Western: Django up until now. As I mentioned on this Twitch thread, it was because Tarantino's scenes weren't being shot until this month, and he's just finished shooting them (yesterday morning) and attended the "crank-up" (film wrap) press conference yesterday, as you can see above (L-R: Miike Takashi, Quentin Tarantino, Momoi Kaori, Iseya Yûsuke, Itô Hideaki, Kimura Yoshino, Andô Masanobu). Tarantino and Momoi play lovers, apparently. Be afraid...
Sukiyaki Western: Django opens across Japan in September.
Related Links:
Miike Interview (Jan. 9, 2007)
Twitch article on second trailer
Christian Storms interview
Monday, June 11, 2007
Kantoku-Damashii
Took a break from various projects on the boil and walked to my local cinema to catch Matsumoto Hitoshi's 『大日本人』(Dai Nipponjin) along with a fairly packed house. Now that I've seen both it and Kantoku Banzai! (see my May 21 entry), given the export title Glory To The Filmmaker!, I thought I'd weigh in with some flyweight commentary.
To get your plot bearings and other opinions, you can first check out Mark Schilling's double review in the Japan Times, Russell Edwards' take for Variety and Todd Twitch's review from Cannes.
I enjoyed the central concept of a middle-aged loser (Matsumoto) with a broken family life who happens to be a fifth-generation kaijû-battling hero. The film is basically bisected into talking head documentary footage and colourful big city monster fights.
If you like your comedy deadpan, it doesn't get much deader than this. The gags and humour in each film can be traced back to both stars' comedic roots, so perhaps it comes down to which guy you think is more hilarious. On TV I prefer Beat Takeshi, but I think I laffed a little more at Matsumoto's pathetic character of Daisato. The Variety review calls it "tears-down-the-face funny," which seems a little OTT. I'd say both films waver between mildly to very amusing, with Dai Nipponjin the more idiosyncratic of the two.
As for the media-created "rivalry" (which I've parodied in my cheezy graphic above), underneath there's not much meat, but it makes for good copy. Though it is odd that Japan's biggest comedians, representing east and west, both came out with self-reflexive, ultra-vanity projects featuring special effects on the very same weekend. Dai Nipponjin won the box office brawl by a fair margin, despite the extra short film boost Kitano's film had (his To Each His Own Cinema entry, Subarashii Kyûjitsu, plays before the feature).
Schilling's review mentions Banzai! being "turned down" for Cannes -- that wasn't quite the case. Let's just say Celluloid Dreams (which merged with HanWay Films to become dreamachine) couldn't have Kantoku Banzai!, Aoyama Shinji's Sad Vacation and The Mourning Forest all in competition, though I'm sure they would've loved to...
Anyway, I felt both films were about 15-20 minutes too long, which seems to be an epidemic in recent Japanese cinema. Dai Nipponjin was somewhat "better" in each department -- concept, storytelling, CG effects, acting. I really loved the fake b&w newsreels of Daisato's colossal forefathers. I thought both films started out very strong, but Kantoku Banzai! lost narrative steam in the second half and Dai Nipponjin in the last act (despite a good monster battle). Kantoku Banzai! finishes up a little more strongly of the two, however.
Dai Nipponjin! is interesting for its social commentary, touching on the loss of "Japanese spirit," Japan's relationship with the US, North Korea, neglect of children, the increase in divorces, the greying of society, and more.
Towa Tei's soundtrack is excellent. Veteran composer Ikebe Shinichirô' music for Banzai! was effective when it was bombastic, but I can't remember the rest of it.
Looking at Yahoo! Japan's ratings, let's see what Japanese viewers think.
Dai Nipponjin currently has an overall 3.06/5 rating vs. Banzai's 2.74/5 -- about a 6.4% lead (the former has about ten times the user reviews).
Dai Nipponjin's top 3 "image words" are:
1 笑える (funny)
2 切ない (painful/agonizing)
3 不思議 (strange/curious)
Kantoku Banzai!'s top 3 "image words" are:
1 笑える (funny)
2 コミカル (comical)
3 楽しい (enjoyable)
So you get more variance with the former, which I agree with.
I've already written more than I planned but welcome discussion in the comments.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Naomi Kawase Profile/Interview
I don't usually post links to my articles for Screen as it's subscription-only, but on the off chance you or your company have an account, the profile/interview I did on Naomi Kawase just before Cannes is now online (it ran in print during the festival).
The Mourning Forest's theatre count has now expanded to 28 locations, up from less than 10 and originally only one screen before its big win on the Croisette.
Related Link: "I Am Kawase, Hear Me Roar" (Ryuganji)
Friday, June 08, 2007
ゴーサインを出してきた！ Arrested Memories Is Green-Lit!
Not long after I got back to Japan, I received the good news that Arrested Memories (trace back from my May 7 entry) -- director SABU's first foreign film production -- has been green-lit.
The producer really liked the script and we should know the production schedule next month. I won't say which company is on board until they themselves make an announcement, but it's a very respectable outfit.
Crikey!
I got back from the UK a few days ago. I've been decompressing and diving headlong into work, so there's been little time for the blog.
The journey was a short one, but it felt like I was away for weeks. It was both sad and sweet.
Some words and things, most of which won't mean much to anybody outside of family: The Barn (Nanny's room redux), pallbearer, speeches (especially B's), The Last Supper, Henry (both of them), greenhouse, vineyard, walk on the grounds, Clifton Café tales, Goodwood, Grand Prix (pronounced "Pricks"), Arundel, tea on Tarrant St., 32 New Road palm tree, Swedish room, #5 a non runner in the Darby, チェアマン 創刊２号, GOMI, West Sussex green, sunny Brighton, merry-go-round, Ben Sherman, "bullshitting artist".
Movies/TV/Music enjoyed on Virgin Atlantic's in-flight entertainment:
An Inconvenient Truth
Black Book
Alpha Dog
This is England
Extras (Ricky Gervais feat. David Bowie)
The Stone Roses
Arctic Monkeys
