Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Daily Paper Wars / 20th Century Boys / GoGoGo in Yurakucho
Cannes officially kicks off in a few hours, as does the battle between the major trades published daily during the event (Screen, Variety, Hollywood Reporter). This struggle for news, exposure and sponsorship was interesting to watch up close in Pusan last year, so I'm sure the paper cuts along the Croisette are even deeper.
My exclusive in today's inaugural daily is about the Asia-wide sales of highly anticipated trilogy 20th Century Boys (20-Seiki Shônen, 『20世紀少年』), key among deals closed being up coming Korean distributor Megabox (who are already a well established exhibitor). They're banking on the trilogy, which boasts the most expensive production budget in Japanese history at almost $60m, becoming the most successful nihon eiga ever released in the territory. 
Producer NTV is looking forward to strong sales in Cannes, especially to Europe -- Urasawa's original manga is worshipped in France and Italy. For fans concerned about how the films will turn out, the trilogy encompasses elements from all the books. It breaks down like this: first film (vol.1-5), second film (vol.6-17), third film (vol.18-end). And just to add some mystery to this already enigmatic work, the identity of Tomodachi ("Friend") has been changed for the film. More on the possible US release later...
Meanwhile, regular news keeps coming in thick and fast, whether it's Toei suplexing Toho during the Golden Week period (very rare indeed) or news of a sequel to Crows: Episode 0 that producer Yamamoto Mataichirô says will be "a hundred times more fun" than the original. That's a lot.
So I needed an escapist movie and luckily had a pass to a screening of Speed Racer (Japanese official site here) held in Yûrakuchô last night ahead of its July 5th release. For those here grumbling about delayed Hollywood releases, in this case Warner wanted to open the film in the summer (whereas "summer movies" start as early as May in the US, the definition here follows the calendar), while keeping some distance from Ghibli's Ponyo -- is two weeks enough?
Speed Racer may end up doing better in Japan than anywhere else (Iron Man is soundly thrashing it in the States). I thought it was fun, liked the cast (Sanada Hiryoyuki adds another big foreign movie notch to his belt) and thought there was some nice dramatic work in the quieter scenes. But it's easily the most visually hyperactive film ever made...ever. Do not see this film if you have epilepsy or even know someone who has epilepsy. It also runs over two hours. Fans of the original car-toon will enjoy the loving detail put into the Mach 5 and hearing the original theme song on the big screen.
3 comments:
it didn't really register with me, just how likely 'speed racer' was to turn out to be epilepsy-inducing, until i saw the adverts appearing on t.v... although my bigger fear was the likelihood it would turn out to be a multicolored turd (either that or one of those films that everyone secretly writes-off only to change their mind if they're surprised they pull one out the bag after a decade) i had thought it looked a little too kinetic and just too "high concept" for an entertainment film. the first sight of it on a bigger screen had me thinking it would be a seriously difficult thing to sit through for more than one reason... and a $100m outlay for a $20m opening weekend : oh dear, at least they can call it "cult", i suppose. i just think it's one of those films where there's a lot of self-convincing on the audiences behalf.
Logboy.
Actually, other than the fact that it's a little long, it's really not that difficult to sit through. The dialogue isn't exactly top-notch, and there isn't even much of a plot, but it's good ol' escapist fun that really tries to emulate the hyper anime style.
Just think of it as Casshern without the somber seriousness.
I thought the scene at the very beginning where Speed's school desk turns into a race car as he zooms through child-like backgrounds was great. The film could've definitely used more simple sequences like that. There's also a clever reference during the final grand prix where the walls along the track are illuminated with silhouettes of a running horse, like Muybridge's early photo experiments.
Christina Ricci looked fantastic.
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