Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Nouvelle Tsunami Swells
With the news of Tran Anh Hung's adaptation of Murakami's Norwegian Wood, Franco-Japon cinematic relations continue to deepen. One film mentioned in my Nouvelle Tsunami post last December, Barbet Schroeder's Inju, La Bête Dans L'ombre, has secured a slot in the Venice competiton (as it's not a Japan co-prod I didn't list in my round-up).
And in a follow-up to Gaspar Noé's Enter the Void, I had heard that the film was on hiatus while Noé searched for actors to play the characters as teenagers (I could be mistaken on this). Among the UK's up and coming acting and directing talent profiled in the July 11 issue of Screen International was 17 year-old Olly Alexander, who landed a lead role (this info is already on the net). The small article mentions the film as being in post-production, describing it as "taking on an array of controversial issues as it follows two young men whose lives are ripped apart by drugs." Alexander states "Someone told me it's never good for an actor not to take risks. And Enter the Void is a risk."
With all this activity, I wish I spoke the language of love better. I studied it for about four years as a kid, but in the words of Morrissey, "I still cannot speak French...I am very lazy."
À votre santé!
Director Tran Anh Hung to Adapt Murakami's Norwegian Wood
As you may know, aside from film reviews and some of the latest breaking news articles, Screen International's website Screen Daily is a subscription-only site. So I wanted to post the basic gist of a media exclusive I wrote that went up earlier this morning.
French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung will be directing an adaptation of Murakami Haruki's famed novel Norwegian Wood, in Japan with a Japanese cast (TBA). Asmik Ace and Fuji TV will co-produce.
If you happen to have an account you can read the full article here. Otherwise more details (in Japanese and English) should start getting around the rest of the internet later today or tomorrow.
Interesting project.
Update: As expected, a flood of Japanese language stories. Anything to do with Murakami is big news here. Asahi Shimbun, Variety Japan, Nikkan Sports, Sanspo, for starters.
Update 2: I posted some more info in the comments section of Todd Twitch's story. Tokyograph also has news up in English.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Japan Storms Venice Competition Lineup!
Screen has just published the list of this year's lineup at the 65th Venice Film Festival. Congratulations to the following Japanese (and Japanese co-production) titles in and out of competition:
Competition
- Achilles And The Tortoise (Akiresu to kame), dir. Takeshi Kitano
- Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea (Gake no ue no Ponyo), dir. Hayao Miyazaki
- The Sky Crawlers, dir. Oshii Mamoru
- Plastic City (Dangkou), dir. Yu Lik-wai (Brasil/China/Hong Kong/Japan)
Out Of Competition, Special Events
- Ketto Takadanobaba (1937), dirs. Masahiro Makino & Hiroshi Inagaki
In collaboration with Far East Film Festival of Udine
- Monster X Strikes Back: Attack The G8 Summit! (Girara no Gyakushu: Towako Samitto Kiki Ippatsu), dir. Minoru Kawasaki
Previous posts about Japanese films at Venice here.
Untitled
My radiator is overheated -- I can't write long posts. In the past 12 days: 24 screener DVDs watched, 8 films seen at PFF, 6 articles written for Screen, 2 scripts polished, 1 film caught at Skip City. My Thai resort, por favor. 
After films with lots of (sometimes clunky) dialogue, you want films with no talking. Check out this amazing classic from 1952 entitled Neighbours/Voisins, created by Scottish-born Canadian animation legend Norman McLaren. It could've been made last week. The use of Japanese text at the end caught me off guard. Even if you can't read it, you should be able to understand it after watching.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Hoga Central - Okaeri!
A couple of months ago I listed some of the better online resources for Japanese film news. One place was missing on that list -- Hoga Central. That's because it had suspended activity over a year ago, before some of the NKOTB helped fill the gap.
Well it's back, which is a good thing. As a bilingual Japanese woman with connections to the industry living on the West Coast, Michi-san's Hoga Central brings something different to the table.
They've got Toei Movie Land on board to offer exclusive content, which is what a good blog is all about.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Pia Film Festival 2008 Winners
Just came out of the Pia Film Festival awards ceremony a couple hours ago. Lots of ladies there to see Katori Shingo, who was on the jury.
And I was glad that Ichii-kantoku's film Naked Of Defenses (Mubôbi, 『無防備』), pictured below, did so well as I had written a profile on him as a talent to watch for the Star Summit Asia event at last year's Pusan International Film Festival (see my October 12 2007 entry). I told my editor it would probably win, and it did.
I will write some personal impressions of the films I saw this weekend, but for now here is my piece for Screen.
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Naked Of Defenses picks up top prize at Japan's Pia fest
Jason Gray in Tokyo
25 July 2008
Japanese director Masahide Ichii's Naked Of Defenses won the Grand Prix at the 30th edition of the Pia Film Festival (PFF), which ran from July 19 to 25 in Tokyo's Shibuya district.
A total of 15 films, both feature-length and shorts, were selected to screen in competition from 601 submissions (down from 780 last year).
Naked Of Defenses is Ichii's sophomore effort after winning the runner-up prize at 2006's PFF for Dog Days Dream. Ichii was profiled in Screen International's Star Summit Asia issue at the Pusan International Film Festival.
Naked Of Defenses tells the story of a woman trying to overcome a tragic miscarriage in her past as she develops a friendship with a pregnant co-worker. The Grand Prix carried a cash prize of $9,350 (Y1m). The film also won prizes from sponsors Imagica (Technical Prize) and online contents provider GyaO.
The runner-up prize went to Yukiko Sode's feature Mime-Mime, which also was awarded the Avex Entertainment Award.
Izumi Matsuno's Ghost Of Yesterday won one of three special jury prizes as well as the TBS Project Prize.
Koki Yoshida's 67-minute Symptom X and Nobuteru Uchida's Kazaana both picked up special jury prizes. Kenichi Noda and Hiroaki Tsunoda's 56-minute Semigao grabbed the audience award.
The 2008 jury included veteran director Junya Sato (Yamato), SMAP star Shingo Katori (Monkey Magic), cult director and PFF alumnus Sogo Ishii (Electric Dragon 80000 V), art director Chie Morimoto and producer Kaho Son.
PFF also features a scholarship programme, eligible to filmmakers who win prizes in the competition. Launched in 1984, the programme funds one 35mm feature film per year. Takatsugu Naito's eccentric dramedy The Dark Harbor screened at this year's edition.
Last year's scholarship film Park And Love Hotel went on to win the Best First Feature award for Izuru Kumasaka at this year's Berlin International Film Festival.
Tokyo Sonata Japan Release Date Confirmed
A quick note to mention that I've been informed that Tokyo Sonata's domestic release date has been set for September 27. You'll be able to see it at Ebisu's Garden Cinema and Yûrakuchô's Cine Qua Non among other locations in Tokyo and across Japan (full list of cinemas here).
Distribution is being handled by Avex Entertainment's specialty label PiX, established last December.
Collected Tokyo Sonata articles here.
Pia Film Festival Nearing an End / Tokyo FILMeX Tidbit
This week I've been heading out into the heat island of Tokyo almost daily to check out the Pia Film Festival. The new Fukutoshin line carts me nearly door to door, which helps. Hope to post a final report this weekend following the awards ceremony tomorrow.
Tokyo FILMeX's classic Japanese filmmaker retrospective is another interesting choice this year, which can be revealed next week. One of this director's films was picked up for foreign video distribution this year, but the collection will focus on earlier titles. Translation will start in early August.
See my collected FILMeX posts here (I didn't realize they stretched back to 2001).
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Ponyo Numbers
Well, actual yen figures are now out for Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (see my previous Ponyo box office post a couple days ago). So, for all the number hounds (who can do their own conversions to greenbacks or whatever currency):
3-day Holiday Weekend Gross: 1,575,817,355 yen on 1,251,207 admissions over the three-day period (July 19-21).
Compared to Spirited Away: Ponyo earned 96.6% of Spirited Away's 3-day take on the exact same holiday weekend in 2001. And in that case the annual Pokemon movie had opened two weeks prior, whereas this year they went head to head. Not nearly as many adults go to see Pokemon films without kids as they would a Studio Ghibli film, but there's still a lot of crossover in family demographics (45.1% of survey takers ticked "kazoku"). Average ticket price was slightly higher in 2001 (1226 yen in 2001 vs. 1216 yen in 2007). Admissions for Ponyo were 101.4% compared to Spirited.
Now, Spirited Away took a full year to earn its 30.4 billion yen. Will Ponyo be able to tread water for that long? In recent years Japan has been moving toward the same kind of "shock and awe" opening weekends of the US, but as we know Miyazaki films create and exist in their own world...
Update: Ponyo's 2-day take was 1,025,562,304 yen, just squeaking past Hana Yori Dango to become the biggest Sat-Sun haul of the year. Keep in mind that the latter wasn't selling cheaper kids tickets. Indy Jones had a bigger number on most charts, but that included the previous weekend's preview screenings.
Update 2: And for all the media outlets (Japanese and English) comparing the first 2 days out of a three-day weekend to the first 2 days of Howl's, released on a normal weekend (with a nat. holiday 2 days later), that math is faulty. I'm not even good at calculations, but the thinking behind a lot of box office math confuses me. It doesn't take a genius to realize that if Ponyo had been released on a regular weekend, the gross would not have been exactly the same. When working people have 3 consecutive days to choose from, it gets spread out. Duh (first use of that word on this blog).
That's it for Ponyo numbers until I cross-post my 2008 box office report around next January.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Kudokan + Asano = Donju: The Movie
As mentioned on Tokyograph just as I was typing this, fans of Maiko Haaaan!!! screenwriter Kudô Kankurô ("Kudokan") and actor Asano Tadanobu might be interested to know that the two are collaborating on a feature film version of Kudô's 2004 Kishida Kunio Award-winning play Donjû.
People might also be interested to know that hot commercial director Hosono Hideaki (au, Cup Noodle, etc.) has also directed music videos for rock band Group Tamashii (such as this one), which Kudô is a guitarist in. Hosono apparently graduated from the famed Art Center College of Design in L.A., which is notable.
Original article on Sports Hôchi here.
Update: There's an official placeholder page here, which you can bookmark until content starts going up. It's hosted on GyaO's service as parent company Usen also owns Gaga Communications, who will be distribbing.
Ponyo On Track to be Tsunami-Sized Hit
I said at the beginning of 2007 that I was done talking box office numbers on the blog -- when I write about money I like to be paid money. Numbers have come up in occasional repostings of my articles for Screen, but here's the only time you'll see an original post devoted to figures. Why? Because it's the biggest local release of the year. A little film called Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Gake no ue no Ponyo,『崖の上のポニョ』), which opened yesterday (Sat. July 19th).
These aren't the full weekend figures, or even concrete yen amounts -- not sure when that data will come in as tomorrow (Monday) is a national holiday. A short summary:
Number of Screens: 481. Widest domestic release of all time, beating Hero's 475 and Miyazaki's own previous record-setter Howl's Moving Castle (448). For comparison, the latest Indiana Jones film opened on 789 screens.
First day attendance figures, up until afternoon matinee shows, compared to Spirited Away (biggest hit in Japanese history at 30.4 billion yen): 83%. Mathematically this works out to a 25.23 billion yen (US$235.9 million) final total. Although this type of math is popular in the media here, totals almost always end up being less.
Nonetheless, Ponyo is on course to become Miyazaki's, and the territory's, 2nd biggest hit ever.
Update: Full yen figures here.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Yamada's The Tale of Bunshichi Premieres at Skip City
Today was a beautifully blue but broiling day across Japan as I headed up to Kawaguchi City in Saitama Prefecture for the opening events of the Skip City International D-Cinema Festival (see my July 14 entry).
It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would to get there, although the venue is a bus ride from Kawaguchi Stn. It's actually a complex of buildings including the NHK archives, Kawaguchi Science Museum and the Sai No Kuni Visual Plaza, where the festival is held. 
After the opening stage greetings and introductions there was a premiere screening of Yamada Yôji's The Tale of Bunshichi (Ninjôbanashi Bunshichi Mottoi, 『人情噺文七元結』). I've seen live kabuki performances a couple of times (see my Oct 2, 2007 entry) but it was interesting to watch it on the big screen, shot in HD with eight cameras. Shochiku had produced five previous titles in its "Cinema Kabuki" line, but this was the first with a film director at the helm. Yamada also had a hand in adapting Sanyûtei Enchô's story.
Famed performer Kanzaburo Nakamura XVIII was excellent as a degenerate gambler whose daughter runs off to a brothel to sell herself in an effort to help clear his debt. The story vacillates between tears and laughter, with a rousing finale. It also provides a great showcase of onnagata, ranging in age from 8 to 80.
The film was preceded by a video greeting from Yamada, who talked a little about the genesis of the project and origin of the story.
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As one of Skip City's main sponsors is Sony, the projection room (which they let me check out) is tricked out in a 4K unit which houses a server. Did you know that the US has 4785 DLP sites, followed by China (573), with Japan down at 8th with 88? Though the figure has just increased with the opening of the 10-screeen Shinjuku Piccadilly today, which has usurped the Wald 9 as the biggest multiplex in urban Tokyo.
After the screening was the opening party. Members of the festival and the jury, including actor Takashima Masanobu, participate in kagamiwari -- the ceremonial breaking of a sake barrel.
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Friday, July 18, 2008
Japanese Noir in San Sebastian
This year's San Sebastián International Film Festival (Sept. 18-27) has mounted a very impressive retrospective of 43 Japanese film noir titles under the banner "Japan in Black" ("Japón en Negro").
The program spans more than 70 years, from 1927 to 1999, with films by Uchida, Ozu, Imamura, Hasebe, Miike, Kitano, and Kurosawa (both of them). If you're anywhere near Spain and a fan of Japanese cinema, you wouldn't want to miss it.
Full details here.
Update: Make sure you click on the "Images" tab from the main page and navigate to the contents for the program. There are five great downloadable stills -- very rare for studios here to allow that on a website.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Screenerdom
Things will continue to be slow on the blog as I work through a pile of festival screeners. When you watch a lot of cinema from one country it's a nice change of pace to check out new work from places such as The Netherlands, Iceland, Australia, Ireland and France.
Besides, I'll be inundated with enough J-film starting this weekend with Yamada Yôji's The Tale Of Bunshichi (Ninjobanashi Bunshichi Mottoi『人情噺文七元結』) at Skip City, Miyazaki's Ponyo, and the 30th edition of the Pia Film Festival all next week.
Dewa, mata.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Skip City International Digital Cinema Festival Opens This Week
Those based in Tokyo or Saitama and interested in digital feature/short filmmaking may want to check out this year's Skip City International Digital Cinema Festival (July 19-27), held in Kawaguchi City. You can find details of the event and an overview I wrote on Tokyo Art Beat, here.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
JG on J-Film
The Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow had asked me to contribute to their "What film got you hooked?" column a while back. I finally wrote up a blurb about my formative years and one movie that made a strong impression. Having lived in Toronto 2/3 of my life makes their blog a good place to keep it archived.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Update on Now, I...
A few developments regarding Chikuma Yasutomo's film Now, I... (Ima, Boku Wa, 『今、僕は』) which I wrote about back in April
Foreign festival dates are picking up, with a screening confirmed at the resurrected Camera Japan for all you Benelux boys & girls. It's also looking good for Raindance in London. I also strongly suggested it to someone who programs for the Sarajevo fest -- waiting on that.
Additionally, the director informed me that the film is set for domestic release at Uplink around New Year's. I'm going to try to arrange a screening of the subtitled version as well.
Finally, there's a review on Asian film blog Ambivalent Future. It's in Swedish but Google does a pretty good translation (much better than the crazy Japanese-English results it spits out).
Tarantino's Inglorious Days
Interesting article (with spoilers) about Tarantino's WWII project Inglorious Bastards on one of the New York Magazine blogs. Whatever you think of QT nowadays, it's good to see that a script alone, spelling mistakes and all, can still get people excited.
This buzz brings back memories of interviewing him just after Reservoir Dogs hit Toronto (after Sundance) but well before he was a brand name. The one-two punch of RD and the Natural Born Killers script (the final draft) making the rounds at the time was exciting. And despite how history has been written, Tarantino was positive about Oliver Stone directing NBK.
Update: The script is a lot of fun. Tarantino is definitely back on form as a writer. It's only half (or less) of a Dirty Dozen/Kelly's Heroes men-on-a-mission story, with almost no connection to the Castellari film. The other half of the film (which merges with the former) is some of his best stuff. Far less pop culture references other than names of characters (Fenech, Stiglitz, Neri etc.), which is a good thing.
Ponyo Screening with Miyazaki in Attendance
For those in Tokyo and interested in attending a screening of Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Gake no ue no Ponyo,『崖の上のポニョ』) with the cast and director scheduled to attend, tickets go on sale this Saturday through Pia. Info here (Japanese only).
Update: Marky Mark reviews the film in The Japan Times (link via Ryuganji). I've got my ticket.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Flavor of Happiness Review
Having been busy I didn't have time to track Flavor of Happiness' reception in Shanghai but heard it went well. Here's a review of the film by Maggie Lee in The Hollywood Reporter.
The Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow has also kept tabs on the official site for the movie here.
See my collected posts on Flavor of Happiness here.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
She Comes in Colors Everywhere
Yes, most popular post in the history of the blog, but I'm just sayin'...
Monday, July 07, 2008
K-20
Finally finished the screenplay translation for K-20 (K-20: Kaijin Nijû Mensô Den,『K-20 怪人二十面相・伝』), directed by Satô Shimako (佐藤嗣麻子監督). It needs a polish and an export title (working on that), but it's pretty much there. Can't talk about the movie as there's still a ton of post-production to be completed (by the people who brought you the Always films). I can say that Kaneshiro Takeshi fans are in for a treat.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
The Dark Knight in Tokyo
Took a break this evening to see The Dark Knight in Yûrakuchô. At least I thought I was taking a break. I wasn't expecting to be sledgehammered by a 2.5 hour tragic crime epic. Fanboys are going to self combust -- it achieves everything they've been dreaming of. I'm not sure what "regular" summer moviegoers are going to make of it. Heath Ledger as The Joker...There's a brief eye-of-the-storm moment where he sticks his head out of a police car window and just lets the night air hit his face. It's beautiful.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Kodomo No Kodomo Press Screening
Following up on the Anime News Network story about Sasô Akira's famed manga Kodomo No Kodomo (『コドモのコドモ』) being adapted into a feature film -- it's already complete. I saw a press screening today in Shibuya (where I can get directly now via the new Fukutoshin-sen). As usual I don't have time to write a full review, but wanted to get some thoughts down.
Newcomer Amari Haruna (who shares the same first name as the lead character) is quite amazing in the role. It's hard enough for an adult actor to play pregnant and pretend to give birth, let alone an 11 year old (who looks about 9). She's like a mini Kimura Tae -- a real discovery.
Nice location work in Noshiro, with director Hagiuda Kôji skillfully blending the seasons with phases of the pregnancy. There are times Haruna's story feels like an epic, and in fact it is. There have been some nervous remarks on the net from people who can't wrap their heads around an 11-year-old conceiving a child. I have to say it comes off as very believable, again, thanks in large part to Amari's naturalistic performance.
At 122 minutes the film itself is fairly pregnant. As I've said so many times, "10 or 15 minutes would do a world of good."
I didn't realize the film was produced by Negishi Hiroyuki, whom I know from my Linda Linda Linda stint. He's a big music buff, which is probably how he got Shugo Tokumaru to score the film. Negishi-san also recently exec produced Gondry's segment in Tokyo!, another Bitters End production.
Kodomo No Kodomo will also be the first film to be distributed through the newly-established "Cinema Syndicate" network (see bottom of comments thread in Tartan posting).
Tokyo Sonata Trailer Online
The official site of Kurosawa Kiyoshi's Tokyo Sonata has been updated with the trailer. It's quite different than the one which I premiered at Nippon Connection. This preview is very good, too, but the Fortissimo version captured the film's X factor in my humble opinion. Thanks to logboy for the tip.
Update: For those wondering about the special donut cellphone strap gift you receive with advanced tickets -- each lead actor as well as Kurosawa drew their own donut, which is printed on the back of the cellphone screen cleaner. As you see in the trailer, nobody wants to eat mom's donuts -- one of the film's motifs that shows how disconnected the family is. At the press conference there were two massive towers of Krispy Kreme donuts on either side of the table (they were a sponsor). On the way out, each attendee got a box of a dozen. I enjoyed a couple and gave the rest to a homeless guy in Shibuya.
And here's a scan of the short piece I wrote for Screen (June 13 ed.) on the press screening.
See all my collected Tokyo Sonata posts.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
A tall iced coffee, please
Cell-snapped this poster for Café Isobe (Jun Kissa Isobe, 『純喫茶磯辺』) in front of Theatre Shinjuku last night. Don't usually see posters in this tall, narrow format. The café's logo looks like the old TohoScope logo. Café Isobe opens this weekend. (Asô Kumiko wears a miniskirt waitress outfit in the film, by the way)
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
World Premiere of Children of the Dark at Karlovy Vary
If you're attending this year's Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 4-12) in the Czech Republic, you'll be able to see the world premiere of Sakamoto Junji's Children of the Dark (Yami no Kodomo-tachi, 『闇の子供たち』), which I wrote about back in March. Details on the screenings on the KVIFF site and Shochiku's English site. The film opens domestically on August 2.
