Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Pink Films - Straight Outta SoCal
My comrade Nick Rucka posts New Year's greetings and talks about his involvement with new specialty video label Pink Eiga. He also has valid concerns about the survival of such a niche product -- best of luck to them. If you still don't know what pink films are, check out their FAQ.
Trivia: The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (aka Eiren) publishes the annual box office, screen count and production level figures that writers who cover the industry (such as me) use for analysis. The total number of Japanese films produced includes pink films, as they are 35mm theatrical releases. Out of 407 Japanese films produced last year, 76 were pink films -- far down from decades ago but still an impressive number.
If you haven't already, read about my most recent experience at one of these cinemas here.
10 comments:
Hey Jason,
あけおめ！Thanks for the shout out and also for providing the Eiren link.
BTW, I'd told the Pink Eiga folks about the recent experience that you and Tom at the cinema. It's funny because one of the guys at Pink Eiga (a Japanese chap) said he was shocked to learn that it was such a cruising scene now. Guess it's less conspicuous then in Kohei Yoshiyuki's day when he did that famous set of documentary pix of people having sex at night in the Tokyo parks. Link.
...don't get me wrong, i'm happy about pinkeiga existing, but i don't get the impression it's easy to identify what there is in their line-up that meets various criteria and interests that may or may not be already established over on this side of the globe; that is, i can't really see if there's an intellectual / artistic / pure exploitation / or any other feel to each of the respective titles they've felt worthwhile picking up because they've suddenly broadened the range into territory that lots of those which came along in recent years won't have had much chance to get used to. somehow a trailer and a synopsis doesn't contextualise it all enough, i think.
oh, and the exchange rate still sucks too, so they look even more pricey than they would have done a few months back too...
logboy why don't you start up your own label?
I'm not sure how you mean that, so I'm not sure how to take it.
of course, collectively (and sometimes almost singularly)
there's DVD labels that seem to cover many bases of what
might seem to be necessary, and things still all seem to
randomly fall apart every now and again. then, on the other
side, there's often glaring faults; nick Rucka and I (as I
later discovered when I read what he's written in that
linked articl - and remember, he's done some work for
them) seem to have found a potentially fatal flaw that
pink eiga may be able to correct : we need to be more
certain of what we're buying into, especially as there's
a certain amount of preconception built from the bases
that seem to have at least been partially covered by labels
not so directly or entirely dedicated to pink films...
I've not felt so over the moon in years as I was to when I
saw pink eiga emerge, but I find the site and license
choices so bewildering to grasp that I've so far not decided
where or how to delve (even partially) into what's come
along so far or is soon to come. of course, ive also
little sense of those involved, what theyre trying to do,
and their experience and relative knowledge too, and
many top labels inadvertently cultivate an awareness
in their market of why and where the choices originate.
bring on "lonely cow weeps at dawn" though - I'm having that one!
I just meant that you spend a lot of time analayzing the choices and mistakes specialty dvd labels make -- maybe you should try setting one up.
yeh, i kind of enjoy picking apart how things are done,
because i've an interest in the dynamics of why things
seem to work or not work, and i suppose this comes from various situations and activities in my past. i don't mean it to sound overly down on people or companies, so i don't mention these things - which repeat year on year - very often any more. it's easier, i think, to step outside and see the issues, but it's hard to convince people they should listen to those that ultimately aren't brave enough (or don't have the cash, backing of others) to do things themselves. ironically, this is why i'm never that convinced by the art of the film critic... odd, i know.
my solution to pink eiga's situation, the one i see, is to get jasper sharp a camcorder, stick him in front of his record shelves, get him to talk about these films one-by-one, and put the videos on youtube in advance / upon release. would get the man away from his mushrooms too, so it has another up side.
Jason,
Can you help me to find the Eiren links to pinku's box office & listing? i admit being lost! :)
best,
Eiren only provides data for the total number of films produced -- I had to confirm with them how many were pink. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
ah ok .. got it! thanks anyway for this figure! pink is life! :)
I'll get 2008's figure too after their report comes out. I guess it'll hover somewhere around 70.
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