Asian Cinema Ticker

The Outside World Movie Corner (Non-QT)
261

Holy shit, look at these upcoming DE release covers



397×600 61.5 KB








I’ll double dip on Eastern Condors unless they screw it up, and I’d almost like to do the same with Duel to the Death for the cover only.


262

Woah baby, those looks nice!

Where does one buy them when they´re released?

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amazon (I think they’ve given up on their ‘no 18 rated films’ policy). These aren’t listed yet, though.

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[b]Lemon no koro (檸檬ã

265

[quote=“Hung Fist”]
Then something weird from Japan. A sequel to Shaolin Soccer… Yes, I said from Japan.



“Here’s what we know: it’s the announcement of Shaolin Shoujo, a sequel to Stephen Chow’s action-comedy Shaolin Soccer. It’s a purely Japanese film - with Chow on board as producer - starring Kou Shibasaki and directed by Odoro Daisousasen’s Katsuyuki Motohiro with the sports setting moved away from soccer and into the world of lacrosse.”

Teaser trailer: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/shaolin … r-arrives/”>http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/shaolin-girl-teaser-arrives/</LINK_TEXT>

266

[quote=“Hung Fist”]
Holy shit, look at these upcoming DE release covers




[/quote]

Already own Eastern Condors, but I reckon that’s worth owning just for the cover.

267

[quote=“Hung Fist”]
[i]Tak Sakaguchi to direct, write, and star in “Sakigake!” movie



Mon, August 6, 2007 (6:11pm EDT)



Action star Tak Sakaguchi will star in a live-action movie based on Akira Miyashita’s shonen manga, “Sakigake! Otokojuku.” The comic, about a school of violent delinquents, was serialized in Shonen Jump from the mid '80s to the early '90s, and spawned an animated television series and film.



In addition to playing the lead role of Momotaro, Sakaguchi will direct and handle the screenplay. Shoei will play the part of Momotaro’s friend, Genji.



Filming began in April, with a target release date of early spring 2008. There is a strong possibility of overseas releases as well. More details will be revealed in the next issue of Super Jump (on sale August 8 ).

“Be A Man! Samurai School”







Official site: http://www.otokojuku-the-movie.com/

268


[quote][…] Despite the happy sounding title “Strawberry Shortcakes” is not a sweet comedy but rather a candid and sometimes harsh look at life in Tokyo as seen through the eyes of four lonely young women.



Cheerful Satoko (Ikewaki Chizuru) is a receptionist for an Escort Service, “Heaven’s Gate”. Having survived a particularly rough breakup while still a teenager (she was dating a much older boyfriend), Satoko is resigned to the fact that she may not find true love again. When she’s not trying to dodge the advances of her horny boss, she lives a quiet and lonesome life in a tiny apartment. She finds some solace by praying to a odd shaped stone which she thinks has the “face of god” on it.



One of her few friends at work is the classy and attractive Akiyo (Nakamura Yuko) who has a morbid fascination with death (she sleeps in a coffin!) and dreams of a day when she can get out of the Escort business, buy a condo and be in a real relationship. She longs for a former classmate who only sees her as a close friend and nothing more. Then there is perky “OL” -Office Lady- Chihiro(Nakagoshi Noriko) who is in a one-sided relationship with a fellow co-worker but holds out hope that she can mean more to him than just a casual fling. Her roommate is the brooding Toko (Iwase Toko) who gives new meaning to the phrase “starving artist” as she is so emotionally passionate about her work that she engages in dangerous binge/purge behavior. Their unfolding stories are a fascinating look at human behavior: self-destructive obsessions, faith in divine intervention, undying hope in a better tomorrow and love. […]

269

I’ve been thinking about giving Strawberry Shortcakes a chance. Might be too dorama for my taste but maybe not. Besides, I like Chizuru Ikewaki (who starred in the excellent ‘Josee, the Tiger and the Fish’ and also appeared in the highly enjoyable ‘A Day on the Planet’)



The theme sounds a bit similiar to Hiroshi Ishikawa’s masterpiece Tokyo . Sora

270

[quote=“Hung Fist”]
[i]Tue, August 21, 2007



It was revealed on Tuesday that Teruyuki Kagawa and Yu Aoi will co-star in a short movie by Korean director Bong Joon-ho (“The Host”). The 30-minute film, titled “Shaking Tokyo,” is one part of the triptych “Tokyo!” French directors Michel Gondry and Leos Carax are directing the other two segments.



Kagawa plays a man who has been living as a shut-in for the past 11 years, until he ends up falling in love with a pizza delivery girl (Aoi). He finally builds up the courage to join the outside world, only to discover that most of Tokyo has become withdrawn.



Filming begins in Tokyo on the 22nd.

More info: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/update- … -chapters/”>http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/update-on-gondry-carax-and-bongs-tokyo-chapters/</LINK_TEXT>



Ayumi Ito is in the Gondry episode. Excellent.

271





Okay, I’m gonna be honest with you. This is not very me, but my first though was â€

272

[quote=“Hung Fist”]





Okay, I’m gonna be honest with you. This is not very me, but my first though was â€

273

I know, but that was my first thought. And yes, nice legs.



I didn’t notice the other half, Charline Choi, is also in the movie





(I would’ve posted that pic even if she wasn’t ;D)

274

The Outlaw Brothers (directed by and starring Frankie Chan) trailer features the most describing quote about Hong Kong cinema work mentality:



“Frankie’s best work for the year”

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[quote=“Hung Fist”]

[b]Lemon no koro (檸檬ã

276

Hung Fist, you are clearly the authority for everything asian on this forum and you know a lot of stuff I never heard of. So can I ask you please to finish this sentence for me:



If you love Takeshi Kitano movies and the Studio Ghibli stuff you will also like…



I am fed up with the shallow Hollywood blockbuster crap of these days and I’m always looking for something different. The Miyazaki movies and Kitano movies are amongst my most favourite movies of all time, but I have no insight in what else is good from Asia. For example, when I look at the most popular DVDs on yesasia.com, 97% of the movies I never heard of.



oh, and btw I already know most of the Wong Kar Wai stuff.

277

yesasia’s most popular list is not really different from amazon’s; full of crap and average mainstream films (with a few exeptions).



Your question is nowhere near easy . I’m not really the best person to answer to this because

  1. I think most recent cinema even from asia is not worth a watch
  2. Someone who doesn’t know much anything about asian movies asking recommendations from someone who’s way too deep into asian movies may not lead to the best results. There was a bunch of films I could have recommended (Survive Style 5+ for example) that are generally considered awesome but I don’t like myself. I was thinking about including those but decided to go my own way, to make a list that I can personally stand behind… But do check this. There’s similiar recommendations but there I also included stuff that I thought would be good for beginners even if I don’t care for it myself. If you want recommendations on older films you need to specify genre at least. The following includes only rather recent films, otherwise the list would’ve been 15 pages long. Ok, lets start



    While I know little about anime I can give you one name: Makoto Shinkai. His latest (haven’t seen yet), 5 Centimeters per Second (aka A Chain of Short Stories about Their Distance) should be out on R1 in December. His earlier works Voices of a Distant Star and She and Her Cat (short) are also amazing. I haven’t seen The Place Promised in Our Early Days yet.





    5 Centimeters per Second



    Shinya Tsukamoto’s acid trip Tokyo Fist, remains one of his best movies, is extremely hard hitting tale of a boxer who slowly falls into madness. Tsukamoto’s more recent effort, Vital, also comes strongly recommended.





    Vital



    For me it’s impossible not to recommed one of my favourite directors, Shunji Iwai, who’s resposible of 3 of my all time top-15 movies. These are April Story, Swallowtail Butterfly and All About Lily Chou Chou. Closely followed by Picnic and Uchiage hanabi, shita kara Miruka? Yoko kara Miruka? More about Iwai here.





    Lily Chou Chou no subete



    Shinji Aoyama’s mesmerising, 3½ hour Eureka is something every self respecting person has to experience at least once. The story is of three survivers of a buss hijack, and their slow healing process. Aoyama’s more recent Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani (My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?) is more of a mixed bag, but I enjoyed it greatly.





    Eureka



    Hiroshi Ishikawa is a name you want to remember. His debut Tokyo . Sora is a dazzling example of great, realistic, slow moving japanese cinema. His second feature, Su-ki-da, features a disappointing second half, but the first 40 minutes is probably the most perfect cinema made in the 2000’s. The cinematography and use of sound are amazing.





    Tokyo Sora



    The Korean crime / action drama A Bittersweet Life could be right up your alley. Visually superstylish film with some Kitano esque violence. Something less violent would be 3-Iron from my favourite KR director Kim Ki-duk. Also check The Isle, which is the film that made him famous.





    3-Iron



    As for recent HK action try Wilson Yip’s straight forward but amazingly stylish and brutal SPL (US title: Kill Zone) and Johnnie To’s Woo/Leone homage Exiled





    Exiled



    But the best HK film of the recent years, and also the most hard hitting, is Soi Cheang’s extremely brutal and visually perfect Dog Bite Dog.





    Dog Bite Dog



    I can’t help but to recommend Azumi. It’s very mainstream by Japanese standards, but when you have the most beautiful woman on earth (who was 16 at the time of the shooting) slaughtering hundreds of villains under Ryuhei Kitamura’s (Versus) direction you can’t help but to feel very, very entertained.





    Azumi
278

OMG, this is awesome :o. Thanks so much, this is more than I expected.



I’m gonna check with a Video rental place in Vienna sometime, they claim to have everything off-mainstream that is worthwile. And a rather big asian section. I’m sure they must have at least 2 of those films.



I wanna see so much from that list.



btw, have you seen the anime film “The Girl who travelled through time” ? (I think that’s the english name)

279

[quote=“Crazy_Hattori”]
btw, have you seen the anime film “The Girl who travelled through time” ?
[/quote]

No. I’ve seen the 80’s Obayashi live action, though. It ends with one of the best ending credits sequences in movie history. To quote Dice: insanely cute.







I’ve head good things about the anime. There’s a recent, subtitled KR release



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[quote=“Hung Fist”]

[b]Lemon no koro (檸檬ã