Godzilla meets Mothra in this enjoyable Big-G movie by genre legend Ishiro Honda. The technical side is surprisinly good with some amazing use of music and editing during the film’s latter half. The monster fights are great, even if sometimes quite long and loaded with miniature models. The actual human characters fare better than expected and while the story is sometimes less than original the inclution of the natives brings some great mythology into it. The awesome 60’s swing is also in full use.
dvd / Eastern Eye
Godzilla vs Mothra (Japan, 1992) – 3/5
The 90’s remake has the same core story but thankfully with enough changes to make it work even when watched back to back with the original. The natives are gone, the little fairies are much less cool (and worse at singing) but the story and the characters are silly enough to be somewhat enjoyable. The early fights aren’t that good but the last 30 minutes with Godzilla, Mothra and the flying hippie Battra is just an amazing orgy of destruction.
This movie is simply terrific. Kinji Fukasaku’s 1982 film is a touching, ingenious and often hysterically funny drama comedy about the japanese movie industry. The performances are througly excellent (Morio Kazama’s acting in movie studio scene with Keiko Matsuzaka blew my mind) and the movie’s got a clever double structure. The story takes place at Toei Kyoto studios, and features some of their biggest stars, such as Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi and Hiroyuki Sanada, in cameo roles.
dvd / HVE
Vampire vs Vampire (Hong Kong, 1989) – 2,5/5
Lam Ching-Ying’s somewhat tiresome directorial debut is saved by the exhilarating last third. Other than the cool music in the opening credits the first hour or so doesn’t offer much to get excited about. The jokes are mostly unfunny and there isn’t much originality. Ching-Ying’s presence of course saves a little and it’s hard to dislike a late 80’s high profile gyonsi film, but it’s the awesome last third that really makes the film worth seeing. The high flying action is very nicely choreographed, and the final vampire villain is pretty cool, too.
Shunji Iwai’s best movie runs only 67 minutes and ends where most movies begin. Appart from a few scenes in the middle the movie is pure perfection. The dream like atmosphere is amazing and there’s not a single scene that feels rushed. The main star Takako Matsu is phenomenal. She’s real and extremely charming at the same time, yet managing to avoid all overacting and underlining. One of the best movies in the world.
dvd / Dawoori
Picnic (Japan, 1996) – 4,5/5
A bit pretentious at times but so extremely beautifully shot that it doesn’t really matter. The music by Remedios is amazing, and combined with the visual brilliancy it creates some of the most breath taking scenes in recent memory (the shots Chara running next to the industrial site being a good example). Asano and Chara both fare well but the third main actor Koichi Hashizume’s been given some of the film’s few less impressive scenes. The storyline is simple but quite brilliant.
dvd / Pony Canyon
Uchiage hanabi, shita kara Miruka? Yoko kara Miruka? (Japan, 1993) – 4/5
Shunji Iwai’s two way movie is divined into two 25 minute halves. The first half is the lesser of the two, concentrating on two boys and bunch of their friends. The acting by the young stars isn’t always top notch but the energy and pureness makes up for it. The second half is very, very good. It shows an alternate course of events where one of the previous main characters becomes a supporting character and a previous supporting character becomes the second main star. This half is much more intimate and features an excellent performance by Megumi Okina.
The first full length film by Shunji Iwai suffers from some brief drops in quality here and there, but as a whole it features enough great moments to make almost any other drama film maker feel like an incompetent idiot. The story of two young women (both played by Miho Nakayama) who share memories of the same man they knew at different times could easily go wrong but Iwai’s approach is thankfully as delicate as you’d expect from him. He doesn’t go overly artistic and also includes some wonderful humour at appropriate times. The snowy landscapes of Norther Japan are beautifully captured on film and once again supported by the haunting score by Remedios.
After Love Letter Iwai took an U-turn with this masterful street drama borrowing elements from yakuza, action, coming of age and even horror films. You might wonder if such genre cocktail can feel anything but pretentious but thankfully the basic story is strong enough to make the occational genre switches fluent, natural and effective. The soundtrack by Takeshi Kobayashi is terrific and a perfect match for the impressive visuals. The characters are exceptionally good although the quality of acting varies a bit. Chara’s early scenes aren’t that convincing but her later parts are great, especially the amazing â€
Starts out promising with great narrative and atmosphere, but goes downhill with the ADD-afflicted editing. Seems the camera can’t hold still for more than 10 seconds or without injecting visual gimmicks like slow-motion and freeze frames. Fight scenes are left curtailed while mundane scenes are left protracted. The action choreography is atrocious, with peanuts and beads becoming the weapon of choice. Even matches are used. Wire-fu is badly executed and opponents cling onto walls like Spiderman. A disappointing feature length debut for Susie Au.
Haha, and here I felt bad for breaking your streak.
The Kon Ichikawa Story (Japan, 2006)
Didn’t quite know what mindset to adopt before watching the film. I’m not familiar with Kon Ichikawa’s work and honestly, I was hoping for Shunji Iwai to make an original feature, especially after he only wrote the screenplay for Rainbow Song. But I have to say it was quite compelling – leave it up to Iwai to make excellent use of imagery and music. Using text set against a black background as narration, Iwai eliminates distracting commentary and allows the images/footage to speak for themselves. This is perhaps why the piece succeeds – rather than blabbering on about Ichikawa’s greatness, Iwai chooses to showcase the filmmaker’s talent and let audiences see the master at work. It’s no Lily Chou-Chou or Swallowtail Butterfly, but The Kon Ichikawa Story fits perfectly into Iwai’s filmography.
Prior to this, I’ve never seen a Sabu film, but I’ve heard/read a lot about him. So it’s a bit disappointing to be introduced to his work this way. Starring Japanese boyband V6, the film is basically second-rate popcorn fare. The twists are hardly inventive, and at times downright predictable. The religious overtones are irrelevant and weigh down the film’s pace. The climax is an unprecedented showdown which has the characters fighting each other to the death – it’s completely groundless but admittedly entertaining. Overall the film could have been more enjoyable with a few less characters, notably the obsessive ex-priest.
[quote=“Hung Fist”]
Ah, finally someone else posting here than just me. Excellent.
[/quote]
I was going to join in, but I figured I would wait for next year so it would be a complete year.
[quote=“shoujyo”]
Prior to this, I’ve never seen a Sabu film, but I’ve heard/read a lot about him. So it’s a bit disappointing to be introduced to his work this way.
[/quote]
May I recommend Monday and Drive. In my opinion they are his best. Dangan Runner is cool too.
Undo begins with a black screen opening credits sequence accompanied by a promising score by Remedios. Familiar but not too conventional. Until later on when it becomes too underlining. This is a problem that applies to the whole movie. The first third is impressive, appart from some mistreat of turtles, with a nice muted brownish colour scheme and grain. The acting by Tomoko Yamaguchi is good and Iwai gets close to her, especially in the â€
Thanks for the recommendations, Angel. I’ll keep those in mind. I’m also interested in Sabu’s Dead Run. That seems more of my type.
Sway (Japan, 2006)
Although Jo Odagiri’s career is relatively short, he has already built a reputation of being associated with fine pieces of cinema. And Sway is no exception. This third feature by Miwa Nishikawa is a gripping film which manages to be engrossing without overdramatic. It explores the many dimensions of emotions arising from a traumatic experience and illustrates the effect it has on the characters. The character development is exceptional and the camerawork is spot on. Definitely a film to check out.
This being a re-watch I knew what to expect, although it didn’t make the first 35 minutes any easier. A prime example of how even a great director can deliver pure garbage. Everything from music to acting and storytelling is downright awful. Not really boring but irritating for sure. But the last 20 minutes is different. It’s cheap but still extremely enjoyable, makes you feel good. You’ll even start seeing the characters in different light. I wanted to hang Dave Spector in the beginning, and wouldn’t have touched Ranran Suzuki with stick. And when the movie is about to end I’m starting to have romantic thoughs of her…
dvd / Norman’s Nose
Fried Dragon Fish (Japan, 1993) – 2/5
Released just months prior to the great Uchiage hanabi, shita kara Miruka? Yoko kara Miruka?, Fried Dragon Fish is another unsuccesful TV movie by Iwai. His attempt to create a solid b-grade detective movie is plagued by poor acting and hasty execution. The second half flows better than the first, but once the movie is over the chances are the only things to have stuck in your memory are Tadanobu Asano’s presence and the ending song by Chara.
Iwai does the impossible; a good teen drama comedy. Not really surprising from the director, just something that doesn’t happen often in the genre. Hana and Alice is definitely one of the lesser films of Iwai’s recent output but a damn entertaining movie nevertheless. The visuals are charming as expected and the soundtrack, of which Iwai was responsible for himself, works nicely. Biggest thanks goes to cast, with absolutely adorable performances by Anne Suzuki and Yu Aoi. Tomohiro Kaku is very good in the male lead, too, and Ayumi Ito appears in small supporting role.
Even the great one started low. Real low. Iwai’s supernatural non-sense features a pretty shot or two, and a nice theme tune, too. The rest is garbage that may have slight interest value for hard core fans like me.
Koroshi ni kita otoko (Japan, 1991) – 1/5
And lower we go. Z-grade ’memories come back haunting’ assassin drama only succeeds in angering the viewer.
Maria (Japan, 1992) – 2/5
Interesting main character and some good parts (that cut out too fast) make this 24 minutes somewhat watchable. Unfortunately there’s still some abysmal scenes and Iwai hasn’t gotten rid of his non-sense scripts.
Kani kan (Japan, 1992) – 2/5
This time we have a decent storyline for a 15 min short, but Iwai doesn’t do much other than transfer the dialogue to film. Restless camera and editing is used to cheer up some scenes. Obviously a work of a director who had not yet found his style. Toshiya Saka of Sailor fuku to kikanju (1981) plays a cop.
Genshi monogatari (Japan, 1992) – 4/5
After all the preceeding misery this really took me by a surprise. Genshi monogatari is a brilliant TV work taking fully place in one appartment. Starring only one actor Iwai follows a young woman’s life for one day’s period with the skill we would later come to expect from him. Terrific cinematography, minimalistic setting and a good score together create a mesmerizing piece of Iwai art.
Omelette (Japan, 1992) – 2/5
And downhill we go again. Omelette isn’t totally bad but fails to leave any sort of lasting impression. Yuta Yamazaki, the young star of Uchiage hanabi, shita kara Miruka? Yoko kara Miruka?, plays the lead role.
Yuki no oosama (Japan, 1993) – 2/5
Where did Iwai’s ambition go? Yuki no oosama is a generic drama piece that could’ve been directed by anyone. Appart from a single shocking burst of dark humour there isn’t anything to set this appart from all the other similiar TV productions.
Lunatic Love (Japan, 1994) – 3/5
Iwai surprises with a tight psycho thriller that may lack deeper coherence but developes a pretty tense atmosphere near the end. Audiovisual side shows some ambition too, although again it’s more about energy than coherence. Nothing more than a low budget TV thriller, but a good one at that.
Appart from a few standout scenes the first hour is garbage. Bloody awful screenwriting and directing. Every time the movie is about the get interesting the story takes a painful miss turn. Overuse of slow motion and cgi doesn’t help either. Action gets better towards the end, although the only real good fight is the restautant scene. The comedy bits are thankfully fantastic and one of the two main attractions, the other being the female lead, Yoon So-yi. She’s a very nice gal, even if a bit violent type (yeah, My Sassy Girl influences are heavy here). The charismatic villain Jung Doo-hong is criminally misused.
dvd / Cinema Service
Rumble in the Bronx (Hong Kong, 1995) – 3/5
Pretty decent mid 90’s Jackie film that suffers from unnecessary sadism. Ironically my favourite scenes were the romantic parts with Anita Mui and Françoise Yip. Speaking of Yip, her cage dance was great. She looked very beautiful in that red bikini and totally avoided all sluttiness. The action scenes are pretty basic stuff except from the electrifying ending.
Kazuhiko Yamaguchi’s Yojimbo modernization stars Sonny Chiba as a karate warrior entering a small town ruled by two gangs (lead by Hideo Murota and Tatsuo Umemiya). More conflicts are caused by the second lone wolf, a Kozure okami esque samurai warrior played by Isao Natsuyagi. Supporting roles include several Chiba requlars plus a cameo by our favourite karate lady. The movie is probably best remembered for its inventive use of slow motion and the explosive mix of karate and swordplay action.
dvd / BCI (english dub)
Rica (Japan, 1972) – 4/5
Weak start, but 15 minutes in and you’ll realize Toho’s take on the bad girl genre is a fucking fusion of good things. Toei’s glossy visuals may be missing, but Rica’s rough mix of girl gang violence and high school films is spicy enough work on its own. Proper plot is nowhere to be found but the surprisingly firm backstory compensates. The main star Rika Aoki easily rivals her Toei sisters, and also performs two great songs.
Masaru Konuma’s original Flower and Snake is a 74 minute torture fest with little artistic or visual ambition. The story, the characters and the content all vary between silly, akward and repulsive. Naomi Tani’s suffering goes way beyond the borders of good taste, although the cult starlet still manages to bring some life into the movie. Unfortunately it’s not enough as the movie is total garbage for the most part.
dvd / Media Blasters
Kite (Japan, 1998) – 3,5/5
Yasuomi Umetsu’s violent and sexually graphic female assassin anime has seen the light of the day in quite a few differing versions. The uncut version features a few brief hard core shots plus sexual violence toward someone who despite the dvd cover statements looks everything but 18 years old. The content is thankfully well written into the story, and the characters are suprisingly interesting. Stylish action thriller for those who can deal with questionable content.
Godzilla versus… uhm… a big flower. Yep. We’ve also got industial spies who look like middle east terrorists, a big bad american underground company threatening the world piece, and a girl who can communicate with flowers. All the ingredients for a good movie in other words. Not quite as slick as Godzilla vs Mothra but moderately good fun with one of the more memorable supporting monsters.
TV
Godzilla vs Destroyah (Japan, 1995) – 3/5
Godzilla, Junior and a Big Ass Oxygen Destroyer make sure the (re) construction trade is the hottest business in Japan. Despite the inevitable outcome Godzilla’s 1995 adventure has more originality in its minimal storyline than most other monster movies. The cast fails to be memorable (I’m writing this a week after viewing the movie, and I can’t remember a single character anymore) but the creature and action details are borrowed from Predator and Aliens. Not surprisinly the film doesn’t fare well in comparison but features a strength of its own: an exhilarating ’Supar X3’ battle plane that is quaranteed to make the audience cheer.
Now we’re talking. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah has decent characters, cute flying creatures, great action and a plot more interesting than 5 average Gojira films put together. There’s even an android whose running is either the coolest or the stupidest looking thing I have ever seen. Probably both. And lets not forget the incredible Start Trek effects. Speaking of effects, Ghidorah features some very cool special effects work. This actually looks like a sci-fi film with a budget. The first face-off between Gojira and King Ghidorah is a bit disappointing but the finale is thoroughly awesome.
TV
Godzilla 1985 (Japan, 1984) – 2,5/5
Godzilla’s 30th anniversary movie (made in 1984, released internationally the next year, hence the english title) has a promising start. Godzilla is kept hidden for quite a while and tension is built with some moody scenes. The characters seem decent as well. Unfortunately as soon as the giant green baret enters the screen the excitement starts going down. The action is rather tame and the soundtrack lacks catchy themes. While the entertainment level remains decent the expectations are never quite met.
