Movie Going Madness in Japan

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Get your couch ready TAKUMA...I will give you a shout when I arrive!!!!

I don't have a couch, I'm a poor student

* Poor mostly because I spend all my money on movies

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

I don't have a couch, I'm a poor student

* Poor mostly because I spend all my money on movies

You will just have to acquire one before I get there then!!!:bruce:

Never heard of a STUDENT without a COUCH before!!!

[Sundance Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sundance]

This thread makes me depressed. :down: (don't stop though Takuma...)

I'm actually surprised Nikkatsu didn't release Hakuchu no onnagari (1984) either on DVD (through Happinet perhaps) or as a VOD at DMM. I guess VOD might still come at some point... DVD not so sure unless some other company starts releasing them (I was told Happinet stopped at least for the moment).

Takuma, was this a roman porno test of some sort? http://www.eigeki.com/special/poruken (too late to go, it was over a month ago...)

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

This thread makes me depressed. :down: (don't stop though Takuma...)

You're welcome

I'm actually surprised Nikkatsu didn't release Hakuchu no onnagari (1984) either on DVD (through Happinet perhaps) or as a VOD at DMM. I guess VOD might still come at some point... DVD not so sure unless some other company starts releasing them (I was told Happinet stopped at least for the moment).

Could be a cost related issue. I know Synapse had to pay a lot of extra money for Zoom Up: Rape Site because they had to do the first-ever transfer for it. Most of the stuff they and other companies put out already existed in digital format. I'm guessing Hakuchu no onnagari would require the same process so even Japanese companies might be hesitant...

The older VoD releases were all VHS prints, but recently there have been pristine new transfers for many films not available on DVD. Oddly enough, most of those have been cheaper pink films released in the Roman Porno series but not produced by Nikkatsu... I don't know what's the source of those transfers, or the Happinet dvds...

Takuma, was this a roman porno test of some sort? http://www.eigeki.com/special/poruken (too late to go, it was over a month ago...)

Seems so.

[Sundance Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sundance]

Could be a cost related issue. I know Synapse had to pay a lot of extra money for Zoom Up: Rape Site because they had to do the first-ever transfer for it. Most of the stuff they and other companies put out already existed in digital format. I'm guessing Hakuchu no onnagari would require the same process so even Japanese companies might be hesitant...

The older VoD releases were all VHS prints, but recently there have been pristine new transfers for many films not available on DVD. Oddly enough, most of those have been cheaper pink films released in the Roman Porno series but not produced by Nikkatsu... I don't know what's the source of those transfers, or the Happinet dvds...

Yeah, I guess costs could be a reason... I just think it would have made sense to bring it out for sale as well at the same time (or slightly after). I just feel like if some US or European film were now brought to the theaters for the first time ever... it would absolutely be released on DVD & Blu as well. And Happinet did bring close to 30 films to DVD in the past ~4 years that had never been on DVD before so it's not like they haven't made the effort to do new scans of some films.

Not saying it couldn't still be released at some point... but like I said, Happinet won't be releasing more at least for the moment.

And yeah, I have seen some of the recent VoD's from DMM and the quality is pretty good for what they are. That is shitty wmvs compressed to fit into a single CD... why the hell can't they make them better quality?!
But ignoring the limitations of the format and compression, it does look like they might all come from recent scans and would probably look pretty good at least on DVD if not even HD.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Ah, yeah, the compression. I watched Sukeban Sex Violence (1973) a few months ago and it was indeed full of compression artifacts... but the print was great! Sadly the film wasn't half as great. Still always nice to get more Sukeban stuff out.














Female Delinquent: A Docu-Drama (1977) also had a great print, but the audio track had some kind of odd digital drop-outs (accompanied by digital noise)... some kind of encoding error I guess. I really wish it would come out on DVD. One of the best films of its kind! I don't know if you've seen it, but if you imagined a pinky violence film directed by Kinji Fukasaku but with a bit less (though ultra-brutal) violence and with Toshiya Fujita's youth drama sensibilities + a blazing rock score, you'll get pretty close. Fantastic cinematography and performances, too. I've seen it twice, once on VoD and once on 35mm. It only got better on second viewing.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

With two legends of Japanese cinema dead within two weeks (Takakura and Sugawara) it was great to see another legend still in pretty good health. Shin Bungeiza was having a Hideo Gosha retrospective to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Gosha's debut film Three Outlaw Samurai, and the first guest was none other than Tatsuya Nakadai. The 81 year old actor held a 45 minute talk event during the first day when Goyokin (1969) and Onimasa (1982) were screened. Nakadai shared his memories and opinions of working with Gosha, how it was cold as hell when they were shooting Goyokin, how Japanese cinema lost one of the last true legends when Takakura died (Sugawara died two days later), and other stuff. Although he said he's starting to feel his age, he certainly hadn't lost his sense of humour. Needless to say, the theater was packed with people who came to see him and have him long applauds.



As usual, the theater was decorated with posters and memorabilia Gosha films

Goyokin and Onimasa, both starring Nakadai


Three Outlaw Samurai and Cash Calls Hell


Three Outlaw Samurai


Hideo Gosha




Seeing Goyokin from a pristine 35mm print on Shin Bungeiza's 10 metre screen was beyond epic. Fantastic movie with gorgeous locations, haunting score and great performance by Nakadai. Three Outlaw Samurai and Cash Calls Hell were nearly as great experiences as well. Onimasa is not bad either - Nakadai's manic performance especially is enjoyable - though it pales in comparison to the yakuza films of the 1970s.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

We got the chance to meet Tatsuya Nakadai here in NYC a few years ago at a Japanese book store. He spoke (through a translator) about his films for a bit and then did a signing. He took a picture with me and told me that my sideburns reminded him Toshiro Mifune (that's a compliment I'm happy to take!) and he then signed my DVD of Zatoichi At The Fire Festival. He was pretty friendly, at least it seemed that way considering the language barrier. I should dig up that picture...

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Wow, that's awesome! And that's a great compliment too, haha.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Pictures from the Chusei Sone Festival (Cinema Vera, Tokyo)

Theater lobby. Only guys in this photo, but there was a blond girl + a few Japanese ladies in Red Violation


Red Violation (1980), Teacher Deer (1978), Supergun Lady Wani Bunsho (1979)


Hostess Confidential: Three Juicy Sisters (1975) and Hellish Love (1972)


Angel Guts: Red Classroom (1979), Delinquent Girl: Alleycat In Heat (1973) and three posters for Red Violation (1980)


Three posters for Angel Guts: Red Classroom (1979) + Delinquent Girl: Alleycat In Heat (1973) and Red Violation (1980)


Teacher Deer (1978) and two posters for Hostess Confidential: Three Juicy Sisters (1975)


Three posters for Red Violation (1980), Hatakko junjo (1978) and two posters for Secret Chronicle: Prostitution Market (1972)


Taiyo no kizuato (1981)


Love Bandit Rat Man (1972) and Taiyo no kizuato (1981)


Modern Prostitution: Lust Under Uniform (1974) and Love Bandit Rat Man (1972)


Hostess Confidential: Three Juicy Sisters (1975), 100 High School Girls: Secret Motel Report (1975) and Supergun Lady Wani Bunsho (1979)


Sigh 2 (1974), Showa Woman: Naked Rashomon (1973) and Hostess Confidential: Three Juicy Sisters (1975)


As for the films, I hope to write more later, but Taiyo no kizuato (1981) was terrific. It's got everything a good youth flick needs: sex, bikes, car chases, surfing, disco scenes, and Kahori Takeda. It's probably the best film I've seen from Sone. Red Violation (1980) is great, too. A very enjoyable zeitgest that follows the 1980s rock band Devils (played by the real members, including the gaijin member James Hunt in a pretty big role). It's a film that could've been done by ATG just as well. A bit of sex, nice characters, and tons of great music (the film ends with a terrific 10 minute scene where the band is composing and practicing their new song). Note that the reviews by Weisser and Firsching are fabricated. And Modern Prostitution: Lust Under Uniform (1974) was a positive surprise: a stylishly shot grindhouse/arthouse slice of life drama that resembled Tanaka's Secret Chronicle: She-Beast Market + had hot gals with amazing boobs.

Saw a few others, too, but too tired to write now. Except that avoid Delinquent Girl: Alleycat In Heat (1973)! Like plague. Unless you suffer from insomnia!

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

It's that time of the year again. Yubari film fest starts tomorrow! I'm gonna miss the first day but join the fun from Friday.

The program looks as usual... meaning very unusual.

Haman


Telekura Cannoball Run 2013


Noboru Iguchi's Wonder Gravity: Damager


Use the Eyeballs!


Maiddroid


Mizo


No Yoshihiro Nishimura Forum Theater this year since he's busy being a jury member, but he's holding Nishimura Mad Night Event on Friday. All the usual suspects are present... Nishimura, Noboru Iguchi, Maki Mizui, Rina Takeda, Hajime Ohata... Kim Ki-duk was supposed to come too, but unfortunately he had to cancel for some reason.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Yubari 2015 was... fucking amazing!!! Noboru Iguchi and Yoshihiro Nishimura dancing in high school girl's uniforms, naked (male) punk-rock-stripper クリトリック・リス performing in the middle of the audience, amazing Damager event, and a lot more, including something top secret that I can't talk about anything! As usual, I managed to get about 4.5 hours of sleep each night. Oh, and Masanori Mimoto (Bushido Man, Alien vs. Ninja) was cooking me some deer. What a nice fellow. Oddly enough, the next night I ran into 4 deers on the street while walking to the hotel... I was afraid karma was getting at me!

More to come, but here's just a little bit of that insanity! Iguchi, Nishimura and Kayano around 1:30 am on Friday night!

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

A few hours earlier at Noboru Iguchi's Wonder Gravity: the theme song for Damager ("Self-Mutilation Warrior Damager"). Lyrics by Iguchi.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Yubari 2015 Photos: Part 1

The main venue, Adire Kaikan, which will be taken down after this. The festival needs a new main venue from next year. Bye bye Cine Salon...


White Rock was relocated this year.


Noboru Iguchi's Wonder Gravity: Damager! The salaryman on the left realized his life-long dream to play a superhero. He contacted Iguchi and paid him about $4000 to make a film starring him. Iguchi though it was a great idea and would help him find his first ever girlriend ("stop wasting money on dating sites, playing a superhero makes you much hotter"). Iguchi write a theme song, had a costume designed, and shot a 25 minute film which is a lot of fun. The hero is called Damager (aka "Self-Mutilation Warrior Damager") because he can only unleash his power by hurting himself, e.g. cutting his wrists or receiving 40 punches to travel back in time.


and the video:

Then, the night got even crazier when Clitoric Ris appeared


I've got video of this, too:

At the beginning of his show he threw his shirt in the audience and accidentally re-created the towel suffocation scene from The Naked Gun 2½




So why was he there? Well, because Iguchi directed this excellent music video for him

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Yubari 2015 Photos: Part 2

Then later the same night, Nishimura and Iguchi a moment before...


...the madness broke out.


And here's the video:

Don't tell my gf, but I think Kayano is really cute. Thankfully my gf rather looks like her.


Naoya Tashiro at the screening of his new film Use the Eyeballs. It's a pretty fun bizarre love comedy of a young man who has two additional eyeballs that always pop up from his nose when he gets nervous, which always scares the girls away. It's the first Tashiro film I've seen that doesn't have splatter in it and doesn't show his wife Iona naked. She even kept her clothes on during the festival for the first time in three years... last year she was the naked human sushi plate at Nishimura event and the year before she was a boob fighter...


Tetsuya Okabe, Maki Mizui and the rest of the cast at Haman screening. Despite some God-awful CGI blood the film is a moody, sad and beautiful horror drama and love story of a high school girl whose vagina has teeth... which tend to eat the partner's dick and leave him dead. Despite the bizarre idea, the film bravely avoids any idiotic comedy and camp, and plays it traight. Good music, ok visuals (a bit pale but not overly digital or over-light) and good actors.


The cast (mostly AV actresses) of the Grand Prix winner, the excellent Make Room. The film is a hilarious comedy entirely set in one room, which happens to be the make up room for a porn shooting. The crew has only one day to finish the film but everything goes wrong: the actress hired to play lolita schoolgirl shows up with huge tattoos covering her back, another one got eye infection from an actor accidentally coming to her eye, the new star doesn't know her stage name so they can't film her interview scene, and the damn street musician is ruining the audio recording with his singing... and that's just for starters. Everyone who saw the film thought it was fantastic.


Make Room director Kei Morikawa (who has directed 1000+ porn flicks) receiving the main award. The juru included Nishimura (in white jacket) among others.




Band playing at the awards ceremony




I ran into a lot of deer during the festival


Including 4 on an empty street a day after I had had deer for dinner (cooked by Masanori Mimoto)... I though karma was gonna strike back


edit: Here's mini-reviews of most of the films I watched:
http://www.rockshockpop.com/forums/s...l=1#post109776