Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike has over 115 directing credits to his name, and it has only taken him 33 years to reach that impressive number. One of his latest credits came on a blood-soaked horror thriller called Lumberjack the Monster, and the folks at Rue Morgue have confirmed that Lumberjack the Monster is going to be available to watch on the Netflix streaming service as of June 1st.
Before the film reaches Netflix, New York City’s Japan Society (located at 333 East 47th Street) will be hosting its the North American premiere screening on Monday, May 6 at 8pm. Rue Morgue notes, “There will also be a pre-screening reception at 7pm with beverages donated by Sapporo-Stone Brewing and Brooklyn Kura. The screening is being presented in conjunction with the Tribeca Film Festival, as part of its Escape from Tribeca program.”
Lumberjack the Monster is based on a novel by Mayusuke Kurai and stars Kazuya Kamenashi,...
Before the film reaches Netflix, New York City’s Japan Society (located at 333 East 47th Street) will be hosting its the North American premiere screening on Monday, May 6 at 8pm. Rue Morgue notes, “There will also be a pre-screening reception at 7pm with beverages donated by Sapporo-Stone Brewing and Brooklyn Kura. The screening is being presented in conjunction with the Tribeca Film Festival, as part of its Escape from Tribeca program.”
Lumberjack the Monster is based on a novel by Mayusuke Kurai and stars Kazuya Kamenashi,...
- 4/12/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
With a gory plot that unfolds across two timelines, this feels like a rebranding exercise for the grand ocean liner, turning it into a horror-themed adventure experience
This horror feature takes place largely on the Rms Queen Mary, the grand ocean liner built in Glasgow’s Clydeside docks in the 1930s which for many years now has been permanently moored in the harbour at Long Beach, California. In order to take advantage of both the ship’s vintage decor as well as its touristy gift shops and scale model displays, the screenwriters have crafted a plot that unfolds across two timelines. One is set in 1938 when a grisly, entirely fictitious murder takes place, while the other happens in the present day as a family interested in history and the supernatural gets caught up in the ship’s haunted legacy. The crisscrossing between the two periods is executed gracefully thanks to some nimble rhymed editing,...
This horror feature takes place largely on the Rms Queen Mary, the grand ocean liner built in Glasgow’s Clydeside docks in the 1930s which for many years now has been permanently moored in the harbour at Long Beach, California. In order to take advantage of both the ship’s vintage decor as well as its touristy gift shops and scale model displays, the screenwriters have crafted a plot that unfolds across two timelines. One is set in 1938 when a grisly, entirely fictitious murder takes place, while the other happens in the present day as a family interested in history and the supernatural gets caught up in the ship’s haunted legacy. The crisscrossing between the two periods is executed gracefully thanks to some nimble rhymed editing,...
- 10/4/2023
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
"The Last of Us" is a bit of a deceiving game. At first glance, there doesn't seem to be any immediate thing that separates this from, well, any of the other dozens of zombie shows and movies from the past few decades. This is no groundbreaking mix of genres like "Juan of the Dead," or "Shaun of the Dead," or even an inventive romp like the zombie musicals "Anna and the Apocalypse" and "The Happiness of the Katakuris." The game doesn't necessarily add something drastically new to the mythology of the zombie like the fast zombies in "28 Days Later" or giant mutant ones from "Resident Evil."
And yet, the games, and now the HBO adaptation, take what you know about the zombie genre and make small but significant changes that quickly add up to a very special and unique story. "The Last of Us" is more than a story about surviving the apocalypse,...
And yet, the games, and now the HBO adaptation, take what you know about the zombie genre and make small but significant changes that quickly add up to a very special and unique story. "The Last of Us" is more than a story about surviving the apocalypse,...
- 2/11/2023
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
In 2002, there was possibly no way of avoiding the presence of Japanese director Takashi Miike in his home country, given the incredible output of eight films released that year. Starting off with the final entry in the “Dead or Alive”-trilogy 2002 included such features as “The Happiness of the Katakuris”, “Agitator” as well as “Graveyard of Honor”, a re-interpretation of the original directed by Kinji Fukasaku in 1975. While some of the entries of that year have more or less disappeared into obscurity, perhaps one of the most notable development in Miike’s career is the occurrence of two films – “Graveyard of Honor” and “The Happiness of the Katakuris” – based on an already existing film. But then again, a “remake” by Takashi Miike is never just a “remake”, it is always something quite unique.
In an interview during the 2002 International Rotterdam Film Festival, Miike finds a moment of...
In an interview during the 2002 International Rotterdam Film Festival, Miike finds a moment of...
- 8/9/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Within the landscape of the Korean film industry, director Kim Jee-woon can look back not only on a very successful career, but also one defined by versatility and creativity, evident in his work in many different genres. Even his first feature “The Quiet Family”, which inspired Takashi Miike’s “Happiness of the Katakuris” to some extent, indicated that while obeying certain genre rules, Kim was willing to bend these and also mix them with other storylines, thus surprising his viewer with unforeseen developments and plot twists, making his features unique to this day. Additionally, many of his films, such as “A Bittersweet Life” and “I Saw the Devil” showed the director’s roots, since he began his career in the theater, as expressed in the staging of scenes and the definition of his characters who, more than once, remind us of tragic heroes. All of these concepts can be seen...
- 4/2/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Another Decade with Takashi Miike is a series of essays on the 2010 films of the Japanese maverick, following Notebook's earlier survey of Miike's first decade of the 21st century.At once propulsive and ruminative, First Love finds Takashi Miike looking back on his career while generating a steadily escalating sense of suspense. The film’s streamlined quality confirms what a focused filmmaker Miike has become over the 2010s: though it contains about a dozen major characters and several important conflicts, the director moves between them fluidly. He also exudes such intense energy while doing so that First Love generally recalls the freewheeling films Miike made in his late 90s/early 00s heyday. The director underscores this link with the past with plenty of gleefully outré content, such as multiple beheadings (all of them presented comically) and a progression of events that culminates with a harried sex worker frenziedly snorting heroin off a Yakuza’s crotch.
- 8/31/2020
- MUBI
Another Decade with Takashi Miike is a series of essays on the 2010s films of the Japanese maverick, following Notebook's earlier survey of Miike's first decade of the 21st century.As the Gods Will (2014) picks up where Lesson of the Evil (2012) left off, with a massacre at a high school. Again, Takashi Miike is considering the unspeakable—namely, the wholesale slaughter of children in the place we most expect them to be safe—but there are some critical differences this time. Lesson of the Evil followed the perpetrator of an atrocity for months (and about an hour of screen time) before he shot up a high school, thereby acclimating viewers to how terrible he could be; the massacre didn’t seem to come out of nowhere. As the Gods Will, on the other hand, presents a scene of multiple homicide mere minutes after the title cards appear. It’s as...
- 8/31/2020
- MUBI
Arrow Video is excited to announce the July slate of titles on their subscription-based Arrow Video Channel, including acclaimed undead comedy Zombie for Sale and Gamera: The Complete Collection, all twelve films starring mankind’s greatest defender: a fire-breathing mutant turtle.
An infectiously funny slice of modern Korean cinema where Train to Busan, The Quiet Family and Warm Bodies collide to create Zombie for Sale, a memorable rom-zom-com from debut director Lee Min-jae. For the first time ever, fans can trace the decades-long evolution of Gamera, from the “friend of all children” in his more light-hearted earlier films, to the Guardian of the Universe in the groundbreaking 1990s reboot series, often hailed as three of the best kaiju films ever made.
Zombie for Sale and Gamera: The Complete Collection will be available July 1st on the Arrow Video Channel in the Us and the UK. Additional new titles available July 1st include Creepshow 2,...
An infectiously funny slice of modern Korean cinema where Train to Busan, The Quiet Family and Warm Bodies collide to create Zombie for Sale, a memorable rom-zom-com from debut director Lee Min-jae. For the first time ever, fans can trace the decades-long evolution of Gamera, from the “friend of all children” in his more light-hearted earlier films, to the Guardian of the Universe in the groundbreaking 1990s reboot series, often hailed as three of the best kaiju films ever made.
Zombie for Sale and Gamera: The Complete Collection will be available July 1st on the Arrow Video Channel in the Us and the UK. Additional new titles available July 1st include Creepshow 2,...
- 6/26/2020
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
We're back with another edition of Horror Highlights! In today's installment, watch the short film The Mother of Beauty, check out the new red band trailer for Becky, and find out what's coming to the Arrow Video Channel:
The Mother Of Beauty Short Film: "In ‘The Mother of Beauty’ a single mother-to-be lives in isolation on the edge of the wilderness. She makes a living through her work with vulture culture: using the remains of dead animals to create art and memorialize the lives that once were. As she attempts to overcome the struggles of parenthood, the forces of life and death pull her in opposing directions, and she must find a way to reconcile the two before they tear her apart."
Director: Nick Meunier
Producer: J.W. Cole
Co-producer & Writer: Lonnie Nadler
Starring: Tristan Risk
Director Of Photography: Steven Hayes
Production Design: Rob Warren
Editor: Adam MacKay
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Becky Red Band Trailer: "Spunky and rebellious,...
The Mother Of Beauty Short Film: "In ‘The Mother of Beauty’ a single mother-to-be lives in isolation on the edge of the wilderness. She makes a living through her work with vulture culture: using the remains of dead animals to create art and memorialize the lives that once were. As she attempts to overcome the struggles of parenthood, the forces of life and death pull her in opposing directions, and she must find a way to reconcile the two before they tear her apart."
Director: Nick Meunier
Producer: J.W. Cole
Co-producer & Writer: Lonnie Nadler
Starring: Tristan Risk
Director Of Photography: Steven Hayes
Production Design: Rob Warren
Editor: Adam MacKay
---------
Becky Red Band Trailer: "Spunky and rebellious,...
- 6/3/2020
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
In today’s film news roundup, Lamorne Morris is starring in “Death of a Telemarketer,” Wonderfilm has attached a director to “Greco’s Game” and Fantastic Fest will host the U.S. premiere of “I Lost My Body.”
Castings
Lamorne Morris, Jackie Earle Haley, Alisha Wainwright and Haley Joel Osment are starring in the independent comedy-drama “Death of a Telemarketer.”
The film, written and directed by Khaled Ridgeway, follows a too-slick-for-his-own-good telemarketer (played by Morris) who finds himself in a life or death circumstance when he is held hostage at gunpoint for trying to con a middle-aged man (portrayed by Haley) to win a sales contest at work. The film co-stars Matt McGorry, Gil Ozeri, Woody McClain, Sujata Day, David So, Ian Verdun, Gwen Gottlieb and Starletta DuPois.
Datari Turner is producing the film for Datari Turner Productions, along with James J. Yi and Meagan Good. Filming is underway in Los Angeles.
Castings
Lamorne Morris, Jackie Earle Haley, Alisha Wainwright and Haley Joel Osment are starring in the independent comedy-drama “Death of a Telemarketer.”
The film, written and directed by Khaled Ridgeway, follows a too-slick-for-his-own-good telemarketer (played by Morris) who finds himself in a life or death circumstance when he is held hostage at gunpoint for trying to con a middle-aged man (portrayed by Haley) to win a sales contest at work. The film co-stars Matt McGorry, Gil Ozeri, Woody McClain, Sujata Day, David So, Ian Verdun, Gwen Gottlieb and Starletta DuPois.
Datari Turner is producing the film for Datari Turner Productions, along with James J. Yi and Meagan Good. Filming is underway in Los Angeles.
- 9/11/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
In addition to their first and second waves of programming that include In the Tall Grass, Knives Out, and Parasite, Fantastic Fest has announced their final wave of programming, giving attendees of the Austin-based festival even more to look forward to, including the world premieres of We Summon the Darkness and The Mortuary, as well as the presentation of a lifetime achievement award to prolific filmmaker Takashi Miike.
We have the full final wave of programming in the official press release below, visit Fantastic Fest's website for more information, and stay tuned to Daily Dead for our live coverage of Fantastic Fest.
Press Release: Austin, TX — September 11, 2019 — Netflix brings the Us Premiere of the much-lauded I Lost My Body to Fantastic Fest after an award winning debut at Cannes Critics Week. From director Jérémy Clapin, this singular tale of a severed hand trying to reunite with its owner is told...
We have the full final wave of programming in the official press release below, visit Fantastic Fest's website for more information, and stay tuned to Daily Dead for our live coverage of Fantastic Fest.
Press Release: Austin, TX — September 11, 2019 — Netflix brings the Us Premiere of the much-lauded I Lost My Body to Fantastic Fest after an award winning debut at Cannes Critics Week. From director Jérémy Clapin, this singular tale of a severed hand trying to reunite with its owner is told...
- 9/11/2019
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Exclusive: Fantastic Fest is set to honor legendary filmmaker Takashi Miike with the Lifetime Achievement Award and a and a special screening of The Happiness of the Katakuris. In addition, the fest has revealed its final wave of programming which includes the U.S. premiere of Jeremy Clapin’s I Lost My Body which recently debuted at Cannes Critics Week and won the Cristal for Best Animated Feature and the Audience Award Première at the 2019 Annecy Int’l Animated Film Festival. Fantastic Fest kicks off September 19 and continues through September 26.
Miike, who has been featured at Fantastic Fest multiple times, has over 100 films on his resume and in addition to a screening of The Happiness of the Katakuris, the fest will feature the U.S. premiere of his film First Love which follows an aspiring boxer named Leo who discovers that he may not have long to live. He goes...
Miike, who has been featured at Fantastic Fest multiple times, has over 100 films on his resume and in addition to a screening of The Happiness of the Katakuris, the fest will feature the U.S. premiere of his film First Love which follows an aspiring boxer named Leo who discovers that he may not have long to live. He goes...
- 9/11/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
“He admires you. That’s why he entered the Yakuza world.”
On the DVD release of “Full Metal Yakuza” by Artsmagic, the Japanese director addresses the origin story of the film, a tale which could be seen as one of the high time of Asian economy before it collapsed, according to Miike. As he was waiting in an office of a production company for V-cinema releases which went straight to VHS, Miike was aware of a couple of pages from a script which had the title Full Metal Yakuza written on top of them. He quickly read through the pages and decided he would make the film one of his projects, one which he finally realized in 1997.
Considering the genesis of the project as well as the narrative and technical aspects of many of Miike’s films, it is perhaps all too easy to label his film...
On the DVD release of “Full Metal Yakuza” by Artsmagic, the Japanese director addresses the origin story of the film, a tale which could be seen as one of the high time of Asian economy before it collapsed, according to Miike. As he was waiting in an office of a production company for V-cinema releases which went straight to VHS, Miike was aware of a couple of pages from a script which had the title Full Metal Yakuza written on top of them. He quickly read through the pages and decided he would make the film one of his projects, one which he finally realized in 1997.
Considering the genesis of the project as well as the narrative and technical aspects of many of Miike’s films, it is perhaps all too easy to label his film...
- 8/7/2019
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Because of the rising amount of felonies, the number of trials has also increased all over Japan, resulting in a drastic change of the judicial system. Instead of a traditional trial in the new bench trail system, prosecution and defense face each other in an open trail and have three days to present evidence as well as cross-examine witnesses before on the last day a sentence is made. Young attorney Phoenix Wright (Hiroki Narimiya) is a very ambitious, but inexperienced attorney when he takes over his second case: the defense of Maya Fey (Mirei Kiritani) who is the prime suspect for the murder of her sister Mia (Rei Dan). During the trail, Phoenix also has to face his childhood friend Miles Edgeworth (Takumi Saito) who is the prosecutor, an infamous figure among his colleagues since he has never lost a case in court.
However, as the trial proceeds, Wright finds...
However, as the trial proceeds, Wright finds...
- 8/5/2019
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
New Indie
Filmmakers have made the case that, instead of going to film school, young would-be directors might be better off just listening to director commentaries. And if that’s the educational route you’ve chosen, two of today’s most interesting directors are telling all on new Blu-ray releases. Want to know more about how Barry Jenkins brought James Baldwin’s powerful novel “If Beale Street Could Talk” (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) to the big screen, or how Karyn Kusama crafted the bleak neo-noir “Destroyer” (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)? They tell all on these essential new releases.
Also available: S. Craig Zahler is at it again with “Dragged Across Concrete” (Lionsgate), a cops-gone-rogue heist saga starring Vince Vaughn and Mel Gibson.
See Photo: See Nicole Kidman's Extreme Transformation for Karyn Kusama's Cop Thriller 'Destroyer'
New Foreign
Few directors in the history of cinema have...
Filmmakers have made the case that, instead of going to film school, young would-be directors might be better off just listening to director commentaries. And if that’s the educational route you’ve chosen, two of today’s most interesting directors are telling all on new Blu-ray releases. Want to know more about how Barry Jenkins brought James Baldwin’s powerful novel “If Beale Street Could Talk” (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) to the big screen, or how Karyn Kusama crafted the bleak neo-noir “Destroyer” (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)? They tell all on these essential new releases.
Also available: S. Craig Zahler is at it again with “Dragged Across Concrete” (Lionsgate), a cops-gone-rogue heist saga starring Vince Vaughn and Mel Gibson.
See Photo: See Nicole Kidman's Extreme Transformation for Karyn Kusama's Cop Thriller 'Destroyer'
New Foreign
Few directors in the history of cinema have...
- 4/26/2019
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
” This wire can cut through meat and bone easily. “
Takashi Miike’s Audition (1999) plays this weekend (April 12th and 13th) at the Tivoli (6350 Delmar Boulevard)as part of their Reel Late at the Tivoli Midnight series.
One of the most shocking J-horror films ever made, Audition exploded onto the festival circuit 20 uears ago to a chorus of awards and praise. The film would catapult Miike to the international scene and pave the way for such other genre delights as Ichii the Killer and The Happiness of the Katakuris.
Recent widower Shigeharu Aoyama is advised by his son to find a new wife, so he seeks the advice of a colleague having been out of the dating scene for many years. They take advantage of their position in a film company by staging an audition to find the perfect woman. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu becomes enchanted by Asami, a quiet,...
Takashi Miike’s Audition (1999) plays this weekend (April 12th and 13th) at the Tivoli (6350 Delmar Boulevard)as part of their Reel Late at the Tivoli Midnight series.
One of the most shocking J-horror films ever made, Audition exploded onto the festival circuit 20 uears ago to a chorus of awards and praise. The film would catapult Miike to the international scene and pave the way for such other genre delights as Ichii the Killer and The Happiness of the Katakuris.
Recent widower Shigeharu Aoyama is advised by his son to find a new wife, so he seeks the advice of a colleague having been out of the dating scene for many years. They take advantage of their position in a film company by staging an audition to find the perfect woman. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu becomes enchanted by Asami, a quiet,...
- 4/8/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Love is certainly in the air this week, especially with our horror and sci-fi home releases, as we have plenty of tainted love on tap for those of you who tend to enjoy the darker side of romance. Scream Factory is ready to put you in the mood with both the Collector’s Edition of Valentine and their Poison Ivy box set, and Arrow Video has assembled an impressive Special Edition of Audition that fans are definitely going to want to pick up on Tuesday.
For those of you looking for some less romantically-inclined entertainment, Popcorn is getting the SteelBook treatment, and you can take a ride aboard the Horror Express as well. Other notable releases for February 12th include Possum, Killer Campout, Doom Room, Haunted Hospital: Heilstätten, Purgatory Road, and Nightflyers: Season One.
Audition: Special Edition
One of the most shocking J-horror films ever made, Audition exploded onto the...
For those of you looking for some less romantically-inclined entertainment, Popcorn is getting the SteelBook treatment, and you can take a ride aboard the Horror Express as well. Other notable releases for February 12th include Possum, Killer Campout, Doom Room, Haunted Hospital: Heilstätten, Purgatory Road, and Nightflyers: Season One.
Audition: Special Edition
One of the most shocking J-horror films ever made, Audition exploded onto the...
- 2/12/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Takashi Miike’s Audition will be available on Blu-ray From Arrow Video February 12th
One of the most shocking J-horror films ever made, Audition exploded onto the festival circuit at the turn of the century to a chorus of awards and praise. The film would catapult Miike to the international scene and pave the way for such other genre delights as Ichii the Killer and The Happiness of the Katakuris.
Recent widower Shigeharu Aoyama is advised by his son to find a new wife, so he seeks the advice of a colleague having been out of the dating scene for many years. They take advantage of their position in a film company by staging an audition to find the perfect woman. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu becomes enchanted by Asami, a quiet, 24-year-old woman, who is immediately responsive to his charms. But soon things take a very dark and...
One of the most shocking J-horror films ever made, Audition exploded onto the festival circuit at the turn of the century to a chorus of awards and praise. The film would catapult Miike to the international scene and pave the way for such other genre delights as Ichii the Killer and The Happiness of the Katakuris.
Recent widower Shigeharu Aoyama is advised by his son to find a new wife, so he seeks the advice of a colleague having been out of the dating scene for many years. They take advantage of their position in a film company by staging an audition to find the perfect woman. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu becomes enchanted by Asami, a quiet, 24-year-old woman, who is immediately responsive to his charms. But soon things take a very dark and...
- 1/25/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Consider yourself lucky, At least you can die.”
Japanese director Takashi Miike downplays his pride about having made his 100th film with “Blade of the Immortal”, and indeed, whether they are 100 or 50 or 20, what counts is the quality of the body of work one has made over the years. And while there may have been weaker entries, the overall impression Miike’s films leave behind is one of versatility, creativity and provocation, since, even with an average of six to seven films per year none of his works feel as if they have been churned out. Instead, we witness the film of a true auteur, one who works fast and is unafraid of the changing tones and genres he has worked with.
During the 2017 Sitges Film Festival, Miike described how it does not matter to him which film he is working on since he approaches every one...
Japanese director Takashi Miike downplays his pride about having made his 100th film with “Blade of the Immortal”, and indeed, whether they are 100 or 50 or 20, what counts is the quality of the body of work one has made over the years. And while there may have been weaker entries, the overall impression Miike’s films leave behind is one of versatility, creativity and provocation, since, even with an average of six to seven films per year none of his works feel as if they have been churned out. Instead, we witness the film of a true auteur, one who works fast and is unafraid of the changing tones and genres he has worked with.
During the 2017 Sitges Film Festival, Miike described how it does not matter to him which film he is working on since he approaches every one...
- 5/5/2018
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Takashi Miike has answered the “Can a film be so bad that is good?” question affirmatively a number of times, and the “Katakuris” is definitely among the movie that provide a positive reply.
The script is loosely based on Kim Jee-woon’s film, “The Quiet Family”, but Takashi Miike took the basic premises of the original and turned them completely upside down, in order to present a movie that lingers between the musical and the thriller, also including elements of slapstick comedy, parody and claymation.
The Katakuris are a four-generation family of failures: patriarch Masao Katakuri, his wife Terue, his father Jinpei, his formerly criminal son Masayuki, his divorced daughter Shizue, her child Yurie and their dog, Pochi. The family uses the father’s redundancy pay to purchase an old home in the country, near Mount Fuji, in order to convert it into a bed and breakfast.
The script is loosely based on Kim Jee-woon’s film, “The Quiet Family”, but Takashi Miike took the basic premises of the original and turned them completely upside down, in order to present a movie that lingers between the musical and the thriller, also including elements of slapstick comedy, parody and claymation.
The Katakuris are a four-generation family of failures: patriarch Masao Katakuri, his wife Terue, his father Jinpei, his formerly criminal son Masayuki, his divorced daughter Shizue, her child Yurie and their dog, Pochi. The family uses the father’s redundancy pay to purchase an old home in the country, near Mount Fuji, in order to convert it into a bed and breakfast.
- 4/15/2018
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Some movies are so bizarre – so utterly off-the-wall – that they have to be seen to be believed. It’s not that they’re (necessarily) bad, just that they’re utterly beyond anything else that’s out there, even for the most adventurous movie-goer. This is the case with The Happiness of the Katakuris, a movie seemingly intent on actively resisting any attempt at conventional description. The DVD box art proclaims it to be “The Sound of Music meets Dawn of the Dead,” which is about as accurate a description as anybody could come up with. The film is part slasher, part comedy,
For the Man Who Has Everything: Takashi Miike’s Bizarre Horror-Comedy ‘The Happiness of the Katakuris’ Is ‘Dawn of the Dead’ Crossed with ‘The Sound of Music’...
For the Man Who Has Everything: Takashi Miike’s Bizarre Horror-Comedy ‘The Happiness of the Katakuris’ Is ‘Dawn of the Dead’ Crossed with ‘The Sound of Music’...
- 10/27/2017
- by Brian Hadsell
- TVovermind.com
Above: Soviet poster for The Ghost That Never Returns (Abram Room, Soviet Union, 1929). Designed by the Sternberg Brothers.Have you seen what’s playing on Mubi lately? Many of you who read my column may not often partake of the best of what Mubi has to offer, which is a beautifully curated, constantly changing selection of films which amounts to a top-notch repertory cinema on your laptop and in your living room. Now that Mubi is on the Roku app too there is even more reason to subscribe to the best film streaming deal on the internet. I know, I know, there is always too much to see and too little time, but for me what elevates Mubi over other streaming services—and I’m not just saying this because I write for them—is the 30-day model which offers you a new surprise every morning as well as the...
- 1/27/2017
- MUBI
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling lay on the charm in Whiplash director Damien Chazelle’s magical love letter to the golden age of Hollywood
The Australian film-maker Stephan Elliott once jokingly told me that he’d made The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to bring screen musicals back from the grave into which Xanadu had put them. Yet despite reports of their death, musicals have never gone away, providing the backbone of the movie business in key territories such as India, and regularly flourishing elsewhere across the globe. In 2008, Phyllida Lloyd’s film of the Abba-fest Mamma Mia! became a record-breaking UK hit (paving the way for Sunshine on Leith et al), while stage-to-screen adaptations, from Chicago to Les Misérables, have consistently charmed Oscar voters in America.
Alongside Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!, early 21st-century cinema has given us everything from Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark...
The Australian film-maker Stephan Elliott once jokingly told me that he’d made The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to bring screen musicals back from the grave into which Xanadu had put them. Yet despite reports of their death, musicals have never gone away, providing the backbone of the movie business in key territories such as India, and regularly flourishing elsewhere across the globe. In 2008, Phyllida Lloyd’s film of the Abba-fest Mamma Mia! became a record-breaking UK hit (paving the way for Sunshine on Leith et al), while stage-to-screen adaptations, from Chicago to Les Misérables, have consistently charmed Oscar voters in America.
Alongside Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!, early 21st-century cinema has given us everything from Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark...
- 1/15/2017
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Aquarius (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
The staggeringly accomplished debut feature by Brazilian critic-turned-director Kleber Mendonça Filho, Neighboring Sounds, announced the arrival of a remarkable new talent in international cinema. Clearly recognizable as the work of the same director, Mendonça’s equally assertive follow-up, Aquarius, establishes his authorial voice as well as his place as one of the most eloquent filmic commentators on the contemporary state of Brazilian society. – Giovanni M.
Aquarius (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
The staggeringly accomplished debut feature by Brazilian critic-turned-director Kleber Mendonça Filho, Neighboring Sounds, announced the arrival of a remarkable new talent in international cinema. Clearly recognizable as the work of the same director, Mendonça’s equally assertive follow-up, Aquarius, establishes his authorial voice as well as his place as one of the most eloquent filmic commentators on the contemporary state of Brazilian society. – Giovanni M.
- 1/13/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
To celebrate the release of Takashi Miike’s Black Society Trilogy - out on DVD & Blu-Ray from 16th January – we are giving away a Blu-ray copy courtesy of Arrow Video!
After several years spent working almost exclusively in the direct-to-video world of “V-cinema” in Japan, Takashi Miike announced himself as a world-class filmmaking talent with this trio of thematically-connected, character-centric crime stories about violence, the underworld of Japanese society, families both real and surrogate, and the possibly hopeless task of finding one’s place in the world. His first films made specifically for theatrical release, and his first for a major studio, the Black Society Trilogy was the beginning of Miike’s mature career as a filmmaker and they remain among the prolific director’s finest works.
Set in the bustling Kabuki-cho nightlife neighborhood of Tokyo, Shinjuku Triad Society follows a mixed-race cop (Kippei Shiina, Outrage) struggling with private issues...
After several years spent working almost exclusively in the direct-to-video world of “V-cinema” in Japan, Takashi Miike announced himself as a world-class filmmaking talent with this trio of thematically-connected, character-centric crime stories about violence, the underworld of Japanese society, families both real and surrogate, and the possibly hopeless task of finding one’s place in the world. His first films made specifically for theatrical release, and his first for a major studio, the Black Society Trilogy was the beginning of Miike’s mature career as a filmmaker and they remain among the prolific director’s finest works.
Set in the bustling Kabuki-cho nightlife neighborhood of Tokyo, Shinjuku Triad Society follows a mixed-race cop (Kippei Shiina, Outrage) struggling with private issues...
- 1/13/2017
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Shudder will take viewers to the place that's "not as brightly lit" this Halloween season, as the 1980s anthology series Tales From the Darkside will be available to watch in its entirety on the horror streaming service beginning October 1st:
Press Release: New York, New York – September 26, 2016 – The AMC-backed streaming service, Shudder, is The entertainment destination for everything you need to watch this Halloween season. Whether you’re a hardcore horror fan or simply looking for the scariest films to celebrate this time of year, Shudder has something for everyone in its sweeping library, carefully curated by some of the top horror experts in the world.
As Halloween approaches, Shudder is expanding its database with a variety of new titles including cult favorites, blockbuster hits, and classic thrillers. Additionally, for the first time ever, Shudder will be offering horror TV series to complement its expansive film library.
Premiering October 20th...
Press Release: New York, New York – September 26, 2016 – The AMC-backed streaming service, Shudder, is The entertainment destination for everything you need to watch this Halloween season. Whether you’re a hardcore horror fan or simply looking for the scariest films to celebrate this time of year, Shudder has something for everyone in its sweeping library, carefully curated by some of the top horror experts in the world.
As Halloween approaches, Shudder is expanding its database with a variety of new titles including cult favorites, blockbuster hits, and classic thrillers. Additionally, for the first time ever, Shudder will be offering horror TV series to complement its expansive film library.
Premiering October 20th...
- 9/28/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
My guest for this month is Christa Mrgan, and she’s joined me to discuss the film she chose for me, the 2001 surreal horror-comedy film The Happiness of the Katakuris. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly.
Show notes:
Takashi Miike has made an astonishing 90 films in his career, but none quite like this one Thematically it would be hard to have two films as different as this one and our last episode on Ozu’s An Autumn Afternoon Arcadia, California was home to at least one video store, in 2004 It really is quite hilarious that both An Autumn Afternoon and this were released by Shochiku, how the world changes Shochiku were, of course, also the sometime home to films by Nagisa Oshima, and Mikio Naruse As well as the phenomenally goofy films of their horror period, so brilliantly captures by Criterion in the When Horror Came to Shochiku...
Show notes:
Takashi Miike has made an astonishing 90 films in his career, but none quite like this one Thematically it would be hard to have two films as different as this one and our last episode on Ozu’s An Autumn Afternoon Arcadia, California was home to at least one video store, in 2004 It really is quite hilarious that both An Autumn Afternoon and this were released by Shochiku, how the world changes Shochiku were, of course, also the sometime home to films by Nagisa Oshima, and Mikio Naruse As well as the phenomenally goofy films of their horror period, so brilliantly captures by Criterion in the When Horror Came to Shochiku...
- 8/1/2016
- by Arik Devens
- CriterionCast
Since any New York cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Metrograph
You’ve read of Rainer Werner Fassbinder‘s ten favorite films — now you can see them. The German titan’s beloved titles are celebrated in a new series: Johnny Guitar screens this Friday; Saturday offers Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Night of the Hunter, and the rarely seen The Red Snowball Tree; on Sunday, one can...
Metrograph
You’ve read of Rainer Werner Fassbinder‘s ten favorite films — now you can see them. The German titan’s beloved titles are celebrated in a new series: Johnny Guitar screens this Friday; Saturday offers Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Night of the Hunter, and the rarely seen The Red Snowball Tree; on Sunday, one can...
- 4/22/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Arrow Films/Video has been in the home video business for years, but it wasn’t until 2015 that the UK-based label set up shop here in North America. The months since have already seen some must-own releases for genre fans including Brian Yuzna’s terrifically icky Society, Takashi Miike’s delightful The Happiness of the Katakuris, and near-forgotten slashers like Blood Rage and The Mutilator. It’s their love for the near-forgotten that has led to their latest endeavor — the ambitious and important American Horror Project. The goal is to dig deep into American horror films with a focus on titles from the ’70s and ’80s that never quite caught on despite their merit. These are movies that saw limited, if any, theatrical release and met a similar fate on home video. Arrow’s plan is to treat them with the same love and respect they give to their higher-profile titles including the best possible restorations and...
- 2/23/2016
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
★★☆☆☆ Where on Earth do you start with Takashi Miike's latest offering Yakuza Apocalypse (2015)? Perhaps the best place is with two words that will immediately signal to many people whether or this a film that they might enjoy - with emphasis on the word 'might'. Those words are 'Yakuza Vampire' and this symphony of schlocky slapstick will reward those for whom they conjure up palpable anticipation of gangsters meeting the undead in a bout of comically absurd blood-letting. This is Miike back in kinds of waters that he navigated in 2002's The Happiness of the Katakuris and fans of his more chaotic work should be well served. Of course, for one man's chaos read another man's shambles.
- 1/10/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Stars: Yayan Ruhian, Rirî Furankî, Hayato Ichihara, Mio Yûki, Pierre Taki, Denden, Tetsu Watanabe, Yoshiyuki Morishita, Riko Narumi, Reiko Takashima, Lily Frankie, Masanori Mimoto, Shô Aoyagi, Manzô Shinra, Kiyohiko Shibukawa | Written by Yoshitaka Yamaguchi | Directed by Takashi Miike
When considering the work of a director who often makes up to six or seven films a year, you might be forgiven for assuming that most of these would be low-key, simple productions focusing on small sets of characters. Not so in the case of Takashi Miike, the filmmaker behind such eyebrow-raising fare as the ultraviolent Ichi The Killer, zombie musical comedy The Happiness of the Katakuris and contemplative drama The Bird People in China. Never one to shirk an ambitious project for the sake of an easy life, Miike’s latest film sees him on world-ending form with Yakuza Apocalypse.
Kageyama is a low-level Yakuza thug bullied by his fellow gangsters...
When considering the work of a director who often makes up to six or seven films a year, you might be forgiven for assuming that most of these would be low-key, simple productions focusing on small sets of characters. Not so in the case of Takashi Miike, the filmmaker behind such eyebrow-raising fare as the ultraviolent Ichi The Killer, zombie musical comedy The Happiness of the Katakuris and contemplative drama The Bird People in China. Never one to shirk an ambitious project for the sake of an easy life, Miike’s latest film sees him on world-ending form with Yakuza Apocalypse.
Kageyama is a low-level Yakuza thug bullied by his fellow gangsters...
- 12/14/2015
- by Mark Allen
- Nerdly
Takashi Miike‘s The Happiness of the Katakuris begins with a woman probing a freshly delivered bowl of soup only to fish out a miniature angel/gargoyle/teletubby? whose presence seems to instigate the onscreen conversion of the world into claymation before tearing out the poor woman’s uvula and tossing it into the air to float away like a heart-shaped balloon. This is a film that, even in an oeuvre that includes works as disparate as gross out shocker Visitor Q and the kid friendly The Great Yokai War, is pure unpredictable insanity that baffles as much as it entertains. Essentially a horror comedy musical, Miike’s genre mashing farce is loosely based on Kim Jee-woon’s The Quiet Family, in which a family owns a remotely located bed and breakfast whose customers always happen to die during their stay, yet takes that simple premise to its outermost extremes in the silliest of ways.
- 6/30/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Stars: Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Shinji Takeda, Naomi Nishida, Kiyoshirô Imawano, Tetsurô Tanba, Naoto Takenaka, Tamaki Miyazaki, Takashi Matsuzaki | Written by Ai Kennedy, Kikumi Yamagishi | Directed by Takashi Miike
Being a Takashi Miike fan takes you down some strange roads. Whether it is the extreme Ichi the Killer and Visitor Q, or the fun Crow Zero movies there is always something a little off about all of his movies. One of the strangest to come from him has to be The Happiness of the Katakuris, a musical about happiness, family and death which is out now from Arrow Video…
When the Katakuri family build a bed and breakfast in the country, they do so on the promise of a new road being built close to it to provide them with plenty of customers. When the road doesn’t appear though they start to wonder if they are cursed to fail.
Being a Takashi Miike fan takes you down some strange roads. Whether it is the extreme Ichi the Killer and Visitor Q, or the fun Crow Zero movies there is always something a little off about all of his movies. One of the strangest to come from him has to be The Happiness of the Katakuris, a musical about happiness, family and death which is out now from Arrow Video…
When the Katakuri family build a bed and breakfast in the country, they do so on the promise of a new road being built close to it to provide them with plenty of customers. When the road doesn’t appear though they start to wonder if they are cursed to fail.
- 6/22/2015
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
This week on Off The Shelf, Ryan is joined by Brian Saur to take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for the week of June 16th, 2015, and chat about some follow-up and home video news.
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Episode Links & Notes Follow-up Unopened movies Christopher Lee News Thunderbean: Willie Whopper Blu-ray Pre-order Criterion September Line-up Scream Factory to release Army Of Darkness, Demon Knight and Bordello of Blood Arrow Video: Zardoz, The Mutilator, Requiescant, The Firemen’s Ball, Closely Watched Trains, Hard To Be A God, Society Masters Of Cinema / Eureka: The Skull Warner Bros. Hammer Horror Blu-ray Box Set Warner Bros Special Effects Boxset (Them!, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Son of Kong, Mighty Joe Young) Sony to release The Last Dragon on Blu-ray Scorpion: Burn Witch Burn Kino Cartoon Classics Announced Kl Studio Classics F/X 2 and The Challenge Universal to put out...
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Episode Links & Notes Follow-up Unopened movies Christopher Lee News Thunderbean: Willie Whopper Blu-ray Pre-order Criterion September Line-up Scream Factory to release Army Of Darkness, Demon Knight and Bordello of Blood Arrow Video: Zardoz, The Mutilator, Requiescant, The Firemen’s Ball, Closely Watched Trains, Hard To Be A God, Society Masters Of Cinema / Eureka: The Skull Warner Bros. Hammer Horror Blu-ray Box Set Warner Bros Special Effects Boxset (Them!, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Son of Kong, Mighty Joe Young) Sony to release The Last Dragon on Blu-ray Scorpion: Burn Witch Burn Kino Cartoon Classics Announced Kl Studio Classics F/X 2 and The Challenge Universal to put out...
- 6/17/2015
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Our pick of the week is Arrow Video's beautiful new Blu-ray of Takashi Miike's The Happiness Of The Katakuris!
"14 New Movies to Watch at Home This Week" was originally published on Film School Rejects for our wonderful readers to enjoy. It is not intended to be reproduced on other websites. If you aren't reading this in your favorite RSS reader or on Film School Rejects, you're being bamboozled. We hope you'll come find us and enjoy the best articles about movies, television and culture right from the source.
"14 New Movies to Watch at Home This Week" was originally published on Film School Rejects for our wonderful readers to enjoy. It is not intended to be reproduced on other websites. If you aren't reading this in your favorite RSS reader or on Film School Rejects, you're being bamboozled. We hope you'll come find us and enjoy the best articles about movies, television and culture right from the source.
- 6/16/2015
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Takakshi Miike's Yakuza Apocalypse is "primo Miike," declares the Telegraph's Robbie Collin, "switched to Fun Mode: the same setting that produced the family-serial-killer musical The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) and the masterful post-Lynchian farmyard freak-out Gozu (2003); two inspired, genre-melting films that kept midnight movie crowds roaring until the early hours…. The demented brilliance of Miike’s film lies in the director’s ability to craft ideas that are simultaneously sublime and ridiculous." We've got the trailer and we're gathering more reviews. » - David Hudson...
- 5/22/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Takakshi Miike's Yakuza Apocalypse is "primo Miike," declares the Telegraph's Robbie Collin, "switched to Fun Mode: the same setting that produced the family-serial-killer musical The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) and the masterful post-Lynchian farmyard freak-out Gozu (2003); two inspired, genre-melting films that kept midnight movie crowds roaring until the early hours…. The demented brilliance of Miike’s film lies in the director’s ability to craft ideas that are simultaneously sublime and ridiculous." We've got the trailer and we're gathering more reviews. » - David Hudson...
- 5/22/2015
- Keyframe
Equal parts yakuza revenge picture, sexualized exploitation romp, bakeneko (or ghost cat horror flick), and absurd comedy, Teruo Ishii’s bizarro Blind Woman’s Curse refuses to settle into categorization. Following on the heels of his much talked about Joys of Torture series which ran 1968-69, Ishii made this in addition to three other features in 1970. Sporting an inexhaustible work ethic and a taste for both the violent and absurd, one might say he is the direct predecessor of modern ludicrous Japanese cinema, Takashi Miike. It’s telling then that Arrow Films, an upscale UK home release distro who specialize in genre films, are just now making their way to Us soil with releases (amongst others) of both Ishii’s ghost cat/yakuza mash-up film and Miike’s completely insane murder musical The Happiness of the Katakuris.
Before going on to silver screen immortality in Lady Snowblood and Female Convict Scorpion,...
Before going on to silver screen immortality in Lady Snowblood and Female Convict Scorpion,...
- 4/21/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Director: Takashi Miike. Review: Adam Wing. I don’t know what it is that draws Takashi Miike to projects but you could never accuse the man of being one-dimensional. In the past three years alone he has directed two samurai movies, a superhero film and a farcical children’s adventure. He has two movies scheduled for release next year and three films from 2012 that have yet to see the light of day on western shores. For Love’s Sake – a fascinating blend of High School Musical, Crows Zero and West Side Story – is the first to hit UK shelves, courtesy of Third Window Films. In 2001 Miike directed one of my favourite movies, a quirky zombie musical called The Happiness of the Katakuris. Combining elements of Kim Jee-Woon’s The Quiet Family and Christmas favourite The Sound of Music, Katakuris was an offbeat masterpiece infused with claymation set pieces, twisted humour and karaoke singalongs.
- 6/7/2013
- 24framespersecond.net
Takashi Miike is held in great esteem by fans of Asian cinema, and with good reason. He’s incredibly prolific, imaginative, and shocking. He’s also never made an English language film, which isn’t that surprising. Why would he? He’s acheived massive success in his own country, and look at it this way – loads of American directors have never made a Japanese-language film.
That said, Deadline have announced that he and Joel Silver will work together to make Takashi Miike’s English-language debut The Outsider, a script that has been doing the rounds for some time, having been purchased by Warner Bros. in 2011. Tom Hardy has been pegged to star, surely continuing his recent streak of great movie choices (This Means War notwithstanding). The official blurb says that it’s about “a World War II Pow who is broken out of the camp by the Yakuza and is...
That said, Deadline have announced that he and Joel Silver will work together to make Takashi Miike’s English-language debut The Outsider, a script that has been doing the rounds for some time, having been purchased by Warner Bros. in 2011. Tom Hardy has been pegged to star, surely continuing his recent streak of great movie choices (This Means War notwithstanding). The official blurb says that it’s about “a World War II Pow who is broken out of the camp by the Yakuza and is...
- 6/7/2013
- by Rob Batchelor
- We Got This Covered
The great Takashi Miike is making his way back to the horror genre with an as of yet to be titled new film focusing on one of Japan's most famous ghost stories, Yotsuya Kaiden. Read on for the first details.
Miike directs from a screenplay by Kikumi Yamagishi (Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai, The Happiness of the Katakuris). Nobuyasu Kita (13 Assassins, Hara-kiri) rejoins Miike behind the camera as cinematographer with Toshiaki Nakazawa (13 Assassins, Departure) producing. Production designer Yuji Hayashida and composer Koji Endo are also join the crew. Celluloid Dreams/uConnect, the sales division of uMedia, has acquired the international rights for the project in Cannes.
Recognized in many contemporary representations including The Ring franchise, the evil spirit Oiwa appears in her white burial gown, straggled hair, and drooping eye from when she was maimed by poison. Originally presented on stage in the early 1800s, Yotsuya Kaiden has been remade and reconfigured many times,...
Miike directs from a screenplay by Kikumi Yamagishi (Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai, The Happiness of the Katakuris). Nobuyasu Kita (13 Assassins, Hara-kiri) rejoins Miike behind the camera as cinematographer with Toshiaki Nakazawa (13 Assassins, Departure) producing. Production designer Yuji Hayashida and composer Koji Endo are also join the crew. Celluloid Dreams/uConnect, the sales division of uMedia, has acquired the international rights for the project in Cannes.
Recognized in many contemporary representations including The Ring franchise, the evil spirit Oiwa appears in her white burial gown, straggled hair, and drooping eye from when she was maimed by poison. Originally presented on stage in the early 1800s, Yotsuya Kaiden has been remade and reconfigured many times,...
- 5/20/2013
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
I don’t like movie musicals. It’s probably more accurate to say that I strongly dislike the vast majority of musicals. Too often I find that the songs and dance numbers take priority over the film’s story and characters, and that disparity leaves me disinterested in the whole shebang. And if I’m being honest, I really hate it when complete strangers suddenly bust out with the same songs and dance moves as if they’ve been secretly practicing them for weeks. (Unless the story is about the history of flash mobs of course, but who the hell would want to watch that?) There are exceptions, but they’re usually films that place as high a value on the story being told and the characters within as they do on the music and dancing and other gibberish. Ones I do like include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 8 Women, South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut and...
- 2/26/2013
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
While The Last Stand didn’t make much of an impression on the box office, it still left many of us here at Sound On Sight praising director Jee-woon Kim’s effort. As the first Korean auteur to direct a large-scale Hollywood movie, Kim takes inspiration from classic American westerns, specifically Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo. Apart from classic westerns, there are a few cult movies that fans of The Last Stand should take interest in. Here are two, that I recommend.
****
1: Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom (The Good, The Bad, The Weird)
Directed by Jee-woon Kim
Screenplay by Jee-woon Kim and Min-suk Kim
2008, South Korea
A decade after making his incredible debut film, The Quiet Family (later remade by Takashi Miike as The Happiness of the Katakuris), Jee-woon Kim had established himself as one of South Korea’s most beloved directors. His hard work didn’t go unnoticed by studio execs,...
****
1: Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom (The Good, The Bad, The Weird)
Directed by Jee-woon Kim
Screenplay by Jee-woon Kim and Min-suk Kim
2008, South Korea
A decade after making his incredible debut film, The Quiet Family (later remade by Takashi Miike as The Happiness of the Katakuris), Jee-woon Kim had established himself as one of South Korea’s most beloved directors. His hard work didn’t go unnoticed by studio execs,...
- 1/30/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
For Love’s Sake
Directed by Takashi Miike
Written by Ikki Kajiwara, Takayuki Takuma, Takumi Nagayasu
Starring Emi Takei, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Takumi Saito, Sakura Ando
Welcome to an alternate reality Tokyo of 1972, and adolescent student Ai (Emi Takei) has fallen deeply in love with the forehead scarred bad-boy Makoto (Satoshi Tsumabuki), a violent and uncompromising young hooligan whom Ai idolises as her fairytale saviour. Makoto however couldn’t care less for her beatific affections, and when Ai’s fathers pulls some strings to enroll him into her elite private school he returns the favour by blackmailing her parents when he discovers that she is moonlighting at a local maid service bar. The infatuating incredulity deepens as Ai has her own desperate paramour, the nerdy and bespectacled Iwashimizu (Takumi Saito) who confesses his undying love for her, promising to follow Ai to the depths of hell in order to secure her fleeting affections.
Directed by Takashi Miike
Written by Ikki Kajiwara, Takayuki Takuma, Takumi Nagayasu
Starring Emi Takei, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Takumi Saito, Sakura Ando
Welcome to an alternate reality Tokyo of 1972, and adolescent student Ai (Emi Takei) has fallen deeply in love with the forehead scarred bad-boy Makoto (Satoshi Tsumabuki), a violent and uncompromising young hooligan whom Ai idolises as her fairytale saviour. Makoto however couldn’t care less for her beatific affections, and when Ai’s fathers pulls some strings to enroll him into her elite private school he returns the favour by blackmailing her parents when he discovers that she is moonlighting at a local maid service bar. The infatuating incredulity deepens as Ai has her own desperate paramour, the nerdy and bespectacled Iwashimizu (Takumi Saito) who confesses his undying love for her, promising to follow Ai to the depths of hell in order to secure her fleeting affections.
- 10/15/2012
- by John
- SoundOnSight
>What’s better than a new trailer for Takeshi Miike’s upcoming students-in-danger flick “Lesson of the Evil”? How about two trailers, and a poster? That sounds like one hell of a deal, doesn’t it? Miike’s prolific career—89 directing credits and counting—has been all over the place genre wise. Though his eclectic filmography runs from samurai epics (“13 Assassins”) to surreal musicals (“The Happiness of the Katakuris”), many of us think his best films fall into the either the gangster or horror families. From all appearances, “Lesson of the Evil”, based on the novel by Yusuke Kishi, definitely ventures into the latter realm. Though there is certainly a healthy dose of black comedy. Here’s a synopsis: A teacher named Seiji Hasumi is loved by his students and respected by his peers. However, his outward charm masks his true nature. In reality, Hasumi is a psychopath who is...
- 9/16/2012
- by Brent McKnight
- Beyond Hollywood
For those that are confused (which would obviously include me) the column that has the url: http://www.soundonsight.org/fantasia-2012-mike-ryans-five-most-anticipated-films/ is actually my column on the five films that I am most upset to be Missing.
This is my column on five seven films that I am most looking forward to:
1) Takashi Miike (For Love’s Sake and Ace Attorney)
For Love’s Sake (2012) Written by Takayuki Takuma, Ikki Kajiwara, Takumi Nagayasu, Directed by Takashi Miike
You really only need three words to sell For Love’s Sake: Takashi. Miike. Musical.
But here are a few more words…
Takashi Miike is beloved by the Fantasia crowd for pushing the boundaries of genre filmmaking in films like Audition, Visitor Q and Ichi the Killer, but I tend to prefer Miike when he is working in a specific sub-genre where he is forced to subvert the conventions at play in more subtle ways,...
This is my column on five seven films that I am most looking forward to:
1) Takashi Miike (For Love’s Sake and Ace Attorney)
For Love’s Sake (2012) Written by Takayuki Takuma, Ikki Kajiwara, Takumi Nagayasu, Directed by Takashi Miike
You really only need three words to sell For Love’s Sake: Takashi. Miike. Musical.
But here are a few more words…
Takashi Miike is beloved by the Fantasia crowd for pushing the boundaries of genre filmmaking in films like Audition, Visitor Q and Ichi the Killer, but I tend to prefer Miike when he is working in a specific sub-genre where he is forced to subvert the conventions at play in more subtle ways,...
- 7/16/2012
- by Michael Ryan
- SoundOnSight
Takashi Miike (13 Assassins) is perhaps one of the most prolific filmmakers working in contemporary cinema today. He averages about 3 to 4 films a year and has created movies for almost every genre imaginable. With his newest film, For Love’s Sake – which premiered out of competition in the midnight section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival – the Japanese filmmaker infuses his trademark violent Yakuza tales with wacky slapstick comedy, while also simultaneously being a musical. It’s reminiscent of his first morbid musical, The Happiness of the Katakuris, in how zany the mix of intense violence is with colorful dance-heavy scenes. Despite the uneven tone and a running time about thirty minutes too long, For Love’s Sake is an enjoyable West Side Story-esque high school musical that pleases nearly as much as it disappoints.
Adapted from a popular manga in Japan (familiar territory for Miike, having adapted several...
Adapted from a popular manga in Japan (familiar territory for Miike, having adapted several...
- 5/23/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
In this week’s column, James looks back at the phenomenon of terrifying hotels in the movies, from The Shining to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel...
Last year when I went travelling abroad, I decided to not to stay in a hotel and went couchsurfing instead. Hotels are so clichéd and couchsurfing sounded like something fun and outrageous that Tom Cruise would do.
If you want a totally inaccurate idea of what couchsurfing involved, picture me (on a good day I’m the spitting image of Cuba Gooding, Jr) riding waves with Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves in Point Break, except I’m straddling a sofa instead of a surfboard.
In reality, couchsurfing meant I stayed with incredibly friendly locals who generously welcomed me into their home. I got an authentic travel experience and fresh perspectives as I hung with cool people who graciously shared their insights and local knowledge.
Last year when I went travelling abroad, I decided to not to stay in a hotel and went couchsurfing instead. Hotels are so clichéd and couchsurfing sounded like something fun and outrageous that Tom Cruise would do.
If you want a totally inaccurate idea of what couchsurfing involved, picture me (on a good day I’m the spitting image of Cuba Gooding, Jr) riding waves with Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves in Point Break, except I’m straddling a sofa instead of a surfboard.
In reality, couchsurfing meant I stayed with incredibly friendly locals who generously welcomed me into their home. I got an authentic travel experience and fresh perspectives as I hung with cool people who graciously shared their insights and local knowledge.
- 2/23/2012
- Den of Geek
Takashi Miike made his first big international splash in Rotterdam, with "Audition" in 2000, and then began a run of productivity that few filmmakers, even famously prolific ones, can match. This is the man who made "Visitor Q," "Ichi the Killer" and "The Happiness of the Katakuris" in the same year. Even crazier, that was less than half of his output in 2001, a year in which he made seven feature films. He made fifteen movies in all between 2001 and 2003, including "Gozu," which savvy critics rightly acknowledge is his best film. Perhaps Miike has mellowed in recent years. He’s only been making two or three films anually for the past half decade. Maybe he should work less. His latest film, “Ace Attorney," which made its world premiere here in Rotterdam, bringing him back to the site of his earliest international acclaim, is a combination bizarre, oddly satisfying video game adaptation and otherworldly legal.
- 2/3/2012
- The Playlist
It's hard to believe that the predicted apocalypse is nearly upon us. Looking back though, it wouldn't be a bad note to go out on, with so many quality films making their way to theaters around the globe this year. Not surprisingly, several titles tackled the topic of the end of the world (most notably the beautifully bleak Melancholia and the horrifically realistic Contagion), while others looked at the grim realities of life and decided that a brighter future is just around the bend (the youthful confusion of In A Better World and the depressingly sensual Burning Man). This year, an adept assemblage of master auteurs put forth some of their greatest work to date, while an abundance of newcomers by the likes of Tristen Patterson, Sean Durkin, Richard Ayoade and Jason Eisener caused quite a ruckus in the film world with their magnificent debut efforts. Each with distinct voices and clear cut styles,...
- 1/1/2012
- IONCINEMA.com
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