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Memories Of Tomorrow (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Watanabe Ken (Actor)
| Higuchi Kanako (Actor)
| Tsutsumi Yukihiko (Director)
After three years in Hollywood and an Academy Award nomination, Japanese actor Ken Watanabe could've chosen to star in any high-profile blockbuster he wished. Instead, he used his star power to bring the novel Memories of Tomorrow to the big screen as not only its star, but also its executive producer. A project like this does require that level of star power - a heartbreaking story about a middle-aged man succumbing to early-onset Alzheimer's, Memories of Tomorrow is not quite like your typical movie-of-the-week illness film. It does induce tears, but it rarely does so manipulatively; it offers a great leading performance, but rarely at the expense of solid supporting performances; and best... [read more]
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Always - Sunset on Third Street (Normal Edition)(Japan Version - English Subtitles)
Yakushimaru Hiroko
| Tsutsumi Shinichi
| Koyuki
| Yoshioka Hidetaka
Tokyo - 1958. Thirteen years have passed since the Second World War took its toll on Japan. Rikidozan is a national hero and the proud nation is once again getting back on its feet in an attempt to embrace a new dawn. The residents of San-chome (Third Street) go about their daily lives, whilst around them an incomplete Tokyo Tower looms and the sounds of passing trams and bustling commuters filters through the calm air. Chagawa Ryunosuke (Yoshioka Hidetaka) is a struggling writer and former finalist for the Akutagawa Literary Prize. The owner of a general store, he makes ends meet by selling candies and comics, while the locals laugh and mock him for clinging onto his glory days and making a... [read more]
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Su-Ki-Da (Japan Version - English & French Subtitles)
Miyazaki Aoi
| Nishijima Hidetoshi
| Nagasaku Hiromi
| Eita
Though only two feature films into his directorial career, Hiroshi Ishikawa is quickly establishing a reputation as Japan's premier go-to man when it comes to beautifully photographed, quietly minimalist dramas. Though considerably less well known outside of Japan than like minded peers such as Shunji Iwai, Ishikawa shows every bit as much skill when it comes to finding the emotional core of his characters while stripping away all of the excess. Those who have discovered his work seem to become quick converts. Ishikawa's latest work, Su-Ki-Da, is a film in two parts. We begin with a youthful love triangle. Seventeen-year-old Yu, a quiet but sweet-natured girl, is in love with her classmate... [read more]
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Saiyuuki (Monkey Magic) (2007) (DVD) (Standard Edition) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Katori Shingo
| Fukatsu Eri
| Uchimura Mitsuyoshi
| Ito Atsushi
Believe it or not, Japan was actually the first country to adapt the beloved Chinese fantasy tale Journey to the West to television in the 1970s with the cult hit Monkey (China would not produce its own television telling until the 1980s). In fact, the hit 2006 Japanese drama Saiyuki is the fifth version of the story on television. On the heels of the drama's success, Fuji Television simply skipped the "4-hour special episode" step and poured a rather extravagant amount of money into the feature-length film Monkey Magic. To enhance authenticity, the crew even took the production to China, though only for a week's worth of shooting. The best part about Monkey Magic is that unlike recent drama... [read more]
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Hero (Movie) (DVD) (DTS) (Standard Edition) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Matsu Takako
| Kimura Takuya
| Abe Hiroshi
| Otsuka Nene
Didn't see the TV drama? That's okay, because even though you may not get everything that goes on in Takuya Kimura's small-to-big-screen drama Hero, there's still some enjoyment to be had. A sequel to the blockbuster 2001 Japanese TV drama and 2006 TV special, Hero is a slam dunk for rabid fans, though the uninitiated may not respond to all the quirky characters or oblique references to past events. However, the film's do-gooder protagonist and charming Capraesque values go a long way towards creating universal appeal. Hero marks the return of public prosecutor Kuryu Kohei (Kimura), a righteous, determined young D.A. who breaks all the rules for all the right reasons. Assigned to prosecute... [read more]
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Scrap Heaven (Japan Version - English Subtitles)
Kuriyama Chiaki
| Odagiri Joe
| Kase Ryo
| Emoto Akira
Rebels without a cause? Let's try to establish that. Scrap Heaven is the latest film from 69 director Lee Sang Il, dealing with the desensitized, misguided youth of today as they use anarchy and bizarre forms of logic as the basis for their actions. Obviously, it's not the first and nor will it be the last in a long line of films trying to make statements about various taboo issues and society in general, but at least with Lee we're given a fresh attempt. Scrap Heaven shows an impressive director in the making. The film begins by introducing our three main characters. Kasuya (Kase Ryo) is an admin clerk on the police force who is trying to get onto the homicide division, Tetsu (Odagiri Joe)... [read more]
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Hana Yori mo Naho (Normal Edition) (Japan Version - English Subtitles)
Okada Junichi
| Miyazawa Rie
| Kagawa Teruyuki
| Furuta Arata
Every samurai film geek worth his salt should be familiar with the legend of the 47 ronin. The story of how a Damyo was ordered to commit seppuku for taking arms inside Edo castle to attack an offensive official, only for 47 of his disbanded retainers to attain revenge for their master by killing said official a year later in arguably the most infamous tale of loyalty, courage, and duty in Japanese history. The story was the subject of the play Chushingura, which has since been adapted into film numerous times. When the Japanese military needed to boost morale for their WWII campaign, it was Chushingura that they turned to, asking Kenji Mizoguchi to produce a new film adaptation, he... [read more]
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Chakushin Ari (One Missed Call) (Japan Version)
Tsutsumi Shinichi
| Shibasaki Kou
| Ishibashi Renji
| Fukiishi Kazue
I can imagine director Miike lecturing a group of open-mouthed students: "Just because a film has a supernatural evil killing people in grisly (and gristly) ways, doesn't mean it can't be fun." And this is, both grisly (and gristly) and fun. The central theme of this film is the cell phone warnings of impending death, which comprise a message, from the doomed to themselves, containing their last words. Now I don't know about you, but if I received a message from a future me which said "Oh no, it's raining" then screamed in a blood-curdling fashion, I'd remember never to comment on the weather. Lips clamped shut under all drippy provocation would be me, but not so Miike's first victim.... [read more]
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Sukiyaki Western Django (DVD) (English Language) (Standard Edition) (121-Minute Cut) (Japan Version)
Sato Koichi
| Ito Hideaki
| Iseya Yusuke
| Ando Masanobu
Thank God for English subtitles. Yes, the latest from Japanese cult icon Takashi Miike, his spin on the spaghetti western, is technically already in English but thanks to the vast majority of his performers speaking no English at all and having to deliver their lines phonetically, trying to watch this film without subtitles would have been an exercise in pain. With them, however, the film is a loopy explosion of energy, the most overtly crowd pleasing effort from the prolific cinematic freak show since Zebraman. Bright, brash, violent, and intentionally camp, Sukiyaki Western Django is that rarest of things: an intentional cult film that succeeds on all fronts. Miike begins by tearing a page... [read more]
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Shaberedomo Shaberedomo (DVD) (Special Edition) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Kokubun Taichi
| Karina
| Matsushige Yutaka
| Morinaga Yuki
Every Sunday night, the Japanese satellite TV station in the United States would broadcast the weekly rakugo show on TV, in which well-known (read: old) rakugo comedians would sit on stage and do single-man routines involving multiple characters, storytelling, and even some action without the aid of props. Dependent on comic timing, speaking tones, and specific language references, the routines were often too much for my feeble Japanese ability to understand. The same thing happens when listening to the rakugo routines in Hideyuki Hirayama's Talk, Talk, Talk, a gentle comedy-drama about the gradually dying art. Thankfully, the film's enjoyment is not reliant on understanding rakugo, which... [read more]
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Kantoku Banzai! (AKA: Glory to the Filmmaker!) / Subarashiki Kyujitsu (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Kitano Takeshi (Director)
| Emori Toru
| Kishimoto Kayoko
| Suzuki Anne
You've got to hand it to Takeshi Kitano, few directors are willing to challenge the preconceptions of their fans quite like him. Just look at how he dealt with his most successful and mainstream film to date, Zatoichi, by following it up with Takeshis', a Freudian identity crisis nightmare that had fans scratching their heads in bewilderment. Now he's back with Glory To The Filmmaker!, another self referential film that promises to rip open those preconceptions, both home and abroad, one more time and hopefully provide some extremely wacky entertainment along the way. Part mockumentary retrospective, part madcap science-fiction comedy, Glory To The Filmmaker's premise is hung when a narrator... [read more]
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Freesia (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Sakai Maki
| Nishijima Hidetoshi
| Tamayama Tetsuji
| Sumakei
Comics tend to possess hyperactive and surreal images that may encounter limitations when translated to live-action. One approach has been for directors to try to carry the same energy from the comic to the screen. On the other hand, some Japanese filmmakers have taken fast-paced comic images and actually toned them down for live-action. Case in point: director Fumihiko Sori turned Taiyo Matsumoto's sports comic Ping Pong into a unique cerebral sports psychological drama with exciting ping pong sequences. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's Freesia gives a similar treatment to Jiro Matsumoto's comic of the same name, taking an undeniably sensational hook and putting it in the context of a character drama.... [read more]
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Unfair The Movie (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Shinohara Ryoko
| Shiina Kippei
| Narimiya Hiroki
| Hamada Mari
Based on a novel by mystery writer Takehiko Hata, the Fuji TV drama Unfair ran eleven episodes and even went on to spawn a television special. Perhaps taking a page from the Bayside Shakedown phenomenon, the series proved popular enough to make the rare leap to the silver screen in the form of the aptly-titled (if a bit unimaginative) Unfair: The Movie. For the film adaptation, Ryoko Shinohara once again takes on the role of Inspector Natsumi Yukihira, your typical no-nonsense, tough-as-nails cop - although in this case, there's a definite feminist twist. Described by other characters in the film as a dangerous "loose cannon" known to leave a trail of bodies in her wake, Yukihira is, in... [read more]
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Yukiyukite, Shingun (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Okuzaki Kenzo
| Hara Kazuo (Director)
Director Kon Ichikawa's classic 1959 war drama Fire on the Plains and its source novel by Shohei Ooka portray starving Japanese soldiers in New Guinea resorting to cannibalism at the end of World War II. While the novel was part fictional, the truth about cannibalism in New Guinea gets its time of day in the 1987 documentary The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On, a gripping film that proves truth is sometimes really stranger than fiction. Directed by Kazuo Hara, the film offers an intensely fascinating subject in the form of Kenzo Okuzaki, a World War II veteran who already had quite a past before filming: he served 13 years in prison for killing a real estate agent in the 1950s, then he was... [read more]
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Kiiroi Namida (Yellow Tears) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Normal Edition) (Japan Version)
Sakurai Sho
| Ninomiya Kazunari
| Matsumoto Jun
| Aiba Masaki
Upon learning about Isshin Inudou's latest film Yellow Tears (or Kiiroi Namida), I was surprised that it was actually produced without the help of a major distributor or television station. After all, it's a lighthearted exercise in nostalgia that brings Johnny's Entertainment's Arashi, one of Japan's most popular boy bands, to the big screen for the first time since 2004's Pikanchi Life is Hard Dakara Happy. Not only have the group's individual members found both critical and commercial success as actors, but films such as Always - Sunset on Third Street have proven that collective nostalgia can rake in the cash at the box office. But then I also discovered that the film is actually... [read more]
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Swing Girls Standard Edition (Japan Version - English Subtitles)
Takenaka Naoto
| Shiraishi Miho
| Tani Kei
| Kohinata Fumiyo
From the makers of Shall We Dance and Waterboys comes Swing Girls, a feel-good comedy about a bunch of girls who form a group to perform big band jazz. That's it. Forget big emotional clinches, family issues, or even any real teen romance; this is a movie about girls who play the sax, trombone, trumpet, and assorted other instruments that you might remember from high school. Very little else happens in Swing Girls besides the girls picking up the instruments and learning how to play them. Most of the girls are types, some are barely glimpsed, and yet everyone bands together to perform some inspirational jazz in a loaded "battle of the bands" finale. Does this sound like a good movie? Well,... [read more]
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Mata no Hi no Chika (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Kaori Momoi
| Tanabe Seiichi
| Yoshioka Hidetaka
| Natsuyagi Isao
It's typical for biopics to use several actors to portray different stages in the life of a character, such as childhood or old age. Documentary filmmaker Kazuo Hara's directorial debut The Many Faces of Chika takes the idea to the extreme by using four actresses to portray one woman's life within only a short decade. The structure of the film is inherently episodic, showing protagonist Chika's encounters with four different men and how they affect each other's lives. While these men do cross over from episode to episode, The Many Faces of Chika feels more like four short films rather than a coherent whole. Perhaps it should have remained that way. To make each section stand on its own, The... [read more]
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Genghis Khan - To The Ends Of Earth And Sea (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Sorimachi Takashi (Actor)
| Wakamura Mayumi (Actor)
| Enoki Takaaki (Actor)
| Matsuyama Kenichi (Actor)
The title of this Japan-made retelling of Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan's story is To the Ends of the Earth and Sea, and it's actually a rather misleading one. The film chronicles only his rise from Temujin the clan leader into ruler Genghis Khan, ending before his conquest started and without ever showing any body of water. If the existing biographies are correct (and there are very few ways of knowing), Genghis Khan's life was indeed a very rich one and probably deserves two 136-minute movies instead of just one. However, producer Haruki Kadokawa and ex-Kadokawa Films director Shinichiro Sawai could only afford to make one 136-minute film, ending the film just before Genghis's world... [read more]
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Rough (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Nagasawa Masami (Actor)
| Hayami Mokomichi (Actor)
| Ichikawa Yui (Actor)
| Abe Tsuyoshi (Actor)
Rough may sound like an odd name for a film focusing on the budding romance between a swimmer and a high diver, but this seemingly peculiar title choice does come to make more sense as the story unfolds, most significantly when a supporting character announces, "All great art begins with a rough sketch." Although this metaphor is meant to describe the various athletes staying together at a coed dormitory for the summer, it comes to have greater meaning for the film's two lead characters, swimmer Keisuke Yamato (Hayami Mokomichi) and high diver, Ami Ninomiya (Masami Nagasawa). The lanky, handsome, but comically awkward Yamato has great talent, but it still a bit rough around the edges when it... [read more]
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A Long Walk (DVD) (Premium Edition) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Ogata Ken
| Takaoka Saki
| Matsuda Shota
| Kana Sugiura
Is it ever too late for a second chance? That's at least one of the questions explored in Eiji Okuda's quiet quasi-road movie, A Long Walk. Longtime actor Ken Ogata stars as Matsutaro Yasuda, a retired principal living out the rest of his so-called "golden years" alone, finding himself coping with both the recent death of his alcoholic wife and his bitter estrangement from his now grown-up daughter. Upon his wife's passing, Yasuda moves out of his home and takes up residence in a crummy apartment. At his new home, he meets Sachi (Hana Sugiura), a five-year-old girl dressed in cardboard angel wings on a daily basis. She's a cute kid, but she's quiet and she always wears the same dirty... [read more]
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