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The endeavors of Asian filmmakers with European actors has been hit or miss through the years, with the result of such collaborations being dubious to say the least. As such, it is quite a pleasure watching Singaporean Eric Khoo‘s collaboration with Catherine Deneuve being harmonic, perhaps because she is actually one part and not the whole “Spirit World”.

Spirit World is screening at Tokyo International Film Festival

Let us take things from the beginning though. Yuzu is an elderly man who is obviously on the last days of his life, which he spends working, drinking and listening to the records of his favorite artist, a French singer named Claire. Around the same time, she is also coming to Japan for a concert, despite the fact that her psychological situation is not exactly the best. Yuzu dies and the same happens to Claire after the concert, although not before the former’s son,...

Sake Bomb is the name of a drinking game, where you place a cup of sake on two chopsticks, over a big glass of beer and then you pull the chopsticks, the sake drops into the beer and you drink it as fast as you can. It even featured at The Brewing Art as the most intriguing combination of drinks in Western countries in the early 2010s. Inspired by this mixture of American and Japanese drink, Junya Sakino directs a comedy concerning the mixture of Asians and Americans within the USA and the tragicomical situations that arise from the coexistence of two very different cultures. Let’s take a closer look though.

Naoto is a shy and somewhat naive young man who works at a sake distillery in Japan. At some point, he inherits the business and at the same time gets a week of vacation before he takes over.

In the plethora of family dramas coming out of Japan, it is always a pleasure to see films that manage to stray away from the “Koreeda path” even if this applies just to a few details. Tatsuro Nishikawa, in his feature debut/graduation film, attempts to do just that by including a number of additional elements, most of which revolve around the protagonist and a sense of quirky humor that permeates large parts of the movie.

The Other Home is screening at Camera Japan

17-year-old Hagi is a conflicting personality. His family situation is quite good, as his parents get along quite nicely, to the point that there are never any fights at home, his relationship with his sister is harmonic and he also has a girlfriend, although she is a bit disappointed with him. However, a few things are amiss. Hagi does not want to go to school, since...

“Everybody in this industry is crafty, filthy and bitter.“

Through most of our lives, especially during our teenage years, we often hear we should follow our dreams and our passions in life. It is true that the metaphorical doors of opportunity are still wide open for us in these years so many people feel a certain obligation to tell us to not be lazy, not waste our time and use the window of time we have left. Generally speaking, we all might feel the same way and we might even catch ourselves using the same words in front of a young person, but then perhaps the motivation for this action may stem from our own disappointments in life, or the complete opposite. Whatever the case may be, following one’s passion remains one of the strongest ideals in our lives.

However, actually following through with this statement requires steps which...

Born in South Korea in 1994, Shim debuted as a child actress in multiple South Korean and Japanese dramas and films between 2004-06. After beginning her acting career and entering high school in Seoul, Shim moved to the States and finished high school in New York’s Professional Children’s School in 2013. Shim won eight awards for her role as a 74-year-old in the body of a 20-year-old in the festival circuit break-out hit “Miss Granny” (2014).

On the occasion of her film, “Blue Hour“, screening at Japan Cuts, we speak with her about the role of Kiyura, her chemistry with Kaho, her co-protagonist, her collaboration with Yuko Hakota and Denden, and many other topics.

What drew you in this particular role?

There are many things that drew me to this role. First of all, I think stories about women are quite rare and the story about two women going on a...

Eiji Uchida has come to be a well-known name in modern Japanese cinema, with films that take a look at the seedier side of modern life. “Love and Other Cults” continues his engaging blend of comedy and drama from his previous film “Lowlife Love” (2015), with an unconventional love story involving two high-school students.

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The film begins with a hilarious sequence of three high-school boys in a public toilet contemplating calling the number on the wall that purports to be a woman offering sex. After dialing the number, the trio are confronted by a prostitute, along with a her pimp, neither being significantly older than the three awkward teens who called the number. After being humiliated by a further group of gang members, who are revealed as the ones running this scam, we are told that the woman’s name is Ai Shima. The voiceover narration then helpfully...

“I don’t know what it’s like to be close.”

Independently of the times, the changes we go through the division of our lives into certain stages is undeniable. In this case, we are not talking about the transitions from teenager to adult, for example, but rather certain goals assigned to a distinct age. While most of us are expected to be finished with school once we have turned 19 or 20, perhaps the biggest hurdle is when a person turns 30. Naturally, there are cultural and perhaps even national distinctions, but the fact remains that a person in their thirties should have a steady job attached to a steady income, and also should be on their way to starting a family of their own.

Of course, we can shrug off these expectations. Drinking beers with your buddies while you are at university, you may express your ironical distance towards these stages...

Loosely based on the Saitama serial murders of dog lovers, a case of a married couple who owned a pet shop and murdered at least four people, “Cold Fish” gave Sono the opportunity to present his version of how a serial killer film ought to be like.

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Syamoto is a humble and guileless exotic fish shop owner who is taken advantage of by both his spoiled daughter, Mitsuko and his second wife, Taeko. His daughter is an underage delinquent who spends her time flirting and sometimes beating her stepmother. One night, a grocery shop attendant catches her stealing; however, a peculiarly friendly man, Murata, manages to convince the clerk not to call the police. Furthermore, he is also an exotic fish shop owner and offers to hire Mitsuko in his establishment, which is far larger than Syamoto’s. Moreover, when Murata, who has become a friend of Syamoto,...

Japanese cult director Sion Sono is to direct a series for Netflix, due for worldwide distribution next year. Titled Ai-naki Mori de Sakebe, which translates as "Shout in the Loveless Forest," it is inspired by a real multiple murder incident, according to the director.

The series will star Kippei Shiina (Outrage), who was in Sono's Shinjuku Swan II manga adaptation, as the murderer, Shinnosuke Mitsushima (The Third Murder) and Denden, who has appeared in six of Sono's films.

"When I received the script, I couldn't hide my surprise. It really is too funny, too gruesome and ...

Mo Brothers' KillersSTORY60%DIRECTION70%ACTING70%VISUALS70%POSITIVESGreat protagonistsImpressive visualsAccomplished directionNEGATIVESThe main concept could be presented betterA bit too lengthyLagging at times2016-08-1568%Overall ScoreReader Rating: (0 Votes)0%

Mo Brothers took a radical turn in their career after their first film, “Macabre,” which was a low-budget slasher, with “Killers,” an Indonesian-Japanese co-production with a big budget that resulted in a stylized thriller.

The story takes place at two places at the same time. In Japan, Nomura Shohei is a seemingly charming executive with a very dark side. His “hobby” is to capture, torture, and record women in his house, on videos he later uploads on the Internet. As he roams the streets in his car one night, he witnesses a young woman, Hisae, trying to kill her autistic brother by throwing him in front of a passing car, regretting the last moment. Feeling strangely connected to this woman, Nomura visits...

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

I’m not sure if it’s from watching Battles Without Honour and Humanity or my love of the Crows Zero movies that did it, but I have to admit that I was very excited about Takashi Miike’s Yakuza Apocalypse. Now that I’ve seen it, I may be a little confused but I’ll also admit to being in love with the insane little film.

Yakuza Apocalypse focuses on the story of Kageyama, a Yakuza who is ridiculed for his lack of signature tattoos down to his sensitive skin. When he witnesses the defeat of his former boss, whose decapitated head in turn bites him turning him into a vampire he turns into a vampire.

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...

Junya Sakino is a new japanese director, that has previously worked as a cinematographer and producer, both in Japan and the Us. On the occasion of the release of his first feature film, Sake Bomb he answered some of my questions. I will not get into further details about him as the interview is quite biographical

First of all, I would like to congratulate you on your first feature film, Sake bomb. Could you tell us a bit about the path that brought you from Japan to the U.S and the making of this movie.?

I was born and raised in Japan and decided to move to Los Angeles to purse a filmmaking career. It’s not that I didn’t consider staying in Japan, but it made sense for me that there were a lot of universities that offered film studies, so my natural instinct was just to...

Suffer the Children: Sono’s Social Dystopia a Melancholy Landscape

It appears that 2014 will be a year that sees a flood of Sion Sono’s back catalogue finally hitting Us theaters. A pair of 2011 titles will be released concurrently from Olive films, the cap of his hate trilogy, Guilty of Romance, and the more substantially impressive, Himizu, a manga adaptation updated to reflect the devastation of post-tsunami Japan. The flood continues with the release of one of Sono’s most restrained films ever with The Land of Hope, which closely examines a family in a fictionalized district directly affected by nuclear radiation. While Hope plays sort of like an update of Shohei Imamura’s Black Rain (1988), it’s a far cry from the desperate rage imploding the societal core clearly on display here. And while, by Sono’s standards, it seems just conservative enough with its violence to convey a...

The Things I Do Astound Me: Kiarostami Does Tokyo

Following his Tuscany set 2010 success, Certified Copy, Abbas Kiarostami extends his global presence outside of Iran with Like Someone In Love, a confoundingly calibrated Tokyo exercise, so named for the jazz standard, the vocal talents of Ella Fitzgerald utilized here. Despite its location, Kiarostami’s signature motifs and visual compositions abound in this tale of mistaken identities, miscommunication, and notions of unrequited desirous affections. However, what begins as an intriguing pursuit concerning the nature of love and artifice slowly gives way to a tension filled atmosphere of foreboding, culminating in an unsatisfying and abrupt finale.

Beginning in a noisy bar, we hear a plaintive voice in the midst of a painstaking conversation. As our eyes adjust to the figures before us, we realize the voice is coming from off screen, and belongs to the pouty and passive Akiko (Rin Takanashi). She...

Like Someone in Love Trailer. Abbas Kiarostami‘s Like Someone in Love (2012) movie trailer stars Rin Takanashi, Ryo Kase, Denden, Tadashi Okuno, and Ryota Nakanishi. Like Someone in Love‘s plot synopsis: “Fresh from the triumph of his Tuscany-set Certified Copy (Nyff 2010), master filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami travels even further afield from his [...]

Continue reading: Like Someone In Love (2012) Movie Trailer: Rin Takanashi, Ryo Kase...

Title: Like Someone In Love Sundance Selects Director: Abbas Kiarostami Screenwriter: Abbas Kiarostami Cast: Rin Takanashi, Tadashi Okuno, Ryo Kase, Denden, Mihoko Suzuki, Kaneko Kubota, Hiroyuki Kishi, Reiko Mori, Kouichi Ohori, Tomoaki Tatsumi, Seina Kasugai Screened at: SoHo House, NYC, 1/28/13 Opens: February 15, 2013 Sometimes a gentleman caller will hire a girl from an escort service just to talk, believe it or not, particularly if the caller is in his eighties as is one Takashi—whose role is performed by Tadashi Okuno–heretofore known mostly for his parts in TV movies. But don’t expect the story to be at all commercial like “Klute” or “Pretty Woman” since, after all, the writer-director [ Read More ]

The post Like Someone in Love Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Way back in March, a 2-minute trailer for Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone In Love surfaced on YouTube, but was quickly taken down, re-upped, etc. in the typical game of Whac-a-Mole that happens with leaked trailers.

Now the Cannes Film Festival website has been updated with an official version of the trailer. The only difference between this trailer and the old watermarked one seems to a few additional seconds of Cannes logo at the beginning.

As for the film itself, it’s said to be a spiritual successor to Kiarostami’s previous work, “Certified Copy” (2010), and is set entirely in Japan.

Last February, it was widely-reported that Aoi Miyazaki was cast in the lead role. However, no contract had been signed at the time and the role ended up going to Rin Takanashi instead. Takanashi plays a young college student named Akiko who becomes involved in an unusual relationship with...

After an impressive appearance at the 68th Venice Film Festival (the film’s young leads, Shota Sometani and Fumi Nikaido won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor and Actress), Sion Sono’s “Himizu” continues its winning streak at the 4th Terracotta Far East Film Festival over the weekend. The film, about two teenagers in post-tsunami Japan who embark on a campaign of violence against evil wrong doers, took the fest’s Audience Award. Sion Sono’s, Himizu picks up the Audience Award at the 4th annual Terracotta Far East Film Festival, London. Legendary Japanese actor Denden, who gave a Q&A after the film, accepted the Award on behalf of the director at the Closing Drinks. Joey Leung, Festival Director says: “I am very glad that Sion Sono is gaining such recognition now in the UK and proud to have Himizu as the Closing Film to this year’s festival.

The headline says it all, really. The Terracotta Far East Film Festival has wrapped up and Sion Sono's Himizu has taken the audience award.Terracotta Festival Announces Audience Award Winner 2012Sion Sono's, Himizu picks up the Audience Award at the 4th annual Terracotta Far East Film Festival, London.Legendary Japanese actor Denden, who gave a Q&A after the film, accepted the Award on behalf of the director at the Closing Drinks.Joey Leung, Festival Director says: "I am very glad that Sion Sono is gaining such recognition now in the UK and proud to have Himizu as the Closing Film to this year's festival."Third Window Films will release Himizu 1st June in the UK....

Last year, director Shion Sono chose to film his live-action adaptation of Himizu in an area devastated by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, incorporating the effects of disaster into the story. With his next film, The Land of Hope, he’s going a step further by making a human drama about a family living within the evacuation radius of a damaged nuclear power plant during the disaster.

It was previously known that the story would focus on three primary couples played by Isao Natsuyagi, Naoko Otani, Jun Murakami, Megumi Kagurazaka, Yutaka Shimizu, and Hikari Kajiwara—with Denden playing someone with important ties to the main family. Today it was revealed that Daikichi Sugawara, Takashi Yamanaka, and Kenzo Kawarazaki would also star.

Additionally, the film will boast a fairly large cast of established actors in smaller supporting roles including Yusuke Iseya, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Fusako Urabe, Gitan Ohtsuru, Satoshi Matsuo, Shiro Namiki,...

The 4th annual Terracotta Far East Film Festival is set to run April 12th -15th and will once again be hosted by PrinceCharles Cinema in the heart of London’s Chinatown.

With a stunning line-up of films hand-picked from the best of the region, encompassing diverse genres from comedy to drama to horror and everything in between, the festival will continue to hold exclusive Q&As, masterclasses and fabulous parties.

Each year the festival strives to improve on last year and to discover new talent: last year, the programme included a little known indie-comedy from China, Red Light Revolution, which ended winning the festival Audience Award.

This year, there will be a focus on Taiwan, given the strength of output in recent years. Most cineastes will be familiar with the works of Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-hsien and Ang Lee already and Terracotta Festival are delighted to host the...

Someone has uploaded a teaser trailer for Abbas Kiarostami’s latest film, Like Someone In Love (formerly known as “The End”), to YouTube.

The film is said to be a spiritual successor to Kiarostami’s previous work, “Certified Copy” (2010), and is set entirely in Japan.

Last February, it was widely-reported that Aoi Miyazaki was cast in the lead role. However, no contract had been signed at the time and the role ended up going to Rin Takanashi instead. Takanashi plays a young college student named Akiko who becomes involved in an unusual relationship with a brilliant man in his 60s (Tadashi Okuno). Ryo Kase and Denden also appear.

Please bear in mind that the watermark on this trailer is a pretty blatant indication that it was not intended for wide public consumption, so watch it while you can. For obvious legal reasons, I probably won’t be able to replace...

Penélope Cruz, Alessandro Tiberi, Woody Allen's To Rome with Love The 2012 Cannes Film Festival buzz keeps getting stronger for a variety of movies. So far, the only confirmed screening is that of Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, which will open this year's festival on May 16. What else? Well, according to Premiere there are a number of strong possibilities — none directed by Lars von Trier, who doesn't have any new movie ready, anyways. Below are a few highly likely Cannes 2012 entries: Jacques Audiard's Un gout de rouille et d'os / Rust & Bone, which was supposed to open in October in France, but has had its debut pushed forward to May 17. The psychological drama stars Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis. As per Premiere, the film's seller at the last Berlin Film Festival presented an "unbelievable" Cosmopolis promo reel, and even announced date and time for the film's Cannes screening.

“Tsumetai Nettaigyo” is Sion Sono’s and Yoshiki Takahashi’s latest screenplay directed by Sono himself. I’ve always really liked the way Sono films his scenes. It often feels as if we, the audience, see what his characters see; kind of like seeing directly through their eyes, standing where they stand, etc. He manages to put you in the scene with his actors. Amazing technique.

“Cold Fish” is apparently based on a true story and it starts like this: Nobuyuki Shamoto, a tropical fish store owner (Mitsuru Fukikoshi); Taeko, his new wife (Megumi Kagurazaka); and his daughter Mitsuko (Hikari Kajiwara) line up for a cozy little supper. The daughter then goes out to meet her Pontiac-Firebird-driving boyfriend, the wife turns down her husband when he tries to get frisky and well, the poor guy goes out in secret to puke in his bathroom.

“Drring! Drring!” The phone rings, Nobuyuki...

#7. Cut Director: Amir Naderi Cast: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Takako Tokiwa,Takashi Sasano, Shun Sugata, Denden Distributor: Rights Available Buzz: Opening Venice's Orizzonti section before shipping out to Toronto, this marks a noteworthy new direction for one of the most important figures in New Iranian cinema of the 70's and 80's. After working as an American filmmaker for a pair of decade, Amir Naderi has gone all "The Five Obstructions" on his career by ordering his latest work to be all things Japanese. With collaborations from Shinji Aoyama (2000's Eureka) who helped co-write the film and Kiyoshi Kurosawa (2003's Bright Future) who served as special consultant, this should be a standout item in Naderi's filmography. The Gist: Described by the festival "as a visual love poem for the cinema set in the world of the yakuza," I'm a huge fan of filmmakers making films about the filmmaking process - in this case...

Cold Fish (aka Tsumetai nettaigyo), a Japanese film directed by Sion Sono (Suicide Girls aka Jisatsu sâkuru) is now available on DVD and several VOD options. Cold Fish only showed in limited art house theaters since it was released unrated. Starting today you can grab Cold Fish on DVD, ITunes, VOD, Xbox, PS3, Amazon Instant, Vudu, Cinema Now and Zune. Starting September 23, 2011 you can see Cold Fish on TV VOD channels. Cold Fish stars Makoto Ashikawa (Ju-on 2), Denden (Ju-on) and Mitsuru Fukikoshi (Samurai Zombie). Cold Fish captures the macabre in a way that is both tounge-in-check and terrifying in its levity. I thought that Cold Fish was both brilliant and interesting. Horror freaks should>>...

Cold Fish (aka Tsumetai nettaigyo), a Japanese film directed by Sion Sono (Suicide Girls aka Jisatsu sâkuru), will begin playing in art house theaters on August 5, 2011. (See below for listing). The film will be available on DVD and iTunes August 23, 2011 and on VOD September 23, 2011 through November 22, 2011. Cold Fish stars Makoto Ashikawa (Ju-on 2), Denden (Ju-on) and Mitsuru Fukikoshi (Samurai Zombie). Cold Fish is not exactly horror, and not really a horror comedy, yet manages to capture the macabre in a way that is both tongue-in-cheek and terrifying in it’s levity. Cold Fish starts out as a bit of a farce, and seems to >>...

Cold Fish (aka Tsumetai nettaigyo), a Japanese film directed by Sion Sono (Suicide Girls aka Jisatsu sâkuru), will be making its way to the Us unrated. In the film Cold Fish mild-mannered Shamoto's teenage daughter gets caught shoplifting. A generous fellow fish-store owner and his wife appear to help resolve the situation by having her work at their fish store. The inspiration for Cold Fish came from real events known as the "Saitama serial murders of dog lovers". Cold Fish stars Makoto Ashikawa (Ju-on 2), Denden (Ju-on) and Mitsuru Fukikoshi (Samurai Zombie). Since Cold Fish will be presented unrated it have a limited art house release (see below for listing) >>...

After his last feature "Love Exposure" being screened in Berlin, yesterday night Sion Sono's newest work called "Tsumetai Nettaigyo" ("Cold Fish") had its world premiere at Venice's Pala Darsena as part of the fest's Orrizonti section. This time Sono brings a horrific murder story based on the Saitama murders from the eighties committed by a dog kennel owner. Sono however logically made interesting changes, for example by transferring it to January 2009 at a tropical fish shop and added other made-up parts to it, while he still "...wanted to remain faithful..." to what once happened.

Opening up with what seems to be a family dinner on a rainy night, viewers are introduced to the dysfunctional family of father & tropical fish shop owner Shamoto (played by Mitsuru Fukikoshi, "Twilight Samurai", "Love Exposure"), stepmother Taeko and daughter Mitsuko, three characters Sono made up for his film to so express all his feelings in them.

[Updated with a better quality version of the image and a brief synopsis]

We knew Love Exposure director Sion Sono would be doing his next feature as part of Nikkatsu's Sushu Typhoon line but beyond that details were sketchy in the extreme.  And while they still are, really, we now at least have a title.  Cold Fish is Sono's upcoming feature for Nikkatsu, a true-life serial killer story. 

Here are some plot details courtesy of Screen's Jason Gray:

Cold Fish tells the story of a tropical fish seller named Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi) who becomes an accomplice to a string of grisly homicides committed by a fellow seller (Denden) and his wife after they hold Shamoto's daughter hostage. Promoted as an unflinching portrait of violence and madness, the story is partially based on a true case.

Fukikoshi and Denden both appeared in Sono's more orthodox 2009 drama Be Sure To Share. The cast also includes Asuka Kurosawa and Megumi Kagurazaka as the daughter.