News

Tomie, the 1998 live action adaptation of Junji Ito’s hit manga, is coming to Blu-ray for the first time outside of Japan on November 19 from Arrow Video.

The J-horror film is presented in high definition with original Japanese lossless 5.1 and 2.0 stereo audio and English subtitles. The limited edition set also comes with a reversible sleeve with new art by Sara Deck and the original poster, a slipcover featuring Deck’s art, and a booklet with new writing by Zack Davisson and Eugene Thacker.

Special Features include:

Audio commentary by Japanese cinema expert Amber T. (new) Interview with writer-director Ataru Oikawa (new) Interview with actress Mami Nakamura (new) Interview with producer Mikihiko Hirata (new) Trailer Image gallery

Ataru Oikawa, who penned the cult classic Door, writes and directs. Miho Kanno, Mami Nakamura, and Yoriko Douguchi star.

In the film, “Photography student Tsukiko is plagued by violent dreams as she struggles to...

Shotaro Ikenami was a prolific writer of samurai novels, a number of which were adapted for TV and film in Japan. One of his most iconic characters is Baian Fujieda, an acupuncturist who also doubles as a hired killer, who has been the source of a TV series and at least four movies, with Ken Ogata and Ken Watanabe playing the character, among others. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ikenami’s birth on 1923, a consortium of media companies has produced two films based on the series.

Baian the Assassin, M.D. (Part 1) is screening at Camera Japan

Baian may be known to the world as an acupuncturist, including his maid Oseki, who treats him as a combination of nagging wife, mother, and mother-in-law, but he also doubles as a killer for hire, although he picks his targets among people whom he thinks deserve to die. The beginning of the...

By Henry McKeand

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's “Pulse” had an inescapable impact on the Japanese horror scene when it hit theatres in 1997. Countless filmmakers were inspired by its pervasive unease and refusal to settle for simple scares. Along with the release of Hideo Nakata's “Ringu” a year later, it set the standard for the J-Horror renaissance that forever altered the cinematic landscape in the 2000s. But even with the hordes of imitators and worshippers, perhaps no film owes more to “Pulse” than “Saimin” by Masayuki Ochiai. Released later as “The Hypnotist” in the U.S., “Saimin” shares themes of hypnosis and the inherent darkness of human nature with “Pulse”, but it is ultimately a more commercial take on the same material, trading in Kurosawa's ambient dread for gonzo thrills.

on Amazon by clicking on the image below

The film kicks off in bravura fashion, with Ochiai cross-cutting...

The concept of motherhood, and particularly the questions of if all women should be able to be one, and what is the impact of parenthood in the shaping of children, is one that has been presented repeatedly in Japanese cinema, with films like “Sunk Into the Womb” giving some of the darkest answers to these questions. Takahisa Zeze also examines the concept in “Tomorrow’s Dinner Table”, in an adaptation of the homonymous novel by Michiko Yazuki.

“Tomorrow’s Dinner Table” is screening as part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme

Rumiko is a freelance writer, married to freelance photographer Yutaka. Her blog is quite popular, as her “ramblings” about her constantly fighting children (the older boy seems to be perpetually angry while the youngest cannot stop crying) resonate with a number of mothers, although she also has to face another issue, since her husband does not seem to...

In terms of great living horror legends, Japanese mangaka Junji Ito is easily one of the most distinctive. His manga, featuring oddball characters with sunken eyes and creepy smiles being menaced by all sorts of monsters and phenomena that are often more absurd than traditionally "spooky" are truly one of a kind, always finding a way to turn the comically strange into something more bone-chilling than just about any shuffling zombie or deranged serial killer. He’s made terrifying body horror out of sleeping bags, existential horror out of oddly shaped imprints in a fault, and my favorite: creating a full-blown, genuinely horrifying apocalyptic scenario out of fleshy, noose-equipped weather balloons.

Naturally, with an author as infamous and popular as Ito (he’s even worked with Pokémon developer Game Freak for promotional art), it’s only a matter of time before film adaptations start rolling out. There are a lot of them out there,...

★★★★☆ After Hana-Bi and Kikujiro, Dolls is the third and final Blu-ray release from Third Window films in their collection of films by Japanese auteur Takeshi Kitano. Dolls is arguably the strangest of the three films and undoubtedly the most beautiful, with cinematographer Katsumi Yanagijima filling the screen with stunning compositions of colour and motion. Holding the anthology narrative together are Matsumoto (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and Sawako (Miho Kanno). The pair were once engaged, before Matsumoto was forced by his parents to abandon her and marry his boss's daughter instead.

All feature new 2K remasters from Office Kitano!

The first 1000 copies of each feature cardboard slipcases with new illustrated artwork by Marie Bergeron supported by Filmdoo’s Film Creativity Competition.

All 3 now available to pre-order at: http://amzn.to/20wQ1BA

Hana-bi – January 11th

30 minute documentary from the film’s original release

Interview with Takeshi Kitano from the film’s original release

New Audio commentary by film critic Mark Schilling

New trailer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwTWtAE3ylY

Kikujiro – February 22nd

Jam Session – 90 minute documentary on Kikujiro directed by the award-winning Japanese director Makoto Shinozaki

Dolls – March 14th

Interviews with Takeshi Kitano, Miho Kanno, Hidetoshi Nishijima & Yohij Yamamoto

Behind the Scenes

Video from the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival

Takeshi Kitano – Biography

The success of Hana-bi has confirmed Takeshi Kitano as a leading figure of international cinema. Among its numerous awards, Hana-bi won the Golden...

Written and directed by Takeshi Kitano.

Starring Miho Kanno, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tatsuya Mihashi,

Chieko Matsubara, Kyoko Fukada and Tsutomu Takeshige.

Running time: 113 min.

Dolls is a beautiful, clever, original stylization with just the right touch of subtle irony characteristic of other Kitano’s works.

Plot

There are three stories in the movie, all of them concerning love, always futile, tragic and pierced with the feeling of loneliness.

The central story is about a young couple, Matsumoto and Sawako. They are engaged to be married, but Matsumoto is persuaded by his parents to marry the daughter of his boss. As a dutiful son, the young man respects his parents’ request: they worked hard to get him through college and give him a good chance at life.

At the wedding Matsumoto is informed that Sawako attempted suicide. She survived, but lost her mind and is now in a semi-vegetative state. Matsumoto leaves...

Sadao Abe and Miho Kanno will be playing a married couple in an upcoming movie called Kiseki no Ringo (literally “Miracle Apples”), directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura (Fish Story, Golden Slumber).

The movie is based on a true story. Abe will play Akinori Kimura, an apple farmer who faces poverty and extreme pressure from those around him, causing him to contemplate suicide. Kanno plays his wife, Mieko.

The real Kimura first told his story on the Nhk program “Professional Shigoto no Ryuugi” and it was later adapted to a book titled “Kiseki no Ringo: Zettai Fukanō wo Kutsugaeshita Nōka - Kimura Akinori no Kiroku” which has sold over 600,000 copies. (And oddly enough, Yoko Ono has painstakingly translated the entire thing on her website.)

After Kimura’s wife experiences an extreme allergic reaction to agricultural chemicals, he’s faced with the seemingly impossible challenge of growing apples without the use of any pesticides.

The official website for Kentaro Otani’s Gene Waltz has been updated with a longer trailer.

The film is an adaptation of a novel by Takeru Kaido, the real-life pathologist who also wrote the novels that inspired “The Glorious Team Batista” and its sequel “The Triumphant General Rouge”.

Plot: Doctor Rie Sonezaki (Miho Kanno) is a fertility specialist who has earned the moniker “Obstetrics Joan of Arc” for her willingness to do whatever it takes to help women have babies, even if it means risking her career by violating the policy most Japanese obstetricians have long held against assisting with the use of surrogate mothers. However, she has an ally in her superior Goro Kyokawa (Seiichi Tanabe), who also wants to see the system change.

Surrogacy is highly controversial in Japan, and while it’s technically legal, there are very few obstetricians willing to go through with it. There is...

An official website has finally been launched for Kentaro Otani‘s Gene Waltz, a film adaptation of a novel by Takeru Kaido, the real-life pathologist who also wrote the novels that inspired “The Glorious Team Batista” and its sequel “The Triumphant General Rouge”. This project was first announced last November with a release planned for Fall 2010, but its promotion was put on the back burner for a while due to its release window being pushed back a few months.

Plot: Doctor Rie Sonezaki (Miho Kanno) is a fertility specialist who has earned the moniker “Obstetrics Joan of Arc” for her willingness to do whatever it takes to help women have babies—even if it means risking her career by violating the policy most Japanese obstetricians have long held against assisting with the use of surrogate mothers. However, she has an ally in her superior Goro Kyokawa (Seiichi Tanabe), who also...

An official website has finally been launched for Kentaro Otani‘s Gene Waltz, a film adaptation of a novel by Takeru Kaido, the real-life pathologist who also wrote the novels that inspired “The Glorious Team Batista” and its sequel “The Triumphant General Rouge”. This project was first announced last November with a release planned for Fall 2010, but its promotion was put on the back burner for a while due to its release window being pushed back a few months.

Plot: Doctor Rie Sonezaki (Miho Kanno) is a fertility specialist who has earned the moniker “Obstetrics Joan of Arc” for her willingness to do whatever it takes to help women have babies—even if it means risking her career by violating the policy most Japanese obstetricians have long held against assisting with the use of surrogate mothers. However, she has an ally in her superior Goro Kyokawa (Seiichi Tanabe), who also...

Earlier today it was announced that Noboru Iguchi (The Machine Girl, RoboGeisha) has started filming a new entry in the ongoing Tomie horror film series called Tomie Unlimited and that 15-year-old model/actress Moe Arai was hand-picked the play the lead role.

There have been seven theatrically-released live-action Tomie films in total since 1999, taking the series right through the J-horror boom of the early 00s and beyond.

Based on a popular manga by Junji Ito, the films feature a malicious ghost/entity/whatever in the form of a seductive high school girl named Tomie. Every story involves Tomie using her supernatural ability to make men lust after her, eventually causing them to become irrational, jealous, and violent. Once Tomie’s true nature revealed, she usually ends up brutally murdered and dismembered (spoiler alert!), only to regenerate from whatever body parts remain and start all over again in the next film.

Earlier today it was announced that Noboru Iguchi (The Machine Girl, RoboGeisha) has started filming a new entry in the ongoing Tomie horror film series called Tomie Unlimited and that 15-year-old model/actress Moe Arai was hand-picked the play the lead role.

There have been seven theatrically-released live-action Tomie films in total since 1999, taking the series right through the J-horror boom of the early 00s and beyond.

Based on a popular manga by Junji Ito, the films feature a malicious ghost/entity/whatever in the form of a seductive high school girl named Tomie. Every story involves Tomie using her supernatural ability to make men lust after her, eventually causing them to become irrational, jealous, and violent. Once Tomie’s true nature revealed, she usually ends up brutally murdered and dismembered (spoiler alert!), only to regenerate from whatever body parts remain and start all over again in the next film.

The official website for Permanent Nobara has been updated with a new 2-minute trailer. The film is the latest by director Daihachi Yoshida, who began his career as a highly successful television commercial and music video director before making his feature-length debut with 2007’s Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers!

His new film is based on a manga series by Rieko Saibara, a cartoonist who’s popularity has been soaring recently due to the frank nature of her work, covering self-reflective subjects like single motherhood (Ikechan to Boku) and her own manga career (Onnanoko Monogatari).

Former J-pop idol Miho Kanno stars as a woman named Naoko who returns to her village home with her daughter after getting divorced. Her mother runs the only hair salon in the area for women to get perms, but the main reason they show up day after day is to discuss their most personal love...