toddly6666

What are the names of those 30+ films, and of those 30, which ones are the most rewatchable?

logboy

okay. i will pick out what i think looked "top quality" from japan last year. some of these will have already gone on to feature in top tens, but as i follow the appearance of these films websites on a daily basis, i build a gradual picture over the course of a year. as for whether they turn out to be any good : who's in the position to say? - not even those with the ability and access to them all is necessarily going to be able to share that opinion with anyone else. what i can say is that there's always more of quality out there than people get the chance to see or than they are even willing / able to find out about.

air doll, an nyon yumika, antarctic quisine, battle league in kyoto, black gaisha, blue films, buy a suit, clone returns to homeland, crab cannery ship, dark harbour, dear doctor, 8000 miles, fish story, foreign filmmakers guide to hollywood, from today - i'm a hitman, freeter's distress, gelatin silver love, girl's story, gravity clown (juryokou pierrot), guardian angel, gwashi! kazuo umezu desu, hovering blade, instant numa, kamui, katen no shiro, killer bride's perfect crime, lala pipo, a life / a lush life, my geeky girlfriend, naked of defences, no more cry (aka nakumonka), oto-na-ri, shoneon merikensack, soul red, summer wars, symbol, toad's oil, ultra miracle, love story, USB, villon's wife, where are you? (aka wakaranai), wonderful world of captain kuhio, yatterman, zero focus.

...what i do is track the sites, build an overall picture of the year's releases that are publicised in this manner, and keep a general sense of what appears most interesting to me as the year passes. some of the stuff i can point out over at nippon cinema, but NC manages to keep track of the same stuff - it's only the occassional distraction which cause the odd film to fall through the cracks there, and i pick up most of them for him. most sites that cover these films are a little too reactionary and don't cover the films which won't capture their imagination fairly quickly, or that won't chime with what they feel their audience might want to read about or watch, or that require some explaining in order to get a sense of the film across. ironically, films sometimes get picked up way down the line, on slow days or if they're suddenly given the chance to see them despite their initial lack of coverage.

toddly6666

So you didn't see any of these?

Out of that list, I know that I want to see FISH STORY, but Japanese DVD doesn't have English subs.

And Yatterman certainly sucked big time.

logboy

i've seen a few so far. seen "fish story" - great film.

air doll - R2 J will have subs. tartan have the UK license.
battle league in kyoto - licensed for HK.
buy a suit - R2 J has subs. expensive.
clone returns - i have the chance to see it. not done so yet.
dear doctor - just got the R2 J with subs.
gravity clown - R2 J has subs. on my list. expensive.
instant numa - out via third window in the UK during may. preordered.
kamui - licensed for the UK and USA.
killer bride's perfect crime - licensed for taiwan. finger's crossed for DVD.
lala pipo - via third window in february.
oto-na-ri - R2 J has subs. expensive.
shonen merikensack - taiwan dvd & BD has subs. okay film. disappointed.
summer wars - being released by manga in the UK, september.
villon's wife - taiwan DVD might have subs.


point is that if we're a little more determined to get an overall sense of what's out there, although we might wait a long time to get to see them, at least we'll be a little more removed from the narrow and "too new" perspective we can get if we wait for other people to individually or collectively make them stand out for us.

toddly6666

Logboy, so are there any must-haves (great rewatchable films...in other words, not a melodramatic, dreary, slow film) in that English-subtitled DVD list?

logboy

the most important one of all of them for me to catch is summer wars.

other than that, i'd say third window's releases of lala pipo, instant swamp, and love exposure (not on that list - got it) are perhaps thing's you might want to consider. but i can't guarantee anything, as i'm so far working on a sense of what holds potential until i get a chance to see them myself.

toddly6666

Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar The Movie is out on Thai DVD with English subtitles, Japanese 5.1, Anamorphic widescreen.

$11.50 a thttp://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=51241


Logboy, i've seen online that you were looking for this movie? Do you know if it's any good?

logboy

no idea. like I say, it's a problem in judging how dissappointed you are with recent output : you may never get to see most of it, and what once looked interesting can pale in comparison to other films potential because of the limited picture were judging from.

dmkb

Another shout out for Love Exposure. Just received my copy on Monday and it is brilliant. Third Window should be commended for bringing this film out (splendid transfer and subs, btw)!

Thanks Logboy for the info on Summer Wars, didn't know it picked up a distributor in the UK - will definitely be picking this up! I'd heard the Japanese disc of Air Doll wouldn't have Eng subs, did that change? And does Tartan have this on the schedule for release or just attained the rights?

logboy

third window have gradually figured things out over the last couple of years to the extent that, to me, they feel the most capable of bringing a representative sense of what's happening within contemporary japanese cinema that's both quality & frequently fairly substantial in the entertainment they offer. they also seem ahead of the curve enough to be carving that out as a niche for themselves with the kind of quirky comedies and dramas that japan's making a noticeable amount of recently. not too much of a wait, either, unlike with many others companies.

flixtime

We've still a way to go but February is already slating full in terms of stuff I'd like to pick up:

Hong Kong DVDs
- Mulan (new live-action version)
- Bodyguards and Assassins
- The Treasure Hunter
- To Live and Die in Mongkok
- The Storm Warriors (new sequel)
- A Queen's Ransom (older Golden Harvest film)

Korean DVD
- The Sword With No Name

dleedlee

Feedback for Storm Warriors and Treasure Hunter was not too positive, if it makes any difference.

toddly6666

I heard too that Treasure Hunter was painfully awful...

flixtime

Yup guys, my expectations are set pretty low, especially for THE TREASURE HUNTER (which got pummeled pretty good by lovehkfilm)...but the MUMMY-esque trailer sure makes it look like fun. It also helps that Hong Kong DVDs tend to be quite affordable in price so I'm willing to gamble more on them as opposed to $28 Korean DVDs. I did okay with Hong Kong's MURDERER which wasn't well received so maybe lightning will strike twice and I'll get lucky again...besides I have little willpower when it comes to resisting movies with any sort of swordplay (and speaking of swordplay, toddly, though you don't like him, I'll be watching Salman Khan's VEER tonight).

Speaking of the wonderful lovehkfilm.com, they recently had a reader poll for Top 50 Hong Kong films of the decade...it's a nice read for those who want to click on over there and have a look.


I watched a 2009 Japanese film - MW - the other day...it's based on a manga. I mention it because it reminded me of my exchange with toddly in regard to MURDERER. MW most definitely felt like a throwback to thriller-type films of the late 80's to mid-90's. It was okay...watchable enough...about what I expected. It started well enough with a prologue showing inhabitants of a small Japanese island being massacred by government troops...and two boys escaping. It then jumps to present-day Thailand where you get an extensive set-piece of over twenty minutes (I think) following the payment of ransom money to a kidnapper and a subsequent chase. I thought it gave a nice view of cosmopolitan Thailand. All that gets you to the thirty minute mark of the movie where it finally settles back in Japan for the remainder. The movie was rather fast-paced for the 130-minute runtime. The story centers on a villainous mastermind as he seeks revenge for the events which transpired on the island shown in the prologue. Throw in a female journalist, investigating detective, and childhood friend (now a priest) of the villain...and you have your main players. The movie is out on HK DVD for anyone curious.

BuddhaWake

flix, thanks for the suggestion. that MW sounds like something I would enjoy. If I ever make a HK order I'll add it in there.

flixtime

Hey BuddhaWake, while it's tough to gauge what others will and won't like, if pushed for a guess I might guess you actually wouldn't be overly thrilled with MW...it plays more B-movie thriller than anything else...of course you might see it differently, but that's just a gut feeling on my part. The opening thirty minutes of MW were the best part...and even that portion missed just a little something in really connecting with me on an intense thriller level. Just saying maybe rank MW a little lower in your priority list. If you haven't picked up Japan's NOBODY TO WATCH OVER ME (which I mentioned not too long ago in this thread), then maybe I'd recommend that as a safer play as far as a Japanese selection goes...and of course there's a bucket load of Hong Kong movies which have been released, or are soon coming up...and also maybe CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH if you haven't seen it.

zombeaner

The only Third Window release I have is The President's Last Bang, and only because it is the only uncut version available in the world at the moment. Love Exposure is high on my priority list, as is the Kamikaze Girls BD they are releasing soon, I love that goddamned movie.

flixtime

You guys were talking about the Japanese animated film SUMMER WARS...it's available now via an English-friendly DVD from Malaysia.

dmkb

So the Third Window release of President's Last Bang has the newsreel clips in the opening restored?
I wish someone would release an OST of this film (anywhere in the world)!

Dr Mabuse

BuddhaWake

B movie is okay. DV Z movie is not. I got City of Life and Death from Toddly but I haven't gotten a chance to watch it. maybe tomorrow. I did see Diary of June and thought it was pretty good, not top tier but still decent enough. as you can see I'm a bit behind on my viewing since but I'm trying to do a mix of new and older.

logboy

Malay discs seem to be regarded as very unreliable for the quality of the subs. I've never touched them, but hear advicevtelling me to avoid unless a version already exists with subtitles you'd be certain of, because then the Malay company is likely to strip them for their edition. sounds dodgy.

flixtime

Then maybe you should be okay with MW, it's definitely not in the category of a DTV/Z-grade production.

I really liked Korea's DIARY OF JUNE aka BYSTANDERS. I'm assuming you've seen SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE. So just in case you haven't caught up with it yet, then definitely check out PRINCESS AURORA...that'd complete the "trilogy" of female vengeance flicks Korea released at that time.

flixtime

The Malaysian DVD for SUMMER WARS can be found at Sensasian ($14 shipped, but maybe with only 2.0 audio). I don't know if that makes it any more legitimate or better quality than some of the other shadier Malaysian discs (which we've discussed here in the past as being found on Ebay). I've dabbled in a few Malaysian discs (ICHI and ONG-BAK 2 spring to mind), and though I'm no expert and perhaps even rather forgiving, the English subs seemed quite passable to me. I don't mean any of this to imply that what you stated isn't entirely valid too, simply sharing my thoughts...though you seem to have followed the issue much more closely than I have so your approach seems best as a general rule of thumb.

BuddhaWake

Yeah, i saw princess aurora about 2 weekends ago. that was pretty good.