If you've got Showtime Extreme, Ichi The Killer premiers tonight. My TV-Guide says it's the R-rated version, but the running time is 2 hours and 8 minutes. Might be the uncut version.

The original Korean version of Happiness is called Quiet Family and is much better IMO.

I picked other: for Gozu

I also felt Dead or Alive: Birds was superior to the first film.

question: is Bird People in China on DVD?

Yup, Artsmagic released it late last year


I had no idea that good ol' Mako was in this!

how's the quality?

i've only seen Audition and Happiness of the Katakuris...
really liked both.....but Audition really got under my skin for a few days....so I voted for that one.

I agree with the review
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=13144

anyone know if and when Zebraman will get released, either theatrically or on DVD?

I'll have to vote for Ichi as well

Audition

BTW, the Showtime airing of Ichi was uncut. But even though it was the same version released by Media Blasters (Credits said so) some scenes had different subtitles.
When Ichi invades the Anjo headquarters, his line (On the Tokyo Shock DVD) is "Same as ever". On the televised version, all he says is "Bullies". Weird.

Ichi is my favorite, closely followed by Audition / Visitor Q.

I've only seen Audition and Visitor Q so far. I'd have to go with Visitor Q, just because Audition didn't start really grabbing me until halfway in (but I loved it after that), whereas Visitor Q captivated me throughout... just because I couldn't believe each new thing I was seeing.

I thought Sabu was ok. Rainy Dog and bird people in china was horrible. visitor q should be banned (but strangely it was funny) and audition was too slow

Anybody been doing any catching up lately? I updated my favorites list on Page 1. DOA2 is now my most favorite and City/Souls seems to get better every time I see it.

I've seen Audition, City of Lost Souls, Fudoh, Dead or Alive 1, 2, 3, Happiness of the Katakuris, Ichii, and Visitor Q. Hard to pick a favorite between Audition, Ichii, and Visitor Q. Audition is creepy under your skin fun, Ichii is over-the-top violence fun, and Visitor Q is bizarre and deranged fun.

Ordered Bird People in China, Gozu, Full Metal Yakuza, Black Society Trilogy, and Izo as part of the DDD sale but haven't received them yet.

Gozu is pretty good. I haven't seen any of the others listed but I'm interested in Bird People in China...almost picked it up blind.

Ichi The Killer gets my vote.

I have recently seen Audition and really liked it. Its the only thing I've seen of Miike's and I'm looking to check out more of his work.

Could anyone tell me which films of his are the best outside of Audition?

Thanks

Well I don't think you'll find anyone else that will recommend Rainy Dog, so I guess I'll be the one.

If you can find it, check it out. It's as if it's a yakuza film made by either Jean Pierre Melville or Jim Jarmusch. I love this film.

I finally finished The Quiet Family a couple weeks ago (saw the first half years ago). And while I don't like Happiness of the Katakuris very much, I think the plot worked a lot better in that one.

The Quiet Family got boring and kind of stupid once the "Kill the relatives" plot started (imo), and the ending was just unsatisfying. The first half was classic, though.

Oh yeah, and Audition and Fudoh for me, with Ichi in a close 3rd. Can I be specific and add the first 10 minutes of Dead or Alive into the mix?

I've only seen Audition and Ichi. I thought Audition was pretty good, Ichi was a bit disappointing. So Audition wins.

I've only seen a few of his movies, and I keep hoping I'm going to like one of them. They aren't too violent for me, I just simply don't find them very entertaining. A different option to the poll would have been nice.

I voted other, because I don't like his movies. Not because they're too violent, but because his movies are so mindless to the point where the violence is just pointless.

I can't believe I never posted in this thread. I've seen just about every Miike movie available on DVD with English subtitles, regardless of the DVD's country of origin. He is far and away one of my favorite directors, and I love how he can skip from genre to genre while still keeping something genuinely Miike in each one.

Out of all of them, Ichi is probably my favorite because it was the first one I ever saw, it's scored by The Boredoms, and it has something new in it every time I watch it. It genuinely is one of the most layered films I've ever seen. But every single one of his movies has something that makes it worth seeing, even his lesser stuff such as City of Lost Souls or One Missed Call. He is one of the few true masters of cinema, and understands exactly how to meld style and content (the opening of Dead or Alive being a perfect example - notice how it tells a story, introduces all the main characters, and gives you an idea of their relationships with each other, all without anyone saying a single word?) for maximum impact. He makes several films every year, but so few get released in America; it's a crime.