Hoga News

TIFF early report

Some info about Tokyo International Film Festival was announced today in Japan.

Opening screening will be Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers", and the closing will be the new version of “Murder of the Inugami Clan" ("Inugami-ke no Ichizoku") by Kon Ichikawa.

Kon Ichikawa, by the way, was selected for Kurosawa Akira Award, as the person that has contributed to the world's film industry.

French director Claude Lelouch was nominated President of the International Competition Jury.  Yuki Kudo, a Japanese actress, also was announced as a part of the jury.

Some of the competition entries and screening films are also announced.  Special screenings include "An Inconvenient Truth" featuring Al Gore, "Christmas on July 24th Avenue" starring Takao Osawa and Miki Nakatani, and many others.

Please see TIFF official page for more details.

"Japan Sinks" parody update on Twitch

Minoru Kawasaki's "Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu" ("Everyone other than Japan sinks") trailer and follow-up info appear on Twitch today.  This trailer cracks me up --- way to start my Monday.  I just hope "gaijins" (foreigners) don't get too offended....

See Twitch for more details.

Another Koji Yakusho update

Speaking of Koji Yakusho (see my previous post about "Sakebi" and "Argentine Babaa"), I forgot to mention that he is currently in filming Masayuki Suo's first film in 10 years since "Shall We Dance?", "Soredemo Boku wa Yattenai" (literally "even so I didn't do it").

See Pymmik's site and Ryuganji for more details.

Koji Yakusho and Kyoka Suzuki in a new film "Argentine Babaa"

Popular novelist Banana Yoshimoto's "Argentine Babaa" (literally "nasty old lady Argentina") will be filmized, starring Koji Yakusho and Kyoka Suzuki. 

Suzuki's main character is 50-year-old spooky woman who lives alone in an almost-abandoned building, and is nicknamed "Argentine Babaa" because she used to teach Argentine Tango.  She has a strange look and is dressed in rugs.  Although Suzuki is mere 38 years old, she will turn into a babaa with the make-up and costumes.  And Yakusho plays a widowed tumbstone craftsman who falls in love with her.

Director Naoki Nagao selected Suzuki, as "I wanted to have an actress with the most transparancy and the best acting ability in Japan, as it is a very difficult role."  Suzuki says, "it is my pleasure to be in a film of my favorite story."  She has been avidly practicing Tango, and even traveled to Argentina in July for that purpose. Yakusho states, "I believe it will be a picture-book-like heart-warming fantasy."

The film is scheduled to open next spring.

By the way, Koji Yakusho's another movie, "Sakebi", along with Jo Odagiri, also will be shown in Venice.

Source:  Sponichi, Pymmik's site

Original novel "Argentine Babaa"

"Mushishi" update

Katsuhiro Otomo's "Mushishi" is gathering attention back home in Japan since it was lined-up in competition in Venice. 

The story is based on Yuki Urushibara's manga (see below), and is about Ginko, a specialist of "Mushi", mysterious life form invisible to the eyes of normal people, similar to ghosts and/or monsters.  As his body attracts Mushis, he cannot stay in one place and drifts around, and solves various mysteries that Mushis cause.

The period is set in a fictitious era sometime between Edo and Meiji period (mid-19th century), when Japan kept closing its doors.

It is already made into TV animation, and you can have a glimpse of it in anime's Website.

"Mushishi" animation Website

The main character Ginko has silver hair and green eyes in the original manga, and will be played by Jo Odagiri, for his "mysterious and cool/quiet atmosphere".  Makiko Esumi will play a woman who gives a big influence to Ginko.  Filming was done for 3 months starting August last year in the mountains in Shiga prefecture, and it is currently in post-production.  The original writer Urushibara, watching the unfinished film, praises "it struck me with a fresh surprise to see this new world, in which Director Otomo depicts the people of this fictitious profession."

"Mushishi" is scheduled to be released next spring in Japan through Toshiba Entertainment.

Please also refer to Kaiju Shakedown about "Mushishi".  To me, it sounds more like a mysterious fantasy, rather than a horror.

Source:  Sponichi, Wikipedia

Book:  Mushishi (comic) Vol. 1

PIA Film Festival SPECIAL starts today in Shibuya

PIA Film Festival SPECIAL, which has been held since 1977 "to discover and nurture the new talent in the movie industry" by showing independent films, is starting today (July 29) till Aug. 4 in Euro Space Shibuya.

The competition among the self-funded indie movies were already heald between July 15 and 21.  You can see the details of the festival and the winners in their English Website.

PIA FILM FESTIVAL  English site

This year, they have put up the "SPECIAL" event, which shows the selected 67 films among the past award winners since 1977.  You can see things like some early works of Isshin Inudo, Kenji Uchida and more.  Unfortunately, they don't have any English page for SPECIAL, but here is the Japanese schedule page.

PFF SPECIAL schedule

If you have any question, please contact HERE.

1H2006 top 10 in Japan

My not-so-secret info source Mr. Texas established the top 10 box office ranking (both foreign and Japanese) for the first half of this year.  It clearly reflects the "Hoga shift" trend among Japanese moviegoers.

Top 10 movies that were released between 1/1 and 6/30 are as follow (in yens, for the ones that are still in theaters, final estimates are shown):

1. Da Vinci Code     9 bil.
2. Umizaru 2 - Test of Trust     7 bil.
3. The Chronicles of Narnia     6.9 bil.
4. Suite Dreams (The Uchoten Hotel)     6.1 bil.
5. Doraemon Nobita no Kyoryu 2006     3.5 bil.  (animation)
6. Flight Plan     3.1 bil.
7. Meitantei Konan     3 bil. (animation)
8. DEATH NOTE     2.7 bil.
9. Star Reformer (Kencho no Hoshi)     2.3 bil.
10. Memories of Tomorrow     2.2 bil.

The only foreign movies among them are "Da Vinci", "Narnia" and "Flight Plan".  All others are hogas.

Among holiday season movie that were released before 1/1, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (11 bil.) and "YAMATO" (5.1 bil.) probably have made more than 2.2 bil. yen since the beginning of the year.

To me, it is interesting to see "DEATH NOTE" in such a high position, after "Umizaru" and "Uchoten" among live-action hogas.

Source:  Movie Consultant Blog

"UDON" finished filming

Fuji/Toho's food comedy "UDON", starring Yusuke Santamaria and directed by Katsuyuki Motohiro, finished filming and the team held a press conference on 7/27.

Yusuke, originally a comedian/TV personality, boasted, "this time my role was very close to my own character, so I was not sure if I was acting, but when I saw the finished film, I was acting great.  The director told me that I am the 'cash bearing tree'," and the director just gave him a wry smile.  Yusuke's long time friend, another comedian Totasu Matsumoto, who is also appearing in the film, said "people call me Udonist.  I love Udon so much that I couldn't be happier during the filming."

The super producer, Chihiro Kameyama, who produced the biggest hit live-action hoga "Bayside Shakedown" series with Director Motohiro, said "I decided to cast Yusuke for 'Bayside' while I was watching a TV comedy show with both Yusuke and Matsumoto, so it is nice to see them both in the same film after so many years.  This summer's movies are mostly so thick that make you heart-burn, so after those, please go see light and easy-to-digest 'UDON'."

"UDON" is schedule to open on August 26, 2006, in Japan.

Source: SANSPO, Cinema Topic Online

"Tales from Earthsea" stormy debut?

Goro Miyazaki's debut film "Tales from Earthsea" ("Gedo Senki"), the new Ghibli's animation that just is opening on July 29, is getting a storm of bad reviews from early viewers.  Critics have pointed out number of problems, and moviegoers seem to agree with them; the story is too diffucult to follow, too dark for kids, not exciting at all, etc., etc.  I have looked through Yahoo and Eiga Seikatsu user reviews, and average point of both hover around 2.3-2.5 out of 5.  Is it because the expectations were too high, people don't like the nepotism factor, or is it just the movie is bad? 

I will leave it open until I actually see it.  I should mention that there are some good reviews as well.

By the way, its rival "Brave Story" is standing at just about the same level in user reviews, just slightly better (2.7-3 out of 5).

Please also refer to Ryuganji for the reviews by Mark Schilling and Jason Gray's report.

Source:  Yahoo! Japan, Eiga Seikatsu

Japanese films in Venice

Venezia Film Festival line-up was just announced.  Both Kaiju Shakedown and Jason Gray are reporting the Japanese film that will be shown in Venice.

See Kaiju Shakedown and Jason Gray for more details.