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.
Another geino (entertainment) news that swept Japan yesterday was Shido Nakamura's traffic ticket for DUI, with a woman (not his wife, actress Yuko Takeuchi) on his back seat at 4am on Tokyo street.
Again, Ryuganji has the detail report.
Alejandro González Iñárritu collects a director's prize at Cannes Film Festival for "Babel", starring Brad Pitt, as well as Koji Yakusho and Rinko Kikuchi in the Japan part.
Yakusho says, "I sent the message to the director at once, 'next is Palm D'or.' It is an extraordinary film, and I feel very proud to be in this movie."
Ken Loach's "The Wind That Shakes the Barley'' wins the Palm D'or this year.
"Babel" is scheduled to open in the US on October 6, 2006.
Source: Zakzak, Mercury News, MovieWeb
As in elsewhere in the world, "Da Vinci Code" sweeps the weekend box office in Japan, and pretty much all other movies in the box office ranking go down one notch - except for an all-star comedy "A Cheeful Gang Turns The Earth". It went up to 8th position from 11th according to Kogyo Tsushin (number of audience) or 7th from 10th according to Mr. Texas (gross revenue).
See this past entry about "Cheerful Gang".
One of the cheerful gang in this film, Koichi Sato, also attends the opening day appearance for "What Snow Brings", this year's Tokyo International Film Festival grand prix winner, on May 20, along with Director Kichitaro Negishi, main cast Yusuke Iseya and Kazue Fukiishi. Despite the nice weather and lurking "Da Vinci", the place is sold out and the team gets a warm welcome from the audience. They even brings in another main cast member, Ricky the horse, who is the most nervous on the stage.
Source: Eiga.com, Movie Consultant Blog, Cinema Topic Online
Ken Watanabe announces that he currently suffers from Hepatitis C, in a press conference for his first book published recently. No other details are reported, but he states that he is facing against the desease with a lot of courage, with a full dedication by his newly-wed wife Kaho Minami.
As is widely known, he has come back from leukemia after a long fight, and he also played an Altzheimer desease patient in his latest film "Memories of Tomorrow", so he is not a stranger to illness. He is under a heavy schedule currently, playing the leading role in Clint Eastwood's "Red Sun, Black Sand", the companion piece of "Flags of Our Fathers", and he also is listed in the cast list of John Woo's "The Battle of the Red Cliff" along with Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung and Andy Lau. It looks like the desease is not immediately life-threathening, but I wonder how he handles the schedule with the treatment.
Source: SANSPO
Yuya Yagira comes back to Cannes 2 years after winning the Best Actor Award at 14 years old for promotion of his new movie "Sugar and Spice". The film is screened on May 22, and there has been offers from around 10 countries so far. In 2004, Yagira could not do much sightseeing because of his high school entrance exams that he had to take, but finally this time, he has some time to spend on the beach. The photo here shows Director Isao Nakae, Yagira and Mari Natsuki.
Koji Yakusho also shows up on the red carpet of Cannes for the special screening of DreamWorks' "Over The Hedge", because he is the voice of RJ the racoon in Japanese voiceo-over version. The photo shows Yakusho and his fellow racoon Bruce Willis, the opossum Avril Lavigne and her Japanese voice BoA (J-pop singer). Yakusho also has another job in Cannes, with his appearance for "Babel" in competition.
Source: SANSPO
SANSPO reports that a US romantic comedy "The Ramen Girl", directed by Robert Allan Ackerman, will feature Toshiyuki Nishida, a veteran actor known for his leading role in popular "Tsuri Baka Nisshi" (literally "Diary of fishing freaks") series. The film is pre-sold at Cannes Market currently, and is reported to have Brittany Murphy as the leading actress.
The story is based in Tokyo, and is about an American girl, left alone in the middle of Tokyo after breaking up with her love, and decides to become a Ramen chef, taking lessons from Nishida's old-fashioned Ramen master.
I wonder if they are serving Ramen noodle to the visitors, in competition with UDON noodle.
Source: SANSPO
Hiroyuki Sanada spoke about his fun and struggle in "The Promise", a Chinese fantasy spectacle now in theaters in the US, on April 27. Please see the special article on Hoga Central and have a fun ride with him!!
"Asu no Kioku", a human drama about the Altzheimer's desease patient, press conference was held in Tokyo on May 8. The conference took a very unusual style - the star actor Ken Watanabe wanted to have the "same eye level with the audience", so it was held in a round-table meeting style. (See this photo.)
Other stars, such as Kanako Higuchi who playes the patient's wife, Mitsuhiro Oikawa and MOU were present at the conference and created a friendly atmosphere.
Source: SANSPO
Ken Watanabe was awarded with 15th "Yodogawa Nagaharu Award", which is sponsored by Road Show magazine and is given to a person or a group who contributed much to the Japanese film industry in the past year. The award is to commemorate Japan's great film critique late Nagaharu Yodogawa. Watanabe was chosen for his wide range international works.
The award had been given to directors and staff before, but in 2004 and 2005, actors Hiroyuki Sanada and Jacky Chen (the first non-Japanese winner) won the award, and this trend continues through this year.
Source: SANSPO
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