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Must-see Japanese Movies


PetarB

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I few years ago I watched a lot of Akira Kurosawa movies.

Recently i've realised that beyond some anime and samurai movies, I have not seen too many other Japanese movies. I saw this list here:

http://japanverse.com/2013/03/which-japanese-films-are-a-must-see/

Does anyone have anything else to add, or their own opinions on this list? Most of these movies sound intriguing in their own way.

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Oh, you watched Detroit Metal City? It is must-see. So fun ,so I like it so much! And as I said before, Gene Simmons appears in the movie, but not just a cameo. He acts a very important character. Moreover, the heroine of the movie is Rosa Kato! EXO, you gotta watch it! Go to DMC! lol
And "The Incite Mill," oh! the theme song of the movie, "Shinjite Miru" was sung by May'n. Did you notice that? I recommend it for May'n's fans here.



Basically I like amusing movies.
How about "THERMAE ROMAE?" A Roman in the Five Good Emperors' era comes to modern Japan. So funny.
And I recently watched 「探偵はBARにいる」"Tantei ha Bar ni Iru"; "The Detectives Are in the Bar." It was so good.
I don't like Takeshi Kitano's movies except "Zatoichi." Edited by antibiotictab
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I few years ago I watched a lot of Akira Kurosawa movies.

Recently i've realised that beyond some anime and samurai movies, I have not seen too many other Japanese movies. I saw this list here:

http://japanverse.com/2013/03/which-japanese-films-are-a-must-see/

Does anyone have anything else to add, or their own opinions on this list? Most of these movies sound intriguing in their own way.

The film selections from that site have a bit of questionable "must-see" quality, imho. B))

fwiw, I got a bunch of Ozu collectors-set stuff that are must-see japanese movies, but will most likely bore you to death if you're neither a film-buff or a film-student. Besides, my parents have all 'em right now, so I can't take pics of 'em. :p

At any rate, here are some must-see criterion stuff that I haven't given to my folks, yet:

DSC_0995_NEF.jpg

However, if you're just looking for some nice japanese films to watch, here are some enjoyable contemporary japanese films that you can still get via amzn (or possibly netflix):

DSC_0990_NEF.jpg

I don't have the One Million Yen Girl, yet, since I haven't seen a subtitled-version, yet.

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Oh, you watched Detroit Metal City? It is must-see. So fun ,so I like it so much! And as I said before, Gene Simmons appears in the movie, but not just a cameo. He acts a very important character. Moreover, the heroine of the movie is Rosa Kato! EXO, you gotta watch it! Go to DMC! lol

Watch it??? I bought it! lol. Thanks ABT!!!

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I think my favorite semi-recent Japanese film is 1997's Swallowtail Butterfly, directed by Shunji Iwai. It's a really strange but engrossing movie, kinda SF, kinda not, about an unspecified time when Japan has the most powerful currency in the world. Hence, many people come to Japan to make a little money, so they can go back home and be rich.

The themes cover immigration, racism, rock (the music is the film is stunningly good), counterfeiting, tattoos, Frank Sinatra, prostitution, the yakuza, cassette tapes in people's stomachs, and having one's jaw ripped off by a shotgun blast.

It's funny one minute, ultraviolent the next, then heartbreakingly sweet or sad.

It's not flawless (at two and a half hours, it feels a little overlong), but it's still an amazing film.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's ever been released in the west, but the Japanese edition has English subs on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhSa3aiN_DE

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I really enjoyed this in the cinema, even though the rest of my treacherous group went to see "Can't Hardly Wait", and people were storming out of this because of the violence.....

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there was this japanese movie i caught on the plane which i wanted to get on DVD or BD but i forgot to take note of the title. so maybe someone will recognize it and let me know.

- plot revolves around 4 women and how their lives interconnected through their city's commuter trains.

- one woman was trying to come to grips with losing her fiance who got seduced by another and is now invited to their wedding. she shows up at the wedding wearing red and basically upstaging the bride.

- on one of her train journeys, she meets a mild mannered older lady who gives her advice. this old lady also has her troubles, not the least of which is trying to blend with a trio of other madames who are a pretentious and obnoxious bunch.

- the next woman is younger (20's) who's stuck with a good for nothing boyfriend

- the last is a young girl but i can't remember what her issues were. maybe about being accepted in school, or fear of travelling alone

IIRC, the title has some reference to seasons or spring or summer.

any leads appreciated. thanks

edit: just read the article and..... Shinobi? seriously? that was my most regrettable BD purchase :blink:

Edited by Major Focker
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It doesn't have any of the films in Yoji Yamada's "Samurai Trilogy" on the list, so I cannot take it seriously. Especially The Twilight Samurai.

Well, did you read the website? They specifically said movies "within the last 10 years". That would obviously exclude the Samurai Trilogy.

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GO TO DMC!!! GO TO DMC!!! (check out my signature)

Couple of notable omissions I noticed. There are no Itami Juzo films (Tanpopo, Marusa no Onna 1 and 2, Minbo no Onna to name a few), and no Kouki Mitani films (Radio no Jikan, The Magic Hour). Both of them are really good comedic film makers. Itami's are more satire of Japanese culture, while Mitani's have sweeping casts of big-name stars in farcical situations.

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I would add

(that hasnt been mentioned already)

Lone Wolf and Cub series

Lady Snowblood

Twilight Samurai

Love and Honour

The Hidden Blade

Sword Of Desperation

When The Last Sword Is Drawn

Ringu

Ju-on

Sister Streetfighter series

47 Ronin

SPL

Fukuro no shiro

most are samurai ones lol

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GO TO DMC!!! GO TO DMC!!! (check out my signature)

Couple of notable omissions I noticed. There are no Itami Juzo films (Tanpopo, Marusa no Onna 1 and 2, Minbo no Onna to name a few), and no Kouki Mitani films (Radio no Jikan, The Magic Hour). Both of them are really good comedic film makers. Itami's are more satire of Japanese culture, while Mitani's have sweeping casts of big-name stars in farcical situations.

Yeah, Tampopo is also one of my all-time favorite movies.

I still eat ramen like this:

(Several of my friends have asked, "Why do you say 'Ato de ne'?" ...which just gives me an opportunity to show them the movie.)

EDIT: And oh, hey, look! It's Ken Watanabe when he still had hair!

Edited by Gubaba
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The original Gojira is always worth watching as a monster movie classic. I also liked several of Kurosawa's films like Kagemusha, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, and Ran. Seven Samurai I thought was okay, and I really want to see Throne of Blood, as I enjoy seeing all the different takes on Macbeth.

I do have a curious question though, Is the war film Letters from Iwo Jima considered Japanese despite being direct by Eastwood?

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Well, did you read the website? They specifically said movies "within the last 10 years". That would obviously exclude the Samurai Trilogy.

They were released in the last 10 years. (Ok, technically, The Twilight Samurai came out 11 years ago, but still...)

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Couple of notable omissions I noticed. There are no Itami Juzo films (Tanpopo, Marusa no Onna 1 and 2, Minbo no Onna to name a few), and no Kouki Mitani films (Radio no Jikan, The Magic Hour). Both of them are really good comedic film makers. Itami's are more satire of Japanese culture, while Mitani's have sweeping casts of big-name stars in farcical situations.

My favorite Itami movie is "Marusa no Onna 2." It reveals the dark side of the bubble era in Japan. I experienced that crazy booming economy times, so it is so interesting.
And his "Osoushiki"; the Funeral. I recommend both it and Yojiro Takita's "Departures"; Okuribito, which won the 81th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
I also like his "Onmyoji." Nomura Mansai acts Abeno Seimei. That Seimei was AWESOME...
post-14942-0-21515700-1363176919_thumb.jpg

EDIT: And oh, hey, look! It's Ken Watanabe when he still had hair!

Yeah, Ken Watanabe was so young! And he had hair at that time because it was before his suffering from leukemia.

Edited by antibiotictab
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Well, did you read the website? They specifically said movies "within the last 10 years". That would obviously exclude the Samurai Trilogy.

Well, let's see.

Fujisawa films made so far:

Twilight Samurai -- 2002 (Yamada)

Hidden Blade -- 2004 (Yamada)

Love and Honor -- 2006 (Yamada)

Samurai I Loved -- 2005 (Kurotsuchi)

Sword of Desperation -- 2010 (Hirayama)

Only TS seems to be barely out of that "within the last 10 years" thing...

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Well, let's see.

Fujisawa films made so far:

Twilight Samurai -- 2002 (Yamada)

Hidden Blade -- 2004 (Yamada)

Love and Honor -- 2006 (Yamada)

Samurai I Loved -- 2005 (Kurotsuchi)

Sword of Desperation -- 2010 (Hirayama)

Only TS seems to be barely out of that "within the last 10 years" thing...

Those are different. We're talking about the films directed by Inagaki in the '50s, starring Toshiro Mifune as Miyamoto Musashi.

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You need to watch G.I. Samurai.

It's like The Final Countdown, but with Japanese Self Defense Force Soldiers. It's also sort of amusing because, unlike most time travel movies, their method of trying to return to their proper time involves

screwing up history as much as possible!

Ever wanted to watch Samurai get blasted by helicopter gunships? Here's your chance!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083050/

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Ugh. Hated that movie...

I remember really liking this movie when it came out, though:

"August in the Water" 水の中の八月

It's one of those movies which has sci-fi elements, but focuses on daily life rather than the science/supernatural spectacle. Haven't seen it since it came out, though.

Here's another high-concept arthouse-y film, this time from Kore'eda, "After Life" (ワンダーフルライフ)

My tastes may have changed since the 90s. I'm not sure if I would enjoy these movies now and just look at them as pretentious artsy stuff, but in the 90s I thought they were cool and original. :p

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there was this japanese movie i caught on the plane which i wanted to get on DVD or BD but i forgot to take note of the title. so maybe someone will recognize it and let me know.

- plot revolves around 4 women and how their lives interconnected through their city's commuter trains.

- one woman was trying to come to grips with losing her fiance who got seduced by another and is now invited to their wedding. she shows up at the wedding wearing red and basically upstaging the bride.

- on one of her train journeys, she meets a mild mannered older lady who gives her advice. this old lady also has her troubles, not the least of which is trying to blend with a trio of other madames who are a pretentious and obnoxious bunch.

- the next woman is younger (20's) who's stuck with a good for nothing boyfriend

- the last is a young girl but i can't remember what her issues were. maybe about being accepted in school, or fear of travelling alone

IIRC, the title has some reference to seasons or spring or summer.

any leads appreciated. thanks

edit: just read the article and..... Shinobi? seriously? that was my most regrettable BD purchase :blink:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1703814/

http://hankyudensha-movie.com/

Edited by antibiotictab
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