Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike has over 115 directing credits to his name, and it has only taken him 33 years to reach that impressive number. One of his latest credits came on a blood-soaked horror thriller called Lumberjack the Monster, and the folks at Rue Morgue have confirmed that Lumberjack the Monster is going to be available to watch on the Netflix streaming service as of June 1st.
Before the film reaches Netflix, New York City’s Japan Society (located at 333 East 47th Street) will be hosting its the North American premiere screening on Monday, May 6 at 8pm. Rue Morgue notes, “There will also be a pre-screening reception at 7pm with beverages donated by Sapporo-Stone Brewing and Brooklyn Kura. The screening is being presented in conjunction with the Tribeca Film Festival, as part of its Escape from Tribeca program.”
Lumberjack the Monster is based on a novel by Mayusuke Kurai and stars Kazuya Kamenashi,...
Before the film reaches Netflix, New York City’s Japan Society (located at 333 East 47th Street) will be hosting its the North American premiere screening on Monday, May 6 at 8pm. Rue Morgue notes, “There will also be a pre-screening reception at 7pm with beverages donated by Sapporo-Stone Brewing and Brooklyn Kura. The screening is being presented in conjunction with the Tribeca Film Festival, as part of its Escape from Tribeca program.”
Lumberjack the Monster is based on a novel by Mayusuke Kurai and stars Kazuya Kamenashi,...
- 4/12/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
The Yokai Monsters Collection will be available on Bu-ray October 19th from Arrow Video
From the makers of Daimajin comes a trilogy of terror ripped from the pages of Japanese folklore, with ghosts and monsters from ancient myths and legends brought to life through stunning special effects, alongside an epic, big-budget reboot of the series from a modern-day master of the macabre, now available together on Blu-ray for the first time.</p
In the first film in the trilogy, 100 Monsters, a greedy slumlord’s attempts to forcefully evict his tenants invite the wrath of the titular spirits when a cleansing ritual is botched, with terrifying results. The second film, Spook Warfare, tells the tale of an evil Babylonian vampire inadvertently awoken by treasure hunters, and a brave samurai that teams with the yokai to defeat the bloodthirsty demon. In the final film, Along with Ghosts (released only 12 months after 100 Monsters...
From the makers of Daimajin comes a trilogy of terror ripped from the pages of Japanese folklore, with ghosts and monsters from ancient myths and legends brought to life through stunning special effects, alongside an epic, big-budget reboot of the series from a modern-day master of the macabre, now available together on Blu-ray for the first time.</p
In the first film in the trilogy, 100 Monsters, a greedy slumlord’s attempts to forcefully evict his tenants invite the wrath of the titular spirits when a cleansing ritual is botched, with terrifying results. The second film, Spook Warfare, tells the tale of an evil Babylonian vampire inadvertently awoken by treasure hunters, and a brave samurai that teams with the yokai to defeat the bloodthirsty demon. In the final film, Along with Ghosts (released only 12 months after 100 Monsters...
- 10/5/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Fantasia International Film Festival announces a massive new assortment of feature films for its 25th edition, along with details on scheduled panels, talks, tributes, special events, and our esteemed juries. On top of our impressive virtual slate of films, all geo-locked to Canada, and in addition to our globally accessible streamed events, the upcoming festival will also feature a limited number of in-person screenings in Montreal.
Fantasia begins August 5th with the World Premiere of Quebec zombie feature Brain Freeze— following the August 4th special event screening of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad in celebration of the festival— and ends on August 25th with newly announced closing film, Takashi Miike’s hotly-anticipated The Great Yokai War – Guardians.
Takashi Miike Closes Out Fantasia 2021 With The Great Yokai War – Guardians
The honour of Closing Film belongs to the great Takashi Miike, a constant yet always surprising presence in the festival’s long history.
Fantasia begins August 5th with the World Premiere of Quebec zombie feature Brain Freeze— following the August 4th special event screening of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad in celebration of the festival— and ends on August 25th with newly announced closing film, Takashi Miike’s hotly-anticipated The Great Yokai War – Guardians.
Takashi Miike Closes Out Fantasia 2021 With The Great Yokai War – Guardians
The honour of Closing Film belongs to the great Takashi Miike, a constant yet always surprising presence in the festival’s long history.
- 7/24/2021
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
The Fantasia International Film Festival begins in less than two weeks and we have a look at it's incredible offering of features, panels, and special events:
The Fantasia International Film Festival announces a massive new assortment of feature films for its 25th edition, along with details on scheduled panels, talks, tributes, special events, and our esteemed juries. On top of our impressive virtual slate of films, all geo-locked to Canada, and in addition to our globally accessible streamed events, the upcoming festival will also feature a limited number of in-person screenings in Montreal.
Fantasia begins August 5th with the World Premiere of Quebec zombie feature Brain Freeze— following the August 4th special event screening of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad in celebration of the festival— and ends on August 25th with newly announced closing film, Takashi Miike’s hotly-anticipated The Great Yokai War - Guardians.
Takashi Miike Closes Out...
The Fantasia International Film Festival announces a massive new assortment of feature films for its 25th edition, along with details on scheduled panels, talks, tributes, special events, and our esteemed juries. On top of our impressive virtual slate of films, all geo-locked to Canada, and in addition to our globally accessible streamed events, the upcoming festival will also feature a limited number of in-person screenings in Montreal.
Fantasia begins August 5th with the World Premiere of Quebec zombie feature Brain Freeze— following the August 4th special event screening of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad in celebration of the festival— and ends on August 25th with newly announced closing film, Takashi Miike’s hotly-anticipated The Great Yokai War - Guardians.
Takashi Miike Closes Out...
- 7/23/2021
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Masterclasses and special awards for Stephen Sayadian, Phil Tippett, Shunji Iwai.
Takashi Miike’s The Great Yokai War – Guardians will close Fantasia International Film Festival (August 5-25), which festival heads have turned into a hybrid event after adding a limited roster of in-person screenings in Montreal.
Japanese horror specialist Miike’s sequel to his family fantasy epic and Fantasia 2006 opener The Great Yokai War gets its international premiere and centres on a battle between Japanese monsters that will determine the fate of the world.
Paul Andrew Williams’s (London To Brighton) UK crime thriller Bull is among world premieres in...
Takashi Miike’s The Great Yokai War – Guardians will close Fantasia International Film Festival (August 5-25), which festival heads have turned into a hybrid event after adding a limited roster of in-person screenings in Montreal.
Japanese horror specialist Miike’s sequel to his family fantasy epic and Fantasia 2006 opener The Great Yokai War gets its international premiere and centres on a battle between Japanese monsters that will determine the fate of the world.
Paul Andrew Williams’s (London To Brighton) UK crime thriller Bull is among world premieres in...
- 7/21/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Takashi Miike’s The Great Yokai War – Guardians has been tapped to close the Fantasia International Film Festival on Aug. 25.
The sequel to The Great Yokai War, which opened Fantasia in 2006, immerses viewers in the fairy-tale world of friendly Japanese demons from the Audition and 13 Assassins director.
Montreal’s Fantasia genre fest released its third wave of titles on Wednesday, and there’s world premieres for Vincent Grashaw’s southern gothic nightmare What Josiah Saw; Lee Won-tae’s thriller The Devil’s Deal, starring Cho Jin-woong; Bull, the British revenge thriller from Paul Andrew Williams; and the dystopian feature debut Glasshouse from South African ...
The sequel to The Great Yokai War, which opened Fantasia in 2006, immerses viewers in the fairy-tale world of friendly Japanese demons from the Audition and 13 Assassins director.
Montreal’s Fantasia genre fest released its third wave of titles on Wednesday, and there’s world premieres for Vincent Grashaw’s southern gothic nightmare What Josiah Saw; Lee Won-tae’s thriller The Devil’s Deal, starring Cho Jin-woong; Bull, the British revenge thriller from Paul Andrew Williams; and the dystopian feature debut Glasshouse from South African ...
- 7/21/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Takashi Miike’s The Great Yokai War – Guardians has been tapped to close the Fantasia International Film Festival on Aug. 25.
The sequel to The Great Yokai War, which opened Fantasia in 2006, immerses viewers in the fairy-tale world of friendly Japanese demons from the Audition and 13 Assassins director.
Montreal’s Fantasia genre fest released its third wave of titles on Wednesday, and there’s world premieres for Vincent Grashaw’s southern gothic nightmare What Josiah Saw; Lee Won-tae’s thriller The Devil’s Deal, starring Cho Jin-woong; Bull, the British revenge thriller from Paul Andrew Williams; and the dystopian feature debut Glasshouse from South African ...
The sequel to The Great Yokai War, which opened Fantasia in 2006, immerses viewers in the fairy-tale world of friendly Japanese demons from the Audition and 13 Assassins director.
Montreal’s Fantasia genre fest released its third wave of titles on Wednesday, and there’s world premieres for Vincent Grashaw’s southern gothic nightmare What Josiah Saw; Lee Won-tae’s thriller The Devil’s Deal, starring Cho Jin-woong; Bull, the British revenge thriller from Paul Andrew Williams; and the dystopian feature debut Glasshouse from South African ...
- 7/21/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Production has wrapped on Miike Takashi’s latest film, “Mogura no Uta Final” (translation: Mole Song Final), the third and final part of his “Mole Song” action-comedy trilogy about a bumbling cop who goes undercover — and becomes a full-fledged yakuza.
The new film will open on November 19, 2021 with Toho distributing. Like the two previous films, “The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji” in 2013 and “The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio” in 2016, it is scripted by Kudo Kankuro, a scriptwriter-director who is almost as in-demand in his own sphere as the notoriously prolific Miike is in his.
The stories are based on a comic by Takahashi Noboru that has been running since 2005. As of May this year, it had sold 9.3 million copies in paperback editions.
In the film, which wrapped in mid-June, the cop-gangster hero, Reiji (Ikuta Toma), goes on a mission to stop a drug shipment with a $5.4 billion street value,...
The new film will open on November 19, 2021 with Toho distributing. Like the two previous films, “The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji” in 2013 and “The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio” in 2016, it is scripted by Kudo Kankuro, a scriptwriter-director who is almost as in-demand in his own sphere as the notoriously prolific Miike is in his.
The stories are based on a comic by Takahashi Noboru that has been running since 2005. As of May this year, it had sold 9.3 million copies in paperback editions.
In the film, which wrapped in mid-June, the cop-gangster hero, Reiji (Ikuta Toma), goes on a mission to stop a drug shipment with a $5.4 billion street value,...
- 6/28/2021
- by Mark Schilling
- Variety Film + TV
While U.S. distribution has been improved in the last few years when it comes to the vast, rich offerings of Japanese cinema, there are still many gems that go virtually unseen here. Thankfully, a new series by Japan Society and Agency for Cultural Affairs titled 21st Century Japan: Films from 2001-2020 will make a wealth of these titles available for viewing stateside.
Featuring Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Air Doll, the U.S. premieres of Sion Sono’s Red Post on Escher Street and Yukiko Mishima’s Shape of Red, Naomi Kawase’s Still the Water, Takashi Miike’s The Great Yokai War, a spotlight on and conversation with Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and much more, we’re pleased to present the exclusive trailer for the series, which takes place on February 5-25. While there’s much to discover, I’d also highly recommend Tetsuya Nakashima’s Confessions and Yui Kiyohara’s Our House,...
Featuring Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Air Doll, the U.S. premieres of Sion Sono’s Red Post on Escher Street and Yukiko Mishima’s Shape of Red, Naomi Kawase’s Still the Water, Takashi Miike’s The Great Yokai War, a spotlight on and conversation with Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and much more, we’re pleased to present the exclusive trailer for the series, which takes place on February 5-25. While there’s much to discover, I’d also highly recommend Tetsuya Nakashima’s Confessions and Yui Kiyohara’s Our House,...
- 1/21/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
New York, NY –Japan Society and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan (Aca), in collaboration with the Visual Industry Promotion Organization (Vipo), announce the inaugural Aca Cinema Project online film series 21st Century Japan: Films from 2001-2020, streaming nationwide on Japan Society’s Virtual Cinema from February 5-25, 2021.
As Japan’s film industry enters its third decade in the new millennium, this 30-film online series takes a look back at the last 20 years of Japanese cinema to celebrate some of the most remarkable narrative fiction films and filmmakers that define the era. Covering a wide range of production styles and genres—from small budget independent debuts to festival favorites and award-winning major studio releases—this diverse slate of feature and short films offers a guided tour of modern Japanese cinema, including special spotlights dedicated to the work of Kiyoshi Kurosawa and a selection of breakout films by up-and-coming filmmakers.
As Japan’s film industry enters its third decade in the new millennium, this 30-film online series takes a look back at the last 20 years of Japanese cinema to celebrate some of the most remarkable narrative fiction films and filmmakers that define the era. Covering a wide range of production styles and genres—from small budget independent debuts to festival favorites and award-winning major studio releases—this diverse slate of feature and short films offers a guided tour of modern Japanese cinema, including special spotlights dedicated to the work of Kiyoshi Kurosawa and a selection of breakout films by up-and-coming filmmakers.
- 1/11/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Author: Daniel Goodwin
In an attempt to employ 80s fantasy film traits for a modern teen audience, Cockneys Vs Zombies director Matthias Hoene’s follow-up scuffles like an embarrassing dad at a birthday party yet throws some slick twists into the mix. From Producer Luc Besson and co-writer Robert Mark Kamen (The Karate Kid (84), The Warrior’s Gate should be an adventure film for all ages but feels like watching an over-jaunty kid’s TV show with an apocalyptic hangover. A hyperbolic energy installed by glossy visuals, tight choreography and a punchy plot propels it for the better part but its ill-governed start and finale combine with gaudy designs to form a noxious faux fantasy/ action cocktail which crushes its commendable facets.
Teen gamer Jack Bronson (Uriah Shelton) lives with his financially struggling single mother Annie (Sienna Guillory) in a picturesque suburban neighbourhood. While working part time as a store clerk,...
In an attempt to employ 80s fantasy film traits for a modern teen audience, Cockneys Vs Zombies director Matthias Hoene’s follow-up scuffles like an embarrassing dad at a birthday party yet throws some slick twists into the mix. From Producer Luc Besson and co-writer Robert Mark Kamen (The Karate Kid (84), The Warrior’s Gate should be an adventure film for all ages but feels like watching an over-jaunty kid’s TV show with an apocalyptic hangover. A hyperbolic energy installed by glossy visuals, tight choreography and a punchy plot propels it for the better part but its ill-governed start and finale combine with gaudy designs to form a noxious faux fantasy/ action cocktail which crushes its commendable facets.
Teen gamer Jack Bronson (Uriah Shelton) lives with his financially struggling single mother Annie (Sienna Guillory) in a picturesque suburban neighbourhood. While working part time as a store clerk,...
- 2/28/2017
- by Daniel Goodwin
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Hong Kong’s Soi Cheang, Japan’s Takashi Miike, Australia’s Sean Byrne and American filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier are among the returning names to populate Tiff’s Midnight Madness programme. In what is an American indie horror film dominated section featuring the likes of some of the V/H/S alumni (Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, and Radio Silence quartet) presenting Southbound, Cold Comes the Night scribe Nick Simon presenting his sophomore film, The Girl in the Photographs and before being released theatrically in October via Stage 6 Films, Todd Strauss-Schulson‘s The Final Girls will receive its international premiere. Colin Geddes’ baby will be host to six world premieres with Saulnier’s Green Room making it much anticipated North American debut after replicating the big bang he made in Cannes with Blue Ruin. Here are the ten titles & fest synopses:
Baskin – Can Evrenol, Turkey
World Premiere
A squad of unsuspecting cops...
Baskin – Can Evrenol, Turkey
World Premiere
A squad of unsuspecting cops...
- 8/12/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Kicking off September 10th, Toronto International Film Festival and its Midnight Madness screenings are right around the corner. This year, Midnight Madness selections include The Final Girls, Green Room, and the world premiere of The Devil's Candy from The Loved Ones director Sean Byrne.
Press Release: "Toronto — Midnight Madness returns to the Toronto International Film Festival® to satiate late night audiences’ appetites for wild sensory stimulation. The programme will present the best in action, horror, shock and fantasy films from the rabble-rousers of cinema, opening with Jeremy Saulnier’s tense siege shocker Green Room.
“Midnight Madness winds up Festival audiences as the days are winding down and they are hungry for more,” says Colin Geddes, International Programmer for the Festival. “From adrenaline-filled action and untamed horror to twisted comedy and darkly blurred lines of reality, this year’s lineup welcomes back celebrated masters and fresh visionaries of renegade genre cinema.
Press Release: "Toronto — Midnight Madness returns to the Toronto International Film Festival® to satiate late night audiences’ appetites for wild sensory stimulation. The programme will present the best in action, horror, shock and fantasy films from the rabble-rousers of cinema, opening with Jeremy Saulnier’s tense siege shocker Green Room.
“Midnight Madness winds up Festival audiences as the days are winding down and they are hungry for more,” says Colin Geddes, International Programmer for the Festival. “From adrenaline-filled action and untamed horror to twisted comedy and darkly blurred lines of reality, this year’s lineup welcomes back celebrated masters and fresh visionaries of renegade genre cinema.
- 8/11/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Takashi Miike‘s The Happiness of the Katakuris begins with a woman probing a freshly delivered bowl of soup only to fish out a miniature angel/gargoyle/teletubby? whose presence seems to instigate the onscreen conversion of the world into claymation before tearing out the poor woman’s uvula and tossing it into the air to float away like a heart-shaped balloon. This is a film that, even in an oeuvre that includes works as disparate as gross out shocker Visitor Q and the kid friendly The Great Yokai War, is pure unpredictable insanity that baffles as much as it entertains. Essentially a horror comedy musical, Miike’s genre mashing farce is loosely based on Kim Jee-woon’s The Quiet Family, in which a family owns a remotely located bed and breakfast whose customers always happen to die during their stay, yet takes that simple premise to its outermost extremes in the silliest of ways.
- 6/30/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Tiff’s Midnight Madness program turned 25 this year, and for two and half decades, the hardworking programers have gathered some of the strangest, most terrifying, wild, intriguing and downright entertaining films from around the world. From dark comedies to Japanese gore-fests and indie horror gems, the Midnight Madness program hasn’t lost its edge as one the leading showcases of genre cinema. In its 25-year history, Midnight Madness has introduced adventurous late-night moviegoers to such cult faves as Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. But what separates Midnight Madness from, say, Montreal’s three and half week long genre festival Fantasia, is that Tiff selects only ten films to make the cut. In other words, these programmers don’t mess around. Last week I decided that I would post reviews of my personal favourite films that screened in past years. And just like the Tiff programmers,...
- 9/18/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
The full Fantasia 2013 lineup has now been revealed, and we have here the third and final wave of titles to share. Prepare to drool!
From the Press Release:
The Fantasia International Film Festival is proud to announce the rest of our 120-feature lineup that comprises our 2013 event, along with a string of additional details that mark our 17th edition as a standout. Fantasia will engulf the city of Montreal from July 18-August 6, 2013. Be sure to visit the Fantasia Film Festival website for detailed essays on every title announced here, as well as all films previously disclosed over the last weeks.
Before we get started on titles... Meet Our 2013 Juries
Main Competition For The Cheval Noir Award For Best Film
Jury President: Laura Kern (Critic, Curator, managing editor, Film Comment)
Jean-Pierre Bergeron (Actor, Director, Screenwriter)
Samuel Jamier (Co-Director of the New York Asian Film Festival, Programmer at Japan Society)
Jarod Neece (Senior Programmer and Operations Manager,...
From the Press Release:
The Fantasia International Film Festival is proud to announce the rest of our 120-feature lineup that comprises our 2013 event, along with a string of additional details that mark our 17th edition as a standout. Fantasia will engulf the city of Montreal from July 18-August 6, 2013. Be sure to visit the Fantasia Film Festival website for detailed essays on every title announced here, as well as all films previously disclosed over the last weeks.
Before we get started on titles... Meet Our 2013 Juries
Main Competition For The Cheval Noir Award For Best Film
Jury President: Laura Kern (Critic, Curator, managing editor, Film Comment)
Jean-Pierre Bergeron (Actor, Director, Screenwriter)
Samuel Jamier (Co-Director of the New York Asian Film Festival, Programmer at Japan Society)
Jarod Neece (Senior Programmer and Operations Manager,...
- 7/9/2013
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
The Fantasia Film Festival is taking place from July 18th to August 6th in Montreal and will feature over 100 films from around the world. We gave you a look at the initial lineup last month and now have an additional list of Fantasia 2013 films that will be screening, including Curse of Chucky, You’re Next, and Frankenstein’s Army:
Horror Is Child’S Play – Don Mancini’S Curse Of Chucky (World Premiere)
A rarity among genre franchises, the Child’S Play series (begun in 1988) has retained the sure-handed guidance of original screenwriter/creator Don Mancini throughout killer doll Chucky’s decades’-long reign of horror. Mancini, who will be hosting our “scar-studded” world premiere, graduated to the director’s chair with 2004’s Seed Of Chucky, after having co-written or written every entry in the series. His longevity with the project is, of course, matched by the fiendish voiceover work by...
Horror Is Child’S Play – Don Mancini’S Curse Of Chucky (World Premiere)
A rarity among genre franchises, the Child’S Play series (begun in 1988) has retained the sure-handed guidance of original screenwriter/creator Don Mancini throughout killer doll Chucky’s decades’-long reign of horror. Mancini, who will be hosting our “scar-studded” world premiere, graduated to the director’s chair with 2004’s Seed Of Chucky, after having co-written or written every entry in the series. His longevity with the project is, of course, matched by the fiendish voiceover work by...
- 7/9/2013
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
13 Assassins
Look at the careers of most directors and you'll see a pattern developing. This isn't the case with the prolific Takashi Miike.
Miike gained notoriety with the unsettling Audition and the relentlessly explicit Ichi The Killer. Fans of such progressive works must have been baffled when presented with Miike's other works such as the superhero movie Yatterman, musical (albeit one with zombies) The Happiness Of The Katakuris, and children's fantasy The Great Yokai War though. There's no pigeonholing this man, which makes him one of the few directors actually worth following. 13 Assassins, at first, seems quite mainstream. A tale of a legendary swordsman gathering a team of ronin to kill the Shogun's ruthless brother, it appears to be Miike proving that he can direct an accessible piece of work. Characters are expertly introduced and woven into the story in a way that's stylish, but it's hard to see why...
Look at the careers of most directors and you'll see a pattern developing. This isn't the case with the prolific Takashi Miike.
Miike gained notoriety with the unsettling Audition and the relentlessly explicit Ichi The Killer. Fans of such progressive works must have been baffled when presented with Miike's other works such as the superhero movie Yatterman, musical (albeit one with zombies) The Happiness Of The Katakuris, and children's fantasy The Great Yokai War though. There's no pigeonholing this man, which makes him one of the few directors actually worth following. 13 Assassins, at first, seems quite mainstream. A tale of a legendary swordsman gathering a team of ronin to kill the Shogun's ruthless brother, it appears to be Miike proving that he can direct an accessible piece of work. Characters are expertly introduced and woven into the story in a way that's stylish, but it's hard to see why...
- 9/2/2011
- by Phelim O'Neill
- The Guardian - Film News
I’ve been looking for an excuse to feature this poster for some time but since I still haven’t found one, here it is anyway. The poster is for the 1968 Japanese horror film Yôkai hyaku monogatari, a.k.a. 100 Monsters, which was directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda (1911-1983) as part of a trilogy that includes Spook Warfare (1968) and Along with Ghosts (1969) (equally outlandish posters for which can be seen below). I’ve never seen the film, but I’ve long been fascinated by Japanese ghost stories and especially by the rich invention and variety of the demons and spirits of Japanese folklore known as Yôkai.
Like the shape-shifting demons themselves, the representation of yôkai in popular Japanese culture has morphed constantly over the years. In the 18th century the ukiyo-e artist Toriyama Sekien catalogued the myriad species of yôkai from oral legend and even invented some of his own. In...
Like the shape-shifting demons themselves, the representation of yôkai in popular Japanese culture has morphed constantly over the years. In the 18th century the ukiyo-e artist Toriyama Sekien catalogued the myriad species of yôkai from oral legend and even invented some of his own. In...
- 6/17/2011
- MUBI
Takashi Miike is one of the hardest working directors in all of cinema, and most likely also one of the craziest. Anyone needing proof need only to watch a triple feature of Visitor- Q, Gozu, and the popular Audition. Though the man is known for his more extreme films like Ichi The Killer, Miike has taken great risks as a director as well by presenting more art-house and historic films like The Bird People of China and The Great Yokai War. 13 Assassins seems to fit perfectly in the long career of this Japanese sensation. Combining historical elements while also harkening back to Miike’s samurai influences, the film looks to be a real treat for Miike fans and cinema fans alike.
Earlier this weekend, a trailer was released by Magnolia Pictures. You can currently view the film on VOD, before it receives its theatrical release April 29th. Then this evening,...
Earlier this weekend, a trailer was released by Magnolia Pictures. You can currently view the film on VOD, before it receives its theatrical release April 29th. Then this evening,...
- 3/28/2011
- by Michael Haffner
- Destroy the Brain
Dread Central recently showcased The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s upcoming program Shinjuku Outlaw: 13 Films By Takashi Miike here. The visionary director was slated to make a rare Us appearance at the festival to introduce a few of his films as well as conduct a Q&A.
Sadly, due to the recent events in Japan, Miike has had to decline traveling and will be unable to attend the screenings. However, the program will go on as scheduled and remains a rare chance for people to see some of Miike’s impressive work on the big screen.
Once again, here's a rundown of what's playing at the festival:
Wednesday, March 16
9:30 Audition
Thursday, March 17
2:15 The City of Lost Souls
4:30 Shinjuku Triad Society
7:00 13 Assassins
10:00 Fudoh: The New Generation
Friday, March 18
1:00 Ley Lines
3:15 Izo
6:00 The Bird People In China
8:40 Ichi The Killer
Saturday, March...
Sadly, due to the recent events in Japan, Miike has had to decline traveling and will be unable to attend the screenings. However, the program will go on as scheduled and remains a rare chance for people to see some of Miike’s impressive work on the big screen.
Once again, here's a rundown of what's playing at the festival:
Wednesday, March 16
9:30 Audition
Thursday, March 17
2:15 The City of Lost Souls
4:30 Shinjuku Triad Society
7:00 13 Assassins
10:00 Fudoh: The New Generation
Friday, March 18
1:00 Ley Lines
3:15 Izo
6:00 The Bird People In China
8:40 Ichi The Killer
Saturday, March...
- 3/15/2011
- by Carnell
- DreadCentral.com
Anyone who knows anything about modern Japanese cinema will tell you that no one makes as interesting a film as Takashi Miike. One of the originators of the wave of sex and violence-crammed titles commonly referred to as “Asian Extreme,” Miike made his mark on the worldwide stage due to such films as Audition, Ichi The Killer, Izo, Visitor Q, and the new 13 Assassins.
Miike’s praises have been sung by the likes of Quentin Tarantino (who appeared in Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django) and Eli Roth (who cast the non-English-speaking director in Hostel). In Japan Miike is something of a modern legend known for his films which feature themes and characters that exhibit a strong sense of childhood nostalgia as well as a glorification of friendship and traditional family units both normal and perverse. What impresses one most about Miike, though, is not only how creative his films are...
Miike’s praises have been sung by the likes of Quentin Tarantino (who appeared in Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django) and Eli Roth (who cast the non-English-speaking director in Hostel). In Japan Miike is something of a modern legend known for his films which feature themes and characters that exhibit a strong sense of childhood nostalgia as well as a glorification of friendship and traditional family units both normal and perverse. What impresses one most about Miike, though, is not only how creative his films are...
- 3/10/2011
- by Carnell
- DreadCentral.com
Sometimes Takashi Miike's freewheeling imagination spits out something glorious; profane, demented, moving or profound. Sometimes it grinds to a halt, jammed up with abortive experiments like his Masters of Horror entry Imprint and unfortunately, Zebraman 2 is another one of these. It could only have come from Miike - it's shot through with the kind of inspired, childlike madness only he could deliver - but it's also a bloated, directionless mess of a movie, fun while you're forcing it down but liable to leave you wondering why you bothered afterwards.
It starts not long after the first film, where everyman schoolteacher Ichikawa (Shou Aikawa) transformed into the titular superhero to save the world from destructive, body-snatching little green men. He's world famous, but it's taken its toll, with his wife and friends shunning him now he's pursued by fans and news crews round the clock. Then abruptly he wakes up...
It starts not long after the first film, where everyman schoolteacher Ichikawa (Shou Aikawa) transformed into the titular superhero to save the world from destructive, body-snatching little green men. He's world famous, but it's taken its toll, with his wife and friends shunning him now he's pursued by fans and news crews round the clock. Then abruptly he wakes up...
- 11/24/2010
- Screen Anarchy
A warning to anyone who may have thought that Takashi Miike sold out and sold his soul when he directed family-friendly outing The Great Yokai War: Do not watch the teaser for his upcoming adaptation of anime series Nintama Rantaro. Yup. The boy ninja is coming to the big screen in live action with Miike in the director's chair and, well, there's always his upcoming remake of Seppuku to look forward to.
- 11/23/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Like Winter Vacation (reviewed yesterday and also showing today), more snowy desolation abounds in Almari Helander’s debut film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. But this time the setting is a much more grim (bordering on Grimm) and fable-like Finland (bordering on Lapland). There are 24 days to go until Christmas, and high on a mountain a mysterious company called Subzero Inc. are drilling deep, deep down; they discover something, or is it someone, encased in ice. All the local townsfolk are told is that they are to be very very good. A knowing farm boy (Onni Tommila) and his father (Jorma Tommila) latch onto the shady goings-on and decide to investigate further...
It’s a Christmas film for people who hate Christmas: a tale very much about the festive period, but via the quite possibly warped imagination of a Scrooge-like misanthrope. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s a kid’s film,...
It’s a Christmas film for people who hate Christmas: a tale very much about the festive period, but via the quite possibly warped imagination of a Scrooge-like misanthrope. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s a kid’s film,...
- 10/23/2010
- by Craig Bloomfield
- FilmExperience
Director: Takashi Miike. Review: Adam Wing. One of Japan’s most prolific directors returns to family friendly territory with his take on Yatterman, the globally popular TV animation from the 70s. It’s nothing new for the so-called Oriental Tarantino; he’s swum in these waters before. The Great Yokai War was a mischievous romp for the whole family to enjoy, far removed from celebrated classics Ichi the Killer and Audition. Miike’s no stranger to superhero movies either, if you haven’t all ready checked out cult oddity Zebraman there’s never been a better time; a sequel has just been released in Japan. Which brings us to Yatterman, a film destined to redefine the robot action adventure genre.
- 6/19/2010
- 24framespersecond.net
'Twas the countdown to Christmas and all through the house... all the creatures were stirring wondering what frights were hitting stores this week...
With only four more shopping days until Santa arrives, there's not a lot of new genre fare hitting retail, though the high-profile District 9 is finally hitting the street - bumped up a week from it's previous 12/29 release date. Below the jump you'll find the full list of titles arriving in-stores tomorrow, Tuesday, December 22, 2009 in our weekly version of the famous Fangoria Chopping List. If you're shopping for yourself or your favorite boils and ghouls, a gift card might be the way to go as there's some good stuff coming next week, including Jennifer's Body, 9, Paranormal Activity, A Perfect Getaway and more. Preview those selections here, and check out this weeks list below!
Note: Some product descriptions provided by Amazon.com or through Video Distributors. Clickable links lead to Amazon.
With only four more shopping days until Santa arrives, there's not a lot of new genre fare hitting retail, though the high-profile District 9 is finally hitting the street - bumped up a week from it's previous 12/29 release date. Below the jump you'll find the full list of titles arriving in-stores tomorrow, Tuesday, December 22, 2009 in our weekly version of the famous Fangoria Chopping List. If you're shopping for yourself or your favorite boils and ghouls, a gift card might be the way to go as there's some good stuff coming next week, including Jennifer's Body, 9, Paranormal Activity, A Perfect Getaway and more. Preview those selections here, and check out this weeks list below!
Note: Some product descriptions provided by Amazon.com or through Video Distributors. Clickable links lead to Amazon.
- 12/21/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (James Zahn)
- Fangoria
"Can't get enough, of the Stuff!" From the mid-1920s whereupon the eventual Oscar winning film Wings featured a Hershey Chocolate Bar prominently in the story right on up to the use of M&Ms in Steven Spielberg's E.T. and beyond to the modern James Bond films or Castaway (FedEx) or The Great Yokai War (Kirin Beer) or perhaps the worst offender ever: I, Robot, product placement is simply a large part of big expensive movies. And many filmmakers have either parodied product placement (ahem, sorry: Brand Integration) or even invented their own fictional consumer goods that only appear in their movies. Unlike television, which (in large part) relies on advertising to fund the creation of shows, there are rarely full commercials used explicitly in a film (before the screening of the film is another story, unfortunately!). But filmmakers love to offer ads for fake products or services or...
- 11/24/2009
- Screen Anarchy
[Our thanks to the mighty and powerful Grady Hendrix for the following review.]
The economy is on fire. Everyone in America is broke. Jobs are a rumor. The terrorists are winning. But I just saw Yatterman and I’m feeling groovy. A vaccination against The Dark Knight blues, a massive day-glo rail of cocaine that hits your brain like the Accela Express and kick starts your pleasure centers, this flick is far smarter than it has any right to be and it pops the pip all over your popple.
I may not be the best judge of a Miike movie, especially this one. As part of Subway Cinema I helped host the world premiere last night, and as a fan of the director I like my Miike movies in the vein of The Great Yokai War rather than Ichi the Killer (I like Ichi the Killer, but I thought Yokai was pretty amazing). On top of that, I had listened in on dozens...
The economy is on fire. Everyone in America is broke. Jobs are a rumor. The terrorists are winning. But I just saw Yatterman and I’m feeling groovy. A vaccination against The Dark Knight blues, a massive day-glo rail of cocaine that hits your brain like the Accela Express and kick starts your pleasure centers, this flick is far smarter than it has any right to be and it pops the pip all over your popple.
I may not be the best judge of a Miike movie, especially this one. As part of Subway Cinema I helped host the world premiere last night, and as a fan of the director I like my Miike movies in the vein of The Great Yokai War rather than Ichi the Killer (I like Ichi the Killer, but I thought Yokai was pretty amazing). On top of that, I had listened in on dozens...
- 2/8/2009
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
While you may not know Naoto Takenaka by name, believe me when I say that if you’re any kind of fan of Japanese cult film then you know the popular comedian’ss face. Takenaka has played key roles in a string of popular films ranging from Ping Pong to Azumi to Swing Girls to The Great Yokai War. And now Takenaka is stepping behind the camera to create Yamagata Scream, his latest directorial effort.
The story is set in a village in the Yamagata prefecture, inspired by tales of the ochimusha of the Taira clan. The ochimusha were warriors who, after being defeated in battle, fled to remote areas of Japan and established small towns to live in. In the film, a businessman and a high school girl arrive in the village and accidentally unearth one of the Taira graves, awakening the zombies of the ochimusha. Takenaka will play the “zombie general.
The story is set in a village in the Yamagata prefecture, inspired by tales of the ochimusha of the Taira clan. The ochimusha were warriors who, after being defeated in battle, fled to remote areas of Japan and established small towns to live in. In the film, a businessman and a high school girl arrive in the village and accidentally unearth one of the Taira graves, awakening the zombies of the ochimusha. Takenaka will play the “zombie general.
- 1/24/2009
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
By chance, two Takashi Miike movies, Dead or Alive and Audition, opened in my town with in a week of one another in 2001. It was pretty eye opening seeing the huge difference between them, the speedy carnage of the former and the slow suspense of the latter, and I became an instant fan. Since then I've managed to track down just six more Miike movies, and in that same time he has made over forty (including videos and TV shows). The speed of his production fits perfectly with the personality of his movies. They're often nonsensical; I couldn't make heads or tails of two of his more recent pictures, Gozu and The Great Yokai War. And they're very definitely energetic, verging on crazy. He reminds me of the great German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who cranked out over 40 movies and TV shows in less than 15 years and died at the...
- 8/29/2008
- by Jeffrey M. Anderson
- Cinematical
Pusan International Film Festival
BUSAN, South Korea -- Into the Faraway Sky (Toku no sora kara kieta) by commercial hitmaker Isao Yukisada ("Crying Out Love from the Center of the World," Spring Snow) is a joyous foray into childhood fantasies and school book ideals. Released in Japan during the summer vacation, the film targets the young and young at heart, and has a certain charm as a flimsy but fanciful fairytale with a soft-sell ecological message and excellent production values. Had the film been made as an anime in the style of Hayao Miyazaki, it would have even greater appeal beyond Asia.
The prelude and epilogue take place in an airport, and use the metaphor of flight to underline the film's theme of how firm belief can create miracles. Tokyo-born Ryonosuke (Ryunosuke Kamiki, The Great Yokai War) arrives in an unspecified country outpost slated for an airport construction project. That his dad is the state-appointed official assigned to carry out this operation against the inhabitants' wishes doesn't help his popularity rating at school. In spite of that, he befriends milk delivery boy Kohei (Yuuma Sasano), the son of an eccentric biologist who has gone missing for years.
Through the rambunctious Kohei, sensitive Ryonosuke meets a gallery of colorful locals, such as Hiharu (Susuka Onyo), a girl who thinks she can communicate with UFOs; their teacher Sawako, who is engaged to a nerd but secretly in love with a romantic moon-gazer and inventor of a flying contraption (a charismatic cameo by Taiwanese actor Chang Chen); Akahoshi, the village idiot obsessed with pigeons; local roughie Toma; and Michiko, owner of a saloon resembling the set of Sukiyaki Western Django.
For the greater half of the film, the characters and the plot ramble on in a nonchalant manner. Toilet humor abounds, from gags about stool samples to a rumble in the cesspit to the boys' prank of planting sparklers in cow dung. This could be a test of patience for all but the most juvenile audiences.
Fortunately, the pace picks up when Kohei's dad Shinpei returns from an odyssey of rescuing endangered species to spearhead the village's protest. It turns out that the two boys' dads date way back, clarifying the psychological motives of the two grown-ups' antithetical actions. What appeared initially to be loose vignettes actually fall neatly into place at the surprise ending.
Despite its self-conscious artificiality, Yukisada has evoked the villagers' bucolic existence with considerable panache. This is no Japanese Hicksville of the Nobuhiro Yamashita variety. The locations are a picturesque cross between the Wild West and Provence, while characters seem to jump out of pages from a Peter Mayle or Marcel Pagnol novel. The music, like the costumes and sets, are an eclectic mix of Gipsy, jazz/rag, Celtic windpipe and French harmonica. Together with the theme song by Okinawa group COCCO they give the film much of its magic realist quality and oomph.
INTO THE FARAWAY SKY
Rumble Fish/Second Sight/Gaga Communications
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Isao Yukisada
Producers: Shunsuke Kogo, Hilo Iizumi
Executive producer: Yasuhide Uno
Co-executive producer: Yuka Hoshino
Director of photography: Jun Fukumoto
Production designer: Shu Yamaguchi
Music: Meyna
Costume designer: Sachiko Ito
Editor: Tsuyoshi Imai
Cast:
Ryonosuke Kusunoki: Ryunosuke Kamiki
Kohei Tsuchida: Sasano Yuma
Hiharu: Suzuka Ohgo
Shinpei Tsuchida: Kohinaka Fumio
Sawako: Ayumi Ito
Running time -- 144 minutes
No MPAA rating...
BUSAN, South Korea -- Into the Faraway Sky (Toku no sora kara kieta) by commercial hitmaker Isao Yukisada ("Crying Out Love from the Center of the World," Spring Snow) is a joyous foray into childhood fantasies and school book ideals. Released in Japan during the summer vacation, the film targets the young and young at heart, and has a certain charm as a flimsy but fanciful fairytale with a soft-sell ecological message and excellent production values. Had the film been made as an anime in the style of Hayao Miyazaki, it would have even greater appeal beyond Asia.
The prelude and epilogue take place in an airport, and use the metaphor of flight to underline the film's theme of how firm belief can create miracles. Tokyo-born Ryonosuke (Ryunosuke Kamiki, The Great Yokai War) arrives in an unspecified country outpost slated for an airport construction project. That his dad is the state-appointed official assigned to carry out this operation against the inhabitants' wishes doesn't help his popularity rating at school. In spite of that, he befriends milk delivery boy Kohei (Yuuma Sasano), the son of an eccentric biologist who has gone missing for years.
Through the rambunctious Kohei, sensitive Ryonosuke meets a gallery of colorful locals, such as Hiharu (Susuka Onyo), a girl who thinks she can communicate with UFOs; their teacher Sawako, who is engaged to a nerd but secretly in love with a romantic moon-gazer and inventor of a flying contraption (a charismatic cameo by Taiwanese actor Chang Chen); Akahoshi, the village idiot obsessed with pigeons; local roughie Toma; and Michiko, owner of a saloon resembling the set of Sukiyaki Western Django.
For the greater half of the film, the characters and the plot ramble on in a nonchalant manner. Toilet humor abounds, from gags about stool samples to a rumble in the cesspit to the boys' prank of planting sparklers in cow dung. This could be a test of patience for all but the most juvenile audiences.
Fortunately, the pace picks up when Kohei's dad Shinpei returns from an odyssey of rescuing endangered species to spearhead the village's protest. It turns out that the two boys' dads date way back, clarifying the psychological motives of the two grown-ups' antithetical actions. What appeared initially to be loose vignettes actually fall neatly into place at the surprise ending.
Despite its self-conscious artificiality, Yukisada has evoked the villagers' bucolic existence with considerable panache. This is no Japanese Hicksville of the Nobuhiro Yamashita variety. The locations are a picturesque cross between the Wild West and Provence, while characters seem to jump out of pages from a Peter Mayle or Marcel Pagnol novel. The music, like the costumes and sets, are an eclectic mix of Gipsy, jazz/rag, Celtic windpipe and French harmonica. Together with the theme song by Okinawa group COCCO they give the film much of its magic realist quality and oomph.
INTO THE FARAWAY SKY
Rumble Fish/Second Sight/Gaga Communications
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Isao Yukisada
Producers: Shunsuke Kogo, Hilo Iizumi
Executive producer: Yasuhide Uno
Co-executive producer: Yuka Hoshino
Director of photography: Jun Fukumoto
Production designer: Shu Yamaguchi
Music: Meyna
Costume designer: Sachiko Ito
Editor: Tsuyoshi Imai
Cast:
Ryonosuke Kusunoki: Ryunosuke Kamiki
Kohei Tsuchida: Sasano Yuma
Hiharu: Suzuka Ohgo
Shinpei Tsuchida: Kohinaka Fumio
Sawako: Ayumi Ito
Running time -- 144 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/5/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- Fantasia Film Festival 2006 Poster More Fantasia coverage on Ioncinema : > Interview w/ Stuart Gordon for Edmond > Review of Edmond > Capsule Review: Pusher 3 : I’m The Angel Of Death > Capsule Review: The Five Venoms > Capsule Review: Re-Cycle > Capsule Review: Strange Circus > Capsule Review: Hell > Capsule Review: The Great Yokai War > Capsule Review: Neighborhood Watch > Capsule Review: A Bittersweet Life > Capsule Review: Evil Aliens > Capsule Review: Lunacy > Capsule Review: Negadon : The Monster From Mars > Capsule Review: The Art of Fighting > Capsule Review: Wilderness > Capsule Review: Meatball Machine > Capsule Review: Sukeban Boy > Capsule Review: The Descent > Capsule Review: Tokyo Zombie > Fantasia Under the Stars > Fantasia 2006 Complete Preview 1 : Asian Films > Fantasia 2006 Complete Preview 2 : American and European Films > Fantasia 2006 Complete Preview 3 : Spotlights > The Woods gets N-American premiere > Fantasia 2006 Top 10 Must See Flicks > Fantasia 2006 Preview > Fantasia 2005 Archives ...
- 7/26/2006
- IONCINEMA.com
- The Great Yokai War The Great Yokai War is Japanese wild man Takashi Miike’s big-budget attempt to create the Asian equivalent of Time Bandits for his children’s generation. The plot has to do with mythical creatures called Yokai that are dismayed by the selfishness of humans and, as a result, the war that breaks out between them to decide the fate of humanity. But is it the Yokai who will make that decision or a lone little boy chosen as humanity’s savior? I had already written a capsule review giving a list of reasons why I didn’t like this film until it occurred to me what the real problem was. This is a film that was created for kids and I’m no longer 10 years old. I’m also a fan of Miike’s work in general and simply wasn’t expecting this kind of tame F/X driven fairytale.
- 7/25/2006
- IONCINEMA.com
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