Dear mister Gen Sekiguchi, where the hell did you disappear to? More than 8 years ago you gave us a film that ranks as one of the best Japanese comedies ever produced. Not only that, it's also one of the lushest and vibrant productions to have ever graced a screen. After that ... nothing (apart from a sub par entry in the Quirky Guys And Gals anthology). What a waste of potential, but at least we'll always have Survive Style 5+ to keep us warm. Sekiguchi comes from an advertising background and it shows. While people like Hiroshi Ishikawa (Tokyo.sora) prefer to mask their commercial occupation, Sekiguchi flaunts it all over the place. Just like one of the characters in this movie Sekiguchi collected a...
- 8/8/2012
- Screen Anarchy
As its title suggests, “Quirky Guys and Gals” is another slice of idiosyncratic comedy from Japan, a colourful anthology piece which follows a variety of eccentric individuals about their oddball lives. The film pulls together four of the most talented directors working in the genre, Yosuke Fujita (“Fine, Totally Fine”), Tomoko Matsunashi (“Happy Darts”), Mipo Oh (“Okan No Yomeiri”) and Gen Sekiguchi (“Survive Style 5+”) as well as a series of recognisable faces, making for a fun ensemble outing. The film is available now on region 2 DVD via Third Window, coming with interviews with and special messages from the directors. The film kicks off with “Cheer Girls” from director Yosuke Fujita (whose “Fine, Totally Fine” is still one of the finest examples of the form), which follows Chiharu (Sakuraba Nanami, also in “A Yell from Heaven” and who provided one of the voices for hit anime “Summer Wars”), a girl who...
- 2/18/2012
- by James Mudge
- Beyond Hollywood
The lovely folks over at Third Window Films, one of the UK's finest purveyors of Asian entertainment, have grabbed a couple of cool little titles from the Cannes film market. The first of which is Twitch favorite, Shinji Imaoka's (Bottled Vulva: Bank Teller Noriko) Underwater Love, and the second is comedy omnibus film Sabi Otoko Sabi Onna from directors Gen Sekiguchi (Survive Style 5+), Masaya Kakehi, Mipo Oh, Tomoko Matsunashi, and Yosuke Fujita (Fine, Totally Fine).Underwater Love has gotten a lot of love here. The film is probably best known for having been shot by legendary cinematographer Christopher Doyle (Chungking Express, Last Life in the Universe, The Limits of Control, etc), it seems to have a lot more going for it than that. The script,...
- 5/21/2011
- Screen Anarchy
Solidarity With Japan Fundraiser
A Japanese Films Marathon to Help the Japanese Disaster Victims
Saturday March 26th from 4pm at Concordia University Hall Theatre
My favourite film festival here in Montreal is teaming up with Concordia University to screen some great Japanese films in order to raise money for Japanese disaster victims. It all happens this week on Saturday March 26th and it’s for a good cause. So if you live in Montreal, why not head down to watch three great Japanese films back to back. Here is all the info from the press release.
Montreal, March 21st, 2011 – Following the terrible events that devastated the North-East of Japan and caused the displacement of thousands of victims, the Fantasia International Film Festival, with the support of Concordia University’s Hall Theatre, is putting together a fundraising event with the screening of three Japanese films that were very successful at the festival,...
A Japanese Films Marathon to Help the Japanese Disaster Victims
Saturday March 26th from 4pm at Concordia University Hall Theatre
My favourite film festival here in Montreal is teaming up with Concordia University to screen some great Japanese films in order to raise money for Japanese disaster victims. It all happens this week on Saturday March 26th and it’s for a good cause. So if you live in Montreal, why not head down to watch three great Japanese films back to back. Here is all the info from the press release.
Montreal, March 21st, 2011 – Following the terrible events that devastated the North-East of Japan and caused the displacement of thousands of victims, the Fantasia International Film Festival, with the support of Concordia University’s Hall Theatre, is putting together a fundraising event with the screening of three Japanese films that were very successful at the festival,...
- 3/22/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
It has been a long wait for fans of Gen Sekiguchi's Survive Style 5+. A hugely in-demand commercial and music video director, Sekiguchi stepped away from the commercial world in 2004 to create his manic cult hit, spawning a global fan base waiting to see what he would do next. Answer: More commercials and music videos. Sekiguchi apparently has no particular urge to be a feature film director and quite enjoys his shorter form work and so he has been entirely absent from the big screen for the six years following the release of Survive Style. But he'll be back soon.
Sekiguchi is one of four directors involved in anthology project Sabi Otoko Sabi Onna - Fine, Totally Fine's Yosuke Fujita directs another segment - which apparently revolves around unusual men and women thrown into unusual relationships. Sekiguchi's entry revolves around a housewife who collects and brings home out of work salarymen during the day.
Sekiguchi is one of four directors involved in anthology project Sabi Otoko Sabi Onna - Fine, Totally Fine's Yosuke Fujita directs another segment - which apparently revolves around unusual men and women thrown into unusual relationships. Sekiguchi's entry revolves around a housewife who collects and brings home out of work salarymen during the day.
- 10/27/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The official website for the upcoming omnibus comedy film Sabi Otoko Sabi Onna has been updated with a low-res trailer. “Sabi” is a Japanese word for the refrain of a song, so the title refers to a theme of stories about unique men and women thrown into unconventional situations without any of the usual build up.
“Fine, Totally Fine” director Yosuke Fujita’s segment is called Hagemashi Girls and stars Nanami Sakuraba as Chiharu, a college student who lives to support others. She forms a group called “Hagemashi Girls” with classmates Mamiko (Kumiko Shiratori) and Sanae (Emiko Kawamura), and together they spend all of their time singing and dancing to encourage people. However, when they’re tapped to cheer on a slumping baseball player, their well-meaning hobby begins to backfire in unexpected ways.
From “Happy Darts” director Tomoko Matsunashi comes Boy? meets girl. Aoi Nakamura (Beck) stars as a shy...
“Fine, Totally Fine” director Yosuke Fujita’s segment is called Hagemashi Girls and stars Nanami Sakuraba as Chiharu, a college student who lives to support others. She forms a group called “Hagemashi Girls” with classmates Mamiko (Kumiko Shiratori) and Sanae (Emiko Kawamura), and together they spend all of their time singing and dancing to encourage people. However, when they’re tapped to cheer on a slumping baseball player, their well-meaning hobby begins to backfire in unexpected ways.
From “Happy Darts” director Tomoko Matsunashi comes Boy? meets girl. Aoi Nakamura (Beck) stars as a shy...
- 10/26/2010
- Nippon Cinema
Donju is my kind of film. Nobody does colorfully retarded like the Japanese and all the promo material for Donju seemed to point in that particular direction. Director Hideaki Hosono has a background in directing commercials (think Gen Sekiguchi) and with Kankuro Kudo responsible the source material there was plenty of potential for a new personal favorite. Donju didn't get that far, but what remains is still highly enjoyable.
This type of colorful manga-come-to-life comedy, even though quite popular in the West, is not as common as you might presume. The last 15 years there have been a few prime examples getting good reviews over here (Survive Style 5+, Taste of Tea, Party 7, maybe even Cromartie High), but it never reached the stage where a group of true followers could launch it into a hype. And so we are left with one or two big films each year to quench...
This type of colorful manga-come-to-life comedy, even though quite popular in the West, is not as common as you might presume. The last 15 years there have been a few prime examples getting good reviews over here (Survive Style 5+, Taste of Tea, Party 7, maybe even Cromartie High), but it never reached the stage where a group of true followers could launch it into a hype. And so we are left with one or two big films each year to quench...
- 9/16/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Talk to anyone who's already had the pleasure of seeing Symbol and they will warn you it is best to go in knowing as little as possible. Which, by the way, might actually explain the lacking amount of reviews for this film, even on the web. And truth be told, reviewing Symbol really isn't a very easy task, yet Matsumoto's film deserves all the attention it can get, so here goes.
Matsumoto is the mastermind behind Dai-Nippinjin (Big Man Japan), a small film that made a bunch of avid fans amongst a tiny group of die-hard film lovers. It turned out to be a slap in the face for many who believed they liked their humor served dry, as Matsumoto took the concept a couple steps further and out-freaked a big portion of his target audience. With Symbol he is back to tease his fans, but does so in a more accessible way,...
Matsumoto is the mastermind behind Dai-Nippinjin (Big Man Japan), a small film that made a bunch of avid fans amongst a tiny group of die-hard film lovers. It turned out to be a slap in the face for many who believed they liked their humor served dry, as Matsumoto took the concept a couple steps further and out-freaked a big portion of his target audience. With Symbol he is back to tease his fans, but does so in a more accessible way,...
- 5/17/2010
- Screen Anarchy
I admit, I have a soft spot for films from first-time directors. That first chance to make something universal and lasting is often met with considerable amounts of enthusiasm and spirit. And more importantly, creativity. On the other hand these films often lack bursts of balance and continuity, though this hardly bothers me at all.
From time to time these freshmen attempts outgrow their initial potential and turn out to be simple gems of cinema. These cases are rather rare, but they do pop up from time to time. For most directors its the start of a successful career towards more commercial successes.
But for a select few, it's their only moment of fame. Some directors disappear as quickly as the arrived, leaving only one masterpiece and a void of unfulfilled potential. For this ToM I looked for directors who should be forced to make their sophomore feature film as quickly a possible.
From time to time these freshmen attempts outgrow their initial potential and turn out to be simple gems of cinema. These cases are rather rare, but they do pop up from time to time. For most directors its the start of a successful career towards more commercial successes.
But for a select few, it's their only moment of fame. Some directors disappear as quickly as the arrived, leaving only one masterpiece and a void of unfulfilled potential. For this ToM I looked for directors who should be forced to make their sophomore feature film as quickly a possible.
- 12/7/2009
- Screen Anarchy
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