1st July 2009

AHT has found an interesting article about the state of the Asian Cinema in the USA. I don’t know about the rest of Europe, but in France, I’ve seen that:

• The market was clearly over-flooded by many bad films (Asian Star releases);
• There are still many asian films reaching theaters, differents genres, but not that successful at the box office despite large marketing campaigns ($4m for Red Cliff; $0.9m for Still Walking…);
• Planned films for the 2nd part of 2009: Ong Bak 2, PCW’s Thirst, Kitano’s Achilles, BJH’s Mother… And others yet to be announced?
• Less DVDs coming out, distributors seem more and more interested by recent films (Crows Zero, Mind Games, Sky Crawlers…), but some oldies are coming this fall.
• The fanbase isn’t as active as it used to be 2/3 years ago; specialized websites/mags are disappearing (is WG next?), asian cinema is losing his “asian specifity”.
…

■ Any other remark? What about the rest of Europe?

While some people were working on Crows Zero 2, some other were crazy enough to sub a forgotten masterpiece from the 70’s called Mandara (Trailer). An indie film, produced by the famous Art Theater Guild, about the japanese tradition and eroticism. More or less in the same vein that Kiju Yoshida’s films.

■ Download the English Subtitles!

30th June 2009

Tora-san, the most famous traveling salesman of Japan is finally coming to America, thanks to Animeigo. So this November, you can expect a 4-film boxset with the first 4 films of the series (48 films total!).

Watch the trailer from the 1st film!

This hard-to-find CD should interest any chambara fans. It includes OST from some classics like Sword of Doom, The Ambitious and many others.

☛ Download this OST

Thanks N.S.

Usually, the end of the samurai era is seen as a violent and cynical time where men are wolves. Well, The Last Samurai chooses a different way where some samurais are wise enough to see beyond their own beliefs and so, to become friends. For his last film, Misumi shows (again) the human side of the samurai. A masterpiece!

27th June 2009

French distributor Wild Side Video, mostly known here for having released rare japanese films, has just got a new and improved website. Where you can find free images. Where you can subscribe to podcast…

26th June 2009

Here’s an unknown early Seijun Suzuki’s film about a penitentiary guard, suspended after a deadly incident, who decides to find the truth about it.

22nd June 2009

THANK YOU ALL
I hope you all enjoyed this week, and discovered some good things (films, blogs…). The blogathon it’s more than 80 articles written, 20 participants, and I don’t know how many readers! You can still check every articles published during the event.

■ So, what do you think of this past week?

Again, thank you all.

20th June 2009

Director Yasuharu Hasebe died from pneumonia on June 14th.

He worked at Nikkatsu where he directed Black Tight Killers, Bloody Territories, Stray Cat Rock films, Assault! Jack the Ripper… which are among his most famous works in the West.

RIP.

Via KineJapan

19th June 2009

This Nikkatsu Action Film stars Yujiro Ishihara and Akira Kobayashi “playing former hoodlums trying to leave behind a life of crime, but their past comes back to haunt them when the authorities seek them out as murder witnesses.”

Via @Criterion

Because there was a time when photoshop disasters didn’t exist: Continue reading…

18th June 2009

Any fans of Nikkatsu action films around here? Criterion defines A Colt Is My Passport as “a down-and-dirty but gorgeously photographed yakuza film starring Joe Shishido as a hard-boiled hit man caught between rival gangs” and concludes saying “this is Nikkatsu at its finest.” What do you think? Remember, August 25th!

Via @Criterion

Japanese Cinema isn’t just some unknown strange little films… it’s also a lot of strange amazing soundtracks. So get ready to open your ears! Continue reading…

17th June 2009

AHT was surprised to find out there are only few Japanese Blu-ray including english subtitles. Although there’s no official answer (?), here are some strange facts about the lack of english subs on Japanese DVDs/BRs: Continue reading…

Whatever you might think of Youtube, it has changed our way to discover films. That’s why I’d like to share with you a list of youtubers who put on the web many interesting videos from rare/new japanese films. Continue reading…