Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:04 am Post subject:
Geezer wrote:
Major thanks to Tu_triky I got to see "Uchoten Hotel" last night and the good mood it put me in 12 hours ago is still lingering.
As he did with "Welcome Back Mr. McDonald", director Mitani Koki has given some of the best and brightest Japanese TV and Movie stars a chance to play in an old time Hollywood Movie farce.
And just as he did with "Mr. McDonald" he allowed the actors to play, for the most part, against type. And it looked to me like they all had a ball.
Yakusho Koiji got to make something of a fool of himself for the sake of comedy. Matsu Takako got to play a somewhat hard and bitter chamber maid. Shinohara Ryoko was the hooker. And of course, you can't really do a comedy with Toda Keiko, so she's there.
The cast is too long and too full of stars to just list them here. So I'll just say that I had a great time watching every frame of the movie.
As farce it probably wasn't as tightly written as "Mr. McDonald", but I don't care. Farce isn't to be taken seriously. It's for fun. And man, did I have a lot of fun watching this one.
Thank you Tu_triky!!!
You're most welcome...at least there was some slight redemption re: the films on that disc, huh? I'm glad you enjoyed it so much...I, myself, found it utterly hilarious. The film had a great cast and the comedy was supplied in copious amounts.
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Posts: 3125 Location: S.F. Bay Area Country:
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:05 am Post subject:
dochira
AFter seeing both "Welcome back Mr. McDonald" and "Uchoten Hotel" I had to hit the data base to see what else he'd done. And yeah, that's quite a nice resume. Especially "King's Restaurant". _________________
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:06 am Post subject: Re: shinobi
kapchan wrote:
a week after seeing my comment, i almost forgot what movie i was referring to!!! but now i realize it was shinobi....is that the one with nakama yukie in it?
Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 8550 Location: California Country:
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:21 am Post subject:
Geezer wrote:
dochira
AFter seeing both "Welcome back Mr. McDonald" and "Uchoten Hotel" I had to hit the data base to see what else he'd done. And yeah, that's quite a nice resume. Especially "King's Restaurant".
Not to stray too far from this thread, but some people dislike Tamura Masakazu. But I can't imagine anyone else playing the Detective Furuhata Ninzaburo part. That's part of the Mitani Koki legend.
Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 8550 Location: California Country:
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 7:06 am Post subject:
Geezer wrote:
dochira
The lack of subs kept me away from Detective Furuhata Ninzaburo.
There's no way I'm gonna watch a whodonit without subs.
I'm really kicking myself. KTSF aired all three seasons with subs way back when, and I never thought to keep those episodes. Now it's tough to find them with the subs.
Joined: 27 Oct 2005 Posts: 5016 Location: Hong Kong Country:
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 7:18 am Post subject:
Geezer wrote:
There's no way I'm gonna watch a whodonit without subs.
I was fortunate enough to get the DVD set with Chinese subs.
Tamura is the definitive Furuhate, no doubt about that. I don't particularly like him as an actor because he has the exact same expressions and gestures in all of his work that I've watched. As Furuhata though he is unbeatable.
The surprise from that series is Nishimura Masahiko (the neurotic sidekick). I have seen him in supporting roles in a few dramas such as "Ns' Aoi", and now as the gentle piano teacher in "Nodame Cantabile". IMHO this guy's acting is better than Tamura - he is playing the role, not expressing himself.
I always knew Mitani Koki as a writer. I never knew he directed as well.
This movie sounds fun. (As if you couldn't guess, I've enjoyed the dramas he's written.)
Mitani has directed three movies: Uchouten Hotel, Radio no Jikan (Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald), and Minna no Ie (Everyone's Home). He also directed the 2004 Taiga dorama Shinsengumi. Naturally he wrote the screenplays for all of the works he has directed. If you like his work, I would, in addition to the titles already mentioned, recommend the film Warai no Daigaku (University of Laughs) for which he wrote the screenplay. It's essentially a two-man play about censorship in pre-WWII Japan--a pretty grim subject which Mitani explores in his usual witty, satirical, ironic, hilarious, entertaining way. Goro Inagaki (I really don't like any of the SMAP guys, but he does a credible job here) and Koji Yakusho star. Yakusho shows again why I think he is Japan's top actor. There's one fantasy sequence involving Hitler which is one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a movie.
Geezer: I agree with you that Radio no Jikan is Mitani's best film. It is a superb movie.
bmwracer, didn't you get Criterion's newest version of Seven Samurai? Do you know how it differs from its previously released version?
I sure did: three DVDs of pure Kurosawa heaven... The remastered movie is spread over two discs with an intermission and a heap of commentaries (two) and "making of" featurettes and other background videos... A great release.
I sure did: three DVDs of pure Kurosawa heaven... The remastered movie is spread over two discs with an intermission and a heap of commentaries (two) and "making of" featurettes and other background videos... A great release.
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 3:45 pm Post subject:
November 10, 2006
LINDA LINDA LINDA - IN THEATERS NOW
A while back we mentioned that Viz had picked up PING PONG, A TASTE OF TEA and LINDA LINDA LINDA. Well, although you wouldn't know it, LINDA LINDA LINDA is now playing in the theaters around the country. Currently they've just got one print running around:
Now! November 10th! LINDA LINDA LINDA at the ImaginAsian in New York City
November 10 - 19
December 8th! LINDA LINDA LINDA at Facets Cinematheque in Chicago
December 29th! LINDA LINDA LINDA at the Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle
LINDA x3 sold out both screenings at the New York Asian Film Festival and the New York Times gives it a rave in today's paper saying:
"If a movie about guitar-strumming Japanese high school girls isn't high on your list of weekend destinations, you could be missing one of this year's most unexpected pleasures."
Time Out New York gushed about it, too:
"Nobuhiro Yamashita's po-faced ode to schoolgirls, garage rock and the smell of teen spirit hits like an endorphin rush even as it employs a deadpan attitude and deliberate pace...imagine downing Jarmusch's entire output along with a six-pack of Jolt...Pop narcotics simply don't come any purer."
If you ever wanted to try something new, go on the perfect date movie, or support Asian cinema, you should get yourself to one of these runs for LINDA LINDA LINDA.
(I'm not getting paid to shill this. I just think it's a fantastic movie and Viz seems to have no clue about how to publicize their theatrical releases. So I enthuse and hope it makes a difference.)
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I'm glad you enjoyed it so much...I, myself, found it utterly hilarious. The film had a great cast and the comedy was supplied in copious amounts.
