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It is the ’90s and the tradition of ‘compensated dating’ is well underway in Japan. Four high school girls are engaged in enjo kosai in order to satisfy their desire for different things. You can usually find them in Shibuya district of Tokyo where they will give you their time, and sometimes more, in exchange for money that buys pretty things.Read More »
While a plane is being hijacked, a report of a bomb on board, another report of a UFO in the area is cut short as the hijacker shoots the radio and the controls. This while they encounter a UFO, causing them to crash on an uncharted island in the middle of nowhere. They soon find out there is an assassin on board. Panic ensues when it is discovered that there is a UFO on the island, taking them one by one… changing them.Read More »
A man hires a Private Investigator in order to find proof that his wife has been cheating on him. Soon, we learn that the man’s plan is to set the wife up, divorce her and remarry again in America with the daughter of his boss. The woman, being confronted with the suggestive evidence of her infidelity, has no other solution than to work on the sex industry for a while to pay for the Private Investigator’s silence.Read More »
This lyrical adaptation of the beloved novel by Junichiro Tanizaki was a late-career triumph for director Kon Ichikawa. Structured around the changing of the seasons, The Makioka Sisters (Sasame-yuki) follows the lives of four siblings who have taken on their family’s kimono manufacturing business, in the years leading up to the Pacific War. The two oldest have been married for some time, but according to tradition, the rebellious youngest sister cannot wed until the third, conservative and terribly shy, finds a husband. This graceful study of a family at a turning point in history is a poignant evocation of changing times and fading customs, shot in rich, vivid colors. (~Criterion)Read More »
Synopsis:
‘Carmen from Kawachi brings the nihilist Suzuki universe to a woman’s life in the decidedly unsentimental education of a provincial factory worker, Tsuyuko, whose rape by two fellow villagers starts her on the road to sexual awareness and finally, independence. It is a long, picaresque road indeed, meandering from Osaka’s Club Dada, through liaisons with a millionaire, a dominatrix, and an action painter–all the while cohabiting with a degenerate if loving roué. The determining encounter is with a corrupt monk, whose sordid affair with her mother had been for Tsuyuko a primal introduction to sexual hypocrisy and male brutality.’
– James QuandtRead More »
The Taisho era was a time of turbulence in Japan. From new marks of modernity to full-blown riots, a sense of revolution filled the air. The Dam Dam Group is a small anarchist organization lead by Daijiro, a silver tongued “Benshi”, a performer who provides narratives for silent films, playing multiple roles. In other words, he was a master at the art of deception, a handy talent when it came to ‘doing jobs’ for his group. His revolutionary ideals attracted many to his squadron, but among them was a young girl who was oblivious to his group’s activities. Her name was Shino.Read More »
Nami (Mai Kitajima) is a popular actress, but in her personal life, her marriage is at a crisis point as her husband, Yosuke (Toshiyuki Nagashima), a fellow actor, keeps having affairs. The new film they are working on together is about a heroine who kills her husband and his mistress. The film is drawing a lot of public attention because of its casting, where Nami is the heroine, her husband is played by Yosuke, complete with Yosuke’s mistress playing the part of the mistress. Then Katsuragi (Naoto Takenaka), an editor, asks Nami for an interview. Nami accepts it as if superseding herself on the character in the film. Nami has in fact killed her husband and his mistress, and she has been taken into a mental institution; Katsuragi, a psychiatrist, has been pretending to be a journalist to look for the truth.Read More »
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A trio of teenaged tarts try to earn money through shoplifting and prostitution scams and get into trouble deep. Hilarious scenes where the girls try to pick up gaijin at Osaka’s World Expo 70. A colorful kaleidoscope of nudity, violence, drama, yakuza machinations and music, with cameos by transvestite (transsexual?) singer/actor Ikehata Shinnosuke (aka “Peter”, see here and there), who still acts today and did voiceover for Death Note: The Last Name (!?) and Wada “Akko” Akiko who beats up yakuza thugs and croons the film’s theme song.Read More »
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“When two hapless electricians go out on a job, they have every reason to believe that it’ll be a job like any other. But the bumbling twosome soon find themselves zapped into a virtual reality war zone! This Zone is an artificial dimension set up by Iria, a cute, tough-as-nails bounty hunter and her super-intelligent computer, Bob, to do battle with Zeiram, a seemingly indestructible alien that’s been genetically engineered to kill. The electricians do their best to help Iria take on Zeiram in this epic adventure. Created and directed by noted illustrator Keita Amemuya (Moon Over Tao, Mechanical Violator Hakaider) and starring Yuko Moriyama (Kunoichi Lady Ninja).”Read More »