Go is a 2001 Japanese movie by Isao Yukisada, based from the novel written by Kazuki Kaneshiro. The film stars Kubozuka Yōsuke and Kou Shibasaki. It tells the story of a Japanese boy of Korean origins and his love story with a Japanese girl. The central theme of the movie is about the integration problems of a Zainichi boy in Japanese society.

Go.2001.DVDRip-ATHEiST.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	2h 2mn
Size: 	1.79 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	696x440 ~> 814x440
Aspect ratio:  	1.85:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	1 695 Kbps
BPP: 	0.231
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 5.1ch AC-3 @ 384 Kbps

https://nitro.download/view/792BBCCC9B79FFE/Go.2001.DVDRip-ATHEiST.mkv

Language(s):Japanese, Korean
Subtitles:English, Chinese

The post Isao Yukisada – Go (2001) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

A boxer’s cat Maru goes missing. Soon after, he finds her in the arms of a blond-haired punk who calls her Lily and refuses to give her up.

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‘Alley Cat’: Hideo Sakaki delivers a fresh take on the buddy movie

In Japanese films, a lot of what used to be considered extreme is now routine. Geysers of blood and flying body parts may still thrill fanboys, but to me that sort of play violence has become about as exciting as the spin cycle.

Hideo Sakaki’s buddy movie “Alley Cat” also deals in violence, but of the kind that has real consequences on actual bodies and psyches. The ex-boxer hero (Yosuke Kubozuka) does not bounce up from brutal punishment, ready for more. Instead he suffers from headaches that nearly kill him — and maybe someday will.

Actor and director Sakaki has had his share of hard knocks as well, including the near-cancellation of his 2010 comedy “The Accidental Kidnapper” when a cast member was arrested for drugs. (Sakaki saved the day by reshooting the busted actor’s scenes with himself in the role.) All that and more is reflected in “Alley Cat,” whose desperate characters look worn down by life, if not yet defeated by it.

Superb in Martin Scorsese’s “Silence,” Yosuke Kubozuka plays the boxer, whose cat Maru goes missing as the film begins. Soon after, he finds her in the arms of a blond-haired punk (Kenji Furuya) who calls her Lily and refuses to give her up. Before he can reclaim his cat, the boxer receives a call asking him to serve as a bodyguard. The client, Saeko Tsuchiya (Yui Ichikawa), wants protection when she meets her stalker ex-boyfriend (Hiroshi Shinagawa).

The meeting ends in disaster, but the punk (actually an auto mechanic) helps our hero save Saeko from her crazy ex. Sarcastically calling each other Maru (the boxer) and Lily (the mechanic), these two reluctantly unite to protect Saeko and her small son, Hayato. It’s not enough for Saeko, however, and she winds up heading to Tokyo to seek help from a dubious underworld fixer (Masaki Miura) with her protectors. This temp job has turned into a life-or-death mission.

A buddy movie is comic by definition and “Alley Cat” — which had its North American premiere at this month’s Japan Cuts festival in New York — has fun with its central pair, beginning with their mutual fondness for felines. But even the lighter gags have a dark edge, born of Maru and Lily’s hardscrabble lives. When they arrive in Tokyo, the film goes full noir but leaves out the typical macho romanticism.

Faced with not only the implacable stalker and the slithery fixer, but also a powerful politician (Yuya Takagawa) with a murderous grudge, Maru and Lily are over their heads — and they know it. When they risk their necks, they behave like ordinary mortals for whom a narrow escape is an adrenaline rush, and a gunshot is a genuinely traumatic shock.

Watching the film’s action scenes unfold I often felt like I was watching something I had never seen before, specifically the true-to-life depictions of such out-of-the-ordinary events. Familiar thriller tropes eventually appear, but the film stays faithful to the lived humanity of its three principals, flaws and all.

The rail-thin Kubozuka may not have a boxer’s physique, but he thoroughly fleshes out Maru’s pain, shame, fear and stubborn will to live. As Lily, Dragon Ash frontman Furuya has the look and attitude of a punk who comes from the streets, not a trendy men’s magazine. And as Saeko, Ichikawa successfully transcends the cliches of her in-jeopardy, fallen-woman character.

And Maru/Lily? Not to worry — she’s an alley cat, the grittiest of them all.

9.43GB | 2h 00m | 1920×1040 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/7F506BD5566BF5B/Alley.Cat.2017.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-Ropponica.mkv

Language:Japanese
Subtitles:English .ass, Japanese .srt

The post Hideo Sakaki – Arî kyatto AKA Alley Cat (2017) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Completing Toshiaki Toyoda’s politically urgent Resurrection Trilogy following Wolf’s Calling (2019) and The Day of Destruction (2020), this electrifying short follows a man tasked with assisting in the ritual suicide of a samurai who won’t die without condemning the corrupt powers that be.

go.seppuku.yourselves.2021.1080p.bluray.x264-bipolar.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	26 min 24 s
Size: 	2.47 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1920x1038 
Aspect ratio:  	1.85:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	12.6 Mb/s
BPP: 	0.263
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 2.0ch 24bit FLAC @ 785 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/78D31BC6C2C9F83/go.seppuku.yourselves.2021.1080p.bluray.x264-bipolar.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Toshiaki Toyoda – Go Seppuku Yourselves (2021) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

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Having abandoned modern civilization, Ryoichi lives an isolated, self-sufficient life on a snow-covered mountain and sends mail bombs to the CEOs of corporations and TV networks. One day, he encounters a mysterious creature in the forest. That night, his older brother, who had committed suicide, appears before him at his cabin. The apparition takes Ryoichi beyond a door, where Ryoichi learns the truth about his family.

1.99GB | 1h 12m | 1024×436 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/BF886A68DE3E76A/Monster’s_Club.2011.BDRip-AVC_msltel.mkv

Language:Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Toshiaki Toyoda – Monsutâzu kurabu AKA Monsters Club (2011) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

The film traces the growth and friendship of two very different high-school ping-pong players. “Peco” Hoshino is a brash, arrogant player, determined to turn pro. He taught his quiet, nerdy childhood friend “Smile” Tsukimoto. Smile frustrates his coach and rivals, who recognize his talent for the game since it is just a game to him. To teach him, his high-school coach learns that coaching is more than just training the students to be good ping-pong players. Ironically, as Smile begins to develop his game, Peco undergoes a severe crisis after his defeat by rival players and is unable to play well until he rediscovers the original reasons why he plays ping-pong. Written by nakataohana

Ping.Pong.(Fumihiko.Sori.2002).BDRip.576p.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 54 min
Size: 	3.36 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1022x576 
Aspect ratio:  	16:9
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	3 663 kb/s
BPP: 	0.259
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 5.1ch AC-3 @ 448 kb/s
#2:  	Japanese 2.0ch AAC LC @ 80.0 kb/s (Commentary by Director Fumihiko Sori and Director of Photography Akira Sako)

https://nitro.download/view/3038C6961056AF9/Ping.Pong.(Fumihiko.Sori.2002).BDRip.576p.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English, Japanese

The post Fumihiko Sori – Ping Pong (2002) first appeared on Cinema of the World.