I haven't watched many movies, so my list might be not so useful,
but I'd like to hear people's recommendations as well.
Tasogare Seibei (The Twilight Samurai)(2002)
Cast: Sanada Hiroyuki, Miyazawa Rie
Director: Yamada Yoji
I love this movie so much, I own DVD.
I like Yamada Yoji's films since his film is usually heart-warming,
deep yet funny. His jokes put a big smile on my face.
Mibugishiden (When the Last Sward is Drawn) (2003)
Cast: Nakai Kiichi, Sato Koichi, Natsukawa Yui
Director: Takita Yojiro
Nakai Kiichi's acting is shining. Ito Atsuhi's weeping was totally ruining the movie,
but other than that, this movie is well made.
Tegami (2006)
Cast: Yamada Takayuki, Tamayama Tetsuji, Sawajiri Erika
Director: Shono Jiro
Based on Higashino Keigo's novel
When Yamada Takayuki plays a dark character, he does well.
Just looking at his face makes me sad. lol
I'm a big fan of the novel. I had never cried by reading a novel until I met this one.
As if Higashino Keigo had experienced the life of Tegami, the novel was well written.
I was ready to be disappointed when I watched this film, but I ended up liking
the film version too.
Tamayama Tetsuji did amazing job at the last scene.
Come to think of it, Yamada Takayuki did well on Byakuyako, another Higashino's
novel adoptation, and I liked the drama version better than the original novel.
I want to see Yamada doing drama again.
Bushi no Ichibun (Love and Honor) (2006)
Cast: Kimura Takuya, Dan Rei, Sasano Takashi
Director: Yamada Yoji
I hope I won't offend Kimutaku fans, but I didn't know he can actually act until Karei naru Ichizoku.
If I hadn't watched the drama, I wouldn't have watched this one either.
He did great job on this. Sasano Takashi was also great.
Yamada Yoji's subtle humor shines again in this one.
Craw Zero (2007)
Cast: Oguri Shun, Yamada Takayuki, Kuroki Meisa
Director: Miike Satoshi
I simply like delinquent kids (Furyo). :p I like 1 better than 2.
Endo Kenichi shines in this one.
Okuribito (Departures) (2008)
Cast: Motoki Masahiro, Yamazaki Tsutomu, Hirosue Ryoko
Director: Takita Yojiro
Yamazaki Tsutomu does well this kind of role. He's believable.
Motoki is as beautiful as usual, and a little odd as usual.
Akai Yaiba (2009)
Cast: Terao Akira, Takenouchi Yutaka
Director: Mashiko Shoichi
Based on Higashino Keigo's novel
I watched this in airplane, so I got distracted a lot, but it's Higashino Keigo's novel
and Terao Akira's acting. It's worth checking.
If I were Terao Akira, I would have done the same thing.
10 comments:
Some movies I liked: Cant really say much more about them than that some of them are the best movies I ever watched, especially the first three I listed.
http://asianmediawiki.com/Kimi_ni_shika_kikoenai
http://asianmediawiki.com/Heavenly_Forest
http://asianmediawiki.com/Be_with_You
http://asianmediawiki.com/One_Million_Yen_and_the_Nigamushi_Woman
http://asianmediawiki.com/In_the_Pool
http://asianmediawiki.com/Versus
http://asianmediawiki.com/Still_Walking
Asianmediawiki is a nice site but it's search seems harder to use than most other wiki somehow...
And some movies that have a lot of gore, but are still very much worth watching if you're okay with that:
http://asianmediawiki.com/Ichi_the_Killer
http://asianmediawiki.com/Visitor_Q (A movie I think everyone should have seen xD It's just so weird lol)
http://asianmediawiki.com/Audition
And guess i'll throw in a korean movie too, It also has a decent amount of gore if I recall correcly:
http://asianmediawiki.com/Old_Boy
movie marathon!!! i've only seen departures because of the academy awards for best foreign film.. now i cant get out of my dungeon.
@Drazic
Thanks for the recommendation. :)
I watched Still Walking and Ichi the Killer before.
I'm pretty interested in One Million yen and the Nigamushi Woman, since I find Aoi You interesting, especially when she does comedy.
@jt
Haha, movie marathon.
I hope you'll enjoy one.:)
Best Miike movie is Audition. The rest is dispensable but I didn't saw crow zero.
Have to agree with panda_zedo that Audition is probably the best Takashi Miike movie to date but still can't help checking out this guy's works since they're so stylized and weird in a will-never-forget-that-scene-soon kind of way. Crows Zero would have to be his most commercial and successful film though, you can't have a movie with pretty boys posing as delinquents without making a killing at the box office.
Got around to watching Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad last week but I came down with a cold last weekend so I couldn't reply to your query immediately. Found the movie to be sad and dreary, it really ran long but I think it completely captured the story about a mother's devotion to her child and vice versa. It's a movie that you should really prepare yourself to see because it doesn't have any gimmicks, it tries your patience and there's an obvious lack of background music or soundtrack to accompany it. Overall, I think it was nicely done because it turned out to be dramatic without being melodramatic-- which is what usually happens in the case of movies that feature characters with a terminal disease.
@panda-zedo and zooey,
I usually don't watch horror or gore movies, so as much as Audition sounds interesting, I'm not sure if I will ever watch Audition...
Besides the cute kids, I liked the sense of humor of Craw Zero.
Indeed, Tokyo Tower tries your patience. Since I watched SP first, starring Oizumi Yo and Tanaka Yuko, I couldn't get into the movie and stopped in half way. I liked how Tanaka Yuko portrayed the mother.
It's not that SP was great or anything, but SP had more warm feelings.
You might know it, but the younger version of Kiki Kirin is her daughter and a wife of Motoki Masahiro.
I'm quite surprised that they came out with 3 adaptations of Tokyo Tower within a year. I didn't get to watch the dorama or the SP so I was able to hang on to the film till it finished. Lol. I would probably have dropped it if I've seen any of the two versions that came before it. The movie just has this aseptic feel to it, much of the emotion is reserved in the final minutes.
You know I looked up the actress who played the younger Okan because I couldn't help how much she resembled the older version... Kept thinking that they couldn't possibly have used make-up to make her appear older and then it turns out they were mother and daughter. :)
Within a year, huh. I didn't know that.
I agree, the movie has aseptic feel.
I couldn't get into it.
Haha, so you did look up on her.
Their resemblance was pretty obvious, huh.
I really liked University of Laughs (Warai no Daigaku), but it's not the easiest film to find - one used DVD on Amazon for $125?!
It's set in Japan during World War 2, and a playwright is trying to get a comedy past the censors. It sounds a bit dry, but is mostly about the relationship that builds between the censor and the writer. It's funny, too. If you can track it down, I recommend it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436886/
@Ersby,
Thank you for the recommendation. :)
I like the director, Mitani Koki. His sense of humor is unique.
I'll try to find it!
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