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Japanese horror films

Long story short: No one in Japan is fighting to make art make sense to the masses.
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That truly does sum up everything about Hollywood today. They want quantity, not quality. And to tell you the truth, quantity gets more of the money. So much so that people have to put up with what they're given instead of seeing nothing. I think many people here don't subscribe to that, but for everyone here, there are 1000 out there who just don't care.

I keep hearing of Kurosawa. I need to check him out sometime, but haven't seen anything of his listed.
 
I've seen a few Kurisowa films in the past but need to watch them again as I don't remember much about them. I watched them at a time when I couldn't really appreciate how well they are.

And speaking of anime..I just got Robotech the Macross saga on DVD today and I've already watched the first three episodes. I haven't seen it years. I have Cowboy Beebop on my rental que at Netflix so in the next few weeks I will be watching it.
 
Excellent observation/quote, Lyta! Thanks for posting it. Don't forget that there is another Takashi Miike film on this Friday night, and every Friday night this month... or, have you already told your TIVO?

CBO, I don't think that there IS a bad Kurosawa film, but some are better or more entertaining than others. See if you can find Yojimbo on DVD. Sanjuro, or Seven Samurai should both be available too, and are also excellent, but Seven Samurai is 3 1/2 hours long! Doesn't seem too long, though

KoshFan, I think that the nature of an anti-hero is someone who has a lot of negatives, doesn't fit the part of a traditional hero, but unexpectedly rises to the ocassion, to perform heroic deeds. Therefore, I wouldn't call the leads in Pulp Fiction anti-heroes, no matter how much they are glamorized, because they are really brutal, and IMO, evil. If they had changed, and done some heroic deeds, that would be different.
 
Yup, I told the TiVo about the movies (at least as far as I could schedule them). I know that it conflicted with my Dead Like Me season pass so I hope I managed to record the movies on an alternative showing.

This discussion topic reminded me of Kurosawa's autobiography that I read a few years ago. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of his work. I even went ahead and added my review of the novel to my web site:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/mo_pg2.html#something

Also, I think you combined two threads into your one reply here JJ. :p
 
Mmmm... just how long is that tounge, anyway? :D ;) :D
Yep, sure did combine two threads accidentally. Did too good a job of remembering replies, remembering too many, and we were talking about Kurosawa in that other thread too. Wish I could cut and paste it over there...

This Friday's Miike film is Dead Or Alive: Final, and is scifi, set in Yokohama in 2364.

Friday, Aug. 22 is The Happiness of The Katakuris, which is one of the strangest films I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot. It is sort of a cross between The Sound Of Music, and Psycho!

Friday, Aug. 29 is Audition. Don't miss it. It starts off as mild as a sitcom, but before it is over, is one of the most bone-chilling films I've seen, with a seemingly demure female lead who is actually diabolical in the extreme.
 
Back to Japanese horror, or more like gangster this week, check out City of Lost Souls at 11pm EDT Friday on the Sundance Channel. Here is the allmovie.com description:
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=A230231
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Man, I watched this finally last night and that is one seriously f--ked up movie! It gave me the strangest dreams since I went to sleep right afterwards. :p

The whole thing kind of reminds me of a Tarintino movie. Oh and the Matrix-ish effects on the cock fights ... bizarre and funny!

I am not sure what to think of it really other than it was a very odd movie but I did like that it was so different. It was just sort of hard to follow at times. I will check out the other movies just because I am curious now and let you know what I think. :)
 
I caught the last 30 minutes of Dead or Alive: Final, and.... I'm confused. The ending really... disturbed me. Needless to say, I am SO catching it the next time it comes on so I can see it all.

I also caught a little preview commercial thingy for The Happiness of The Katakuris, and... I'm going to watch it. I am SO going to watch it. :cool:
 
I haven't watched Dead or Alive yet but I forgot I had a question about the previous week's movie.

The TiVo froze during the beginning of the movie and my husband tried to fix it but ended up rebooting the TiVo instead. I am sure I only missed a minute or two but wondered if anything interesting happened between the time a bunch of cyclists go past in the ally to the time the Chinese mob guys start talking to the two main people?
 
Lyta, as I remember, that was sort of a strange jump cut that threw me too, even though I didn't miss any of it. I haven't gotten a chance to see Dead or Alive: Final yet. Yes, City of Lost Souls IS Tarantinoish, but more human, and even more stylized. The lead characters are anti-heroes, not just brutal thugs with a philosophical side. I liked it, it IS very different.

I have seen The Happiness Of The Katakuris, and it is very strange, sort of a cross between The Sound Of Music, and Psycho! Or did I say that already? Audition, in its second half, is the most seriously screwed up one of the lot, I believe. Well, haven't seen DoA:Final yet, though. It's good to see something very different, and very nonHollywood, isn't it! :D ;) :D
 
Lyta, as I remember, that was sort of a strange jump cut that threw me too, even though I didn't miss any of it.
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Oh good. I couldn't tell if I missed anything or not or if that was just the way it was presented.

Yes, City of Lost Souls IS Tarantinoish, but more human, and even more stylized. The lead characters are anti-heroes, not just brutal thugs with a philosophical side. I liked it, it IS very differet.
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I guess the movie sort of reminded me of Reservoir Dogs even though it has been ages since I have seen that movie which is why I thought it was Tarantino-ish. ;) I liked that it was different than most movies you normally see and I might have to see it again to determine whether I really liked it or not yet. It certainly was refreshing! :)
 
Ooooh. Saw Audition last night... GOOD movie. It was better than most of the movies I've seen in the last year or two. And I did so enjoy the last half. :D
 
Aching bones, eh? Is there wire involved? :devil:

And yis, I caught Happiness of the Katakuris. That was a good'un too. Though.... odd. Odd in so many ways. Especially that opening sequence.
 
You mean you've never seen a little clay demon come out of a bowl of soup, tear out a woman's uvula, chase it across the sky, and devour it? :eek: ;) :eek:
 
I caught the last 30 minutes of Dead or Alive: Final, and.... I'm confused. The ending really... disturbed me. Needless to say, I am SO catching it the next time it comes on so I can see it all.
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I am slowly working through all these movies and just finished up DOA: Final last night. Bizarre movie and I agree with the strange ending but I thought it was funny. :LOL:
 
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