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In a modest home in the English countryside, a young woman rummages through her mother’s belongings. Among half-packed boxes and cluttered papers, she finds an envelope of photographs. “I’ve not seen many pictures of you in Nagasaki, you look so young,” Niki (Camila Aiko), a British-born Japanese writer says to her mother, Etsuko (Yoh Yoshida), before handing over one of the images. There’s a brusqueness to their interaction, a brevity that hints at secrets untold. Etsuko says she hadn’t intended to put the photos out and proceeds to make the bed.

These kind furtive exchanges litter A Pale View of Hills, Kei Ishikawa’s overly careful adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s debut novel of the same name. The film, which premiered at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard sidebar, braids together two stories. The first is set in 1980s England, where Niki helps her mother prepare to sell their house.

A Pale View of Hills unfolds in two distinct eras: post-war Nagasaki in the early 1950s and rural England in 1982. At its center is Etsuko, whose recollections of life amid the city’s slow recovery collide with her quieter existence as a British expatriate. The film’s screenplay, adapted by director Kei Ishikawa from Kazuo Ishiguro’s debut novel, orchestrates these timelines with precision, inviting viewers to piece together truths that may shift beneath their feet.

Rather than presenting memory as a straightforward ledger of facts, Ishikawa sculpts it into a mosaic of vivid flashes and deliberate silences. Sepia-toned flashbacks register like half-remembered dreams—trees draped in mist, the silhouettes of schoolmasters, the wary glances of a burn-scarred child—while the muted greens of Etsuko’s English garden feel almost surreal in contrast. This interplay asks whether recollection serves self-preservation or self-delusion.

Questions of identity and inherited guilt hover throughout.

Some Studio Ghibli movies are sweet coming-of-age stories and tales of childhood whimsy, and they're all fully encapsulated narratives. Others cover more intense and complex topics like war, pollution, and human violence. The best ones, however, are often a blend of magical realism and emotional depth. That said, each Ghibli story comes full circle, offering thoughtful conclusions about difficult topics and hopeful happily ever afters after a hard-won character arc.

Studio Ghibli has a stellar reputation, even for audiences who don't really watch anime, although their offerings are generally more complex than the average anime series. In fact, most of their films are considered classics of the wider animation genre that includes Western movies. Even the more open-ended Ghibli films are satisfying and beg further thought. Studio Ghibli movies often work on more than one level — one that younger audiences will enjoy, and one that more mature viewers will appreciate.

Many of Studio Ghibli's movies bring viewers into a magical world full of wonder and spirits. However, not all of their anime movies follow this mentality. Some of their works feature little magic, allowing fans to find the magic in the mundane.

Although many Studio Ghibli fans prefer more magical anime to the more realistic films, these movies are not to be overlooked. There's beauty in the realistic, and Miyazaki recognizes this. These ten Studio Ghibli films feature stories taking place in the ordinary human world.

The Borrowers Hide in Our World in The Secret World of Arrietty Tiny Humans Live Among Us

The Secret World of Arrietty is a 2010 film with some fantasy elements. In this movie, there is a race of tiny humans called Borrowers. These little ones take things from the human world that they don't think will be missed before slipping away to hide between...

“Adrift in Tokyo” is the sixth feature by Japanese writer and director Satoshi Miki, whose reputation in his home country is based on his work in television, which is much infused with his particular brand of humor. While his films, unlike the work of colleagues like Takashi Miike or Takeshi Kitano, have largely remained unknown to many Western audiences, thanks to the attentiveness of companies such as the UK-based Third Window Films at least some of them can now be enjoyed in decent DVD releases. One of them is “Adrift in Tokyo”, a feature praised by critics and audiences as it was screened in various international festivals.

Adrift in Tokyo is screening at Five Flavours

Looking at the director, one might be excused to mistake him for one of his protagonists. With his goatee, slacker-like clothes and a floppy heat, Satoshi looks a bit like the Asian version of Johnny Depp...

Co-founder Hayao Miyazaki and other Studio Ghibli directors masterfully illuminate the complexities of connections between all living things throughout the studio's classic filmography. Studio Ghibli films stand out among other animated fare, partly for bravely featuring characters who defy traditional expectations. Unlikely allies, whether it's a spirited young heroine embarking on a perilous journey alongside a reclusive wizard like in Howl's Moving Castle or a demi-god and a prince navigating an industrial onslaught like in Princess Mononoke, Ghibli characters challenge traditional notions of friendship, loyalty, and appearances.

Transcending initial appearances to become sources of support and enlightenment for the protagonists, these characters play crucial roles in both the Ghibli canon and in the narratives where they're are featured. In the darkest moments, Studio Ghibli protagonists are only able to persevere and achieve their necessary enlightenment through these unexpected norm-defying alliances.

Arrietty & Shawn Look Past Their Differences and Connect Through Similarities...

In Wim Wenders‘ meditative, Perfect Days (2023), viewers are transported to a world where the ordinary transforms into the extraordinary with smooth and continuous strokes of cinematic poetry. The simplicity of daily routines takes on a profound significance, serving as a canvas for existential contemplation. Guided by the protagonist, Hirayama (Kôji Yakusho), the film unfolds with mesmerizing cadence, offering a unique exploration of the human condition. Wenders delicately captures the essence of existence through the lens of existential contemplation, creating a quiet rebellion against the noisy chaos of modern life in the metropolitan. The narrative whispers through the viewer’s mind, unveiling the beauty and blessedness in simple acts like waking up and going to work, turning them into moments of celebration. It challenges the audience to reconsider their own lives, prompting reflection on whether the pursuit of comfort and luxury is a means to an end or an end in itself.

In the 1960s, director Kinji Fukasaku created what would be the ultimate yakuza-sage for years to come with his “Battles Without Honor and Humanity”-series. While the various features of the series can be regarded as great entertainment on the one hand, they gain much more value when considered as a reflection on human greed, power and manipulation. Over the course of his career, director Takeshi Kitano has made quite a number of features, such as “Sonatine” or “Brother”, which would blend these themes with a certain poetic or philosophical approach, depending on your point of view. However, with the “Outrage”-series, he attempted to create his own version of Fukasaku's epic, albeit with a much more cynical undertone.

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The second entry into the “Outrage”-series, “Beyond Outrage”, takes place five years after the incidents of “Outrage”, with the...

Japan has selected Perfect Days, the Tokyo-based fiction feature from German filmmaker Wim Wenders, as its entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2024 Oscars.

The pic, which debuted in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, was picked by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. The decision marks the first time a non-Japanese filmmaker has been chosen to lead the country’s Oscars push. Wenders’ Perfect Days is likely to have beat out Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron for the spot.

The film’s official synopsis reads: Hirayama seems utterly content with his simple life as a cleaner of toilets in Tokyo. Outside of his very structured everyday routine, he enjoys his passion for music and books. He loves trees and takes photos of them. A series of unexpected encounters gradually reveals more of his past.

Starring are Koji Yakusho (Babel), newcomer Arisa Nakano,...

Film follows Keiko, deaf since birth, making her way in the ring when Covid-19 lockdown arrives in Japan and she must deal with confidence issues

The title is presumably meant to refer to the film’s fine-boned heroine Keiko Ogawa (Yukino Kishii), a scrappy boxer who has just turned professional, but it just as aptly describes the film itself: a delicate, atmospheric study that’s quite unlike most other fight movies. Based on a memoir by boxer Keiko Ogasawara, this very internal story unfolds during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a locked-down Japan adding a further layer of isolation to Keiko’s life. Thanks to Kishii’s luminous performance, Keiko comes across as a very self-sufficient but lonely figure, completely deaf since birth, who finds in fighting some kind of release and sensory thrill, even though her lack of hearing creates very specific challenges in the ring...

Wim Wenders’ Tokyo-based Cannes Competition title Perfect Days has clocked a series of international deals for The Match Factory.

Deals reported include UK/Ireland/Latam/Turkey (Mubi), Australia/New Zealand (Madman), Benelux (Paradiso), China (DDDream), Italy (Lucky Red), Spain (A Contracorriente), Switzerland (Dcm), Baltics (A-One Baltics), Bulgaria (Art Fest), Cis (A-One), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aerofilms), Former Yugoslavia (McF), Greece (Feelgood Entertainment), Hong Kong (Edko Films), Hungary (Cirko), Israel (Lev Cinemas), Poland (Gutek), Portugal (Alambique), Romania (Bad Unicorn), Scandinavia (Future Film) and Taiwan (Applause).

North American rights were previously sold to Neon, while France went to Haut et Court.

The official synopsis for the movie reads: Hirayama seems utterly content with his simple life as a cleaner of toilets in Tokyo. Outside of his very structured everyday routine he enjoys his passion for music and for books. And he loves trees and takes photos of them. A series of unexpected...

Exclusive: Neon is nearing a deal for North American rights to Cannes competition entry Perfect Days from The Match Factory in a deal pegged in the mid-to-high six figures.

The parties declined to comment.

Wim Wenders’ well-received Japan-set movie debuted today on the Croisette. The official synopsis for the movie reads: Hirayama seems utterly content with his simple life as a cleaner of toilets in Tokyo. Outside of his very structured everyday routine he enjoys his passion for music and for books. And he loves trees and takes photos of them. A series of unexpected encounters gradually reveal more of his past.

Starring are Koji Yakusho (Babel), newcomer Arisa Nakano, Tokio Emoto (Norwegian Wood), Yumi Aso (Carnation), Sayuri Ishikawa, Tomokazu Miura (Adrift in Tokyo), Aoi Yamada (Netflix series First Love) and veteran actor and dancer Min Tanaka (The Twilight Samurai).

Related: Cannes Film Festival 2023: All...

Exclusive: The Match Factory will be handling world sales on Wim Wenders’ Japan-set Cannes Competition entry Perfect Days.

The film reunites three-time Oscar nominee Wenders with Cannes, where he has debuted 12 movies and previously won the Palme d’Or for Paris, Texas.

The official synopsis reads: “Hirayama seems utterly content with his simple life as a cleaner of toilets in Tokyo. Outside of his very structured everyday routine he enjoys his passion for music and for books. And he loves trees and takes photos of them. A series of unexpected encounters gradually reveal more of his past.” Above is a first look image of the film.

Starring are Koji Yakusho (Babel), newcomer Arisa Nakano, Tokio Emoto (Norwegian Wood), Yumi Aso (Carnation), Sayuri Ishikawa, Tomokazu Miura (Adrift in Tokyo), Aoi Yamada (Netflix series First Love) and veteran actor and dancer...

Miyake Sho’s female-led boxing drama “Small, Slow, But Steady” has been named the best Japanese film of 2022 by Kinema Junpo magazine. This honor has been awarded annually since 1924 and is considered the Japanese industry’s most prestigious.

Kishii Yukino, who starred as a struggling deaf boxer, claimed the best actress award, while Miura Tomokazu, who played her supportive, but unsparingly, honest gym manager, was named best supporting actor. Finally, Miyake was voted the year’s best Japanese director in a readers’ poll.

The film premiered in the Berlin festival’s Encounters section last year. It later played widely on the festival circuit, including at China’s Pingyao festival where it won the gala-audience prize.

Among other awards, Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” was named best foreign film, while veteran Takahashi Banmei won the best director prize and Kajiwara Aki the best screenplay award for the drama “No Place to Go” about a middle-aged woman driven to homelessness during the pandemic.

Tatsushi Ohmori made an impressive transition from arthouse filmmaker to cineplex crowd pleaser. Known for violent disruptions of conventions both cinematic and social, he created his own style, starting in 2005 with the debut film “The Whispering of Gods”. His latest production, “Goodbye Cruel World”, is a heist movie about a group of people who rob a Yakuza gang. Betrayal, love, and revenge are mixed together and crowned with an A-List cast.

Goodbye Cruel World is screening at Hawai’i International Film Festival

Nao Ohmori (“Outrage Coda” 2017) steals the show as a detective hired by the yakuza to find the culprits. On the other side, “Drive my Car” actor Hidetoshi Nishijima leads the robbers, consisting of Takumi Saitoh (“Shin Godzilla” 2016), Hio Miyazawa (“his” 2020), Tina Tamashiro (“Diner” 2019), Tomokazu Miura (“Adrift in Tokyo” 2007), and Daisuke Miyagawa (“Drop” 2009). All the characters are portrayed in a passive way, and their story is told with many omissions,...

The year is 2020, but according to the autobiographical book it is based on, the ‘monogatari’ of Sho Miyake’s truly impressive drama “Small, Slow but Steady” should be set in the 2010’s. Looking at it, this is not the only trick the audience falls for – the film’s beginning fools you into believing that you are watching a real deal, a documentary about the female boxer Keiko Ogasawara (Yukino Kishii) who entered history as the first professional with dissability in this sport. This is not only due to the opening cards informing the audience about the main protagonist’s background and her inborn sensorineural hearing loss which resulted in no hearing in either ear, but equally as much by observing her during a long, intense training in the gym. We are additionally told that she became a licenced professional boxer in 2019 with an amazing victory in her first fight.

After three features which focused on Japanese media, society and the cult surrounding his own persona, director Takeshi Kitano decided to return to the yakuza-genre with “Outrage”, which was the start of a trilogy of movies about the inner turmoil of a criminal syndicate. Given the commercial failure of works such as “Takeshis’” and “Achilles and the Tortoise”, this decision was perhaps also fueled by the idea of winning back the kind of audience that got to know the filmmaker through “Sonatine”, “Brother” or “Hana-Bi”. While this premise does not actually sound like “Outrage” might be Kitano’s passion project, the movie itself, along with its successors, is easily one of the best works of the director and, at the very least, another look at the connections of organized crime and society.

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After a meeting at the headquarters of the Sanno-kai,...

What drops of cinema are still to be wrung from boxing? The new Japanese drama Small, Slow But Steady is about as calm and modest as its title suggests, but there are surprising swings within those margins. Aesthetically it takes some cues from certain films of the 1960s, notably those of the late Yasujirō Ozu, but its drama could hardly be more contemporary. Gleamed, if not quite ripped, from the headlines, it partially tells the true story of Keiko Ogasawara, a female boxer who went pro in 2009, becoming the first hearing-impaired person in Japan to ever do so, then won her first fight with a shock first round knockout. Can’t say I’ve seen that one before.

Loosely adapting Ogasawara’s 2011 autobiography Makenaide, director Shô Miyake moves this unlikely story to the present day and creates not only one of the best low-key sports films of recent years, but...

The year is 2020, but according to the autobiographical book it is based on, the ‘monogatari’ of Sho Miyake’s truly impressive drama “Small, Slow but Steady” should be set in the 2010’s. Looking at it, this is not the only trick the audience falls for – the film’s beginning fools you into believing that you are watching a real deal, a documentary about the female boxer Keiko Ogasawara (Yukino Kishii) who entered history as the first professional with dissability in this sport. This is not only due to the opening cards informing the audience about the main protagonist’s background and her inborn sensorineural hearing loss which resulted in no hearing in either ear, but equally as much by observing her during a long, intense training in the gym. We are additionally told that she became a licenced professional boxer in 2019 with an amazing victory in her first fight. Add...

Not since Alfred Hitchcock’s 1927 silent “The Ring” has there been a boxing film quite so quiet as “Small, Slow But Steady,” a gentle but hard-edged study of a flyweight female pugilist in suburban Tokyo. More concerned with the wear and tear of everyday life than pummeling sound and fury, director Shô Miyake’s measured, unsentimental adaptation of a memoir by Keiko Ogasawara — who turned professional despite the difficulties of lifelong deafness — turns out to be somewhat aptly described by its own title, though none of those adjectives quite conveys its rare and delicate grace. A highlight of the Encounters program at this year’s Berlinale, this unassuming gem should turn the heads of specialist distributors and further festival programmers, despite its general avoidance of crowd-courting tactics.

In adapting Ogasawara’s book “Makenaide!” — which translates, with an imperative urgency the film doesn’t share, as “Do Not Lose!” — Miyake and...

Shô Miyake’s Small, Slow But Steady is a rare breed of a sports film. Composed, meditative and, ultimately, sensitive, the usual aesthetics of boxing as spectacular and drenched in adrenaline are abandoned in favour of a silent study of ritualistic gestures, more reminiscent of Frederick Wiseman’s Boxing Gym (2010) than of bombastic pop-culture achievements like Rocky. Miyake is not concerned with that greater-than-life, climatic feeling of overcoming your opponent, but with the sporadic nature of finding the will to fight – in sport, and in life.

Based on Keiko Ogasawara’s autobiographical Makenaide! (i.e. Don’t lose/Don’t give up), the film follows recently turned pro-fighter Keiko Ogawa (Yukino Kishii) as she trains in a small, run-down, once prestigious gym on one secluded, yet scenic street in Tokyo. Keiko was born Deaf, and as her coach (veteran actor Tomokazu Miura) explains at one point to a curious journalist,...

The boxing dreams drama is fifth fiction feature by Japanese director Shô Miyake who was last in Berlin in 2019.

Paris-based sales company Charades has boarded Japanese director Shô Miyake’s drama Small Slow But Steady ahead of its premiere in the Encounters section of the Berlinale.

Yukino Kishii stars as a hearing-impaired young woman with dreams of becoming a professional boxer. The Covid-19 pandemic combined with the threatened closure of her boxing club and the illness of its ageing president (played by Tomokazu Miura), who has been her biggest supporter, push her to the limit.

Miyake, whose career spans fiction,...

The “Detective Team” that swept the world rampages in Tokyo! Chinatown detective duo Tan Len (Wang Baoqiang) and Chin Fung (Liu Haoran), who have settled the case internationally, are from Japanese detective Noda Hiroshi (Satoshi Tsumabuki). He was asked to cooperate in solving a difficult case and flew to Tokyo. This mission is a false accusation of Yakuza leader Masaru Watanabe (Tomokazu Miura), who was charged as a criminal in a closed-room murder case of the Mafia chairman in Southeast Asia. Thai detective and former detective Jack Jar (Tony Jaa) also participates and tries to solve it, but an incident occurs in which Anna Kobayashi (Masami Nagasawa), the secretary of the murdered chairman, is kidnapped. The case is complicated by the involvement of an elite detective, Naoki Tanaka (Tadanobu Asano), who boasts a 100% case resolution rate, and a mysterious wanted criminal, Akira Murata (Sota Sometani). In addition, detectives who are...

The 3/11 catastrophe is a reoccurring topic in recent Japanese cinema. After a slow start, the industry seems to be confident enough to tackle the trauma. It almost took nine years for a big production company to release the premier Fukushima-themed blockbuster, “Fukushima 50” by Setsuro Wakamatsu. In the same year Nobuhiru Suwa, film director and President of the Tokyo Zokei University, presents “Voices in the Wind”. For the first time in 18 years, Suwa returns to his home country to tell a devastating and haunting roadtrip drama about 17-year-old Haru, who lost her parents in the tsunami and travels to the place that once was her home.

Voices in the Wind is screening at Camera Japan

In the northern coast town of Otsuchi, there is a white telephone booth to which over 30.000 people from all over Japan have come to speak to the “loved ones” that were lost in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Warner Bros. International Television Production and Japanese pay-tv broadcaster Wowow are partnering for a third season of Japan's hit local-language remake of Cold Case.

The new season, titled Cold Case: The Door to the Truth, will star Yo Yoshida, Kento Nagayama, Kenichi Takito, Ken Mitsuishi and Tomokazu Miura. Directors include Takafumi Hatano, Akira Uchikata and Toshiyuki Morishita. The third season, which will again be 10 episodes, will premiere in Winter 2020.

The commission will bring the series to 30 episodes in total — the requisite number for global licensing and distribution deals.

The first two seasons of Cold Case achieved ratings ...

In celebration of the Chinese New Year, Warner Bros. Pictures will invite audiences throughout the U.S. and Canada to experience the newest chapter in the hugely popular international franchise with the domestic theatrical release of “Detective Chinatown 3.” The action-comedy-mystery sequel is set to open in more than 150 theaters and limited IMAX engagements in major cities across North America, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Toronto and Vancouver, on January 24, 2020, day-and-date with the film’s much-anticipated release in China by Wanda Pictures. “Detective Chinatown 3” is one of the widest releases among all Mandarin language films in North America in recent years.

Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran reprise their roles as a mismatched crime-solving duo in the film, again written and directed by Chen Sicheng. Set in Tokyo, where the pair embarks on their latest misadventure, the film also features Thai martial arts superstar Tony Jaa...

“In my 8th college year, buying 3-colour toothpaste I thought could save me from my rock-bottom situation.”

“Adrift in Tokyo” is the sixth feature by Japanese writer and director Satoshi Miki, whose reputation in his home country is based on his work in television, which is much infused with his particular brand of humor. While his films, unlike the work of colleagues like Takashi Miike or Takeshi Kitano, have largely remained unknown to many Western audiences, thanks to the attentiveness of companies such as the UK-based Third Window Films at least some of them can now be enjoyed in decent DVD releases. One of them is “Adrift in Tokyo”, a feature praised by critics and audiences as it was screened in various international festivals.

Looking at the director, one might be excused to mistake him for one of his protagonists. With his goatee, slacker-like clothes and a floppy heat,...

Stars: Masato Sakai, Mitsuki Takahata, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Min Tanaka, Jun Kunimura, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Tomokazu Miura, Sakura Ando, Tamao Nakamura, Koji Ohkura, Mayu Tsuruta | Written and Directed by Takashi Yamazaki

The honeymoon is over for newlyweds Akiko and Masakazu Isshiki, who’ve just moved into his family home in the quiet town of Kamakura. While her husband, an author of fantastic fiction, struggles with writers block, Akiko has to come to terms with the rough spots in a marriage – the misunderstandings, the doubts, her husbands obsessive toy-train hobby. And then there are the peculiarities of Kamakura, which, as Masakazu remarks offhandedly, has been a magnet for mystical energy for millennia. Ghosts, goblins, even a charming local death god amble through its streets, and what’s more, her husband moonlights as a “spectral investigator” for the local police! For such a sleepy little town, there are certainly a lot of strange things going on.

The awards were first presented in 1976, from the sports newspaper Hochi Shinbun, currently named Sports Hochi. The voters include readers of the newspaper and a committee of Japanese film critics.

This year’s ceremony was held on December 20th, at Prince Park Hotel, in Tokyo, and the winners were:

Best Picture: Her Love Boils Bathwater (Ryota Nakano)

Best International Picture: Creed (Ryan Coogler)

Best Actor: Tomokazu Miura (Katsuragi Case)

Best Actress: Rie Miyazawa (Her Love Boils Bathwater)

Best Supporting Actor: Go Ayano (Rage)

Best Supporting Actress: Hana Sugisaki (Her Love Boils Bathwater)

Best New Artist: Takanori Iwata (Evergreen Love) Ryota Nakano (Her Love Boils Bathwater)

Special Award: Your Name

Best Director: Lee Sang-il (Rage)...

The police have a reputation to protect.

Picking up where Outrage (2010) left off, Beyond Outrage (2012) goes a bit further.  With Otomo (Takeshi Kitano) in prison and the Sanno yakuza family in ascension, the police (particularly Det. Kataoka (Fumiyo Kohinata)) stir the pot by pitting one set of gangsters against another.  When Kataoka tries and fails to use the ambitious Tomita (Akira Nakao) to lure the Hanabishi into a war with the Sanno, he goes back to Otomo--a badass killer of the old school--to team up with Kimura (Hideo Nakano)--who, incidentally, stabbed Otomo in jail for killing his (Kimura's) former boss and permanently, hideously scarring his face--to use their mutual grudge against Kato (Tomokazu Miura), the current Chairman of the Sanno (who, incidentally, got to that position by murdering his former boss in the last movie) and bring the Hanabishi into war with the Sanno.  It seems a bit complicated,...

Title: Beyond Outrage (Aka Outrage Beyond) Directed by: Takeshi Kitano Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Toshiyuki Nishida, Tomokazu Miura, Fumiyo Kohinata Running time: 112 minutes, Rated R, Available now on VOD/iTunes – In theaters 01/03/14 The anticipated sequel to Outrage. The police have organized a crackdown of the two major Yakuza crime sydicates – the Sanno and Hanabishi. Detective Kataoka (Fumiyo Kohinata) proposes an early prison realase of Otomo (Takeshi Kitano), a former Yakuza. Kataoka hopes that Otomo will seek out revenge from being forced to serve time and take out the bosses of both syndicates. His plan works and both syndicates are forced to unite. How far will Otomo take his [ Read More ]

The post Beyond Outrage Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Internationally-renowned actor-director Takeshi Kitano returns with Beyond Outrage, his follow up to 2011's Outrage. We have an exclusive TV spot for fans to check out, before this action-packed sequel arrives on iTunes and other VOD formats November 28, ahead of its theatrical debut on January 3, 2014. This explosive thriller co-stars Ryo Kase, Toshiyuki Nishida and Shun Sugata.

With Beyond Outrage, action cinema master Takeshi Kitano returns to the hard boiled characters, black comedy and unflinching violence of his crime masterpiece Outrage. This time, a manipulative police crackdown on organized crime has ignited a tricky power struggle in the yakuza underworld.

The Sanno crime family has grown into a massive organization dominated by young executives whose new approach to running the family is causing frustration and pent-up resentment with the old-guard members. This vulnerability in the Sanno hierarchy is exactly what anti-gang detective Kataoka has been looking for, as the police force prepares a full-scale crackdown.

Takeshi Kitano is back!! Watch the Red Band Trailer of Outrage Beyond the long waited sequel of Outrage (2010).

The great Japanese director Takeshi Kitano returns to the big screen with the genre that gave him international recognition and made him one of the best Asian filmmakers.

Outrage Beyond

Director: Takeshi Kitano

Screenwriter: Takeshi Kitano

Cast: Beat Takeshi (Takeshi Kitano), Toshiyuki Nishida, Tomokazu Miura, Ryo Kase, Hideo Nakano, Yutaka Matsushige, Fumiyo Kohinata

Music: Keiichi Suzuki

Photography: Katsumi Yanagijma

Production: Japan | 2012

Original Title: Autoreiji Biyondo

Duration: 110 minutes

Rated: R

Ôtomo (Beat Takeshi) now a free man seek to live his life away from the yakuza world but during his imprisonment, things have changed. The Sanno family – who destroyed Ôtomo´s family – has become too powerful and the old-guard members felt that the young leaders are risking the whole business because of their extreme greed. Knowing this situation, Kataoka -an anti-gang detective decides...

Japanese legend Kitano Takeshi returns to the Yakuza genre once again with “Outrage Beyond”, the follow up to his 2010 slice of commercially and critically popular ultra-violence. Given that the film was his most successful outing as director for some time, this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, and fans will be pleased to hear that the sequel keeps the same level of brutality, while adding a little more in the way of plot. As with most of Kitano’s films, “Outrage Beyond” was picked up by a variety of international festivals, screening in competition at Venice, and generally played to positive reviews that acknowledged it as a hardcore return to old school Japanese gang cinema. The film takes place five years after the finale of “Outrage”, with the Sanno clan now being run by survivors Kato (Tomokazu Miura) and Ishihara (Kase Ryo), who are trying to take...

Starring:

Takeshi Kitano

Tomokazu Miura

Ryo Kase

Fumiyo Kohinata

Toshiyuki Nishida

Director:Takeshi Kitano

Distributed by: Warner Bros

Outrage Beyond is a 2012 Japanese yakuza film directed by Takeshi Kitano and sequel of Kitano’s 2010 Outrage. It was in competition for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival

Plot

The Sanno crime family has grown into a huge organization, expanding its power into politics and legitimate big business. The Sanno’s upper ranks are now dominated by young executives, and the old-guard members are penting up resentment while being pushed to the sidelines. This vulnerable spot in the Sanno hierachy is exactly what anti-gang detective Kataoka has been looking for, as the police force prepares a full-scale crackdown. With secret plots and dirty tricks, the ambitious Kataoka instigates conflict between the Sanno and their long-time ally, the Hanabishi, in the hopes that they ultimately destroy each other. But...

It’s enough to forget that the director of Diner, The Natural, and Rain Man made a new film. More surprising, however, is letting slip the fact that it’s a found footage horror extravaganza. Everyone can get in on the fad these days, but I can’t keep track.

Barry Levinson will premiere his genre jump, The Bay, when the Toronto International Film Festival kicks off in just a few short weeks; naturally, we have our first look. Nothing about these shots necessarily communicates the found footage aesthetic — i.e., no Hud or blinking “Record” lights — or anything past “people get sores on their body.”

But Nyff, in announcing it as part of their midnight lineup, provide this rundown:

“Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Wag the Dog) takes an unexpected turn towards eco-horror in this creepfest produced by found footage pioneer Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity) about a outbreak...

When it comes to Venice Film Festival, Japanese director Takeshi Kitano is definitely not a stranger. I’m sure you all remember his Hana Bi from 1997 (for which he recevied the Golden Lion), or 2003 Zatoichi project (Silver Lion statue).

Well, guess what, Kitano is now back In Competition with his completely new project, titled Outrage Beyond. And, in case this sounds like it has something to do with Kitano’s Outrage movie from last year’s Cannes film festival – relax, you’re not tripping – it’s just a sequel to the original story…

So, this time we have the Sanno crime family all grown into a huge organization, expanding its power into politics and legitimate big business. The Sanno’s upper ranks are now dominated by young executives, and the old-guard members are penting up resentment while being pushed to the sidelines.

This vulnerable spot in the Sanno hierarchy is...

Renowned Japanese writer-director-actor Takeshi Kitano (Dolls, Zatoichi) returned to the big screen back in 2010 with his yakuza film, Outrage.

Debuting to great reviews at Cannes two years ago, Kitano is heading to Venice and Toronto next month with the sequel, Outrage Beyond, and now the first full-length trailer has been released – it’s in the original Japanese, with no subtitles, but it still looks awesome regardless of whether or not you understand exactly what is going on.

“As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West. What started as an internal strife in Outrage has now become a nationwide war in Outrage Beyond.”

Kitano is directing from his own script, and stars (as Beat Takeshi) alongside Ryo Kase, Tomokazu Miura, Toshiyuki Nishida, Hideo Nakano, Yutaka Matsushige, and Fumiyo Kohinata.

Outrage Beyond will...

Following the Toronto International Film Festival line-up earlier this week, the 69th Venice Film Festival has weighed in with their choices this morning. Outside of films also premiering at Tiff — including most notably Ramin Bahrani‘s At Any Price and Terrence Malick‘s To the Wonder – they have a strong batch of films not at that fest. We have the highly anticipated next feature from Olivier Assayas (Summer Hours, Carlos), titled Something In The Air, as well as Brian De Palma‘s sensual thriller Passion with Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace.

Then things get a little silly with Harmony Korine‘s James Franco and Selena Gomez gangster/party film Spring Breakers. Rounding out the other major titles are Susanne Bier following up her Oscar win with Love Is All You Need and Spike Lee’s Michael Jackson documentary Bad 25. The lack of Paul Thomas Anderson‘s heavily rumored The Master...

This week sees the line-up announcement of not one but two of the year’s biggest events in the film industry. Toronto International Film Festival’s line-up was officially announced earlier this week, and was absolutely fantastic, and now the Venice International Film Festival have officially announced their line-up, featuring some incredibly anticipated films as well.

The festival will run from 29th August to 8th September, and will be opened by Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, making its world debut and premiering out of competition. Heading up the most notable films among the announcement are Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers, with James Franco, Selena Gomez, and Vanessa Hudgens; Brian De Palma’s Passion, with Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace; Ramin Bahrani’s At Any Price, with Zac Efron, Dennis Quaid, and Heather Graham; Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage: Beyond, with Tomokazu Miura, Ryo Kase, and Fumiyo Kohinata; Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep,...

On Tuesday, further cast members were announced for the upcoming Strawberry Night movie, including Takao Osawa and Tomokazu Miura as brand new characters.

It was previously known that Yuko Takeuchi would be reprising her role from the 2010 Fuji TV special and 2012 drama as the main protagonist, detective Reiko Himekawa.

The film is based on Tetsuya Honda’s 2009 novel “Invisible Rain” and features a story of forbidden love between Himekawa and a gangster played by Osawa.

The story begins with Himekawa investigating the slaughter of a low-ranking yakuza. Due to the victim’s affiliations, the case is initially written off as a gang dispute and put on the back-burner due to a lack of conclusive evidence. Later, they receive a phone tip implicating a man named Kento Yanai as the perpetrator, but the higher-ups order that no further investigation be done of that particular name.

Going against that order, Himekawa begins...

The upcoming sequel to Takeshi Kitano's 2010 gangster film Outrage has been a tough one to figure, and fair warning -- the reason for that involves some spoilers from the original.

On Tuesday, a press event was held at Seimei no Mori Resort in Chiba Prefecture to present the cast of the second film, now titled Outrage Beyond. New additions Toshiyuki Nishida, Yutaka Matsushige, Katsunori Takahashi, Kenta Kiritani, and Hirofumi Arai were in attendance along with returning cast members Kitano, Tomokazu Miura, Ryo Kase, and Fumiyo Kohinata.

There has been some question about how a sequel might work, simply because the first film was a complete blood bath. Most of the main characters were killed and it ended with Kitano's character, Otomo, getting stabbed and then later being confirmed dead by Kohinata's character, a crooked detective named Kataoka.

Producer Masayuki Mori confirmed that Otomo is in fact alive, but was...

Director: Miki Satoshi. Review: Adam Wing. Up to now, Fumiya’s life has been anything but extraordinary. A university student for the past eight years, his life is going nowhere fast, but all’s about to change the day he meets Fukuhara. Fumiya owes money to loan sharks and one day; a man called Fukuhara turns up to collect the repayments. Unsurprisingly, Fumiya can’t afford to pay the loan back so Fukuhara makes a proposition. He will cancel the debt as long as Fumiya agrees to walk with him across Tokyo to the police station of Kasumigaseki, where he plans to turn himself in for a crime he deeply regrets. Adrift in Tokyo is a touching drama by Miki Satoshi, the director of Instant Swamp and Turtles are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers. Not having much choice in the matter, Fumiya reluctantly accepts Fukuhara’s offer. And so begins a comical,...

“Adrift in Tokyo” (released domestically as “Tenten”) is a 2007 outing from cult favourite director Satoshi Miki, who has been responsible for some of the best loved of the recent wave of eccentric Japanese comedies, including “Instant Swamp” and “Turtles are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers”. Headlined by the extremely effective pairing of actors Joe Odagiri (“I Wish”, “Shinobi”) and Tomokazu Miura (“The Taste of Tea”), the film is a whimsical stroll through the city, with the two getting caught up in the kind of odd events and unexpected adventures that Miki has become so well known for. The film finally lands on region 2 DVD via Third Window on February 27th. Joe Odagiri plays slacker and eternal student type Takemura, the film opening with him having a sock stuffed in his mouth by debt collector Fukuhara (Tomokazu Miura) in an effort to try to get him to finally pay off his mountain of bills.

Third Window Films continue to do amazing work for the distribution of Asian films…

Adrift in Tokyo

(Cert Tbc)

A film by Miki Satoshi

(Instant Swamp, Turtles are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers)

Best Script / Best Film (Special Mention) – Fantasia Film Festival

Best Supporting Actor – Kinema Junpo Awards, Closing Film – Toronto Reel Asian Ff

- Synopsis -

Leading a lazy life, Fumiya has been a university student for 8 years and owes money to loan sharks. One day, a man named Fukuhara comes to collect the loan, which Fumiya cannot pay. So Fukuhara makes a proposition: He will cancel the debt as long as Fumiya agrees to walk with him across Tokyo to the police station of Kasumigaseki, where he intends to turn himself in for a crime he deeply regrets. Not having much choice, Fumiya accepts the deal. Thus begins their journey which will lead them to various unusual encounters, most of all with themselves.

Walt Disney Pictures, along with Pixar and Marvel Studios, has released a preview of their upcoming 2012 release schedule for movies opening between January and December of this New Year. These movies include Beauty and the Beast 3D, The Secret World of Arrietty, John Carter, Chimpanzee, Marvel's the Avengers, Brave, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Finding Nemo, Frankenweenie, and Wreck-It Ralph.

Beauty and the Beast 3D - January 13

Walt Disney Animation Studios' magical classic Beauty and the Beast returns to the big screen in Disney Digital 3D&#8482, introducing a whole new generation to the Disney classic with stunning new 3D imagery. The film captures the fantastic journey of Belle (voice of Paige O'Hara), a bright and beautiful young woman who's taken prisoner by a hideous beast (voice of Robby Benson) in his castle. Despite her precarious situation, Belle befriends the castle's enchanted staff: A teapot, a candelabra and a mantel clock,...

Walt Disney Pictures has released the second trailer for The Secret World of Arrietty, which arrives in theaters nationwide February 17, 2012. Click on the video player below for your latest look at this Studio Ghibli animated tale. We also have the fourth poster for The Secret World of Arrietty, which you can view below the trailer.

Click to watch The Secret World of Arrietty Trailer!

Residing quietly beneath the floorboards are little people who live undetected in a secret world to be discovered, where the smallest may stand tallest of all. From the legendary Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Ponyo) comes The Secret World of Arrietty, an animated adventure based on Mary Norton's acclaimed children's book series The Borrowers.

The Secret World of Arrietty comes to theaters February 17th, 2012 and stars Mirai Shida, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Shinobu Ôtake, Keiko Takeshita, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Tomokazu Miura, Kirin Kiki, Will Arnett. The film is directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi,...

Photo: Walt Disney Pictures Co-written and exec-produced by Hayao Miyazaki, we now have a new, English-language trailer for Arrietty (Kari-gurashi no Arietti), the directorial debut of Hiromasa Yonebayashi and based on Mary Norton's novel of the same name.

The story centers on a sickly little boy named Sho (voiced by Tom Holland) who comes to live with his great aunt Sadako (voiced by Carol Burnett). Seeing a cat chasing something in the bushes, he comes across a tiny borrower - so called because they 'borrow' everything they need from humans up above. She's Arrietty (voiced by Saoirse Ronan), whose mother Homily (voiced by Olivia Colman) warns her about befriending Sho, since borrowers are not supposed to be seen by humans. But Arietty disobeys her mother and becomes firm friends with Sho. Realizing they have been discovered, Arrietty's father, Pod (voiced by Mark Strong), makes plans to move out of the house.

The first international trailer has been released for the upcoming Studio Ghibli movie Arrietty, which is slated for release on February 17, 2012. Click on the video player below for your first look at this animated tale from director Hiromasa Yonebayashi and screenwriter Hayao Miyazaki.

Click to watch Arrietty International Trailer!

14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items "borrowed" from the house's human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty.

Arrietty comes to theaters February 17th, 2012 and stars Mirai Shida, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Shinobu Ôtake, Keiko Takeshita, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Tomokazu Miura, Kirin Kiki, Will Arnett. The film is directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi.

Last May, the film Railways was released in Japan and got unprecedented support from men in their 40s and 50s, unexpectedly attracting over 500,000 people to theaters. Today it was announced that Tomokazu Miura will star in Railways 2.

In the original work, Kiichi Nakai starred as a 49-year-old electronics company executive in Shimane Prefecture who suddenly quits his job to follow through on his childhood dream of becoming a train driver. Coincidentally, Miura’s son Takahiro Miura made his debut in that film.

In the sequel, Miura will play Toru Takishima, a man who has spent 42 years working as a train driver for Toyama Chiho Railway and is now 1 month away from the age of retirement. However, he and his wife of many years, Sawako (Kimiko Yo), reach a crossroads after a re-examination of a previously benign tumor changes her outlook on life. Miura and Yo previously played a married couple...