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"Am I pretty?" Kani Releasing has debuted an official US trailer for a Japanese indie film titled Desert of Namibia, the second feature made by young Japanese filmmaker Yoko Yamanaka. This first premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar section, and it will be playing in US art house theaters starting this May – one year later. The film stars Yumi Kawai as 21-year-old Satsuki – she swaps boyfriends frequently, unconcerned with career or societal norms. Her unpredictable behavior leads to a misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder, as she navigates a rigid, patriarchal society. Described in one review as: "Elusive, Desert of Namibia is an ultra-melancholic slapstick comedy, a slow-burn vaudeville, a fantasy film without monsters or ghosts–or else entirely populated by monsters and ghosts, but with a seemingly everyday quality..." And it also "masterfully conveys the chaos and disarray of a young woman at odds with...

After “The Albino’s Tree” (2016) and “Ring Wandering” (2021), director Masakazu Kaneko continues his dispute between humankind and nature.

River Returns is screening at Cinema at Sea

Set in 1958 during Japan’s economic boom, “River Returns” is a fantasy drama about a boy named Yucha, who lives in a mountain village together with his father and his grandmother. He learns about the tale of Oyu, whose fate caused the outbreak of many typhoons and floods that have damaged the village. Equipped with a wooden bowl that played in important role in Oyu’s life, the young boy begins a journey into the woods to meet her spirit and to save his family. In flashbacks, the fairytale-like narration tells about the love story of Oyu, who used to be a villager and fell in love with a woodcarver from the mountain tribe Kijiya. Their forbidden love caused sorrow that triggered the natural disasters.

Golden Kamuy Streaming Release Date: How and When to Watch the Live-Action Film Adaptation of the Manga Series ( Photo Credit – YouTube )

After impressing Japanese audiences, Golden Kamuy, the live-action adaptation of the manga series by the same name, is headed for a global release on Netflix. Akin to the manga, the film is set in the early 20th century and follows a Russo-Japanese War hero who sets on a quest to find a treasure hidden in the Hokkaido region of Japan.

The film hit the Japan theaters on January 19th, 2024, opening at the first spot at the box office. Ever since, worldwide audiences have been waiting for its release in the international markets. The wait is almost over, as Golden Kamuy will be streaming on Netflix soon.

Golden Kamuy Streaming Release Date

Golden Kamuy is going to premiere on Netflix on Sunday, May 19th, 2024, exactly four months after its Japanese release.

"Why is there no realism in action?" Well Go USA is releasing this movie on video in March coming up soon - take a look at the official trailer for Japanese action thriller One-Percent Warrior. This also goes under the title One-Percenter, though the US release title is slightly different. After his devastatingly fast, samurai-style combat approach sets filmmakers against him, a legendary action star makes his own movie—on turf claimed by feuding yakuza gangs, one including Japan's deadliest martial arts assassin. International action sensation Tak Sakaguchi stars as a legendary, aging action film star who is drawn into the real world of violence when feuding yakuza gangs infiltrate the set of his directorial feature debut. Caught in the middle of a chaotic battle with an increasing body count, he must face whether his martial arts training is enough to save him. With action choreography by Kensuke Sonomura, it stars Sho Aoyagi,...

After “Shark Skin Man and the Peach Hip Girl”, director Katsuhito Ishii had established himself as one of the many new, unique voices within the Japanese film industry. The adaptation of Minetaro Mochizuki's manga also managed to raise some eyebrows internationally and displayed the filmmaker's style as well as the themes he wanted to talk about, namely the contrast of make-believe and reality, which has become quite blurry over time, especially due to the rise of social media. In his next project “Party 7”, Ishii would venture deeper into this theme, while also expanding his use of the language of cinema, creating yet another unique and creative feature about the lies we tell ourselves and others, and how they become real in the end.

on Terracotta

Chased by the members of his gang, Miki (Masatoshi Nagase) seeks refuge in the hotel New Mexico, a place well-hidden from any tourists and visitors,...

Rotterdam programmers always had a knack for screening “weird” Japanese films, as in the case of Akira Ikeda for example. “Shell and Joint” definitely follows that “legacy”.

“Shell and Joint” is screening at the International Film Festival Rotterdam

The film comprises of a series of vignettes, where various character interact, with a capsule hotel, insects and a number of existential topics providing the connection among them. The main sketch revolves around two reception attendants, a man and a woman who happen to be childhood friends, who talk about suicide in a rather surrealistic way, since the woman has made multiple attempts herself, but blames it all on bacteria that control her mind.

Apart from them, the sauna room in the hotel is a recurring setting, where a number of people discuss mostly about sex, men for their erection and women for the perversions of men and their performances in bed.

Last year, director Shion Sono chose to film his live-action adaptation of Himizu in an area devastated by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, incorporating the effects of disaster into the story. With his next film, The Land of Hope, he’s going a step further by making a human drama about a family living within the evacuation radius of a damaged nuclear power plant during the disaster.

It was previously known that the story would focus on three primary couples played by Isao Natsuyagi, Naoko Otani, Jun Murakami, Megumi Kagurazaka, Yutaka Shimizu, and Hikari Kajiwara—with Denden playing someone with important ties to the main family. Today it was revealed that Daikichi Sugawara, Takashi Yamanaka, and Kenzo Kawarazaki would also star.

Additionally, the film will boast a fairly large cast of established actors in smaller supporting roles including Yusuke Iseya, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Fusako Urabe, Gitan Ohtsuru, Satoshi Matsuo, Shiro Namiki,...

Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura Writers: Yoshihiro Nakamura, Gen Araki (novel) Starring: Shiori Kutsuna, Ryô Nishikido, Hitomi Satô, Keisuke Horibe, Jun Inoue, Rie Tomosaka, Yûji Nakamura, Hiroki Konno Yasubei (Ryo Nishikikido) is a 25-year old samurai who finds himself transported from 19th century Edo to modern day Tokyo. The first people Yasubei meets are a single mom, Hiroko (Rie Tomosaka), and her 6-year old son, Tomoya (Fuku Suzuki). Needless to say, everyone is confused, but no one is more so than Yasubei. Hiroko and Tomoya are also a little freaked out by Yasubei's sword and aggression, but they still decide to allow him to move into their household. Yasubei opts to become a single mother's fantasy -- a homemaker who allows Hiroko to excel at her corporate job -- while simultaneously becoming a young boy's ideal father. (What 6-year old Japanese boy does not dream of having a samurai as a father?...

Yesterday it was announced that manga artist Tatsuya Egawa (Golden Boy, Tokyo Daigaku Monogatari) has completed work on his second live-action film as a director and that it will be released this summer. Unlike his last film, 2006’s “Tokyo University Story”, this is not based on one of his manga, but an entirely original story.

Takuya Ishida (The Chasing World) and Sei Ashina (Nanase Futatabi: The Movie) star as two of 10 people gathered together in a room to play a mysterious game. In fact, they’ve each been brought there under a secret contract, and are not allowed to reveal any details about their true identities to each other. The film is said to highlight dark aspects of the human psyche, illustrating people’s potential for lust and violence when trapped somewhere and controlled.

Other cast members include Shunsuke Kubozuka, Ai Maeda, Keisuke Horibe, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Nana Natsume, Jai West,...

Word began to trickle out early this year about the film adaptation of the suspense comedy Akumu no Elevator, which is based on the first installment of author Hanta Kinoshita’s popular “Akumu series”. It marks the the directorial debut of actor Keisuke Horibe and stars Masaaki Uchino, Aimi Satsukawa, Fuyuki Moto and Takumi Saitoh. Supporting roles go to Koichi Ohori, Sei Ashina and Manami Honjo.

Three men and a women trapped for hours together in an elevator, each desperate to leave, for their own very different reasons. Inside the confined space first tempers flare as their frustration turns to anger and distrust. Later as boredom and fatigue take hold, they each start to recount their darkly funny tales, of how they came to be stuck there in the first place. 24Fps

It would seem that the trailer has been out for a couple weeks now but better late than never.