Cinema is Dope

[ View Image (1024×682) ]
[ View Image (1280×853) ]

[ View Image (1024×682) ]
[ View Image (1280×853) ]

Crows Zero, the latest in the recent slate by Takashi Miike can next be seen at the upcoming Sitges Film Festival in October. Fans in the US will more than likely have their first chance to see it on DVD with no real theatrical plans that I know of happening anywhere.

Related Coverage:
::: Previous Movie Wallpaper (Cinema is Dope)
::: Review by Mark Schilling

Japanese Cinema:
::: Jason Gray
::: Mark Schilling’s Tokyo Ramen
::: Midnight Eye
::: Nippon Cinema
::: Outcast Cinema
::: Ryuganji
::: Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

Amazon.com Link:
::: Buy the Tom Mes (Midnight Eye) book on Miike - Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike

(Read more…)

[ View Image (1024×685) ]
[ View Image (1280×856) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×685) ]
[ View Image (1280×856) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×685) ]
[ View Image (1280×856) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×682) ]
[ View Image (1280×853) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×681) ]
[ View Image (1280×851) ]

I remember talking to Shusuke Kaneko the day news broke that Hideo Nakata would be taking on this film. At the time it seemed hard to exactly fathom how they would approach the material but little doubt that as successful of hits as the Death Note films were that it was inevitable that there would be infinite numbers of knock off related feature films and anime. L: Change the World turned out to be one very strange action movie where it seemed the lifted the character of L into more of a routine save the world studio action film. It felt like a really strange fusion of James Bond and Death Note with a killer and hilarious final airplane sequence (more from Mark Schilling and Rodney Perkins).

I met Hideo Nakata at the recent NIFFF film festival. I mainly talked to him and his wife, as well as compared notes on the Nobuo Nakagawa (Lady Vampire was my favorite of his shown) retrospective going on as well as we all wanted to greatly see Adrift in Tokyo.

Related Coverage:
::: Interview I did with Hideo Nakata on L: Change the World
::: Interview I did with Hideo Nakata (Part 1) - Twitch
::: Interview I did with Hideo Nakata (Part 2) - Twitch
::: Interviewing Xavier Gens, Hideo Nakata & Jesus Franco on Remakes - Twitch
::: L: Change the World Movie Wallpaper #1 (Cinema is Dope)
::: Detroit Metal City Movie Wallpaper (Cinema is Dope)
::: Death Note: The Last Name Movie Wallpaper (Cinema is Dope)
::: Death Note Movie Wallpaper (Cinema is Dope)

Japanese Cinema:
::: Jason Gray
::: Mark Schilling’s Tokyo Ramen
::: Midnight Eye
::: Nippon Cinema
::: Outcast Cinema
::: Ryuganji
::: Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

(Read more…)

[ View Image (1024×758) ]
[ View Image (1280×947) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×683) ]
[ View Image (1280×854) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×683) ]
[ View Image (1280×854) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×576) ]
[ View Image (1280×720) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×576) ]
[ View Image (1280×720) ]

Viz Pictures will be screening this film in the US in October (more info).

This sequel to the great cat and mouse thriller Death Note, was too uneven for my tastes (too much story and too little time to cram it all in nice and near seamlessly meshed), though I definitely dig that last act of the film where a great battle of wits ensue.

Related Coverage:
::: Detroit Metal City Movie Wallpaper (Cinema is Dope)
::: Previous Death Note: The Last Name Movie Wallpaper (Cinema is Dope)
::: Death Note Movie Wallpaper #1 (Cinema is Dope)
::: Death Note Movie Wallpaper #2 (Cinema is Dope)
::: Death Note: The Last Name Movie Wallpaper (Cinema is Dope)
::: Interview I did with Shusuke Kaneko

Japanese Cinema:
::: Jason Gray
::: Mark Schilling’s Tokyo Ramen
::: Midnight Eye
::: Nippon Cinema
::: Outcast Cinema
::: Ryuganji
::: Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

(Read more…)

[ View Image (1024×686) ]
[ View Image (1280×857) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×678) ]
[ View Image (1280×848) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×686) ]
[ View Image (1280×857) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×576) ]
[ View Image (1280×720) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×576) ]
[ View Image (1280×720) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×576) ]
[ View Image (1280×720) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×686) ]
[ View Image (1280×857) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×683) ]
[ View Image (1280×854) ]

Viz Pictures will be screening the sequel to this film in the US in October (more info). Images and wallpaper for actor Ken’ichi Matsuyama remain one of the hottest items here at Cinema is Dope. I will be taking out some time today to post the remaining images I have from both Death Note films and L: Change the World. Be sure to also check out the images I posted earlier today of him in Detroit Metal City (view here).

Related Coverage:
::: Movie Wallpaper #1 (Cinema is Dope)
::: Death Note: The Last Name Movie Wallpaper (Cinema is Dope)
::: Interview I did with Shusuke Kaneko

Japanese Cinema:
::: Jason Gray
::: Mark Schilling’s Tokyo Ramen
::: Midnight Eye
::: Nippon Cinema
::: Outcast Cinema
::: Ryuganji
::: Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

(Read more…)

[ View Image (1024×682) ]
[ View Image (1280×853) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×682) ]
[ View Image (1280×853) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×682) ]
[ View Image (1280×853) ]

 

[ View Image (1024×682) ]
[ View Image (1280×853) ]

New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Sunday, September 7, 2008

Leave it to Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes to discover this great gem from Japan. He was out of the gate months ago in wanting to screen it at a time when the only thing anyone knew about it was that it had L (Ken’ichi Matsuyama) from the Death Note series in it. The Midnight Madness by all accounts I’ve read was nothing short of electrical and sensational. I cannot see this film soon enough!!!

Related Coverage:
::: TIFF ‘08 Midnight Madness Page
::: TIFF ‘08 Midnight Madness Video of Intro & Q&A
::: Photographs from TIFF ‘08 Midnight Madness Screening (MM Facebook Group)
::: Detroit Metal City Out-Rocks Jimmy Page via Midnight Madness Blog
::: Detroit Metal City and Japanese Duality via Midnight Madness Blog
::: Highlights from TIFF Talk
::: Making of Video on YouTube
::: Another Making of Video on YouTube
::: And yet another Making of Video on YouTube
::: Featurette on YouTube

Japanese Cinema:
::: Jason Gray
::: Mark Schilling’s Tokyo Ramen
::: Midnight Eye
::: Nippon Cinema
::: Outcast Cinema
::: Ryuganji
::: Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

(Read more…)