Japanese Poster Appreciation Month – January 2009

This poster is a thing of beauty. It says so much with so little. I feel the movie breathing in this poster.

I’m a huge admirer of Xavier Gens as a filmmaker and lucky enough to have met him several times. He is a class act and someone I absolutely love talking cinema with. I still remember the first I saw Frontiere(s) at the Sitges Film Festival with no subtitles and that last half of the film became this intense roller coaster ride where I kept thinking no one will make it out alive. Along the way watching it I became an instant fan of Karina Testa who really just steals the show in one of the best performances I’ve ever seen in a horror film. The last half of this film really riveted me. I leave the theater and go to a party where no one I know is at so I decide to head back and see what else is going on while looking out at the Mediterranean Sea pondering the film… out of nowhere I see my friend Colin Geddes who programs the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival. There were two other people with him but it was so dark I couldn’t really tell who they were. I then start in on how riveted I still was by having just seen Frontiere(s) and how great Karina was, all the while Colin has this grin as I’m talking and when I’m done he goes… “Blake I’d like you to meet Xavier Gens and Karina Testa!” Talk about an introduction I’ll never forget!!!

Related Coverage:
::: Interview I did with Xavier and Karina on Twitch
::: Picture of me w/ Karina Testa
::: Todd’s review at Twitch
Interviews I did with Xavier Gens while he was on the jury at NIFFF last year:
::: Xavier Gens (Part 1) – Twitch
::: Xavier Gens (Part 2) – Twitch
::: Xavier Gens on La Horde – Twitch
::: Xavier Gens, Hideo Nakata & Jesus Franco on Remakes – Twitch

Japanese Poster Appreciation Month – January 2009 (Archive):
::: January 24 – Violent City (1970)
::: January 24 – Mr. Majestyk (1974)
::: January 24 – Hard Times (1975)
::: January 23 – Bullitt (1968)
::: January 23 – The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
::: January 23 – The Great Escape (1963)
::: January 23 – The Magnificent Seven (1960)
::: January 22 – BRAINDEAD (1992)
::: January 22 – Frontiere(s) (2007)
::: January 21 – The Gauntlet (1977)
::: January 21 – Live Like a Cop Die Like a Man (1976)
::: January 20 – Thunder and Lightning (1977)
::: January 19 – Race with the Devil (1975)
::: January 18 – Car Wash (1976)
::: January 17 – The Living Daylights (1987)
::: January 17 – Licence to Kill (1989)
::: January 17 – The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
::: January 16 – Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
::: January 15 – The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)
::: January 14 – The Graduate (1967)
::: January 13 – Excalibur (1981)
::: January 12 – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
::: January 11 – Omohide poro poro (1991)
::: January 11 – The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
::: January 10 – Take a Hard Ride (1975)
::: January 9 – Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
::: January 9 – Yatterman (2009)
::: January 8 – Game of Death (1978)
::: January 7 – Crime Busters (1977)
::: January 6 – Sisters (1973)
::: January 5 – Crime Boss (1972)
::: January 4 – White Lightning (1973)
::: January 3 – The Man from Hong Kong (1975)
::: January 2 – Rolling Thunder (1977)
::: January 1 – Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008)
::: January 1 – Army of Darkness (1992)
::: Preview – Cannonball! (1976)
::: Previous Japanese Posters Featured @ Cinema is Dope

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

* If you don’t see your site listed here and it covers Japanese cinema please comment below so that I can review it and possibly include it in future lists.

About Japanese Poster Artwork Celebration Month:
To kick off 2009, I can think of no better way of doing so than celebrating Japanese poster artwork. The emphasis will be more of western films through the lens of Japanese poster artwork and of course some of my own personal all-time favorites. At a future date I’ll probably have a month devoted to solely Japanese films and their poster artwork. So be sure to tune in each day during the month of January as I have an incredible amount of incredible Japanese posters that will be on display. Hopefully at the end of this I can convert many of you into life long fans of Japanese posters!

Please help and spread the word on the January 2009 themed Japanese Poster Celebration Month here at Cinema is Dope. Tweet your friends. Mention it in your Facebook status or Friendfeed. Link to it on your blog. Any support is greatly appreciated!!!!!

You can follow along at these specific urls/web addresses:
::: www.cinemaisdope.com/category/movie-wallpaper-japanese-poster-celebration-month/
::: http://tinyurl.com/japanese-poster-2009

Starring in these posters will be: Antonio Sabato, Bruce Campbell, Burt Reynolds, Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, David Carradine, Dustin Hoffman, Ernest Borgnine, Gene Hackman, George Lazenby, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Jack Nicholson, James Coburn, Jennifer Billings, Jim Brown, Jimmy Wang Yu, John Boorman, Kate Jackson, Lee Marvin, Lee Van Cleef, Michael Caine, Peter Fonda, Richard Pryor, Roddy McDowall, Sergio Leone, Sidney Poitier, Susan Strasberg, Warren Oates, William Devane and many more…

If you’re interested in Japanese cinema, I highly recommend the following Cinema is Dope picks for January 2009. For this months book selection we have Behind the Pink Curtain by Jasper Sharp. For video recommendation this month we have Linda Linda Linda.

Additionally fans of Japanese cinema will want to pick up this amazing Yasujiro Ozu tribute shirt from Mondo Tees!

As always when in Austin, Texas, be sure to check out Weird Wednesday (January/February 2009 lineup) or Terror Tuesday (January/February 2009 lineup) and of course Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

My current favorite restaurants in Austin that are an absolute must visit are Clay Pit (be sure to place an order of naan bread) and Uchi. Be sure to tell them CinemaisDope.com sent you if you visit.

Image Source:
Official artwork that was used in Japanese poster artwork for the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile
::: Previous Japanese Posters Featured @ Cinema is Dope

Coming Soon – February 2009 @ Cinema is Dope is Lee Marvin Month!!!

Now out on video from LionsGate and After Dark is one of the better horror films you may not have already seen, Frontiere(s) (in the US as Frontier(s) – Official US Site). The DVD can be found in most horror sections of stores.

I originally caught Frontiere(s) at Sitges last year and was immediately blown away by it despite seeing a non-English subtitled print of it. Outside of the strong direction and crazy performances of special note is the performance of Karina Testa (pic of me and her), she is by far one of the freshest faces of acting I’ve seen in quite some time and kicks unholy hell in this film. You can read my interview with Karina and director Xavier Gens over at Twitch (read here).

Image Source:
Official still that was used in the original International release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

I’m one of the lucky few it seems in the US to have seen this film already. Lionsgate promises to release it to theaters in 2008. Most seem to think sadly that they will instead send it straight to DVD. I’m a huge fan of horror films and I can say flat out that Frontière(s) has one of the best third acts ever in one. Overall one of the best horror films I’ve seen this year.

And in addition to that the performance by lead actress Karina Testa is one of my all-time favorite female performances ever. I know that sounds over the top but just wait until you see her in this movie!

Related Coverage:
::: 40th Sitges – Interview with Frontier(s) director Xavier Gens and lead actress Karina Testa (Blake)
::: Blake Meets Karina Testa
::: Review by Todd
::: View TIFF MM Page
::: MM Blog

Image Source:
Official digital still used in its international release.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile
::: TIFF MM Screening Page

::: 40th Sitges – Interview with Frontier(s) director Xavier Gens and lead actress Karina Testa

Well I know believe me I know… how absolutely hard it is to be out at film festivals and interview film talent for their films. As you can see in the picture above it was a really tough assignment in interviewing Karina Testa for her new film Frontier(s) but somehow… just somehow I made it through! (cue evil laugh here). Be sure and read my interview with her and filmmaker Xavier Gens at the above link.

I think if given the right roles Miss Testa is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Not only is she easy on the eyes but she really pushes her performances as far as she can for what is called for. Just read some of the stuff in the interview that she did, whew.

Note that is my kickass Blow Up t-shirt I found out at Sitges to buy. I absolutely love it.

One of the strongest images of horror in 2007 cinema that I’ve seen. I love this still.

Twitch Coverage:
::: Review by Todd

::: View TIFF MM Page
::: MM Blog

Image Source:
Official digital still used in its international release.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile
::: TIFF MM Screening Page