Cinema is Dope

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The big news today is coming from Tokyograph (read here) who inform us that Takashi Miike’s Crows Zero will be getting a sequel. Apparently this will tie everything up with a nice resounding ending. Expect it to come out sometime in 2009.

Via: Ryuganji

Related Coverage:
::: Japanese Poster Artwork
::: Review by Mark Schilling
::: AFM: CROWS 0 Review (Todd @ Twitch)

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

(Read more…)

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Another image from Crows Zero (Kurôzu zero), the latest from Takashi Miike. This certainly looks to be a solid outing from Miike.

Related Coverage:
::: Japanese Poster Artwork
::: Review by Mark Schilling
::: AFM: CROWS 0 Review (Todd @ Twitch)

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

(Read more…)

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Takashi Miike’s Crows Zero (Kurôzu zero) seems to be the feel good gangster movie of 2008! Eagerly anticipating catching this somewhere on the festival circuit this year.

Related Coverage:
::: Japanese Poster Artwork
::: Review by Mark Schilling
::: AFM: CROWS 0 Review (Todd @ Twitch)

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

(Read more…)

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Eiga Chirashi artwork for Ichi the Killer (Koroshiya 1) from Takashi Miike. Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano) is on the run in this simple, yet stylish poster.

Eiga Chirashi = mini poster/flyer’s from Japan

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

(Read more…)

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Rock star artwork for Takashi Miike’s Crows Zero (Kurôzu zero). Can’t wait to see this one! Along with Doomsday, ranks up there with one of my most anticipated films to see this year!

Related Coverage:
::: AFM: CROWS 0 Review (Todd @ Twitch)

Eiga Chirashi = mini poster/flyer’s from Japan

Japanese Cinema:
::: Jason Gray
::: Mark Schilling’s Tokyo Ramen
::: Midnight Eye
::: Outcast Cinema
::: Ryuganji

(Read more…)

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Eiga Chirashi artwork for Ichi the Killer (Koroshiya 1) from Takashi Miike. Really strong minimal and abstract poster artwork for this film. This is one of those posters that grows on you over time (in a good way).

Eiga Chirashi = mini poster/flyer’s from Japan

Japanese Cinema:
::: Jason Gray
::: Mark Schilling’s Tokyo Ramen
::: Midnight Eye
::: Nippon Cinema
::: Outcast Cinema
::: Ryuganji

(Read more…)

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Peter Martin. Yes —> that Peter Martin. Not to be confused with <--- that Peter Martin, has confirmed that Miike’s Django has been picked up by First Look for what might be a limited theatrical run in the US and a DVD release. Bad news on that is it will be trimmed by 25 minutes (more from Peter here). If it gets proper life to breathe on the midnight circuit and catch on as a cult film it could very well be a Rilo Kiley Moneymaker for them.

Having seen this film at the recent 40th Sitges, I can tell you it’s by far one of the most entertaining films Miike has ever made. The only way to experience this film is in a rowdy midnight movie setting. In that context the film plays beautifully. Outside of that I don’t think it would work really well if your in a Neil Diamond (you-uuu-ewwww don’t bring me flowers, any-EEE-more) sort of mood. I also wouldn’t recommend it for a first date per say. It also really has to be said that the more knowledge you have of Spaghetti Westerns and Japanese cinema, the more you will get out of the film! Also I really hate it on MAC laptops when your scrolling up or down and this automated thing tries to kick in and take over your mousing up or down. Stay away you little devil you!

“Overall: A good time at the movies. There are perhaps too many ingredients in the stew, but fans of Miike, (Spaghetti) Westerns, Tarantino and genre films in general will have a taste for it, and possibly become addicted.” ~ Jason Gray (read more)

Related Coverage:
::: Review by Todd
::: View MM Listing
::: Visit the MM Blog (full of goodies!!!)

The white clad Genji, led by Yoshitsune and the red clad Heike led by Kiyomori, face off once again in a poor mountain town. Both sides searching for a legendary treasure that may be buried there. A lone gunman, burdened with emotional scars but blessed with incredible shooting skills, drifts into town. Expectations reach boiling point as everyone wonders which gang the gunman will finally decide to join. Dirty tricks, betrayal, desire and love collide as the situation erupts into a final, explosive showdown.

(Read more…)

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Left to Right:
Zoe Bell (Death Proof) & Mike Hostench (Sitges Film Festival Co-Director)

Sitges Film Festival co-director Mike Hostench was also having a tough time at Sitges this year! I mean just look at him here standing alongside Jury member, stuntwoman and actress Zoe Bell. Life is tough right? Such a cute picture of the two if I do say so myself. Expect a larger version on Twitch soon!

My favorite Zoe moment was sitting in front of her and Sydney Tamiia Poitier during the midnight presentation at the Melia of Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django. I also had Marc Walkow of Outcast Cinema on my left. Zoe and Sydney were both floored and in near hysterics with Tarantino’s part in the film (he alternates his voice about 77 million times over but though sounding corning it greatly works). The enthusiastic response and energy Marc, Zoe, Sydney and the crowd itself had made it an incredibly rowdy and enjoyable experience. Who knew I would have my Dirty Dancing “I’ve had the time of my life” moment at Sitges with this film.

Though I do have to say for the three idiots on my left who kept telling people to hush up laughing and so on… “what the hell were you thinking?!?!” This is a midnight movie meant for a rowdy audience that needs to laugh and double over in hysterics at Miike’s finest hour of goofy fun mayhem. If you want a respectable and calm audience… don’t go to a midnight screening at Sitges! There is no way in hell to expect a crowd to be silent like they are watching a Wimbledon match while watching this film, especially when you have two of Tarantino’s actresses there who haven’t ever experienced the film before!

Zoe’s favorite expression to say to people at Sitges was: Get f**ked!
This simply translates as “enjoy your day and go get you some party time!”

And lastly I can’t imagine seeing or experiencing this film on the small screen or with a lackluster audience.

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Really quickly and I’ll be posting more about this on Twitch in the days ahead but of the films I hadn’t seen playing at the 40th Sitges Film Festival this year I have to say that Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django was my favorite. Easily in my opinion Miike’s most goofy and fun film he has ever done. I would be shocked if this film doesn’t develop into a cult midnight movie film that is a staple of the circuit for the next several decades in the least. Thank you Miike for making a film that gave me one of the funnest times I’ve ever had at a cinema. I can’t wait to see it again to try and memorize some of those lines the one character who had multiple personalities said.

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Over at Jason Gray’s site’s he has a quick take on Miike’s latest, “Sukiyaki Western Django” (as well as a TIFF contest).

“Overall: A good time at the movies. There are perhaps too many ingredients in the stew, but fans of Miike, (Spaghetti) Westerns, Tarantino and genre films in general will have a taste for it, and possibly become addicted.” ~ Jason Gray (read more)

Twitch Coverage:
::: Review by Todd

::: View MM Listing
::: Visit the MM Blog (full of goodies!!!)

The white clad Genji, led by Yoshitsune and the red clad Heike led by Kiyomori, face off once again in a poor mountain town. Both sides searching for a legendary treasure that may be buried there. A lone gunman, burdened with emotional scars but blessed with incredible shooting skills, drifts into town. Expectations reach boiling point as everyone wonders which gang the gunman will finally decide to join. Dirty tricks, betrayal, desire and love collide as the situation erupts into a final, explosive showdown.

(Read more…)

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Double pistol action in the macaroni western “Sukiyaki Western Django.”

Twitch Coverage:
::: Review by Todd

::: View MM Listing
::: Visit the MM Blog (full of goodies!!!)

The white clad Genji, led by Yoshitsune and the red clad Heike led by Kiyomori, face off once again in a poor mountain town. Both sides searching for a legendary treasure that may be buried there. A lone gunman, burdened with emotional scars but blessed with incredible shooting skills, drifts into town. Expectations reach boiling point as everyone wonders which gang the gunman will finally decide to join. Dirty tricks, betrayal, desire and love collide as the situation erupts into a final, explosive showdown.

(Read more…)

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If you were really hoping to get a feel for what you might could expect in Takashi Miike’s macaroni western “Sukiyaki Western Django,” then I think this still alone gives you a pretty damn good taste - pistol vs samurai sword.

Tuesday, September 11
11:59 PM
RYERSON

Thursday, September 13
12:30 PM
VARSITY 8

Saturday September 15
09:30 PM
VARSITY 4

::: View MM Listing
::: Visit the MM Blog (full of goodies!!!)

The white clad Genji, led by Yoshitsune and the red clad Heike led by Kiyomori, face off once again in a poor mountain town. Both sides searching for a legendary treasure that may be buried there. A lone gunman, burdened with emotional scars but blessed with incredible shooting skills, drifts into town. Expectations reach boiling point as everyone wonders which gang the gunman will finally decide to join. Dirty tricks, betrayal, desire and love collide as the situation erupts into a final, explosive showdown.

(Read more…)

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Quentin Tarantino as Piringo in Takashi Miike’s macaroni western, “Sukiyaki Western Django.”

Tuesday, September 11
11:59 PM
RYERSON

Thursday, September 13
12:30 PM
VARSITY 8

Saturday September 15
09:30 PM
VARSITY 4

::: View MM Listing
::: Visit the MM Blog (full of goodies!!!)

You’re more of a “dragon generation” rather than a “macaroni western
generation, aren’t you?

MIIKE: Yes. There weren’t many macaroni westerns in the theaters when I was growing up but they used to broadcast two to three of them every week on television.. I can’t tell you how many times they aired One Silver Dollar. My mother used to tell me to go to bed, but I usually stayed up and watched them with my parents. My father loved macaroni westerns and he used to buy me toy guns and pistols. My grandfather was a hunter and used to shoot birds with rifles. So the macaroni western was certainly very familiar to me. But having worked in the movie industry for a long time, I never thought that I would be making something like this as a Japanese film.

Neither did we (laughs). How did it come about?

MIIKE: “Toshiaki Nakazawa, a producer at Sedic International, whom I had worked with on The Happiness of Katakuris, asked me if there was any project that I wanted to do. That’s when the words ‘How about a sukiyaki western?’ fell out of my mouth. It’s what they call talking through one’s hat, I guess. But it wasn’t totally groundless. When I was a kid, I used to imagine myself growing up to be a wandering gunman. I don’t remember the specific stories but I was impressed with such things as the cool posture of the gunman, the intensity right before the shoot-out, and the dramatic effect of the music that starts after someone falls to the ground. Those kinds of things were imprinted on my mind. And I thought that anything a child can create in his imagination, surely a movie can bring to life. I think that any other producer would have just dismissed the idea with a laugh but Mr. Nakazawa didn’t. He said it was interesting and went along with the idea. Although he may have said “No” if I had suggested a Sushi Western (laughs).

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Over at Ryuganji (one of my favorite sites!!!), Don has broken the news of the “Sukiyaki Western: Django” (www.django-movie.com) release date - September 15th! An English language spaghetti western from the mind of cult director Takashi Miike… I can’t wait. I’ve been following this film for quite some time now. One of the actors I’ve talked to that worked on the film seemed to suggest film lovers might be in for a real treat with it. I surely hope they are right!

::: Release date for “Sukiyaki Western: Django”

Since undoubtedly everyone will ask if Tarantino is indeed in the film, I think the above profile from the official site leaves no doubt… that he in fact will be in it.

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