Japanese Movie Club // Current Movie カメラを止めるな! One Cut of the Dead // Accepting Proposals for Next Movie

Proposals are awesome! Could you please include this information though?

Ok. Instead of adding all that info to a template I’ve added the TMDB links so people can check themselves.
All films are available on Netflix Japan.
As for reasons for wanting to watch those… well, some are award-winning films and were highly praised (Insect Woman, i-Documentary), so that usually drives curiosity on my behalf; some are coming from promising directors that have been in the spotlight these recent years (Sho Miyake from And Your Bird can sing or Shinichiro Ueda from One Cut of the Dead), others come from classic established ones, as Shinji Iwai in A Bride for Rip Van Winkle (that also has the lovely Haru Kuroki as leading role :heart_eyes: ) or Masayuki Suo, whom people usually remember from “Shal we Dance”, but actually has quite the few interesting films under his belt, ranging from sexploitation to comedy (as Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t).

And then “Think Again Junpei” was part of the monthly special over Nihon Eiga channel bringing films that caused turmoil upon theatrical release in Japan. Other films over that special section (called " 月イチ衝撃作" have been really good so far, I think all were R15+ also.

PD: never mind for Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t as my nominee. Already watched. Very funny, totally recommended though. Felt a nice film to watch the week before the Grand Sumo Tournament begins next week :wink:

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So here’s a proposed timeline for the movie club. We’ve got one movie a month so with that I think there plenty of time to get your hands on it, so we don’t need much warning ahead of time. I’m thinking we finish voting a week before the next month starts? I’m also thinking voting should be a week long (it would open two weeks before the next month). For example, October’s movie voting would open on the 16th of September and a winner would be announced on the 24th. For November we’d start voting on October 18th and announce a winner on the 25th.

Is a week before the next month a good time to announce the next movie?

  • a week before is :ok_hand:
  • I want more warning
  • I want less warning
  • I don’t care

0 voters

Is a week to vote on nominations enough?

  • a week for voting is good
  • I want less time to vote
  • I want more time to vote
  • I don’t care

0 voters

The results probably won’t affect voting for October since it’s already so late in the month, but I’ll definitely change things next time if you want more time

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Just a suggestion, but you probably want to have public polls (instead of anonymous) in the future.

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50 first kisses

Not Rated

It’s basically 50 first dates so I guess like PG13

Summary

It’s a remake of 50 first dates. Daisuke Yuge (Takayuki Yamada) works as a tour guide in Oahu, Hawaii and also studies astronomy. He meets Rui Fujishima (Masami Nagasawa) at a cafe and falls in love with her at first sight, but Rui Fujishima suffers from memory loss due to a past accident. (copied from Asia wiki)

Availability

Japan Netflix

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Heh, I actually watched that on TV in Japan during my last trip.

As is befitting the fact that it’s set in Hawaii, mind, any interactions involving someone who’s not one of the main characters happens in English.

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The English is the best part of the movie. Though I love the dad and son interactions. I just wish they moved it to Okinawa rather than hawaii. Like it frustrated me when he just started talking Japanese to Rui when he would have no idea. That would be so rude in the USA. I remember several lines at different points in the movie along the lines of “Well there are plenty of Japanese in hawaii so it makes sense that we are all speaking Japanese all the time and just happen to run into Japanese speaking people.”

Ahh okay movie

Moving it to Okinawa would have made more sense I feel.

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Yeah by the time I noticed it was anonymous it was too late to change it OTL

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I apologize if it has already been mentioned but through my local library (but independent from the library) I found a streaming service called Kanopy. Kanopy has a very large selection of Japanese films from what I can tell and has been entirely free (for 5 movies a month) through my library.

I doubt the accessibility would permit its use in a book club, but I thought it would be worth looking into. It has my favorite Japanese film Tenten, or Adrift in Tokyo which has been hard to find otherwise.

If I were to nominate the film, it would look like this;

** 転々** -or- Adrift in Tokyo

Not Rated - To cover bases it’s likely R.
Explanation: *There’s no violence, but there is adult language, reference to murder and probably reference to sexual themes (but not explicit) considering how common Escorts and Yakuza interact. I first saw it as a 23 year old and wasn’t shocked by anything, theres no guns, no blood, no one presenting their bodies lewdly. I’d say a 18 year old would be comfortable with it, but I’m almost 30 so don’t know how good of a judge for that I would be. *
It’s mostly just two guys walking and talking, sometimes they get mad.

Summary: Takemura has no friends and no family. He’s a student but he doesn’t have any particular ambitions. In other words, he isn’t going anywhere fast. Were all this not enough, the sorry sad sack has a debt of 800,000 yen. Fukuhara, a surly debt collector with a glorious mullet, is on his case. After roughing Takemura up, he gives him an ultimatum-72 hours to pay up, or else. Takemura barely has his wits about him again when he runs across Fukuhara a second time, and this time the thug has a different proposal-a walk. That’s right, in exchange for a million yen, Takemura must accompany Fukuhara on a walk across the city of Tokyo. Starting in a distant corner of the city, they begin their trek towards downtown, striking up a conversation. It’s at this point that Fukuhara admits that he’s recently killed his wife, and intends to turn himself in at Kasumagaseki police station-because, he says, it’s the finest in town. The pair’s itinerary, however, is hardly a quick and direct one. The disparate duo drift here and there, hanging out and coming across a host of eccentric personalities, creatures of the urban jungle’s various habitats. As their walking, talking and trading truths continues, the arrangement between Takemura and Fukuhara starts to transform into friendship.

Availability: Kanopy, YouTube ($2.99 USD)

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Vote for October’s Movie

Poll will run until September 23rd. You can vote for 4 movies. Please check the first post for details about the nominations.

  • A Bride for Rip Van Winkle リップヴァンウィンクルの花嫁
  • And Your Bird Can Sing きみの鳥はうたえる
  • i -Documentary Of The Journalist- i -新聞記者ドキュメント-
  • One Cut of the Dead カメラを止めるな!
  • Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t シコふんじゃった。
  • The Insect Woman にっぽん昆虫記
  • The Lies She Loved 嘘を愛する女
  • Think Again, Junpei 純平、考え直せ
  • 50 first kisses 50回目のファーストキス
  • Adrift in Tokyo 転々

0 voters

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Only a few days left to vote!

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Looks like 転々 Adrift in Tokyo won!
I’ve posted the thread for next month. 転々 Adrift in Tokyo Happy watching everyone!

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I’m so excited for everyone!!!

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Kung Fu Hustle

Rating
R for sequences of strong stylized action and violence

Summary
Sing, a mobster in 1940s China, longs to be as cool as the formally clad Axe Gang, a band of killers who rule Hong Kong, but can only pretend.

Availability
Netflix (USA, Japan)


The Addams Family

Rating
PG-13

Summary
Stepping out of the pages of Charles Addams’ cartoons and the 1960s television series, members of the beloved, macabre family take to the big screen.

Availability
Netflix (USA, UK?)


Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Rating
PG

Summary
Indiana Jones, his young sidekick and a spoiled songbird get more than they bargained for when they go to India in search of a missing magical stone.

Availability
Netflix (USA, Japan)


Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Rating
PG

Summary
Accompanied by his father, Indiana Jones sets off on his third adventure to explore the cradle of civilization on a perilous hunt for the Holy Grail.

Availability
Netflix (USA, Japan)


I thought it might be fun to watch something dubbed in Japanese that people have probably already seen :slight_smile: I also found it kinda funny that the first Indiana Jones wasn’t in Japanese but the rest were.

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I’ve only seen one of these :slightly_smiling_face:. Nice idea!

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Vote for Novemeber’s Movie

Poll will run until October 24th. You can vote for 5 movies. Please check the first post for details about the nominations.

  • A Bride for Rip Van Winkle リップヴァンウィンクルの花嫁
  • And Your Bird Can Sing きみの鳥はうたえる
  • i -Documentary Of The Journalist- i -新聞記者ドキュメント-
  • One Cut of the Dead カメラを止めるな!
  • Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t シコふんじゃった。
  • The Insect Woman にっぽん昆虫記
  • The Lies She Loved 嘘を愛する女
  • Think Again, Junpei 純平、考え直せ
  • 50 first kisses 50回目のファーストキス
  • Kung Fu Hustle
  • The Addams Family
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

0 voters

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Looks like カメラを止めるな! One Cut of the Dead won!!! :clap::clap: The thread for next month is here Happy watching!

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I hope this thread stays alive. Admittedly, I got cheap on Adrift in Tokyo (but I do like Joe Odagiri so may still watch it); will check out One Cut of the Dead.

Two movies I saw recently that I really enjoyed were Mother and 37 Seconds, would watch them again (both on US Netflix)

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The Japanese Film Festival here this year is taking place entirely online next month, so maybe we can do one of those films next. They don’t seem to have released the full schedule yet, because all the films currently listed on the website are from previous years.

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That sounds really cool!

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