Happy Weekend.
I hope you are well.
This is the second in a two-part trailer post (you an find the first part here). This week, I published interviews with Kazuya Shiraishi (Last of the Wolves) and Mayu Nakamura (Among Four of Us). I’ll do my annual London Film Festival and London East Asian Film Festival previews next week. Before then, I have a Heroic Purgatory podcast recording to do and it covers Fruit Chan’s Made in Hong Kong.
I’m struggling for the enthusiasm to make myself go to a cinema. The last time I was in a cinema (or a restaurant, for that matter) was my Japan 2020 trip. I almost went to see James Wan’s Malignant, but put it off. The London Film Festival is teaming up with regional arthouse cinemas to screen a selection of films and Drive My Car, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, is one of them. I might see that at my local arthouse cinema.
To be honest, I am more interested in 80s horror online. I spent most of last year watching that type of movie and I was thinking about continuing it as part of the 31 Days of Halloween challenge. There are many Italian horror movies I want to cover!
Anyway…
What else was released this weekend?
fOUL 
総理の夫 「Sori no Otto」
Release Date: September 24th, 2021
Duration: 99 mins.
Director: Noriko Oishi
Writer: N/A
Starring: Ken Taniguchi, Manabu Hiramatsu, Daisuke Ochi,
Synopsis: A documentary about fOUL, a rock band whose combination of American punk and Japanese melodies had a big influence on the Japanese underground music scene. They lasted from 1994 to 2005 before breaking up but fans included other well-known bands such as Eastern Youth and Bloodthirsty Butchers. Director Noriko Oishi uses archival footage to show them in action.
Intolerance 
空白 「Kuuhaku」
Release Date: September 23rd, 2021
Duration: 99 mins.
Director: Keisuke Yoshida
Writer: Keisuke Yoshida (Script),
Starring: Arata Furuta, Tori Matsuzaka, Aoi Ito, Tomoko Tabata, Kisetsu Fujiwara, Shinobu Terajima,
Synopsis: Mitsuru Soeda (Arata Furuta) is a fisherman who lives with his daughter, a shy teenage girl named Kanon (Aoi Ito). When she is caught shoplifting at a local supermarket, she is pursued by the manager, Naoto Aoyagi (Tori Matsuzaka) but in her attempt to flee gets killed in a tragic car accident. A media circus ensues over her death and Mitsuru is riven with rage that leads him to persecute Naoto. This rage alienates people while Naoto is a victim of a media witch hunt…
Yellow Dragon’s Village 
黄龍の村 「Kouryuu no Mura」
Release Date: September 24th, 2021
Duration: 66 mins.
Director: Yugo Sakamoto
Writer: Yugo Sakamoto (Script), Maha Harada (Original Novel),
Starring: Atomu Mizuishi, Takuya Matsumoto, Mayu Suzuki, Yuni Akino, Jingi Umemoto, Shioka Ishizuka,
Synopsis: Yuki and eight other young people head for a remote campsite in the mountains but when their rental car suffers a flat tyre, they are forced to walk for help. After passing through a menacing tunnel, they emerge at a strange village where there is a scarecrow with a kitchen knife stuck in its head. An old man appears on a horse and offers aid to the travellers but things go very Wicker Man when the the group see the locals parading around with menacing masks and preparing a ceremony…
Princess Principal: Crown Handler 2 
プリンセス・プリンシパル Crown Handler 第2章「Purinsesu Purinshiparu Crown Handler Dai 2 sho」
Release Date: September 23rd, 2021
Duration: 56 mins.
Director: Masaki Tachibana
Writer: Noboru Kimura (Script),
Starring: Akira Sekine (Princeess), Aoi Koga (Ange), Akari Kageyama (Beeatrice), Nozomi Furuki (Chise), Yo Taichi (Dorothy),
Animation Production: ACTAS
Synopsis: This is the second film adaptation of the 2017 TV anime. It is set in the end of the 19th century and features high school girls who double as spies in a fictional London divided between East and West. The story sees a set of new bombs with immense power is created and then stolen just as members of the Royal Family return from their travels in the new world. One member, Prince Richard, is shot by an unknown assailant. Fearing more assassination attempts, Control, the Republic’s intelligence organization, orders the girls to get the bombs.
My Daddy 
マイ・ダディ 「Mai Dadei」
Release Date: September 23rd, 2021
Duration: 116 mins.
Director: Junichi Kanai
Writer: Mami Oikawa, Junichi Kanai (Script), Maha Harada (Original Novel),
Starring: Tsuyoshi Maro, Noa Nakada, Nao, Katsuya Maiguma, Asami Usuda,
Synopsis: Kazuo (Muro Tsuyoshi) is a good man. He is a reliable part-time employee and the bedrock of the local Christian community in his role as a pastor at a small church. His daughter Hikari (Noa Nakada) looks up to him, especially since he has raised her by himself since his wife passed away many years ago. Her future seems bright and marriage prospects good but when One day Hikari is struck down by an illness, Kazuo has to confront new sadness and anger to comfort his daughter.
MINAMATA 
MINAMATA ミナマタ 「MINAMATA」
Release Date: September 23rd, 2021
Duration: 116 mins.
Director: Andrew Levitas
Writer: David Kessler, Stephen Deuters, Andrew Levitas (Script), Aileen Mioko Smith, Eugene Smith (Original Book),
Starring: Johnny Depp, Minami, Bill Nighy, Katherine Jenkins, Tadanobu Asano, Jun Kunimura, Akiko Iwase, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ryo Kase,
Synopsis: Based on real life, the story follows W. Eugene Smith (Johnny Depp), a once prominent photojournalist who worked with esteemed magazines like LIFE during World War II. Since then, he has become a bitter recluse dogged by nightmares struggling to see the light. A secret commission from Life magazine editor Robert Hayes (Bill Nighy) sends Smith to Minamata, a coastal city where the community has been ravaged by mercury poisoning that stems from industrial negligence by Chisso Corporation. Smith finds a humanitarian spark as he immerses himself in the community and documents their campaign to get Minamata Disease recognised by both Chisso and the Japanese government.