Happy Weekend.
I hope you are well.
I have been quiet this week as I do my day job and line up reviews and interviews from this year’s Osaka Asian Film Festival. As part of that coverage, I took part in a recording of a special episode of Heroic Purgatory where co-host John and I covered the fest. I posted reviews for Far Away, Further Away and Summer Wedding. I also posted the first part of this trailer post.
This week I watched Death Wish 3, Italian horror movies House of Lost Souls and Zombie 5: Killing Birds and Hong Kong actioner Running Out of Time.
What else was released this weekend?
My Life Mom Life 
マイライフ、ママライフ 「Mai raifu, mama raifu」
Release Date: September 14th, 2021
Duration: 88 mins.
Director: Mutsumi Kameyama
Writer: Mutsumi Kameyama (Script), Kyoko Imaki (Original Supervision),
Starring: Anna Hachimine, Kie Obana, Ryo Ikeda, Erisa Yanagi, Kurumi Nakata, Manata Tada,
This film won the Audience Award in the Competition section of the 2020 edition of the Tanabe-Benkei Film Festival and tackles the idea of motherhood through portraits of two women.
Synopsis: Aya is a career woman who is resistant to her husband’s demand to have a child. When she is put in charge of a project called “Family Study Abroad,” she meets Saori, a woman raising two children who also has her share of frustrations as she has had to give up a dream job. Will the two women influence each other to find balance in their lives?
Remember how I said Drive My Car was not indicative of the typical output of the Japanese film industry? Get a load of these titles…
Gekijouban 1979 Hajimari no Monogatari Handa Dashi Matsuri Tanjou Hiwa 
劇場版 1979 はじまりの物語 はんだ山車まつり誕生秘話 「 Gekijouban 1979 Hajimari no Monogatari Handa Dashi Matsuri Tanjou Hiwa」
Release Date: April 01st, 2022
Duration: 107 mins.
Director: Yu Sakudo
Writer: Yu Sakudo (Script)
Starring: Masato Nakayama, Yuichi Nakamura, Atsushi Harada, Taishin Hirano,
Synopsis: A film version of a 2020 documentary drama series depicting the story of how the “Handa Float Festival,” an annual event held in Handa City, Aichi Prefecture, first came to be in 1979. It has been re-edited and new footage was shot to be added.
If There Are No Cherry Blossoms In the World 
世の中にたえて桜のなかりせば 「 Yononaka ni taete sakura no nakari seba」
Release Date: April 01st, 2022
Duration: 80 mins.
Director: Nobuyuki Miyake
Writer: Nobuyuki Miyake, Rei Tsuruga (Script) Hitoshi Suzuki (Original Manga),
Starring: Renka Iwamoto, Akira Takarada, Shiori Doi, Tomohiro Kaku, Rumi Hiiragi, Akira Takarada,
Synopsis: High schooler Saki Yoshioka skips class and works part-time as an end-of-life advisor with an older guy named Keizo Shibata. Keizo’s wife is sick and he is upset because of this and so Saki sets out to find the cherry tree she saw the couple sitting under one day to cheer up Keizo and his wife. Doing this, she arrives at a certain truth.
Johnny’s Jr. Our Survival Wars 
東西ジャニーズJr. ぼくらのサバイバルウォーズ 「Touzai Jani-zu Jr. Kura no Sabaibaru Uo-zu」
Release Date: April 01st, 2022
Duration: 87 mins.
Director: Taisuke Kawamura
Writer: Kentaro Ushio (Script)
Starring: Hideki Ajima, Toa Shimasaki, Ryusei Fukada, Sota Uchimura, Kohei Aoki, Waku Motoki,
Synopsis: Two groups from the Johnny’s Jr. label, “Shounen Ninja” and “Lil Kansai,” star as boy scouts battling over a new potential member, a victim of bullying. When the town’s delinquent gang gets involved, a showdown, ensues.
Saru no Oukoku 
猿ノ王国 「Saru no Oukoku」
Release Date: April 02nd, 2022
Duration: 75 mins.
Director: Shugo Fujii
Writer: Shugo Fujii (Script)
Starring: Takako Sakai, Takahiro Ochi, Etsuko Tanemura, Unpei Adachi, Ayumu Okumoto,
Synopsis: On the day a feature on a Coronavirus Vaccine is about to be aired, the director, a man and woman who produced the feature, and a member of the editorial staff are locked up in an underground editing room in the TV station basement. At the same time, five TV station employees are summoned to the director’s office on the 25th floor after a problem was discovered in the programme. A revenge drama filled with hatred unfolds.
Space Crying Free Sex 
スペースクライングフリーセックス 「Supe-su Kuraingu Furi- Sekkusu」
Release Date: April 02nd, 2022
Duration: 60 mins.
Director: Tomohiko Iwasaki
Writer: Tomohiko Iwasaki (Script)
Starring: Allen Ai, Michael Fanconi, Keisaku Kimura, Riko Matsui, Misaki Nishiiri, Miho Wakabayashi,
Somehow, this series has limped to a third and final film after first being a 15-minute short, and then a 42-minute medium-length feature. The series has extended to a 60-minute feature and it sees many of the cast and crew return.
No trailer on YouTube. Click on the website to see why.
Synopsis: Super spies Naomi and Cobra have to stop their biggest threat yet and do so while having sex.
There’s also a cash-in video recording of a stageplay based on Touken Ranbu.