Happy Weekend
I hope you are well
This is the second part of a two-part trailer post. The first part is here.
Due to illness I haven’t been able to do as much as I would like. In terms of media watched/played, I’ve been dipping in and out of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father and I have been trying to watch Park Chan-wook films. I’ve reviewed Thirst already but kept the Vengeance Trilogy and Joint Security Area on the backburner. So! I watched those.
What other films have been released this weekend?
Your Lovely Smile 
あなたの微笑み 「Anata no Hohoemi」
Release Date: November 12th, 2022
Duration: 103 mins.
Director: Lim Kah-wai
Writer: Lim Kah-wai (Script),
Starring: Hirobumi Watanabe, Hikaru Hirayama, Shogen, Hironobu Tanaka, Yoshihiko Yatabe,
Director Lim Kah-Wai (Come and Go) casts fellow filmmaker Hirobumi Watanabe (And the Mud Ship Sails Away) as the lead in this road movie about a struggling indie filmmaker.
Synopsis: It seems like Hirobumi Watanabe is playing a version of himself, a more unlikeable one whose FOOLISH PIGGIES film label is struggling despite him being an award-winning talent. No major film companies want to work with him until an old friend, a producer from Okinawa, approaches him about making a film. Watanabe sets off on a journey to visit mini-theatres around Japan in search of a theatre that will show his film, and is guided by a mysterious girl he meets along the way.
Song of Rain 
雨の詩 「Ame no Uta」
Release Date: November 12th, 2022
Duration: 45 mins.
Director: Tetsuichiro Tsuta
Writer: N/A
Starring: Ryubun Sumori, Hiroki Teraoka,
Tetsuichiro Tsuta, director of The Tale of Iya (2014) is back with this short that is said to depict a “degrowth” way of life through showing the use of natural energy. It is also described as being slow cinema reminiscent of Andrei Tarkovsky, Béla Tarr, Tsai Ming-liang as it focusses on the expression of rain, light, and sound.
Synopsis: Jin and Tera live in a house called “Earthship” where self-sufficiency is the key. It has no running water or electricity but there is a system that filters rainwater and converts it into water for daily use and they can also grow their own vegetables. Living naturally in the countryside, the two take to hunting and caring for nature. However, their relationship gradually begins to fray…
Taikutsuna Kamometachi 
退屈なかもめたち 「Taikutsuna Kamometachi」
Release Date: November 12th, 2022
Duration: 120 mins.
Director: Hideyuki Suzuki
Writer: Hideyuki Suzuki (Script), Chugaku Yamamoto (Original Story),
Starring: Kiriko Kina, Reiko Iwamatsu, Yoko Nomoto, Yuri Sasamoto, Nanayo Kurata, Yukina Hirai,
Synopsis: Yukiko is an actress who has yet to make an impact. We watch as she joins a theatre troupe called Kamomeza, which is held in a community hall. What she finds is a group about to implode due to disagreements and she is caught in the crossfire…
Yume nakaba 
夢半ば 「Ame no Uta」
Release Date: November 12th, 2022
Duration: 135 mins.
Director: Ryo Anraku
Writer: Ryo Anraku, Ryo Katayama (Script),
Starring: Ryo Anraku, Mizuho Osu, DEG, RYUICHI, Takuma Nagao,
Synopsis: Ryo Anraku (Tailwind) has made and starred in a lot of small indies this year. A lot of them are self-reflexive forays into the world of filmmaking. In this one, he plays a filmmaker on the cusp of turning 30 and is about to leave his home town and possibly marry his girlfriend Michiko.
Yume no Manimani 
ゆめのまにまに 「Yume no Manimani」
Release Date: November 12th, 2022
Duration: 101 mins.
Director: Kaori Harimoto
Writer: Kaori Harimoto (Script),
Starring: Taichi Kodama, Megumi Chikuni, Yuya Shintaro, Chihiro Noguchi, Asami Shibuya, Jun Murakami, Misa Wada,
Synopsis: Tokyo Hotarudo is a real-life antique store in Asakusa, Tokyo, and the film is set there. We follow Makoto, a store worker who deals with a variety of customers and neighbours, including antique enthusiasts, high schoolers, and the neighbourhood association. There is also a woman named Mayuko who has hidden reasons for constantly visiting…