Happy Weekend
We’re getting closer to the major Asian film festivals in New York so expect coverage of at least one of them.
Earlier this week, I took advantage of the summer sale over at Steam and bagged old games. I also tried out Aliens: Fireteam Elite a couple of months after I purchased it and found it delivered what I wanted – the LV426 experience.
It’s like Left 4 Dead where you get harassed by random enemies before coming under siege during a scripted event at locations like elevators and control panels. In this case, it is coming under siege from Xenomorphs. I find it fun because it has the Colonial Marines setting, what with the equipment, weapons, and character behaviour/costumes. The sound effects of the Pulse Rifle and Smart Gun never get old. Neither does hearing Xenos burst.
Anyway…
What are the first batch of films released this weekend?
青春墓場 「Seishun hakaba」
Release Date: July 08th. 2023
Duration: 96 mins.
Director: Yosuke Okuda
Writer: Yosuke Okuda (Screenplay),
Starring: Takashi Kasahara, Yosuke Okuda, Akiko Horiuchi, Tamayo Suzuki, Yuuya Takagawa,
This one played at Tokyo FILMeX 2021.
Synopsis: Storylines running parallel meet together. In the first, a man who works at a popular Chinese restaurant in Tokyo gets involved in the life of a female co-worker and her son who is being bullied at high school. The son refuses to admit that he is being bullied. In the second, an actress in a theatre troupe goes on a blind date with a manga artist’s assistant and ends up living with him at his apartment but tragedy strike…
A Far Shore 
遠いところ 「Tooi Tokoro」
Release Date: July 07th, 2023
Duration: 128 mins.
Director: Masaaki Kudo
Writer: Masaaki Kudo, Mami Suzuki (Screenplay),
Starring: Kotone Hanase, Yumemi Ishida, Yoshiro Sakuma, Izumi Matsuoka, Ayano Ogura, NENE,
I read a review of this one a few months back which praised it highly. The film won the Audience Award in the Competition section at TOKYO FILMeX 2022.
Synopsis: Aoi is 17, works illegally at a cabaret club, and is already a mother. She lives with her husband Masaya and young son in Koza, Okinawa. Masaya quits his job and becomes both too demanding and violent. Aoi’s problems get worse when the police raid the club and shut it down. Masaya then disappears. Aoi is forced to live with her mother-in-law. Then she gets a call telling her that Masaya has been arrested for a violent incident.
Our Secret Diary 
交換ウソ日記 「Koukan Uso Nikki」
Release Date: July 07th, 2023
Duration: 110 mins.
Director: Kentaro Takemura
Writer: Nami Yoshikawa (Screenplay), Iiyo Sakura (Original Novel)
Starring: Fumiya Takahashi, Hiyori Sakurada, Mizuki Kayashima, Nagisa Saito, Ryousuke Sota, Mizuki Itagaki,
Synopsis: A highschooler named Nozomi accidentally gets involved a love letter exchange with the most popular boy in school and she becomes more attracted to him while he becomes more distant…
One Second Ahead, One Second Behind 
1秒先の彼 「Ichibyou Saki no Kare」
Release Date: July 07th, 2023
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita
Writer: Kankuro Kudo (Screenplay), Chen Yu-hsun (Original Film)
Starring: Masaki Okada, Kaya Kiyohara, Rion Fukumuro, Yuki Katayama, Kiyo Matsumoto, Aki Hano, YosiYosi Arakawa, Shima Ise,
This is a remake of Taiwanese film called My Missing Valentine (2020).
Synopsis: Hajime works at a post office in Kyoto and is faster than others. He has always been this way. In contrast, a street musician named Reika is slower than others. Her voice makes Hajime fall in love. The two arrange to go to a fireworks display for a date but when Hajime wakes up, he has lost a day. Reika can explain more about the missing day.
Wolf Hunter ga Iku! Jinrou Sangokushi-hen 
ウルフハンターが行く！ 人狼 三国志編 「Urufu Hanta- ga Iku! Jinrou Sangokushi-hen」
Release Date: July 07th, 2023
Duration: 91 mins.
Director: Akihito Sasaki
Writer: Yasumasa Osada, Ryoki Ezura (Screenplay),
Starring: Hayato Onozuka, Yuki Izawa, Asuka Kishi, Rui Tachibana, Ryusuke Nakamura, Daiki Kato,
Synopsis: In the year is 2148 A.D., China has been taken over by werewolves and is in a state of disorder. The origins of the werewolves lies in the Three Kingdoms period and so the commander of the Werewolf Liberation Front sends Wolfhunter 003 to that era with orders to exterminate the werewolves. He intrudes on a meeting of nine influential warriors from across China and must figure out who the werewolf is in just 96 hours…
Sanpo-ya Ken-chan 
散歩屋ケンちゃん 「Sanpo-ya Ken-chan」
Release Date: July 07th, 2023
Duration: 76 mins.
Director: Akihito Sasaki
Writer: Yasumasa Osada, Ryoki Ezura (Screenplay),
Starring: Hayato Onozuka, Yuki Izawa, Asuka Kishi, Rui Tachibana, Ryusuke Nakamura, Daiki Kato,
Junichi Ishida and his son Issei Ishida are both actors/celebrities and they play a father-son duo in this story set in Chiba Prefecture and produced to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Choshi Electric Railway, a local railroad company in Choshi City, Chiba.
Synopsis: Ken-chan is a NEET. Well, that’s not strictly true. The best he can say is that he works as a “nandemo-ya” (anything goes) but when he hits on the idea of a “strolling shop” and starts walking with elderly people, hikikomori, and other vulnerable people, he finds his metier and also begins to learn about his estranged father…
Sensei! Kuchisake Onna Desu! 
先生！口裂け女です！ 「Sensei! Kuchisake-onna Desu!」
Release Date: July 07th, 2023
Duration: 84 mins.
Director: Yu Nakamoto
Writer: Yu Nakamoto (Screenplay),
Starring: Taisei Kido, Reina Kurosaki, Ririka, Gai Ueno, Yuto Endo, Riku Ichikawa, Kyoka Imamura, Takeaki Shima, Nana Uchida, Masanari Wada,
Synopsis: Hiroko Yashiki takes on the titular role of the Slit-Mouthed Woman in this film. Billed as an action horror, three high school students who make money by selling stolen bikes, steal a motorcycle belonging to the Slit-Mouthed Woman. The trio try to escape on the bike but the woman has superhuman abilities including running really, really fast…