Happy Weekend
This is the second of a two-part trailer post. You can find the first part here.
This week was all about the New York Asian Film Festival so I posted reviews of:
There are more reviews coming next week. As mentioned yesterday, I hope to have some interviews to follow. Listen to the Heroic Purgatory podcast to hear more thoughts on films.
So far, NYAFF has provided three of my top ten films of the year. You can hear me talk about them in the Heroic Purgatory podcast special episode that covers the fest.
I’m going to try and cram as many Asian films in as possible before going on to something different – FRENCH FILMS!
Also, I’m playing and enjoying Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
What other Japanese films are released this weekend?
Gekijouban Honto ni Atta! Noroi no Bideo 100 
劇場版 ほんとにあった！呪いのビデオ100 「Gekijouban Honto ni Atta! Noroi no Bideo 100」
Release Date: July 28th, 2023
Duration: 97 mins.
Staging: Yoshihiro Nakamura
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Synopsis: Director Yoshihiro Nakamura (Snow White Murder Case, Fish Story) returns to the long-running franchise he has had a big hand in making by directing this entry and getting caught up in the curses being investigated.
Barashi Fight 
バラシファイト 「Barashi Fight」
Release Date: July 28th, 2023
Duration: 89 mins.
Director: Yutaka Kainuma
Writer: Yutaka Kainuma (Screenplay),
Starring: Yuuta Ozawa, Raiga Terasaka, Natsumi Ishizaki, Hatsunori Hasegawa, Erika Tonooka, Kansuke Asano, Kazuyuki Asano, Saki Hamao, Yuta Ozawa,
Synopsis: Loosely speaking, barashi is a film word that means to “pack away” or to cancel a shoot due to equipment failure or something being wrong with an actor. Kenichi is a stage director who witnesses a “barashi-feud” between backstage staff members who are fighting for the right to participate in the launch of a work by a legendary stage director.
Blue Boy Lover 
Release Date: July 28th, 2023
Duration: 57 mins.
Director: Tetsutaro
Writer: Tetsutaro (Screenplay),
Starring: Tetsutaro, Kenta Sakamoto, Yuto Nakayama, Gai Ueno, Kazunori Mimura,
No Trailer
Synopsis: THE GUINGUETTE by MOJA was a French beer hall in Shibuya, which closed in August 2021. This film was made with the intention of preserving the atmosphere and features former staff and people who performed in the building, including musicians and pole dancers. It all starts with the Earth threatened by a meteorites and a young man going to the bar to commit suicide only to get swept away by the staff, performers, and patrons of the place.
Murakumo: Ghost Agency 
叢雲 ゴースト・エージェンシー 「Murakumo Go-suto E-jeshi-」
Release Date: July 28th, 2023
Duration: 75 mins.
Director: Mitsunori Harada
Writer: Mitsunori Harada (Screenplay),
Starring: Hoshimi Asai, Mitsuki Koga, Ryuji Shirakawa, Takahide Kitagawa, Takahiro Kuroishi, Rina Akiyama,
Synopsis: Rinko Murakumo used to be a detective until she shot a serial martial arts murderer and resigned from the force. Her daughter went missing during the incident and she has spent years looking for her. One day, she stumbles upon a human trafficking case and surveillance footage from the crime scene shows a woman who looks like the one Rinko suspects took her daughter together with someone who might possibly BE her daughter…
The Most Terrible Time in My Life – 30th Anniversary 4K Remastered Version 
叢雲 ゴースト・エージェンシー 「Murakumo Go-suto E-jeshi-」
Release Date: March 03rd, 1994
Duration: 75 mins.
Director: Kaizo Hayashi
Writer: Kaizo Hayashi, Daisuke Tengan (Screenplay),
Starring: Masatoshi Nagase, Yang Hai-ping, Hou Te-chien, Jo Shishido, Kaho Minami, Shiro Sano, Akaji Maro, Shinya Tsukamoto,
Synopsis: Maiku Hama is a private detective whose office is located on the second floor of a cinema in Yokohama’s Koganecho area. When he helps a Taiwanese waiter look for his missing brother, he gets caught up in a gang war full of double crosses and grudges.
Niju-Sai 
20祭 「20-Sai」
Release Date: July 29th, 2023
Duration: 85 mins.
Director: Mone Awai, Yuuto Inoue, Yuki Hirata, Norihiro Yasukawa,
Writer: Yuki Hirata, Norihiro Yasukawa, Keigo Ando, Masumoto Rikimaru (Screenplay),
Starring: Mabuki, Daiki Hiba, Oshiro Maeda, Raiju Kamata,
This is an omnibus film consisting of four award-winning short films from the “20 Festival,” a short film scenario competition held to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the founding of Office Kiryu, which has produced and distributed such films as Dear Deer (2015).
Synopsis: “Smoky-Story” shows how 20 cigarettes connect six men and women who pass each other on Christmas Eve; “Tsuchinoko no Kabayaki” is a comedy about a 20-year-old man looking for himself and a mysterious man searching for Tsuchinoko; “The Night of the Twenty-Year-Old”, is about a 20-year-old who loses his friends; and “Spring Crystals”, depicts a friendship that is captured in the last 20 remaining shots of the camera.