Welcome to the second of a four-part trailer post.
You can find the first part here. The third and fourth parts will follow over the next two days.
So, I got bit by the movie-writing bug again and I’ve amped up my reviews to try and finish the Chicago International Film Festival titles I was able to watch. I had completed half of my allotted titles ahead of schedule but took a break to focus on other film projects and now I am back on track to complete the rest (five) by the end of next week. When they will be published is another thing…
Anyway…
What are the next batch of films released this weekend?
SPELL Dai Nishou Noroi wa, Owaranai 
SPELL 第二章 呪いは、終わらない 「SPELL Dai Nishou Noroi wa, Owaranai 」
Release Date: November 10th, 2023
Duration: 94 mins.
Director: Kazuhiro Teranishi
Writer: Kazuhiro Teranishi (Screenplay),
Starring: Yuuma Teranishi, Kon Omura, Miki Ando, Dai Hoshou, Yuuta Misaki
Synopsis: Shumpei Umakaino, a man from a family of psychics, takes on the challenge of numerous spiritual phenomena. In this one, he helps Yusaku, the son of a former prime minister, who is stricken with unexplained health problems. As this transpires, Yusaku’s sister Yuko is preparing to run for election in his place. Shumpei stays at Yusaku’s mansion where he is reunited with someone who knows about Shumpei’s past and learns a surprising fact.
Stage Evangelion Beyond 
舞台・エヴァンゲリオン ビヨンド 「Butai Ebuangerion Biyondo」
Release Date: November 10th, 2023
Duration: 80 mins.
Director: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Writer: Seiji Nozoe (Screenplay),
Starring: Masataka Kubota (Soushi Watamori), Tetsushi Tanaka (Saneyuki Kanou), Kyoko Miyashita (Etsuko Sakurai), Shizuka Ishibashi (Iori Kiryuu), Takato Nagata (Touma), Akane Sakanoue (Hinata),
Synopsis: This is the theatrical screening of a performance from the stage play adaptation of Evangelion that took place in Japan during May and June 2023. The story follows the template of the original anime but through a different set of the side characters.
The lead in the play/film is Soushi Watamori, as he gets involved in a mysterious organisation named “Mensch” and battles Angels in one of four Evangelions when not in junior high school. Similar to Shinji Ikari, he has his doubts over his mission and the people he is fighting with and the other teens who fight alongside him have their own traumas and desperate desires that make it hard for them to work together.
Eiga no Asagohan 
映画の朝ごはん 「Eiga no Asagohan」
Release Date: November 10th, 2023
Duration: 131 mins.
Director: Isamu Shikota
Writer: N/A
Starring: Shuntaro Takeyama, Kenji Morita, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Shinji Higuchi, Shuichi Okita, Takahisa Zeze, Kyoko Koizumi (Narration),
Synopsis: Famous actor Kyoko Koizumi narrates a documentary about a bento store named Popeye. It is located in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward and has serviced the film and television industry for years with its onigiri bento. Famous faces included in this documentary include Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Shinji Higuchi, Takahisa Zeze, Nobuhiro Yamashita, and Shuichi Okita, each of whom recounts their memories of eating the food. Viewers also see how the food is produced and the reactions of the people who eat it at filming locations.
MOON CHILD 
ムーンチャイルド 「Mu-n Chairudo」
Release Date: April 19th, 2003
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Takahisa Zeze
Writer: GACKT, Takahisa Zeze, Kishu Izuchi (Screenplay),
Starring: HYDE, GACKT, Wang Leehom, Zeny Kwok, Susumu Terajima, Kanata Hongo, Taro Yamamoto,
Synopsis: This is a re-release of a film that first saw the light of day back in 2003 to commemorate its 20th anniversary. It was led by two musical superstars, HYDE and GACKT, both of whom act as street toughs in a fictional Asian city where there is a diverse array of people from various races. Something of a love blossoms between the two but that is threatened by gangland conflicts.
Gekijouban Goudon Tantei Jimusho Hajimari no Shugaa 
劇場版 ゴードン探偵事務所 はじまりのシュガー 「Gekijouban Goudon Tantei Jimusho Hajimari no Shugaa」
Release Date: November 10th, 2023
Duration: N/A
Director: Ikumi Kawaida
Writer: Ikumi Kawaida (Screenplay),
Starring: Kina Yazaki, Sumipon, Naoto Nishimura, Hinaho Takeda, Ayano Sumida,
Synopsis: The YouTube drama “Gordon’s Detective Agency” gets a movie version. The Gordon of the agency is a famous detective and has two apprentices, Ellie and Leila. Various people visit with requests, such as one from a woman searching for her lost boyfriend and another looking to find the perpetrator of a robbery-homicide that took place five years ago. The reason they are on the cases to begin with is because Gordon is often absent…
Gekijouban Bokurano no Galileo Galilei Aeta ne 
劇場版 僕らのGalileo Galilei 会えたね 「Gekijouban Bokurano no Galileo Galilei Aeta ne」
Release Date: November 10th, 2023
Duration: 75 mins.
Director: Fumito Iwai, Yuuki Ozaki
Writer: N/A
Starring: Yuuki Ozaki, Fumito Iwai, Kazuki Ozaki, Masaki, Okazaki,
Synopsis: This is the theatrical version of a special programme dedicated to rock band Galileo Galilei that was broadcast on Space Shower TV in July 2023. It shows the various formations of the long-running band, performances, and behind the scenes sequences while getting up close with various members to give the emotional trajectory pf the group from past to present. This film version comes with previously unseen documentary and live footage.
Tetsuya Tomino
Tetsuya Tomino had a film at the Tokyo International Film Festival that starred Nana Komatsu. Viewers in Tokyo can see two of his earlier shorts, both of which had festival play.
At the Last Stop Called Ghost Chimney 
終点、お化け煙突まえ。 「Shuuten, Obake Entotsu Mae」
Release Date: 2013
Duration: 17 mins.
Director: Tetsuya Tomino
Writer: Tetsuya Tomino (Screenplay),
Starring: Yukino Kishii, Satoru Kawaguchi, Hyunri,
Synopsis: On the day of her graduation, high school girl who nurses a secret love for a bus driver, rides to the end of the line where the last stop is called Ghost Chimney. Depending on the angle, it can either been seen as one chimney or four chimneys. The girl and the bus driver dream of a world beyond the last stop and her anxiety about the world exquisitely overlaps with the anxiety about the pollution…
This was inspired by the four chimneys of a former thermal power plant in Kitasenju, Adachi-ku, Tokyo, known as “haunted chimneys.”
Blue Wind Blows 
ブルー・ウインド・ブローズ 「Buru Uindo Buro-zu」
Release Date: 2018
Duration: 80 mins.
Director: Tetsuya Tomino
Writer: Tetsuya Tomino (Screenplay),
Starring: Hizuki Tanaka, Yayako Uchida, Tsubaki Tanaka, Masato Hagiwara, Rumika, Yuya Uchida,
This played at Berlinale 2018.
Synopsis: Ao (Hizuki Tanaka) lives with his mother and younger sister Kii in an industrial coastal village on the Japanese island of Sado. Their father recently disappeared without a trace, but nobody talks much about that. Ao thinks that a monster took him. Ao and Kii wander around the island and vent their incomprehension to the expanses of the sea. Then Ao finds a soulmate in the secretive Sayoko, a new girl on the island who is living with her foster parents. These two daydreamers need only a few words and feel immediately connected to one another. One night, the two take a mysterious bus to the sea, where Ao’s father once saw a monster.