Welcome to the Christmas Day trailer post.
The first trailer post of the week is here. You can find the last trailer post will be published tomorrow.
I normally try to do a review for Christmas day but have decided to throttle down activities in favour of fun film marathons.
I’ve had a blast watching loads of films during my sick leave. Since I have been laid up in bed, I’ve been able to watch four features in a day and some shorts as part of my festival work. There have also bee the off dips into Stargate SG-1, comfort viewing. The 80s horror movies I watched have ranged from Lucio Fulci’s late works to under-talked about titles like The Nesting, which reminded me of Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971) in setting/female-driven story/unreliable narrator, and The Changeling (1980) with its hostile home out to right a historical wrong via violent hauntings. Then there was The Attic, which features a quite moving story of women dealing with malign parents. The Woman in Black, the 1989 version was also quite scary! Better than the recent film.
I recently got into the Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi! series and I am having a ball with that one.
As for a Christmas message, please look after yourself and your loved ones and community and think about society and the planet as well.
What are the next batch of films released this weekend?
The Hotel of My Dream 
私にふさわしいホテル 「Watashi ni fusawashi hoteru」
Release Date: December 27th, 2024
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Writer: Keita Kawajiri (Screenplay), Asako Yuzuki (Original Novel)
Starring: Non, Kei Tanaka, Kenichi Takito, Akari Takaishi, Mayumi Wakamura, Ai Hashimoto, Ken Mitsuishi, Misaki Hattori, Minami Tanaka,
Website Twitter: @wands_movie JFDB IMDB
Yukihiko Tsutsumi adapts Naoki Prize-winning author Asako Yuzuki’s same-named novel and has a really good cast – Ken Mitsuishi, Ai Hashimoto, Akari Takaishi. They are led by Non, who looks like she is having a ball!
Synopsis: Kayoko was all set to make a spectacular debut as a writer after winning a New Writers’ Prize, but criticism from veteran author Munenori Higashijujo led to her novel not even getting published. She is aiming for a comeback to the literary world and so she stays at the Hotel on the Mountain, a place which she has longed to visit, but even that is ruined when she discovers that the hated Higashijujo is in the room above her. “I can’t let this grudge go!” With this thought in mind, she teams up with an editor named Endo, who was her senior at university, to sabotage Higashijujo‘s writing but that has unintended consequences…
MARINES DOCUMENTARY 2024 Jibuntachi o koete yuku 
MARINES DOCUMENTARY 2024 自分たちを超えてゆく。 「MARINES DOCUMENTARY 2024 Jibuntachi o koete yuku」
Release Date: December 27th, 2024
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Synopsis: This documentary covers the Chiba Lotte Marines baseball team and looks at how the team performed and grew over 2024 as they aims to revitalise their team for success in 2025 in a plan initiated by manager Masato Yoshii.
The Lord of the Rings The War of the Rohirrim 
ロード・オブ・ザ・リング ローハンの戦い 「Ro-do obu za ringu ro-han no tatakai」
Release Date: December 27th, 2024
Duration: 134 mins.
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Writer: N/A
Starring: Moe Konoma (Haru Endo), Sho Komura (Unmei Sasanami), Yohei Azakami (Joji Sakurazaki),
Animation Production: Sola Digital Arts, Animation co-operation: OLM, Production I.G, Studio 4C,YAMATO WORKS, C2C,
This animated film is a prequel to Peter Jackson’s live-action adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” novels. It’s an original story that expands on the description of King Helm, the mightiest king of Rohan, the land of knights and depicts a legendary battle that took place 183 years before the live-action trilogy.
This is an American movie made with major Japanese animation studios. Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) was in charge of animation production. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Bowen, who worked on the live-action trilogy, are participating as producers.
Synopsis: This movie tells the fate of the Helm Hammerhand and his conflict with Wulf, a Dunlending lord who cornered Helm in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg—a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Hera, the daughter of Helm, takes the lead in this particular story.
Nakajima Miyuki Concert utakai VOL.1 gekijouban 
中島みゆきコンサート「歌会VOL.1」劇場版 「Nakajima Miyuki Concert utakai VOL.1 gekijouban」
Release Date: December 27th, 2024
Duration: 81 mins.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: Miyuki Nakajima
Website Twitter: @miyuki_movie
Synopsis: Miyuki Nakashima held her first concerts in four years in 2024. They took place at two venues, Tokyo International Forum and Osaka Festival Hall, for a total of 16 performances. They were recorded and will be screened theatrically.