There are so many films released this weekend that I have had to split the trailer post into two (which I was doing a few months ago). I have had everything scheduled because I am down in London for the Terracotta Far East Film Festival where I’ll be watching three or four Japanese films, all of them released in Japanese cinemas this year – talk about fresh out of the oven.
As far as this/last week’s blogging goes, I ended up posting reviews for Blue Ruin and Real, the Japanese line-up for the Edinburgh Film Festival and I posted trailers yesterday. So there. That’s your lot. You can breathe a sigh of relief over the fact that you don’t have to read any more badly spelled posts from me… Until Wednesday.
All-Round Appraiser Q: The Eyes of Mona Lisa 
Japanese Title:万能鑑定士Q モナ・リザの瞳
Romaji: Bannou Kanteishi Q Monariza no Hitomi
Running Time: 119 mins
Release Date: May 31st, 2014 (Japan)
Director: Shinsuke Sato
Writer: Manabu Uda (Screenplay), Keisuke Matsuoka (Original Novel)
Starring: Haruka Ayase, Tori Matsuzaka, Eriko Hatsune, Hiroaki Murakami, Pierre Deladonchamps, Jun Hashimoto
Based on a popular mystery novel by Keisuke Matsuoka, the story follows Riko Rinda (Ayase) who is an appraiser with sound judgement and an excellent memory. She’s in Paris because she has been hired by The Louvre to help facilitate a Mona Lisa exhibition in Japan. Yuto Ogasawara (Matsuzaka) is a magazine writer who follows her as she tries to solve a mystery. It looks very much like the BBC’s modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes what with the on-screen text and character who possesses super observational skills.
A Minute More 
Japanese Title:一分間だけ
Romaji: Ippun Kan dake
Running Time: 112 mins
Release Date: May 31st, 2014 (Japan)
Director: Chen Wei-Ling
Writer: N/A (Screenplay), Maha Harada (Original Novel)
Starring: Ning Chang, Peter Ho, Reina Ikehata
This is a Japanese-Taiwanese co-production about a couple who get a golden retriever and drift apart as they forget the important things in life… Next…
Robot Girls Z 
Japanese Title:一分間だけ
Romaji: Ippun Kan dake
Running Time: 83 mins
Release Date: May 31st, 2014 (Japan)
Director: Hiroshi Ikehata
Writer: Kazuho Hyodo (Screenplay),
Starring: Shinnosuke Tachibana (Akira Soma), Takahiro Mizushima (Mitsuki Kamatani), Takashi Kondou (Takuma Hachimine), Masakazu Morita (Yukiya Minabe), Daisuke Namikawa (Akito Kimata), Go Inoue (Tetsu Suzuki)
The Robot Girls Z anime gets its movie premiere today and the girls in the story are Z-chan (Mazinger Z), Gre-Chan (Great Mazinger), and Grenda-san (UFO Robo Grendizer) and they are defending Photon Power Town from the mechanical beast girls Dou-Blas-chan and Garada-chan who are led by Baron Ashura, a megalomaniac.
I haven’t watched the anime but my favourite robot girl from the poster is the one with the 3DS. Everybody else is panicking and she’s totally like, “Guys, don’t interrupt, I’m playing Fire Emblem.”
Prepare to have your mind blown by the freaking awesomeness of the next title!
Samurai Pirates 
Japanese Title:瀬戸内海賊物語
Romaji: Setouchi Kaizoku Monogatari
Running Time: 116 mins
Release Date: May 31st, 2014 (Japan)
Director: Kenichi Ohmori
Writer: Kenichi Ohmori, Kaori Fujii, Hiroyasu Yuhara (Screenplay),
Starring: Kyoka Shibata, Masaki Izawa, Wakana Aoi, Kyoichi Omae, Takashi Naito, Kotaro Koizummi, Toshi Takeuchi
Holy smoke! Pirates who are also samurai. I think the only way this film could be more awesome is if it were Samurai VERSUS Pirates. The world would just end if that ever happened. In all seriousness, this is a kids film.
Kaede Murakami (Shibata) and her family live on an island in the Seto Inland Sea. They are the descendents of Takeyoshi Murakami who is also known as Murakami Suigun, general of the samurai pirates who battled Hideyoshi Toyotomi. When the closure of a ferry route to the island threatens her family’s livelihood, Kaede hears a tale of the samurai pirates stashing a secret treasure somewhere and heads out with three classmates to find it.
Inabe 
Japanese Title:いなべ
Romaji: Inabe
Running Time: 38 mins
Release Date: May 31st, 2014 (Japan)
Director: Koji Fukada
Writer: Koji Fukada (Screenplay),
Starring: Hiroaki Matsuda,Ami Kurata, Yui Ito, Minami Inoue,
This short film takes place in Inabe City, Mie Prefecture and on a pig farm. Tomohiro is working when his suster Naoko returns after 17 years away with a baby strapped to her. The two are uneasy with each other at first but begin to open up about the time they spent with each other and a mystery that looms large…
Samurai Zombie Fragile 
Japanese Title:サムライゾンビ・フラジャイル
Romaji: Samurai Zonbi Furajairu
Running Time: 24 mins
Release Date: May 31st, 2014 (Japan)
Director: Kentaro Yamagishi
Writer: Kentaro Yamagishi (Screenplay),
Starring: Kenji Suzumura, Daigo Ogawa, Souji Masaki, Anon Shiina
Samurai zombies and gangster zombies and an 80 year old private detective intrude in the life of a woman who just wants to get her shopping done when a science experiment goes wrong…
Beauty Within
Japanese Title:美しいひと
Romaji: Utsukushii Hito
Running Time: 116 mins
Release Date: May 31st, 2014 (Japan)
Director: Azuma Shizu
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
69 years have passed since the atom bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and the consequences are still being felt. Beautiful People unites victims of the bomb and they range from Japanese women to Dutch and Koreans who were in prison camps in the city.
Oyako Present to the Future 
Running Time: 90 mins
Release Date: May 31st, 2014 (Japan)
Director: Inomatatoshi
Writer: N/A
Starring: Bruce Osborn,
Oyako. The Japanese word translates as parents and children. The documentary follows an American photographer named Bruce Osborn who photographs parents and children. There is now an Oyako day in Japan and the film was made to celebrate the 10th anniversary. We get lots of interviews with parents and children.
Mother of the Bride 
Japanese Title:桂由美 マザーオブザブライド
Romaji: Katsura yumi mazā Obu za buraido
Running Time: 60 mins
Release Date: May 31st, 2014 (Japan)
Director: Norihisa Yoshimura
Writer: Ichiro Ando (Screenplay),
Starring: Yumi Katsura
Fashion and weddings. Some may see romance, some see big business. Yumi Katsura is a titan in the Japanese bridal industry (is that even a phrase?) due to her fashion label which she established in the 1960s. She narrates this documentary.
