Hello dear reader, I hope you are well!
The weather has been pretty frosty where I am but nothing too 
serious but I still spent most of my week indoors either at work or at home which is good for viewing movies. 2015 has been about a lot of films for me and my list of films watched has expanded by two.
Earlier this week I viewed The Driver (1978) and God Bless America (2011) added to my tally. The Driver was my favourite of the two. It stars Ryan O’Neal who plays a cold getaway driver for hire in the LA underworld who has a detective obsessively chasing him played by Bruce Dern. He gets mixed up with a beautiful lady played by the gorgeous Isabelle Adjani who was last reviewed here for the vampire film Nosferatu the Vampyre, directed by Werner Herzog.
Any excuse to use a picture of her… The two are stuck in a set-up orchestrated by the police that results in a film that was full of great car chases. It was interesting to see how much the 2010 film Drive took away from it.
I also re-watched Greatful Dead (2013) as prep for the review which is published next week. The film gets its UK release courtesy of Third Window Films (which I posted about) and I think it’s excellent. As well as posting about the release, I also answered some questions from ace book-blogger Lynn which gives readers a tiny bit of an idea of who I am.
I’ll be adding on to the list of films I have watched this year. This time next week I’ll be in London for the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme (my preview here) and the Rubens exhibition at the Royal Academy.
What’s released in Japan this weekend? Lots of foreign films an this set of Japanese ones including one by Ryuichi Hiroki.
Kabukicho Love Hotel
Japanese Title: さよなら 歌舞伎町
Romaji: Sayonara Kabukicho
Release Date: January 24th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 135 mins.
Director: Ryuichi Hiroki
Writer: Haruhiko Arai (Screenplay)
Starring: Shota Sometani, Atsuko Maeda, Kaho Minami, Nao Omori, Yutaka Matsushige, Jun Murakami, Tomorowo Taguchi, Miwako Wagatsuma,
The last film I reviewed by Ryuichi Hiroki was Kimi no Tomodachi (2010), a film with a large ensemble cast who performed wonders in making the everyday lives of a bunch of small town people a moving experience. This was partly down to Hiroki’s assured direction which favours naturalism. It looks like he’s doing something similar only a bit grittier as he goes to the seedier areas of Korea town in Tokyo.
A group of people are all connected to a love hotel in Kabukicho. These people include Toru (Sometani), the manager of the love hotel, and his lover, a musician named Saya (Maeda), a cleaning woman named Satomi (Minami) and her husband Yasuo (Matsushige), a slarayman named Kagehisa (Murakami), a music producer, a prostitute scout named Masaya (Oshinari) and call girl business manager named Masashi (Taguchi).
The film was at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and according to the very positive reviews at the Japan Times, Variety and the one at the Hollywood Reporter, this multi-strand story is worth delving into with some racy scenes and great acting. I write racey scenes but it seems less raunchy than expected considering the action takes place in a love hotel. It should come as no surprise stars a whole bunch of totally talented actors like Shota Sometani (Himizu), Atsuko Maeda (The Drudgery Train), Nao Omori (The Ravine of Goodbye), Miwako Wagatsuma (The Pinkie), and Tomorowo Taguchi (Tetsuo: The Iron Man).
Kano
Japanese Title: Kano 1931海の向こうの甲子園
Romaji: Kano
Release Date: January 24th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 185 mins.
Director: Umin Boya
Writer: Ruby Chen, Wei Te-Sheng (Screenplay)
Starring: Masatoshi Nagase, Takao Osawa, Maki Sakai, Togo Igawa, Zhong Yan-Cheng, Tsao Yu-Ning, Chang Hung-Yi
This drama is set in the 1920s when Japan was the colonial ruler of Taiwan. The principal cast and major roles in the production staff are filled by Taiwanese and this is a Taiwanese film!
The year is 1928 and the place is Taiwan. The Kano baseball team are on an epic losing streak having never scored a run or won a game. In steps a Japanese man named Kondo (Nagase). He used to play professionally but retired and now works as an accountant. He takes on the role of coach for the team which consists of local and Japanese guys. His goal is to get them to compete in Koshien, Japan’s national baseball championship for high schools.
Sesshi 100 do no Binetsu
Japanese Title: 摂氏100℃の微熱
Romaji: Sesshi 100 do no Binetsu
Release Date: January 24th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 80 mins.
Director: Koichi Okamoto
Writer: Aya Nozaki (Original Manga), Rika Nezu (Screenplay)
Starring: Airi Taira, Sho Aoyagi, Chisun, Kaname Endo, Natsuhi Ueno, Hiroaki Matsuda, Keiko Miyata,
Awaji island is the location where a young woman named Chinami (Taira) finds her life falling apart when she loses her job and sees her boyfriend cheating on her.Her problems exacerbate all of her bad feelings she has over The Great Hanshin Earthquake from nineteen years earlier. Just as she falls into despair she meets a young man from Tokyo…
Nakajima Miyuki “Enkai 2012 – 3 Gekijouban”
Japanese Title: 中島みゆき「縁会2012～3 劇場版」
Romaji: Nakajima Miyuki “Enkai 2012 – 3 Gekijouban”
Release Date: January 24th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: N/A
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: Miyuki Nakajima
This is another conert movie for the artist Miyuki Nakajima.
Black Film
Japanese Title: ブラックフィルム
Romaji: Burakku Firumu
Release Date: January 24th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 82 mins.
Director: Tatsuya Ogishima
Writer: Tatsuya Ogishima (Screenplay)
Starring: Risa Aragaki, Yu Saito, Yuri Akikawa, Yuuta Furukawa, Chinatsu Eguchi, Nao Yamabuki, Arisa Nakamura,
Risa Aagaki, a former member of Morning Musume, stars in a psychological horror about a budding actress named Saori who dreams of becoming an actress. She participates in a dual workshop/casting session for a film but becomes obsessed with a rival actress named Miho…
Random music video:
