Shinobu Yaguchi specializes in feel-good “zero to hero” films, where a group of people take up an unlikely activity, face a number of obstacles, but finally succeed. His film Waterboys was particularly successful and led to a TV series which entered its third season in 2005. He was awarded Best Screenplay at the 2005 Yokohama Film Festival for his film Swing Girls. (Wikipedia)
Having previously won the ‘audience choice award’ at season four of Asian Pop Up Cinema, his film “Survival Family” was brought back as part of the online themed festival ‘father’s day cheer’. On this occasion, we got a chance to speak to the director about challenges in capturing a powerless Japan, as well as his own thoughts on the role technology plays in modern society.
“Survival Family” is screening as part of Father’s Day Cheer on Asian Pop Up Cinema
*Asian Movie Pulse would like to give...
Having previously won the ‘audience choice award’ at season four of Asian Pop Up Cinema, his film “Survival Family” was brought back as part of the online themed festival ‘father’s day cheer’. On this occasion, we got a chance to speak to the director about challenges in capturing a powerless Japan, as well as his own thoughts on the role technology plays in modern society.
“Survival Family” is screening as part of Father’s Day Cheer on Asian Pop Up Cinema
*Asian Movie Pulse would like to give...
- 6/21/2020
- by Adam Symchuk
- AsianMoviePulse
Within a society driven by technological dependency, “Survival Family” looks at how the familiar family structure would be disrupted when faced with a complete blackout. Backed by this premise, a family of four is forced to venture out in search of necessities as there seems to be no end or insight into the dire situation. While the family has to face hordes of others in the same desperate scenario, they also must learn to understand their place in the family, which was previously subdued by a focus on money and distraction with the conveniences of modern age.
“Survival Family” is screening as part of Father’s Day Cheer on Asian Pop Up Cinema
The sheer amount of work in creating a landscape without any source of power imbues the production with a sense of awe and wonder. The commitment to world building is apparent in every scene, making for a surreal experience in seeing various locations,...
“Survival Family” is screening as part of Father’s Day Cheer on Asian Pop Up Cinema
The sheer amount of work in creating a landscape without any source of power imbues the production with a sense of awe and wonder. The commitment to world building is apparent in every scene, making for a surreal experience in seeing various locations,...
- 6/19/2020
- by Adam Symchuk
- AsianMoviePulse
North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese cinema presents a diverse slate of 42 films, with over 20 guest filmmakers and talent in person for daily post-screening Q&As, including Cut Above awardee Shinya Tsukamoto.
Premiering 26 features and 16 short films, the summer festival offers a deep dive into one of the world’s most vital film cultures with a diverse selection across its Feature Slate, Classics: Rediscoveries and Restorations, Documentary Focus, Experimental Spotlight and Shorts Showcase sections. This year’s lineup features 19 first-time filmmakers and 14 female directors (the most in the festival’s history), including 10 International Premieres, 16 North American Premieres, 4 U.S. Premieres, 4 East Coast Premieres and 6 New York Premieres. In addition, over 20 guest filmmakers and talent from Japan will join the festival to participate in post-screening Q&As and parties.
“This 13th edition of Japan Cuts provides testament to the continued vitality of contemporary Japanese cinema with a wide array...
Premiering 26 features and 16 short films, the summer festival offers a deep dive into one of the world’s most vital film cultures with a diverse selection across its Feature Slate, Classics: Rediscoveries and Restorations, Documentary Focus, Experimental Spotlight and Shorts Showcase sections. This year’s lineup features 19 first-time filmmakers and 14 female directors (the most in the festival’s history), including 10 International Premieres, 16 North American Premieres, 4 U.S. Premieres, 4 East Coast Premieres and 6 New York Premieres. In addition, over 20 guest filmmakers and talent from Japan will join the festival to participate in post-screening Q&As and parties.
“This 13th edition of Japan Cuts provides testament to the continued vitality of contemporary Japanese cinema with a wide array...
- 6/14/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
The Toronto Japanese Film Festival Returns With The World Premiere Of Swing Girls Director's Latest!
It may not be the biggest festival to play my home city but it's certainly one of the best and the Toronto Japanese Film Festival returns on June 6th, with a stellar lineup anchored by the world premiere of the latest from Swing Girls and Waterboys director Yaguchi Shinobu! Read on for all the details! The samurai, of the cinematic variety, are set to descend on Toronto this summer. They are joined by reluctant sake brewers, yakuza assassins, tea ceremony sages, deadly mahjong-playing robots, dashing hotel detectives, and calculating masters of “corporate kabuki”. Now in its eighth year, the 2019 Toronto Japanese Film Festival brings Toronto audiences 28 of the finest contemporary Japanese films recognized for excellence by Japanese audiences and critics, international film festival...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 5/26/2019
- Screen Anarchy
Centrepiece Highlight
World Premiere of “Dance With Me”
Director Shinobu Yaguchi, Lead Actress Ayaka Miyoshi in attendance
Opening Night
North American Premiere of Masayuki Suzuki’s mystery thriller, “Masquerade Hotel“
Special Guests:
Star of “Love’s Twisting Path” – Mikako Tabe
Director of award-winning “Born Bone Born” – Comedian Toshiyuki Teruya “Gori”
Director Tatsushi Omori – “When My Mom Died, I Wanted to Eat Her Ashes” and “Every Day a Good Day”
Star of “The Gambler’s Odyssey 2020” – Takumi Saitoh
The samurai, of the cinematic variety, are set to descend on Toronto this summer. They are joined by reluctant sake brewers, yakuza assassins, tea ceremony sages, deadly mahjong-playing robots, dashing hotel detectives, and calculating masters of “corporate kabuki”.
Now in its eighth year, the 2019 Toronto Japanese Film Festival brings Toronto audiences 28 of the finest contemporary Japanese films recognized for excellence by Japanese audiences and critics, international film festival audiences and the Japanese Film Academy.
World Premiere of “Dance With Me”
Director Shinobu Yaguchi, Lead Actress Ayaka Miyoshi in attendance
Opening Night
North American Premiere of Masayuki Suzuki’s mystery thriller, “Masquerade Hotel“
Special Guests:
Star of “Love’s Twisting Path” – Mikako Tabe
Director of award-winning “Born Bone Born” – Comedian Toshiyuki Teruya “Gori”
Director Tatsushi Omori – “When My Mom Died, I Wanted to Eat Her Ashes” and “Every Day a Good Day”
Star of “The Gambler’s Odyssey 2020” – Takumi Saitoh
The samurai, of the cinematic variety, are set to descend on Toronto this summer. They are joined by reluctant sake brewers, yakuza assassins, tea ceremony sages, deadly mahjong-playing robots, dashing hotel detectives, and calculating masters of “corporate kabuki”.
Now in its eighth year, the 2019 Toronto Japanese Film Festival brings Toronto audiences 28 of the finest contemporary Japanese films recognized for excellence by Japanese audiences and critics, international film festival audiences and the Japanese Film Academy.
- 5/22/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Well…I do think that these are indeed teaser trailers for Yamagata Scream by Japanese director, actor and comedian Naoto Takenaka (Swing Girls, 20th Century Boys).
In the summary for the film from 2007, an isolated village where zombie samurai warriors roam is mentioned, but these three teaser trailers from the official website (I joined them for your convenience) look more like they were made for…well, I honestly can’t say!
[See post to watch Flash video] [via @nipponcinema]
Share...
In the summary for the film from 2007, an isolated village where zombie samurai warriors roam is mentioned, but these three teaser trailers from the official website (I joined them for your convenience) look more like they were made for…well, I honestly can’t say!
[See post to watch Flash video] [via @nipponcinema]
Share...
- 4/6/2009
- by Ulrik
- Affenheimtheater
While you may not know Naoto Takenaka by name, believe me when I say that if you’re any kind of fan of Japanese cult film then you know the popular comedian’ss face. Takenaka has played key roles in a string of popular films ranging from Ping Pong to Azumi to Swing Girls to The Great Yokai War. And now Takenaka is stepping behind the camera to create Yamagata Scream, his latest directorial effort.
The story is set in a village in the Yamagata prefecture, inspired by tales of the ochimusha of the Taira clan. The ochimusha were warriors who, after being defeated in battle, fled to remote areas of Japan and established small towns to live in. In the film, a businessman and a high school girl arrive in the village and accidentally unearth one of the Taira graves, awakening the zombies of the ochimusha. Takenaka will play the “zombie general.
The story is set in a village in the Yamagata prefecture, inspired by tales of the ochimusha of the Taira clan. The ochimusha were warriors who, after being defeated in battle, fled to remote areas of Japan and established small towns to live in. In the film, a businessman and a high school girl arrive in the village and accidentally unearth one of the Taira graves, awakening the zombies of the ochimusha. Takenaka will play the “zombie general.
- 1/24/2009
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
Shinobu Yaguchi’s breakout movie, Waterboys, was a commercial and critical smash, elevating its writer/director from low-budget indie flicks to the big league. But the zany tale of a group of schoolboy losers who form a synchronized swimming team didn’t do his creative muse much good. When it came time to make a proper follow-up (after the little-seen anthology Parco Fiction), he did the obvious thing: he made the same film again. 2004’s Swing Girls was a much more polished piece of work, but there was no escaping the fact that its zany tale of a group of schoolgirl losers who form a swing band was kind of… familiar.
Based on the name alone, you could be forgiven for expecting Happy Flight, Yaguchi’s latest feature, to be the zany tale of a group of university drop-outs who form a budget airline company. It isn’t, thankfully. Breaking...
Based on the name alone, you could be forgiven for expecting Happy Flight, Yaguchi’s latest feature, to be the zany tale of a group of university drop-outs who form a budget airline company. It isn’t, thankfully. Breaking...
- 12/2/2008
- by James Hadfield
- Screen Anarchy
Yes, Kevin over at Nippon Cinema - always worth a read - has been covering this one for a while but in the lead up to the madness that is the Toronto International Film Festival I just didn’t have the chance to check out the latest from the director of Swing Girls and Waterboys until now. As with those two films the latest from Shinobu Yaguchi looks to be a clever, sophisticated comedy though this time his protagonists have aged a little: Yaguchi has graduated from high school and this time focuses on the world of airline attendants which certainly seems like fertile ground for a mind like Yaguchi’s.
The first teaser was little more than an announcement that the film existed but the latest spot is much more substantive and looks to be a very good time. Check it out in the Twitch Player below the break.
The first teaser was little more than an announcement that the film existed but the latest spot is much more substantive and looks to be a very good time. Check it out in the Twitch Player below the break.
- 9/16/2008
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
Pusan International Film Festival
BUSAN, South Korea -- Director Kim Hee-Sun's graduate project plays out just like that. Neither narratively innovative nor thematically cutting edge, Drawing Paper is a competent but ultimately forgettable drama in the vein of the superior Swing Girls or Take Care of My Cat. Kim's girl-focused film is more a missed opportunity than a complete feature.
Drawing Paper looks and feels like a debut feature. The HD photography is functional and straightforward, and the performances are respectable given the character sketches the actors must work with. But neither of those is likely to earn the film a theatrical release outside of Korea, if even there. There is limited festival potential here, and relying on the musical aspect of the film would also be misguided, as there isn't enough of it to register, and what's there is weak.
Song-Won (Kang Eun-Bi) is a high school senior who wants to join a band. She and her best friend So-Yi (So Yi) sign up for Magnolia, the school's version of the Go-Gos, with an eye toward entering a college band competition. Also in the band is Soo-Ah (Lee Seol-A), the reserved bassist with a secretive outside life. For a poorly explained reason, they have to work with an all-boy band that includes singer is Dong-Yoon (Kim Dong-Youn), who takes a shine to Song-Won, and bassist Joon-Ki (Kim Jun-Gi), who becomes enamored with Soo-Ah. From here, the story goes exactly where one would expect it to, replete with love triangle, secrets, shame and band disintegration. The film's most notable aspect is the glimpse of what appears to be a David Hasselhoff record cover in the background.
"Drawing Paper's" biggest fault is its lack of illumination: Nothing is ever explained or left for interpretation or inference. What little rationalization there is comes in the form of short speeches that sound as though they are the result of years of personal introspection. Girl power as a relatively new concept in Korea could do with some cinematic exposure, and that's Kim's initial thrust. Sadly, the film devolves into rote trials and tribulations that wind up saying very little about the choices young Korean women are forced to make right now.
DRAWING PAPER
A Happy Pictures production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Kim Sun-Hee
Producers: Kim Jae-Joong, Kim Kyung-Jun
\Director of photography: Lee Yong-Hoon
Production designer: Lee Hye-Jin
Music: Bang Jun-Seok
Editors: You Seong-Yup, Min Tae-Young
Cast:
Song-Won: Kang Eun-Bi
So-Yi: So Yi
Soo-Ah: Lee Seol-A
Eun-Sup: Woo Seung-Min
Joon-Ki: Kim Jun-Gi
Dong-Yoon: Kim Dong-Youn
Ji-Min: Han Su-Yeon
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 93 minutes...
BUSAN, South Korea -- Director Kim Hee-Sun's graduate project plays out just like that. Neither narratively innovative nor thematically cutting edge, Drawing Paper is a competent but ultimately forgettable drama in the vein of the superior Swing Girls or Take Care of My Cat. Kim's girl-focused film is more a missed opportunity than a complete feature.
Drawing Paper looks and feels like a debut feature. The HD photography is functional and straightforward, and the performances are respectable given the character sketches the actors must work with. But neither of those is likely to earn the film a theatrical release outside of Korea, if even there. There is limited festival potential here, and relying on the musical aspect of the film would also be misguided, as there isn't enough of it to register, and what's there is weak.
Song-Won (Kang Eun-Bi) is a high school senior who wants to join a band. She and her best friend So-Yi (So Yi) sign up for Magnolia, the school's version of the Go-Gos, with an eye toward entering a college band competition. Also in the band is Soo-Ah (Lee Seol-A), the reserved bassist with a secretive outside life. For a poorly explained reason, they have to work with an all-boy band that includes singer is Dong-Yoon (Kim Dong-Youn), who takes a shine to Song-Won, and bassist Joon-Ki (Kim Jun-Gi), who becomes enamored with Soo-Ah. From here, the story goes exactly where one would expect it to, replete with love triangle, secrets, shame and band disintegration. The film's most notable aspect is the glimpse of what appears to be a David Hasselhoff record cover in the background.
"Drawing Paper's" biggest fault is its lack of illumination: Nothing is ever explained or left for interpretation or inference. What little rationalization there is comes in the form of short speeches that sound as though they are the result of years of personal introspection. Girl power as a relatively new concept in Korea could do with some cinematic exposure, and that's Kim's initial thrust. Sadly, the film devolves into rote trials and tribulations that wind up saying very little about the choices young Korean women are forced to make right now.
DRAWING PAPER
A Happy Pictures production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Kim Sun-Hee
Producers: Kim Jae-Joong, Kim Kyung-Jun
\Director of photography: Lee Yong-Hoon
Production designer: Lee Hye-Jin
Music: Bang Jun-Seok
Editors: You Seong-Yup, Min Tae-Young
Cast:
Song-Won: Kang Eun-Bi
So-Yi: So Yi
Soo-Ah: Lee Seol-A
Eun-Sup: Woo Seung-Min
Joon-Ki: Kim Jun-Gi
Dong-Yoon: Kim Dong-Youn
Ji-Min: Han Su-Yeon
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 93 minutes...
- 10/9/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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