Handsome Suits, the new comedy based on a paperback novel written by “SMAP x SMAP” variety show writer Osamu Suzuki will be released on November 1, 2008. The story involves a goofy looking chef named Takuro (Muga Tsukaji) who has never been with a woman in his 33 years. When his mother dies he returns from studying abroad in Italy to take over ownership of her diner, “Kokoro-ya”. Although his food is a hit with the ladies, his face and body are not. He falls in love with a part-time worker at the diner (Keiko Kitagawa) but she’s not attracted to him. One day Takuro enters a men’s wear store and a conspicuously good-looking store manager says he has the perfect suit in mind for him. The suit seems too tight, but as he reaches half an arm through one of the sleeves he’s transformed into a handsome new version of himself (Shosuke Tanihara). Soon his luck with women takes a turn for the better, to say the least. Only a 34-second teaser is out so far but in this case I think it pretty much sums up the entire movie.

continue reading »

Permalink      0 Comments

Takuro, a goofy looking guy who has no luck with women buys a suit that transforms him into a handsome man. To be released on November 1, 2008 in Japan. For the full trailer, see this link.

watch »

Permalink      0 Comments

We could be buried in Yasukuni.

Um, what’s Yasukuni? A supermarket?

The Suicide Song, written by One Missed Call author Yasushi Akimoto and directed by Masato Harada, is a movie that doesn’t just belie expectations; it completely tosses them out the window.  One need look no further than the theatrical trailer to see how this was marketed as a straight-forward horror flick about a cursed song that forces people to commit suicide, but in reality it’s more of a social satire and vehicle for Jpop unit AKB48 that happens to have a horror sub-plot tying it all together. Ultimately this movie is far, far more likely to introduce people to Jpop than it is to appease horror fans. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is up to you. Personally I had no problem with it, other than the fact that they killed off my favorite group member 6 minutes in.

continue reading »

Permalink      2 Comments

In the current culture of foreign movie coverage, where 1-line blurbs can make or break your international sales appeal, Check It Out, Yo! is a good example of a movie that gets unfairly torpedoed by its own premise (not to mention title) right off the bat. That 1 line goes something like this: Three guys from Okinawa attend a concert of local rap group “Workaholic” and get so excited by the reaction of the crowd that they immediately decide to start a band of their own to impress chicks. While this idea sounds like it could quickly spiral into a stupid Hollywood-style teen sex comedy, it’s actually more of a goofy take on innocent young love and the ridiculous lengths teenagers are willing to go when every unrequited crush seems like the end of the world.

continue reading »

Permalink      0 Comments

Talk about coming out of nowhere. Today we present you with Gachi-ban, a movie that seems to have appeared out of thin air and yet already has a trailer and is primed for a limited 1-week showing starting July 19 at Cinemart Roppongi. Does this lack of prior PR mean it sucks? Quite possibly, but judging from the trailer it will at least give the kids some over-the-top delinquent schoolboy ass-kicking to tide them over until Crows Zero 2 comes out next year.

Created by long-time pinku director Hideo Jojo and co-written by Masao Iketani (Yakuza’s Kindergarten), the film is pretty much a direct spoof that makes no effort to hide that fact that it’s trying to capitalize on the success of Takashi Miike‘s Crows Zero with a quickly-produced “high-tension yankee movie”. The difference, however, is that they’re replacing Miike with Jyoujyou and Shun Oguri with Shunsuke Kubozuka (Saikano, Yo-Yo Girl Cop). Something tells me they won’t be hitting the 2.4 billion yen mark that “Crows” reached.

continue reading »

Permalink      0 Comments