UK distributor Third Window Films is set to have a highly Japan-centric start to 2009 with a flurry of noteworthy releases.

On January 12th, Third Window will be releasing Tetsuya Nakashima’s Memories of Matsuko and Kamikaze Girls.

On February 23rd they’ll be releasing Satoshi Miki’s “Turtles are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers”, a hilariously quirky little film I reviewed here back in August. Artwork and specs aren’t finalized yet, but should be coming out soon.

UK residents have a chance to check out Yosuke Fujita’s “Fine, Totally Fine” at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London from Friday, November 14 to Thursday, November 20. Check this link for screen times. DVD details aren’t yet finalized.

And finally, Third Window has picked up the rights to Daihachi Yoshida’s dysfunctional family dramedy “Funuke: Show Some Love You Losers!”. A theatrical release is tentatively planned for sometime around March with a subsequent DVD release in April.

Third Window Films - official website

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This will mark the first time I’ve ever bothered posting anything about a DVD release without English subtitles or an English-language audio track—but after being asked literally hundreds of times if I know when the first “Boys Over Flowers” movie will be available on DVD since posting about it here back in June, I guess it’s an important thing to announce.

TC Entertainment will be releasing a Standard Edition and Premium Edition on December 19, 2008. Both versions are region 2, NTSC, 16:9 letterboxed, DVD9 with Japanese Dolby 5.1 and stereo audio. Includes Japanese subtitles only.

Standard Edition
Retail price: 3,990 yen
Pre-order at CDJapan

1 disc. Includes 131 min. theatrical version of the movie and trailers.

Premium Edition
Retail price: 9,975 yen
Pre-order at CDJapan

3 discs. Comes in a collector’s travel case and the first pressing includes 5 postcards. The main disc includes the 131 min. theatrical cut of the movie and trailers. Bonus discs include the 160 min. director’s cut version, 32 min. of unreleased scenes, making-of footage, event footage, cast interview, special TV program for the movie, and more.

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Kitaro and the Millennium Curse, the sequel to 2007’s Kitaro, will be coming to Japanese R2 DVD with English subtitles on January 9, 2009.

The movie screened at Cannes back in May and was publicly released in Japan on July 12th. The story revolves around a series of mysterious disappearances which trace back to a forbidden love between a human and yokai approximately 1,000 years earlier. Kitaro and his friends must seek out 5 treasures to put an end to this millennium curse and defeat the evil yokai who’s responsible.

Standard Edition specs
Premium Edition specs
Watch trailer

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It’s always a nice surprise when you discover a Japanese R2 DVD release will have English subtitles. Not only because we get to watch the movie months, if not years ahead of the normal turn-around, but because Japanese DVD releases are usually so much better than the treatments we get here in the US. The downside? They’re expensive as hell.

Japanese distributor Pony Canyon is big on offering English subs with their releases, and thankfully they’ve continued that trend with their release of Koki Mitani’s smash hit, The Magic Hour, due out December 3rd. There will be 3 versions: Standard Edition, Special Edition (standard disc + bonus features disc), and Blu-ray. See links below for specs.

Standard Edition DVD
Special Edition DVD
Blu-ray

Also, if you haven’t been paying attention to our DVD release schedule (RSS feed), there have been a few other notable R2 DVDs with English subs released or announced recently:

The Glory of Team Batista
Kekkon Shiyo yo
700 Days of Battle: Us vs. the Police
Fine, Totally Fine
Gachi Boy
Cyborg Girl
Shaolin Girl

Some notable releases that don’t have subs? “Cyborg Girl”, “The Chasing World”, and “Sushi King Goes to New York”. That’s cold.

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Here are some DVD releases slated for the fairly distant future, but worth keeping tabs on nonetheless.

UK distributor Third Window Films has picked up the distribution rights to Yosuke Fujita’s Fine, Totally Fine (Zenzen Daijobu). The film won top honors at this year’s Nippon Connection Festival in Germany and the audience award at NYAFF 2008. No word yet on a release date but it will be screened at the Raindance Film Festival in October. Third Window is also planning to release Memories of Matsuko and Kamikaze Girls in January. Specs forthcoming.

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