Cinema

Winchester

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

Winchester-DvdI am not a big fan of horror movies but I like Helen Mirren. So I watched the movie with the expectation that I would not like it. It is not a bad movie after all. Not a great movie, but a good entertainment nonetheless. 

The heiress (Helen Mirren) of the Winchester Repeating Arms Co is cursed and haunted by the spirits of all the people killed with a Winchester rifle. To appease their spirits and help them moving on she built for each of them a replica of the room where they were killed so her mansion is in constant construction, resulting in a huge building that doesn’t make much sense. The board of the company think she’s crazy and hires a doctor (Jason Clarke) to evaluate her mental state. He was himself widowed and almost killed in an incident involving a Winchester rifle and became addicted to laudanum as a result. Of course, the moment of his arrival at the mansion coincide with the appearance of an evil and vengeful spirit seeking pay back on the Winchester family! Will the rational mind of the doctor let himself be convinced and help fight against the murderous supernatural forces at play? Or is it all the result of the convergence of natural events and the power of suggestion of their own minds?  

It is quite an interesting take on the legend of the Winchester mansion and of Sarah Winchester. I also like the way they used other events of the era to add to the story, so it is really based on “real” events. After all, the mansion is well known for being the most haunted building in America. The storytelling is good and managed to follow the Todorov definition of the fantastic genre (if the characters seem to believe in the supernatural aspects, at least the viewers are well aware of the possible rational explanations for them). The acting is respectable, and the visuals are good considering that this is a very low budget production (shot in Australia for $3.5 million). So it is nothing to get excited about (besides the cheap scary tactics), but it is still worth watching. Although the reception was not very good (the critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes was 14%, with an audience score of 35%) the movie still managed to make over ten times its production cost at the box office! stars-3-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMDb — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]

Capsules

Samurai’s Promise

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

Chiri_Tsubaki-posterShinbei is exiled from his clan for investigating its activities too closely. Eight years later, when Shinbei’s dying wife pleads with him to go to help his former best friend, Umeme, he returns to the clan. Infighting has produced turmoil within the clan, allowing Shinbei to discover the truth behind incidents involving his wife and his friend. Confronting Umeme, he understands the reason for his wife’s last wish. (FFM)

This is a very good movie. Its most noticeable aspect is that it offers an excellent photography (which is not surprising since director Kimura acted as his own photography director, a job he has hold many times for other directors like Kinji Fukasaku, Yasuo Furuhata, or Shin’ichirô Sawai). He made great use of the superb location in the Toyama Prefecture (anciently the Etchû province) showing as backdrop the fantastic landscape of the Hida mountains in the Northern Japanese Alps. 

Another aspect that I quickly noticed was that the music was unfortunately very annoying. They used a soundtrack of classical music (which first accords sounded like The Godfather’s music by Nino Rota), playing it again and again recurrently. I think that, for a jidaigeki (samurai movie), a soundtrack of traditional Japanese music would have been better…

Shinbei (Jun’ichi Okada) is exiled from the clan after denouncing as corrupt a high-ranking officer of the clan — who is later mysteriously murdered leaving all the suspicion of culpability on Shinbei. Both Shinbei and his friend Uneme (Hidetoshi Nishijima) were courting Shino (Kumido Aso), but when Uneme’s family denies him the permission to wed Shino, she goes with Shinbei instead. The harsh condition of their exile put a toll on Shino’s health who eventually dies. She makes Shinbei promise to continue living, to go back to their village to observe the camellia falling in spring and to reconcile and help Uneme. When he tries to clear his name and find out the real assassin, he gets entangled in the complex politics of the clan…

Samurai’s Promise is a beautiful and interesting samurai movie. It has a smooth storytelling, although it is sometimes difficult (at the beginning) to understand who’s who and figure out all the plots and politics at play. The acting is good, and particularly the nice realistic combat scenes. It must not have been easy considering the fact that there was many fights in the rain or snow and that the dialogues were using an old form of Japanese. 

Of course, we should expect nothing less from such a veteran director. During his sixty-year career, Daisaku Kimura worked on over fifty films and won many awards. He started his career as camera assistant on Akira Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress (1958). He worked five years with him (on movies like Yojimbo and Sanjuro) and he learned a lot during this time. Eventually, he cames to direct his own movies (Mt. Tsurugidake in 2009 and Climbing to Spring in 2014), mostly about mountain climbing. Samurai’s promise is his first jidaigeki and he made it as a tribute to Kurosawa. It is a beautiful and authentic movie, well worth watching. These days we don’t see much movies like this…

Samurai’s Promise (散り椿 / Chiri Tsubaki / lit. “Falling Camellia”): Japan, 2018, 111 mins; Dir./Phot.: Daisaku Kimura; Scr.: Takashi Koizumi (based on the novel by Rin Hamuro); Ed.: Tomoni Kikuchi; Mus.: Takashi Kako; Prod.: Yoshihiro Sato. Cast: Jun’ichi Okada, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Haru Kuroki, Hirofumi Arai, Kyôko Yoshine, Sosuke Ikematsu, Kumido Aso, Naoto Ogata.

Screened as opening movie (in the “World Competition” program) of the 42nd Montreal World Film Festival (at the Cinema Imperial on Thursday August 23, 2018 at 19:00). stars-3-5

[ AsianWiki / IMDb /  Official  / Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]

Life in Overtime

/ Clodjee / 1 Comment

Owatta_Hito-posterSosuke Tashiro has a successful career in a large bank until he is transferred – or rather relegated – to a subsidiary until retirement. After decades of dedication to his work, he is lost and idle. He then decides to resume a professional activity, but realizes that the challenge is daunting. Over the course of two meetings, at the gym and at the adult education center, his life is on the move again. (FFM)

This is exactly the type of Japanese movie that I like the most: some sort of family drama that touches us (and often makes us cry) but which, in the end, makes us feel good and laugh. It is so perfectly enjoyable! And the seamless storytelling, the bright, well-framed and beautiful photography, as well as the nice soundtrack (particularly the beautiful song 「あなたはあなたのままでいい」 [Anatawa Anatano Mamadeii / “You can stay as you are”] by Miki Imai) really show the mark of an experienced filmmaker. Strangely, Hideo Nakata is mostly known for his horror movies (Ring, Chaos, Dark Water, Kaidan, etc.) so it is really surprising to see him direct for the first time a more traditional Japanese comedy! This is probably his way to tell us that he is not finished yet and that he can be a polyvalent creator. He does that brilliantly. Unfortunately, he didn’t arrive in time to present the movie and do the Q&A for the first screening at 11:30, and that was a great disappointment for me (I knew I should have gone to the 21:30 screening!). The quality of the production as well as Nakata’s fame makes of Life in Overtime a great contender for the competition. It is surely the best Japanese film I’ve seen at the festival so far this year.

Sosuke studied at the top university in Tokyo and finds himself on the path for an executive position at a large bank, but gets beaten by a rival and ends up finishing his career at a subsidiary branch. He already feels he’s a failure but, when he retires, he finds himself with no hobbies, no dreams, no job and no sympathy at home! What to do? He feels “Retirement is like a premature funeral (…) I don’t want my life to end like this!” It’s like the game is over but you continue to play in overtime in hope to finish on top (I like this idea)!

He tries to find a new purpose in order to make up for his failures. He looks for a new job but his impressive resume torpedoes his efforts. He considers going to graduate school to study literature, makes an attempt at a new romance or, after a chance meeting with the CEO of an IT company, try to start a new career but without any success. However, does it really matter as long as you have a life to enjoy?

Nakata succeeds in giving a realistic depiction of life struggles and relationships while tackling one of the hot topic of the decade: with its aging population, Japanese society has to deal with an ever increasing number of retirees. To keep them mentally and physically fit, it is important to make sure they feel their life is not finished yet and that they can make their experience or expertise valuable and useful to the society. It’s also a challenge on the domestic level as many couples, who never spent lots of time together because they were too busy working, find out that they don’t know much about what to do with each other! Retirement can surely be a shocking change but it is certainly not the end of your life (personally, I know very well that I’ll probably be even busier once I retired — in about 3192 days!). However, for some people, not knowing what to do or not feeling useful anymore can be an horrific experience and, in that aspect, maybe this is an horror movie after all…

Life in overtime, with its sadness and joy as well as its beautiful scenery, gives us plenty to ponder and an excellent movie experience. It is certainly a must see.

life_in_overtime

Life in Overtime (終わった人 / Owatta Hito / lit. “A finished man”): Japan, 2018, 125 mins; Dir.: Hideo Nakata; Scr.: Nonji Remoto (Based on the novel by Makiko Uchidate); Phot.: Koichi Saito; Prod.: Masatake Kondo; Cast: Hiroshi Tachi (Sosuke), Hitomi Kuroki (Chigusa), Ryoko Hirosue (Kuri), Asami Usuda (Michiko), Tomorowo Taguchi (Toshihiko), Tsubasa Imai. 

Screened at the Cinema Imperial (Sun. 08/26 at 11:30) as part of the “World Competition” program of the 42nd Montreal World Film Festival. stars-4-0

[ AsianWiki / IMDb / Official / Toei / Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]

Zone Out

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

Zone OutKindergarten teacher, Chinatsu is always in a state of stress. And it is at this moment that a pupil of her class is murdered. Totally distraught, Chinatsu begins to sink into a world of illusion that she can not control. (FFM)

I don’t know what they have put in the water of that city but all the characters in this movie offer a whole catalog of mental illness: Chinatsu, a kindergarten teacher, cracks under the pressure brought by all those helicopter parents and develops schizophrenia; her acupuncture doctor, Yuichi, suffers from Capgras syndrome; Naoto, a salesman bullied by his seniors, has nomophobia; Akamatsu, the convenience store clerk, suffers from Asperger; Mitsuki, Haruka’s mother, suffer from Munchausen syndrome, etc. I guess it was the purpose of the director to show with this docudrama-style movie what it is to have such illness and how difficult it can be for the families.

It is a very dark movie and the end result is, unfortunately, barely average. The storytelling is awkward and not particularly skillful, the photography feels amateurish and the acting is so-so — although, the main actress is very charming and switching the actors who plays the two Yuichi toward the end of the movie in order to unexpectedly show the schizophrenia of Chinatsu is, I must say, quite brilliant. Also, the movie is really not well served by the poor translation (in the subtitles). When I noticed two typos in the very first sentence of the movie, I knew that this would spell trouble! (unless they made it on purpose to make us feel crazy!) If it was not already obvious with the production quality, the horrible translation really smelled of tiny budget…

Finally, to really give a last pathetic impression, the absence of a translator for the Q&A at the end of the presentation (due to the minimalistic ressources of the festival this year — what? they couldn’t even find a volunteer to take up the task?) left the poor director and main actress at the mercy of their basic English language skills and made for such a laughable exchange that you could only feel sorry for them. 

However, undertaking such a difficult and serious subject requires some strength. I understand what the director was trying to achieve and I greatly appreciate his efforts (for that I give him extra points!). In a society that was repressed for so long, where you find a real epidemic of bullying (both at school and at the work place, including sexual harassment) and where an aging population is plagued by various forms of dementia, it is really not surprising to find that mental illness has become a great challenge in Japan today. Kudos to the director for trying to bring attention to this problem.

Zone Out / Regarder dans le vide (アウトゾーン / Out Zone): Japan, 2017, 115 mins; Dir.: Hiroshi Kanno; Scr.: Mari Takanashi; Phot.: Makoto Hayashi; Ed.: Aya Mitsuaka; Light.: Sousuke Yoshikado; Sound: Kazuyuki Tutiya; Mus.: Magumi Masui; Cast: Minami Matsunaka (Chinatsu), Masato Oki (Yuichi Akino), Kyoko Toyama (Kyoko), Gen Kuwayama (Naoto), Yusuke Ueda (Akamatsu), Yusuke Sugiyama (Yuichi Kagawa), Ben Hori (Hisashi Aoyama).

Screened at the Cinema Imperial (Sat. 8/25 at 16:30) as part of the “World Great” program (out of competition) of the 42nd Montreal World Film Festival. stars-2-0

[ IMDb ]

Actress Minami Matsunaka & director Hiroshi Kanno
Director Hiroshi Kanno & script-writer Mari Takanashi
Mari Takanashi & Minami Matsunaka
Main actress Minami Matsunaka
Director & actress with Serge Losique & Silvio Caiozzi, president of the jury

[ Traduire ]

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

/ Clodjee / 1 Comment

GuernseyLiteraryAndPotatoPeelPieSocietyNot long after the end of WW2, Juliet (Lily James) receives a letter from a pig farmer in Guernsey (who’s a member of a local literary club) asking her for the address a good bookstore in London. He got her address from inside a used book she sold before the war and which somehow had made its way to this island near the coast of France. She send him one book for free at the condition that he answers three questions to explain the name of their literary club and the circumstances of its creation. The tale of their ordeal under German occupation intrigues her, therefore, being a writer herself, she invites herself for a reading at their club to make some research in preparation for a newspaper article she was asked to write. Upon arrival she notices that the founder of the club, Elisabeth (Jessica Brown Findlay), is mysteriously absent and the club members seem very secretive about her circumstances. She starts asking questions around and her enquiry will unravel a painful past and make her fall in love with the island. It’s interesting how books can touch people and change their lives forever!

Of course, it is not a perfect movie as you find, for example, many stereotypical characters (like the self-centred and possessive American, the nationalist mean informer, the nosy and religious lodger, etc.). However, it remains a very beautiful movie, that offers a well-written and touching story about the hardship of war — a time when friendship and compassionate sentiments can be quite dangerous! It’s based on the novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Interestingly, since nowadays Guernsey is too touristy, the movie was shot in North Devon with a cast in good part made of actors from Downton Abbey (Lily James, Jessica Brown Findlay, Matthew Goode, Penelope Wilton)! It is also noteworthy that the movie is distributed by Netflix as one of its original films (that’s where I watched it). All in all, it’s quite entertaining (critical response of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes) and an excellent movie experience. stars-4-0

[ Biblio — IMDb — Netflix — Wikipedia ]

[ Traduire ]

Capsules

FFM 2018 Day 1

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

FFM2018-banner2

Red carpet and Opening ceremony

This year the Festival des Films du Monde (FFM or MWFF, Montreal World Film Festival) strangely seems slightly more organized (at least for the accreditation) than the previous couples of years. They are probably getting used to extreme austerity and benefits from plenty of movie aficionado volunteers. Also, there’s more Japanese movies than last year (but still less than the usual dozen). Unfortunately, since there are only four screens (Cinéma Impérial and Quartier Latin 10, 12 & 13) to show ALL movies, they are shown only once (twice for the titles in competition) and mostly in the afternoon — which is not compatible with my own schedule, so I’ll probably end up viewing only half of the Japanese movies. Too bad, but that’s better than nothing!

However, I was happy that the title selected as opening film was one of the Japanese movies: Samurai’s Promise. No one from the cast or crew was present for the opening ceremony, although there was plenty of actors & actresses from other Japanese and Chinese movies (as well as local dignitaries) parading on the red carpet.

Red carpet photo gallery

 

Japanese cast
Japanese actress
Chinese actress
Serge Losique & Silvio Caiozzi
Cast for “Ghost Mask”
Line-up
Red carpet with Losique
Red carpet with Losique
Red carpet with Losique

The only speech was given by the president of the festival, Serge Losique. He seemed tired, but still defiant (although slightly apologetic):

“The festival is a great cathedral open to all. Our role was not to imitate whoever but to be ourselves, to be authentic. (…) Our role was also to helped small unknown countries, like Cape Verde or Sri Lanka [to promote their films]. All we want is for the public, and the journalists, to appreciate the films.”

He continues saying he doesn’t want the glamour of the other festivals but only to showcase the diversity of the world cinema. That’s why it is the “Festival des Films du Monde” [also a word-play in French meaning the festival of the people]. People are asking for stars, he says, but the stars here are the films. He also argues that the directors and actors who come to Montreal are stars in their own countries, and many more have been discovered here, at the festival, and are now stars! [I might add that I’ve seen plenty of great stars at the FFM over the years: Catherine Deneuve, Sofia Loren, Jackie Chan, Robert de Niro, Tony Curtis, Mamoru Oshii, etc.]

He also announces the new policy for the festival to chose as president of the jury a director that has previously won the Grand Prix of the Americas. Also the jury members will not necessarily be present at the festival but will screen the titles in competition via video link (although the president of the jury will always be present in Montreal). He introduces the members of this year’s jury (critic Élie Castiel, Pierre-Henri Deleau, an executive from China Film Group Corporation and another jury whose name will be revealed at the end of the festival) as well as its president, Silvio Caiozzi [Chilean director, winner of last year’s Grand Prix des Amériques], who also said a few words:

“From the beginning this festival always chose nothing but films of cinematographic excellence. Nowadays, I can feel that around the world somehow (…) [in the movie industry] the true quality of films is not looked upon, really. What they look upon is (…) what film has the big budget (…) or the politics (…) but not really the quality of the films. So, really, honestly, (…) in my opinion this is perhaps the only festival that still remains absolutely independant.”

Opening ceremony video

(I understand what Serge Losique is saying here. He is trying to explain and justify his position. The festival is his life-work, his baby, and he doesn’t want to relinquish its control. Indeed, if you accept public money you have to show transparency and do things the way the government wants them to be done… Unfortunately, if he doesn’t step down, pass the mantle to someone else soon (while maybe remaining on board as advisor), the festival will die with him…)

The theatre was not full, like we’ve seen for previous years, but considering the situation, it was full enough (maybe half?). Surprisingly, there was not that many people from the local Japanese community.

It was a short ceremony, a good movie (see my separate comment), the weather was nice, Radio-Canada / CBC was there to report on the event so, all in all, it was a good day for the festival.

[ Traduire ]

Japanese movies at the FFM 2018

/ Clodjee / 1 Comment

FFM2018-banner

FFM2018-posterThe 42nd Montreal World Film Festival will be held from August 23rd to September 3rd 2018. So far there is only seven eight Japanese films listed in the line-up. We will add more details as they are available.

Of course, the festival has had financial troubles for sometime and run on a very minimal staff, so we shouldn’t expect a smooth operation. It will certainly not be better than last year. But the most important part of the festival is that there is movies to watch. This year it will be the nineteenth year that we are covering this movie festival and we hope that it will recover from this difficult period and prosper for many years to come.

The schedule for the Cinema Imperial (CI) is now available (2018/08/22). And the schedule for the Cinéma Quartier Latin (QL) is now also available (2018/08/23). As for previous years, the closing film will be a mystery title to be screened for free at the Cinema Imperial Monday September 3rd at 18:30. 

The FFM just announced the awards for the 42nd Montreal’s World Film Festival and for the 49th Student Film Festival (2018/09/03).

Two Japanese movies won an award: Samurai’s Promise by Daisaku Kimura won for the Special Grand Prix of the Jury (Ex-aequo) and Hiroshi Tachi won the Best Actor award for his role in Life in overtime by Hideo Nakata.

Please, read our comments on the festival:

 

[ Traduire ]

Here is the Japanese movies line-up (after the jump) :

Continue reading →

Isle of dogs

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

IsleOfDogs-covIn a timeless and fictitious Japan, the dictator of Megasaki — a cat lover — has banned all dogs to Trash Island. A twelve-year-old boy will sneak out on the island looking for his dog and unwithingly start a revolution. The stop-motion animation is amazing and quite stunning. The story is clever and cute — but, frankly, I’m a cat lover myself. The movie was well received (with a critic rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes) — although there was some harsh critics claiming it was succumbing to “the trope of the white savior” as the white foreign-student is organizing the revolt (but lets not forget that the REAL hero is the young boy!) and that it was a prime “example of racial stereotyping and cultural appropriation” ! On this I totally agree: it was a great hommage to the popularity of Japanese culture in the West (anime & manga, Kurosawa’s movies, etc.) and it’s an outrage that they didn’t select real dogs to play the parts! All in all, it’s beautifully entertaining, a great animation that I fuzzily recommend to everyone (although I am quite sure my cats will not like it). stars-3-5

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMdB — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]

Capsules

The Mummy

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

L9677659I found this action movie rather average and, if they wanted to do horror, well, I wasn’t scared. It is well paced and the acting is good (although Tom Cruise is getting a little old for this, his two female co-stars, Annabelle Wallis & Sofia Boutella, are great), but the story is rather predictable — however, mixing Jekyll & Hyde (Russell Crowe) with it was a surprise! I also like the “Egyptian” designs (the flashbacks, the look of Princess Ahmanet, the tomb & sarcophagus — a little reminiscent of Giger style). It’s interesting that, just in case the movie would be successful enough, they’ve put an open ending to allow for a sequel. I hope not. This reboot of The Mummy franchise offered a nice mindless entertainment but, alas, nothing more (Rotten Tomatoes concurs with a critical rating of 15% !). What’s scary is that The Mummy is supposed to be the first movie in the reboot of Universal’s Dark Universe (Jekyll & Hyde [with Russell Crowe — now the cross-over with The Mummy makes sense!], Frankenstein [with Javier Bardem], Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Phantom of the Opera, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Invisible Man [with Johnny Depp], etc.). The next movie in line should be Bride of Frankenstein [dir. Bill Condon, with possibly Angelina Jolie or Gal Gadot in titular role] first announced for Valentine’s Day 2019 but its release has now been delayed!  stars-2-5

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMDb — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]

Capsules

In this corner of the world

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

InThisCornerOfTheWorld-covAnother great animation—this time by a less known director (at least in this corner of the world, but Sunao Katabuchi has also directed the TV series Black Lagoon and the movies Princess Arete and Mai Mai Miracle). This is a very traditional Japanese animation which is not drawn in the cute style we usually associate with anime. It is soft, pastel-like, yet a little sketchy. It is also realistic in its concept but yet cute in its own way. However, despite a good dose of humour (through the awkwardness of the main character and how she sees the world through her drawings), the story is quite serious as it chronicles the life and hardships of a young bride in the pre-war and, later, the WW2-era Japanese countryside in Kure. Despite the cartoony style, it is very precise in the description of the everyday life, the clothings, the food rationing, and the military details (warships, bombings, etc.). It is really touching, beautiful, educational and entertaining (although it is a bit long at 129 mins). Like Grave of the Fireflies describes the life after the firebombing of Tokyo, this movie is painting a detailed portrait of the life of ordinary Japanese citizens in the Hiroshima area before the A-bomb and a little after. It is a must-see movie that has been nominated for and received several awards both in Japan and abroad. stars-3-5

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMdB — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]

Capsules

Your name.

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

your-name-movie-bd-dvd-combo_1I had forgotten how amazing it was to watch an anime that’s so great you are at loss of words, feeling awestruck, almost like it’s a religious experience. I cannot really begin to describe the complex storytelling of this animation. It’s the story of a teenage romance between a Tokyo boy and a countryside girl who swap bodies as they are linked through space and time by some sort of old Shinto god. Or was it just a dream? It’s a truly fantastical tale — as it follows more or less Todorov’s definition of the genre. And yet, it’s also science-fiction because it involves a comet, some meteorites and technology — cellphones, etc. — is instrumental in the storytelling. In that aspect, it might be an allegory on the kind of relationships people can have through social media without never even meeting in person. But the really extraordinary part is the exceptional quality of the animation. It’s so realistic, precise and beautiful that it does really feel like a dream. You want to be there, to visit this remote part of Japan in the Gifu prefecture!

I could say so much about this movie and yet I just cannot find the words to describe how I feel. You really have to see it to understand how great it is. But, of course, if you’re a fan of Makoto Shinkai, you already know all this. He really is a master animator/director. And with each new movie he surpasses himself (mostly Voices of a Distant Star in 2002, The Place Promised in Our Early Days in 2004, 5 Centimeters per Second in 2007, The Garden of Words in 2013). There’s also a light novel and a manga adaptation, both written by Shinkai. Your name. A must! stars-4-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMdB — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]

Capsules

Jumanji: Welcome to the jungle

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

Jumanji-covI don’t remember the 1995 version with Robin Williams, besides that it was silly. This more modern version is a little less silly and has much more action. It’s a teen movie so we must not take it too seriously, but it is quite clever in its storytelling. I enjoyed it quite a lot. The play with the characters getting totally opposite avatars in the game (especially the vain girl becoming the fat man [Jack Black]) is quite funny. The Rock (a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson) is really good at comedy and the movie is worth it just to see Karen Gillan again. It’s a good light entertainment that will make you laugh (or at least smile). It was released as a Christmas movie and was rather successful at the box-office (bringing in nearly ten times its cost in revenue!) and was relatively well received by the critics (76% at Rotten Tomatoes). A sequel is planned for next year. stars-3-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMDb — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]

Capsules

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

Batman v Superman-covThis is certainly one of the best DC movies (after Wonder Woman of course). It has plenty of good action, interesting story and a very powerful storytelling. I greatly enjoyed it even if it is a bit long and the Hulk-like final enemy/monster is rather disappointing and irritating — the concept of a monster full of energy who fires death rays feels a lot like Godzilla, so no extra point for originality here. I guess you get the best drama when you put emotion at play (or someone’s mama) while pitting super-heroes against each other. I only wish I would have watched this movie before its sequel, Justice League! They also made Lex Luthor into a Batman-type vilain, making the genius albeit evil boy into a simply mad genius — I am not sure if that was a good or a bad thing… Once again,  Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot offer good performances. Anyway, with this movie you get a great (somber) ambiance and epic battles that make it worth watching. As often, Rotten Tomatoes disagrees with a critical rating of only 27% ! stars-3-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMDb — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]

Capsules

Justice League

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

Justice-League-2017-movie-posterThis movie offers an interesting ensemble of super-heroes (some more known than others, like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, other less known like the Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg). I like Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot in their super-heroes roles. Unfortunately, the bad guy, Steppenwolf, reminds me too much of the Thor movies… As it starts slow and never really takes off, Justice League provides only average action and storytelling, and is overall just good enough to keep you interested (and entertained) into seeing how it ends. The good thing is that you can still “enjoy” the movie even if, like myself, you have not read any of the comics or seen the previous movies introducing the plot and the new DC Extended Universe (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) or its characters (Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, and, lets not forget the bad guys, Suicide Squad). In the end, it doesn’t feel very original. Yawn… Rotten Tomatoes agrees with a critic rating of 40%, although the fans liked it (audience score of 74% !) stars-2-5

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMDb — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]

Capsules

Fantasia 2018

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

fantasia2018

The 22nd edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival will be held in Montreal from July 12th to August 2nd 2018. It specializes in animated and live-action genre cinema (fantasy, horror, action, science-fiction, etc.), but mostly horror and asian action movies. It will open with Daniel Roby’s “Dans la brume” (a Canada-France co-production). As usual, the festival will be offering “over 125 features and 220 shorts, featuring the premieres of more than 100 cutting-edge visions from across the world.”

The asian movies line-up (our main interest here) includes eight movies from China (six from Hong Kong), twenty-four from South-Korea, one from Vietnam and, of course, twenty-eight from Japan (including six anime). Here’s the list of Japanese movies:

Anime

Live-Action

It is interesting to note that a large majority of those movies are manga or novel adaptations. I am particularly interested in seeing The Travelling Cat Chronicles and Tremble All You Want — unfortunately I don’t have time to attend the festival… Check the festival website for more details (description, cast & crew info, schedule, location, etc).

Update: You can read a comment (in French) by Claude R. Blouin on some of those movies, “Sept fantaisies japonaises au festival Fantasia 2018” (Shomingeki)

[ Traduire ]

Alienated

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

Catching up on some of the movies recorded on my PVR, I decided to watch the latest two movies from the Alien franchise: Alien Resurrection and Alien: Covenant.

AlienResurrection-covIn this 1997 sequel of the Alien franchise, Ripley is brought back to life by cloning in order to deliver an alien embryo for an army mad-scientist to study. Of course, everything goes wrong and close quarter’s chases ensue. However, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, Amélie) is no Ridley Scott and the movie doesn’t have the thrill of the original and is riddled with inconsistencies. I’ll list two. First, cloned someone along with the parasite that infects her, and she keeps her personality and memories? Even the pseudo-explanations given to justify that doesn’t make any sense! Second, the alien queen switches from oviparous reproduction to viviparous in the middle of the movie, as she gives birth to the end-level monster which ends up so weak and pitiful that you almost want to champion him instead of the good guys. However, I like that the genetically-mixed Ripley, believe it or not still played by Sigourney Weaver, is such an ambivalent character that you keep wondering whether she’s the bad guy of the movie. I also like the character of Call, played by Winona Ryder. Despite those few positive aspects, the movie is barely entertaining. For once, Rotten Tomatoes seems to agree with me (critics rating at 55% and audience rating at 39% !). stars-2-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

Capsules

Alien-Covenant-posterAlien: Covenant is the 2017 sequel to the Alien prequel, Prometheus, both directed by Ridley Scott. His experience and skills make for a story that is a more suspenseful thriller than the movie above, but after so many iteration, it unfortunately has nothing original left to offer. It’s the same old story. Katherine Waterston, who plays Daniels, the movie’s heroine, is a suitable replacement for Ripley. But in the end the movie received only an overall rating of 66% on Rotten Tomatoes.

A radio signal brings a colony-ship to an earth-like planet home of the ship encountered in Prometheus. There, the android David has released the pathogen that creates a new type of aliens that consumes all animal life on the planet. David awaits, in what looks like an old temple, for new life to visits him so he can pursue further his experiments in creation. I like the fight between the two androids, David and the newer (but emotionally neutered) model named Walter (both played by Michael Fassbender). An opened ending leaves space for yet another sequel. Alien: Covenant is well-made and entertaining, but what’s the point to repeat endlessly the same kind of story? Apparently, that’s what Ridley Scott thinks as well, and he is planning something rather different for the eventual sequel… stars-2-5

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMdB — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

Capsules

[ Traduire ]

Black Panther

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

BlackPanterThat movie had been hyped so much that when I finally got to see it I was almost disappointed. It is what is now the average super-heroes movie with a thin storyline and lots of special effects. Superficial but with just enough storytelling to be interesting and a plethora of action to be entertaining. The originality of this film is that it offers a cultural super-hero — which bring a breeze of fresh air into the genre. Maybe we’ll see some offshoot of this concept, creating a new trend (the Maori super-hero or the Navajo super-hero or the Mexican Quetzalcoatl-man?) — as long as they don’t push it too far… 

The movie was very successful (97% on RottenTomatoes and returned six times its cost with a box office of $1.3b!). The acting was excellent and I liked very much what they did with the African accent of the characters (I wonder what was their inspiration for it?). It reminded me of the south african-style accent for the Belters in the TV series The Expenses. So, excellent idea to revive this super-hero (he appeared first in 1966 in the comic Fantastic Four #52), average action movie and, all in all, a good entertainment. Let’s see now what more they will do with this character. stars-3-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMdB — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]

Capsules

Victoria & Abdul

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

Victoria&Abdul-covBased on a book by Shrabani Basu, this movie is the fictionalized account of the extraordinary friendship between Queen Victoria and an Indian-muslim servant named Abdul Karim (a.k.a. the Munshi) that broke her boredom and loneliness, reviving a little her days for the last fifteen years of her reign (1887-1901). Of course, such movie is always largely made of fiction — how could we really know what happened between them? — but the fact remains that they spent lots of time together and Victoria gained an interest into the farthest corner of her empire. Amusingly, it makes of this movie some sort of a sequel to Mrs Brown (1997) where Dame Judi Dench first portrayed Victoria. However, the major aspects of the story must be somewhat truthful as it is based on the memoirs of Ponsonby, Victoria’s private secretary, published in 1951 and on Abdul’s own diary and some of his correspondance that were discovered in 2010. This little historical insight into Victoria’s reign, the excellent acting and the light tone — almost comedic — of the movie makes it being quite enjoyable and entertaining. stars-3-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMdB — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]
Capsules

American Made

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment
AmericanMade-poster

Poster art

This movie is presented as a biopic but it’s really just “inspired” by the life of Barry Seal. It’s nevertheless enjoyable to see Tom Cruise play in a comedy — although this story should really be a tragedy since it’s about how Reagan’s government was trying to prevent communism to prevail in Central America by arming the Nicaraguan Contras against the Sandinistas using drug smugglers. It doesn’t end well for Seal but the light tone of the movie makes the heavy subject entertaining enough to be enjoyable — while we should have been puking in disgust instead… stars-2-5

 

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]Capsules

The Dark Tower

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

DarkTower-covOnce again a movie that was widely trashed by the critics (16% on Rotten Tomatoes ! — although it did well at the box office and the audience score is at 46% — the overall critical response being that it is “incomprehensible to newbies and wildly unfaithful and simplistic to fans of King’s books”) but which I greatly enjoyed. Despite not having read Stephen King’s series, I had no problem following and understanding the story. The storytelling was well paced and I found the background of the story quite interesting: what’s not to like about a universe that mixes dark fantasy’s wizards and western’s gunslingers! The acting is rather good, and, although the story itself is not exceedingly great (it feel like an relatively ordinary YA movie), it is quite entertaining. A sequel is considered and a TV series is in production at Amazon. stars-3-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — Google — IMdB — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

[ Traduire ]
Capsules

Media Capsule Reviews

/ Clodjee / 3 Comments

The Scorch Trials

91x9iAjQw-L._SL1500_The sequel to Maze Runner is okay but nothing more. The storytelling is rather ordinary and predictable, but entertaining enough to keep viewers interested. It’s now a mix between a rebel fighter movie and a zombie movie. Hopefully the next and final instalment of the series will be better, but I won’t hold my breath because lately YA novels’ adaptations have mostly been disappointing and the first reviews of Maze Runner: The Death Cure are not very positive… stars-2-5

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

Capsules

Dalida

91GpShex6uL._SL1500_Le récit tragique de la vie d’une chanteuse de charme populaire, d’origine Italo-Égyptienne. Était-elle cruelle ou juste malchanceuse en amour? Car nombreux sont ses amoureux ou ses proches qui se sont enlevé la vie! Une vie qui s’est acharnée sur elle — nourrissant et inspirant son talent — jusqu’à ce que cela lui soit insupportable. Je ne croyais pas connaître vraiment son oeuvre jusqu’à ce que je me rende compte que beaucoup de ses mélodies me soient familières (ayant grandi à l’écoute de la radio française). Un beau film mais sortez vos mouchoirs! stars-3-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

Capsules

Blade Runner 2049

91hcrkzdjl-_sl1500_.jpgExcellente continuité d’ambiance et de style avec le premier film. Le récit est lent mais captivant et constant. Il y a suffisamment de scènes d’action pour maintenir l’attention du spectateur (d’une façon assez similaire au premier film). L’histoire nous amène dans une direction un peu inattendue. Excellent film. stars-4-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

Capsules

Guardians of the Galaxy 2

81AAEGoLMWL._SL1384_A good old space opera with lots of humour, some reflections on solitude and a good dose of action that defies the laws of physic. But who cares when it’s greatly entertaining! stars-3-5

 

 

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

Capsules

Wonder Woman 

91wpz6nkrdl-_sl1500_.jpgThis is the story of the transition of a classical hero into a superhero. Beautifully choreographed combat scenes. Probably the most accomplished movies set in the DC universe so far. It offers stronger moral and better storytelling than any other character of the Justice League, and is less dark and violent than the Batman or Superman movies. It about time we see a movie with a strong female character. Let’s see more of that. Strangely the extra on the BluRay are longer than the movie itself! stars-3-5

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

Capsules

John Wick 2

9172FEX3XlL._SL1500_Boring! Almost non-stop violence with a thin tread of story. Keanu is cool but that’s not enough to sustain a movie. And yet it was a success at the box office. What ever! stars-2-0

 

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB —  Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

Capsules

Captain America: Civil War

91am8N7+o7L._SL1500_This movie is all that we expected it to be: entertaining with lots of fighting and explosion. Released two years ago, it strangely foretold the socio-political situation of today’s USA. When you’re against an enemy, no need to fight: you just need to plant the seed of dissent and let it follow its course. People will destroy themselves (now, the country is divided, the Republicans are divided. Even the Democrats are divided, well done mister Russian Dictator!). Of course, the movie ends on an hopeful note — eventually all wounds between friends will heal… You just need to watch the next movie! stars-3-0

(Of course, in order to avoid being accused of whitewashing, they added the Black Panther in the line up — how many Avengers is there, anyway? And they ended up producing what is said to be the best movie so far in the Marvel universe. I can’t wait to see this one…)

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Official  — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

Capsules

X-Files TV series Season 11

220px-The_X-Files_Season_11With this new (and final) season of the TV series “they” push the self-parody even further… It’s the Trump Era after all! So nobody wants to believe anymore. And it is really funny. stars-3-5

 

[ IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

Capsules

[ Traduire ]

An inconvenient sequel

/ Clodjee / 3 Comments

an_inconvenient_sequel-cov“A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought the climate crisis into the heart of popular culture, comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. Former Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight, traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy.

Cameras follow him behind the scenes — in moments both private and public, funny and poignant — as he pursues the inspirational idea that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.”

[From the official web site]

Continue reading →

Alita: Battle Angel trailer

/ Clodjee / 1 Comment

James Cameron had been talking about this project for a long time and now it seems that it is finally a reality! Cameron is writing and producing; Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) is directing. The cast includes Rosa Salazar (Alita), Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson. It is scheduled for release on July 20, 2018. The teaser/trailer is available now on Youtube:

It is, of course, based on Yukito Kishiro’s manga Gunnm (銃夢 / Ganmu / lit. “gun dream”) which was translated in America as Battle Angel Alita. It was originally published in Japan by Shueisha in Business Jump magazine between 1990 and 1995, and was compiled in nine tankōbon (but republished later by Kodansha). The English version is published by Kodansha USA and the French version by Glénat. There was an animation adaptation in 1993.

Interesting facts: Cameron was first inspired by the manga when he created the TV series Dark Angel in 2000. Also, it seems that the main character will be entirely CGI animated and that Rosa Salazar is playing the role through motion-capture.

It looks quite interesting and visually faithful to the original. I can’t wait to see it and hope I won’t be disappointed.

Sources: AnimeLand, ICv2, IMdB, Wikipedia.

[ Traduire ]

34e Festival du Film japonais de Montréal

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

ConsulatGeneralDuJapon-logo

Comme a chaque année la « Japan Foundation » de Toronto et le Consulat Général du Japon à Montréal ont le plaisir d’offrir gratuitement des projections de films japonais. Veuillez noter que la bande originale japonaise est sous-titrée en anglais. Les places sont limitées et seront attribuées selon le principe « premier-arrivé, premier-servi », sans réservation préalable.

L’événement aura lieu les vendredi 20 octobre et samedi 21 octobre à la Cinémathèque québécoise (335, boul. de Maisonneuve Est, près du métro Berri-UQAM).

[ Translate ]

Plus de détails après le saut de page >>

Continue reading →

FFM 2017 wrap-up

/ Clodjee / 1 Comment

FFM_banner-2017The 41st Montreal World Film Festival (FFM) is now over. This year was a slim pick for the Japanese cinema aficionado since there was only two Japanese movies (two others were co-productions with non-Japanese directors). Besides that, the festival went smoothly for me. However, the only question remaining above our heads is: will there be a festival next year? Of course Serge Losique wants to be reassuring and said that the FFM was here to stay. He even announced the dates for the next two years: August 23rd to September 3rd 2018 and August 22nd to September 2nd 2019 !!

One of the event that I would have liked to attend (but couldn’t by lack of time) was the press conference and Master Class held at L’Astral by Chinese Martial Art Filmmaker Xu Haofeng (The Hidden Sword) on Monday August 28th. It seems that it was one of the rares (if not the only one) press conference held at the FFM this year. I really miss those… (and the film market and the press room!)

The closing film of the festival was a surprise to be announced after the awards, just a few hours before its free screening. It was meant as a gift for the movie fans.

A press release announced the awards for the 48th Student Film Festival: for the Canadian competition it went to Land by Samiramis Kia (York University, Toronto) and for the International competition it went to Elene by Seven Kayhan (Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey).

Another press release announced the awards for the festival itself: the Grand Prix of the Americas (Best Film) went to And Suddenly the Dawn by Silvio Caiozzi (Chile) and the Special Grand Prix of the Jury went to Dear Etranger by Yukiko Mishima (Japan). Check the press release for the other awards.

To summarize, I’ve seen and commented on two Japanese movies:

I also wrote a few informational posts about the festival:

Finally, here are the latest comments about the FFM in the media:

[ Traduire ]

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Capsule reviews (02.017.247)

/ Clodjee / 8 Comments

Bande-dessinée

Yoko Tsuno #28: Le temple des Immortels

YokoTsuno-28_temple_des_immortels-covUne autre aventure plutôt invraisemblable de l’électronicienne nippone. Leloup développe ici des éléments de récits qu’il avait laissé en plan dans des albums précédents ( #12: La Proie et l’ombre, #25: La Servante de Lucifer, #27: Le Secret de Khâny ). Comme c’est souvent le cas dans ses oeuvres plus récentes, le récit semble un peu précipité alors qu’il essai de raconter son histoire dans le cadre étroit  du format traditionnel de quarante-deux pages. On a l’impression de vivre le récit en accéléré…

Le problème avec des albums qui font sans cesse référence à des volumes précédents est qu’on ne se rappelle pas toujours des détails qui s’y étaient déroulés, ce qui laisse des lacunes dans la bonne compréhension (et l’appréciation) du récit. Toutefois l’idée de moines médiévaux avec des Vinéens et des tributs celtiques vivant au creux de la terre, dans un gouffre profond, a quand même du charme. C’est une lecture nostalgique mais tout de même un peu décevante, donc d’un intérêt moyen…

Cela donne le goût de relire de vieux albums (car étrangement je suis resté sur ma faim — c’est presque toujours le cas avec ces très court albums à l’européenne). Comment un artiste peut-il vivre en publiant juste de tels albums aux deux ans? C’est un dur contraste avec les mangakas nippon qui produisent en moyenne une quantité de pages similaires (en noir et blanc toutefois) CHAQUE SEMAINE (!) pour la pré-publication en périodique… stars-2-5

[ Amazon — Biblio — Dupuis — Goodreads — Wikipedia — Worldcat ]

Commentaire aussi disponible sur Goodreads et Les Irrésistibles.

💊     💊     💊

Magazine

AnimeLand #216

Animeland_216Le numéro de juin-juillet 2017 nous offre des dossiers sur l’importance du visuel dans la société nippone (“Quand la 2D se tape l’incruste”), sur le marché de l’anime en France en 2016 (qui ne progresse pas aussi positivement que celui du manga car divisé, à 70% / 30%, entre le DVD et le Blu-ray et considérablement affecté par la popularité du simulcast, qui a toutefois l’avantage de faire régresser l’utilisation de sites illégaux de diffusion), et sur les anime “engagés” (socio-politiquement: Harmony, Genocidal Organ, Ghost in the Shell S.A.C., Galactic Hero Legend, Gundam; ou écologiquement: L’école emportée, Conan: Fils du Futur, Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke, Pompoko, Ponyo sur la falaise, Earth Girl Arjuna, etc.).

Comme toujours, AnimeLand nous fait découvrir de nombreux anime (Hirune Hime, Dans un recoin du monde, Golgo 13, Le grand méchant renard, My hero academia, Atom: The Beginning, la saison 2 de L’attaque des titans, Dragonball Super, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul, Capitaine Flam), mangas (Kenshin, One Piece, Mob Psycho 100, Les mémoires de Vanitas, Reine d’Égypte, Voyage à Tokyo, Tenjin, Gloutons et Dragons), et jeux video (Persona 5, et un article sur les mondes ouverts). On nous trace aussi des portraits de seiyu (Mamoru Miyano) ou de musicien (Akira Yamaoka) et nous présente une dizaine d’interviews avec Kenji Kamiyama (Hirune Hime), Eric Goldberg & Neysa Bové (Vaiana), Masashi Kudo (Chain Chronicle), Yasuyuki Muto (Rolling Girls), Studio La Cachette, Nobuhiro Watsuki (Kenshin), Kiyo Kyujyo (Trinity Blood), Tatsuki Fujimoto (Fire Punch) et Chie Inudoh (Reine d’Égypte). Finalement, on retrouve les indispensables actualités et commentaires sur les parutions récentes.

Nul doute que AnimeLand est une source inépuisable d’information sur l’animation et la bande-dessinée japonaise, et le seul magazine francophone sur ces sujets. Toutefois, je n’ai rien trouvé de bien excitant dans ce numéro… stars-2-5

[ Amazon — Site web — Wikipedia ]

💊     💊     💊

Manga

Pline #2: Les rues de Rome

Pline-2-covCe second tome, s’il nous offre beaucoup moins d’action que le premier, n’en est pas moins intéressant car il approfondit de beaucoup notre connaissance des protagonistes. Euclès découvre la maison (remplit de manuscrits!) de son nouveau maître, Pline. Celui-ci souffre grandement de l’asthme mais se méfie beaucoup des médecins. Il finira cependant par se soumettre au traitement du médecin grec Silénos, qui lui recommande surtout l’air pur de la Campanie. Euclès tombe amoureux d’une jeune esclave, Plautina, qu’il a rencontré par hasard, mais celle-ci est aussi tombé dans l’oeil de l’empereur Néron! Celui-ci se sent un peu égaré sans les conseils de son précepteur, Sénèque, qu’il a exilé. On y découvre une image plus humaine de Néron, qui apparait moins comme un tyran qu’un jeune homme cultivé mais moralement faible. Poppée, qui n’est pas très aimée du peuple, se fait lancer des pierres. Elle annonce à Néron qu’elle est enceinte, ce qui le convainc finalement de la marier et de régler le sort d’Octavie. Felix, le garde du corps un peu frustre de Pline, a une famille à Rome mais sa femme se plaint de ses absences prolongées et surtout des conditions de vie difficile dans les insulae romaines. Alors Pline leur offre de s’installer dans l’une de ses maisons. Mais le personnage le plus important de ce tome, c’est sans doute Rome elle-même alors que l’on découvre plus en détails ses bas fonds et ses lupanars!

C’est une lecture passionnante si vous êtes amateur de manga historique et de Rome antique. Et ce qui est particulièrement remarquable dans cet ouvrage c’est le grand détail et la qualité du dessin de Mari Yamazaki et Tori Miki. À lire absolument! stars-3-5

Voir aussi mon commentaire sur Pline #1: L’appel de Néron

[ Amazon — Biblio — Casterman — Goodreads — Wikipedia — Worldcat ]

[ Translate ]

💊     💊     💊

Movies

Jackie

Jackie-dvdcovSlow, boring movie that shows a not very sympathetic, selfish Jackie, control freak of her image and obsessed with Lincoln funeral and the fact that his widow died destitute and penniless. Is this a well researched bio pic or just an iconoclast fiction? In the end, it is all about the making of the modern myth of the American camelot.

After John‘s death, Jackie meets with a journalist and reminisce about her traumatic ordeal in order to reshape her husband’s presidency. What makes a president great and be remembered like Lincoln was? His accomplishment or his image? stars-2-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

💊     💊     💊

TV Series

Samurai Gourmet

SamuraiGourmetSomeone recommended to my wife this Japanese TV series streaming on Netflix. The subject is cool, I had already heard about the writer of the original manga and the main character is played by an actor that I like, therefore I had no hesitation to subscribe to Netflix in order to binge on this mini series of twelve episodes of twenty minutes each. I have absolutely no regret. It was quite funny and very interesting as I leaned a few things about Japanese cuisine. Highly recommended!

Nobushi no Gourmet (漫画版 野武士のグルメ) is based on a manga written by Masayuki Kusumi and drawn by Shigeru Tsuchiyama (first pre-published in November 2013 by Gentosha Plus web magazine and then in print in June 2016 — I have already commented on the very similar manga that Masayuki Kusumi did with Jiro Taniguchi in 1994-96 titled Kodoku no gourmet). It tells the story of 60-year-old salaryman Takashi Kasumi (Naoto Takenaka) who just retired. Having lost his corporate title and the support of his company, he finds himself with lots of time on his hands. His wife Shizuko (Honami Suzuki) is always busy with something (choir practice, etc.), so he goes for a walk, wandering around and decides to enter a restaurant. For the first time he has a beer in the afternoon and rediscovers the pleasure of a good meal! Being a great fan of Sengoku Period samurai stories, he often imagine what a masterless samurai (played by Tetsuji Tamayama) would do in his situation — which always creates hilarious scenes!

As most of the episode is made of showing off food and the protagonist inner monologue, you might think it is quite boring: in the contrary, it’s an excellent series (see comments on Japan Times, Eater, Thrillist) as proven by a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes! stars-4-0

[ IMDb — Netflix — Wikipedia ]

💊     💊     💊

[ Traduire ]

Dear Etranger

/ Clodjee / 1 Comment

FFM_banner-2017

FFM17-dear_etrangerBased on the novel from Kiyoshi Shigematsu, this is the story of Makoto Tanaka, a 40-years-old who has remarried. His wife is Nanae and they care for 2 daughters from Nanae’s prior marriage. Makoto tries to have an ordinary family but Nanae becomes pregnant and things are bound to change.

 

 

WARNING: May contains trace of spoilers! People allergic to the discussion of any plot’s elements before seeing a movie are strongly advised to take the necessary precautions for their safety and should avoid reading further.

Dear Étranger is an average Japanese family drama: it’s both funny and sad, offers excellent acting but is rather slow moving. It’s a touching story about Makoto, a man in his forties, who has remarried and must deal with the difficulties of a blended family. He has one pre-teen girl (Saori) from a previous marriage (with Yuka). His new wife, Sanae, has two daughters (Kaoru, a tweenager, and Eriko, a preschooler) from her own previous marriage (with Sawada, who used to beat her and the children). When she gets pregnant, the delicate balance of their couple is challenged. Of course, in such situation, the children are suffering the most (with emotional or psychological stress). Can they really call themselves a “family”? Can he call himself a “dad”? Can he succeeds to keep a good relationship with BOTH his tweenage daughters? Or is he just a “dear stranger” to them?

The movie tackle quite realistically many aspects of the modern Japanese society: divorce, one of its causes (domestic violence) and one of its increasingly frequent consequences, the stepfamily. Divorce in Japan is relatively similar to what it is in the West (although there is no joint custody). Still not as frequent as in the West, the Japanese divorce rate has been steadily increasing (up to one in three marriages, quadrupling the rate of the post-WW2 era — mostly among retiring-age couples) but it has recently started to decrease due to a corresponding diminution in marriages (men are too busy at work and don’t feel economically confident enough to seek marriage and have children). The Japanese society is evolving and it is not surprising that we also see an increase in the number of female movie directors, who are more likely to want to use sociological theme in their storytelling.

I cannot pass over in silence the superb inclined elevator that regularly appears in the film. The Nashion inclined elevator (ナシオン斜行エレベーター / Nashion shakō erebētā) is located in Higashiyamadai, Nishinomiya (Hyōgo prefecture) near Kobe and Osaka. Many scenes were shot in that area. It offers a beautiful scenery but might also symbolise the hardship of the main protagonist as he must step up to resolve his delicate situation.

Anyway, when you put together two interesting writer and script-writer, a skilled director (who already came to the FFM in 2014 with A Drop of the Grapevine) and a great cast of actors, you can only get a good movie. And, apparently, the Jury of the 2017 Montreal World Film Festival agreed with this, since they awarded Dear Étranger with the Special Grand Prix of the Jury (a kind of “second best” award).

Dear Etranger (幼な子われらに生まれ / Osanago Warera ni umare / lit. “Children born to us” or We’re having a Baby): Japan, 2017, 127 mins; Dir.: Yukiko Mishima; Scr.: Haruhiko Arai (based on a novel by Kiyoshi Shigematsu); Cast: Tadanobu Asano (Makoto Tanaka), Rena Tanaka (Nanae), Shinobu Terajima (Yuka), Raiju Kamata (Saori), Sara Minami (Kaoru), Miu Arai (Eriko), Kankurô Kudô (Sawada), Shingo Mizusawa, Narushi Ikeda.

FFM17-ShinjiSakoda_DSC_0042Film screened at the Montreal World Film Festival on Friday September 1st 2017 (Cinema Imperial, 19:00 — the attendance was about an hundred people) as part of the “World Competition” segment. Shinji Sakoda, the international sales representative from Pony Canyon, was there to introduce the movie. stars-3-0

For more information you can visit the following websites:

[ AsianWiki — IMDb — Official web — Vimeo —  Youtube ]

Dear Etranger © 2016「幼な子われらに生まれ」製作委員会.

See also the comments of Mark Schilling (Japan Times) and Claude R. Blouin (Shomingeki).

[ Traduire ]

Noise

/ Clodjee / 1 Comment

Eight years have passed since the Akihabara massacre. A pop star whose mother was killed in the incident, a teenager who left her home of Akihabara, a delivery boy who turns his anger to the city. This is a story about the characters striving to grasp the string of hope within the darkness surrounding the city, the incident, and the people.

 

 

WARNING: May contains trace of spoilers! People allergic to the discussion of any plot’s elements before seeing a movie are strongly advised to take the necessary precautions for their safety and should avoid reading further.

In this movie we see Japan like we rarely see it in movies: people being poor, homeless, destitute, at their wits’ end. Japan is interiorizing everything, hiding the pain, the ugliness and sometimes the boil needs to burst. The Akihabara massacre wasn’t the cause of anything, it was a symptom. It also shows the ugly underside of Akihabara, the low level idols that are struggling, the delivery guys who deliver goods by feet because they lost their driving licenses in accidents, the almost-sex industry exploiting young girls, etc.

This docudrama is interesting because this director is willing to show us what others wouldn’t dare: the price Japan is paying for past economic crises and for a rigid society that must always preserve the appearance. Unfortunately, this young director is lacking the skills to express all this in a beautiful, well-organized manner. The result is a loud (it’s called noise isn’t it?), disjointed, awkward, disorganized movie. There are too many characters, scenes transition that comes without warning or coherence which makes the story quite difficult to follow. However, it is  compelling and the actors’ play is excellent.

It is a hard movie that requires patience like most unpolished gems. In the end, it gets easier to understand as we get to know each character better. Noise has potential with such an interesting subject and its great acting, but it unfortunately doesn’t succeed to be artistically good enough. However, it is entertaining and well worth watching.

Noise : Japan, 2017, 124 mins; Dir.: Yusaku MATSUMOTO; Cast: Kokoro Shinozaki, Urara Anjo, Kosuke Suzuki, Kentaro Kishi, Takashi Nishina, Kenji Kohashi, Hiroshi Fuse.

Film screened at the Montreal World Film Festival on August 25th, 2017 (Cinema du Parc 1, 20:15 — the attendance was around fifteen people out of a capacity of about two-hundred seats) as part of the “First Feature Competition” segment. There was no production team member to introduce the movie or do a Q&A.

For more information you can visit the following websites:

[ IMDb — Official Web — Vimeo — Youtube ]

Noise © ?Noise?????? 2017. All rights reserved.

See also the comment on this movie by Claude R. Blouin (in french).

[ Traduire ]

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Japanese movies at the FFM 2017

/ Clodjee / Leave a comment

There are only four Japanese movies at the Montreal World Film Festival this year. You will find bellow all the details we could find on each of them:

World Competition / Film en compétition

Dear Etranger (?????????? / Osanago Warera ni umare / lit. “Children born to us”): Japan,  2017, 127 mins; Dir.: Yukiko Mishima; Scr.: Haruhiko Arai (based on a novel by Kiyoshi Shigematsu); Cast: Rena Tanaka, Tadanobu Asano, Miu Arai, Narushi Ikeda, Raiju Kamata, Kankurô Kudô, Sara Minami, Shingo Mizusawa, Shinobu Terajima.

Based on the novel from Kiyoshi Shigematsu, this is the story of Makoto Tanaka, a 40-years-old who has remarried. His wife is Nanae and they care for 2 daughters from Nanae’s prior marriage. Makoto tries to have an ordinary family but Nanae becomes pregnant and things are bound to change.

Schedule : Cinema Imperial — Fri 09/01 19:00 / Cinema Imperial — Sun 09/03 11:00.

[ AsianWiki — IMDb — Vimeo —  Youtube ]

First Feature Competition / Compétition des premières oeuvres

Noise : Japan, 2017, 124 mins; Dir.: Yusaku MATSUMOTO; Cast: Kokoro Shinozaki, Urara Anjo, Kosuke Suzuki, Kentaro Kishi, Takashi Nishina, Kenji Kohashi, Hiroshi Fuse.

Eight years have passed since the Akihabara massacre. A pop star whose mother was killed in the incident, a teenager who left her home of Akihabara, a delivery boy who turns his anger to the city. This is a story about the characters striving to grasp the string of hope within the darkness surrounding the city, the incident, and the people.

Schedule : Cinema du Parc 3 — Fri 08/25 10:00 / Cinema du Parc 1 — Fri 08/25 20:15 / Cinema Dollar 1 — Sat 08/26 21:00.

[ IMDb — Official Web — Vimeo — Youtube ]

Focus on World Cinema / Regards sur les Cinéma du Monde

Nightscape : S. Korea / Japan, 2017, 71 min.; Dir.: In-chun Oh.

Based on a true event. There was a new team chasing after a suspicious Taxi. It started with just a small suspicion. But… what happened to them that midnight?

Schedule : Cinema Dollar 2 — Sat 08/26 21:00 / Cinema du Parc 3 — Thu 08/31 12:00 / Cinema du Parc 3 — Mon 09/04 17:00.

[ IMDb — Official web — Vimeo teaser 1 — Vimeo teaser 2 ]

Shorts / Courts métrages

No song to sing : Japan / United Kingdom, 2017, 24 min.; Dir./Phot.: Lukasz Gasiorowski; Scr.: Maiko Takeda; Ed.: Masahiro Hirakubo; Mus.: Ewen Bremner; Cast: Make Takeda, Takuji Suzuki, Shinjiro Takahashi, Nobuyuki Kobayashi, Kayo Takeda, Ryubun Sumori, Issei Yamashita, Kenichi Masuda.

Natsu, a professional femme fatale works for a typical Tokyo “Telephone Date Club”. She enjoys selling fantasies to lonely men, but as she becomes emotionally entangled in the web of her own deceptions, she finds herself unable to pay the price of her own merchandise.

Schedule : Cinema du Parc 3 — Sun 08/27 16:00 / Cinema du Parc 3 — Tue 08/29 16:15 / Cinema Dollar 2 — Sun 09/03 21:00.

[ IMDb — Official web — Vimeo ]

[ Traduire ]

SaveSave

SaveSave