Pleasures of the Flesh

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Etsuraku Release Date: 1965 Director: Nagisa Ôshima Netflix Link IMDb Link

Pleasures of the Flesh is part of the new Eclipse Series 21: Oshima’s Outlaw Sixties, which I’m slowly working my way through. I have a hard time mustering up the desire to watch a lot of the Eclipse sets since it seems that Criterion throws them anything they don’t really want to give the full Criterion treatment.

Pleasures of the Flesh might as well be called “Women Will Fuck Up Your Life” since that’s the basic premise. It’s a fairly unique story which is a mixture of Brewster’s Millions and any movie where a guy falls for a girl with disastrous results. It gets some points for originality, but otherwise, there’s not all that much here to recommend. 3.5 stars rounded down to 3.

Gurren Lagann

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Tengen toppa gurren lagann Release Date: 2007-2009 Netflix Link IMDb Link

Hmmmm. Gurren Lagann starts off like a Japanese animation series like any other. The first volume is comprised of elements that could be in any other mecha anime series; an unwitting main character bestowed with powers, an over the top smart ass character who spurs him along on a quest, other characters added along the way, and even a love interest, but then it just keeps going. Gurren Lagann has a dozen different places where it could end, but it just refuses to die. Oh, that’s the end, right? No, it’s still going. That’s gotta be the end, right? Nope. The plot just doesn’t stop, but morphs into something bigger every time you think it’s over, until eventually they’re battling the whole damn universe and beyond.

The difference is, that unlike an American show where they drag things out after the ending for ratings and more money, this one seems intentional. It seems as though they want you to think it’s all nicely wrapped up only to sucker punch you with something else. The only annoyance with this series was the clip episode stuck somewhere in the middle. I don’t need a wrap of of what’s already happened, thanks. Gurren Lagann is not spectacularly great, but it’s certainly fairly original as far as mecha anime goes.

Linda Linda Linda

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Release Date: 2005 Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita Netflix Link IMDb Link

Another Japanese High School movie; my expectations were pretty low, and rightly so, but Linda Linda Linda has a lot of heart. Even though it does seem like a manga come to life, complete with the choppy sequences and little denouements everywhere, it manages to be engaging. What makes this movie is its cast and the ridiculously catchy songs by The Blue Hearts that they play. I’d never heard of that band before, but they seem to be something of icons in Japanese culture. They’re referred to as punk, but that’s a bit of a stretch. Still, the songs are, in fact, quite insistent on staying put in your brain.

The cast is excellent, the story leaves a bit to be desired, but overall, it’s worth a watch if you’re into this sort of thing. I think I might even go and scare up some of the original tunes by The Blue Hearts. Linda Linda Linda isn’t among the best of its genre, but it’s certainly above average.

Dora-Heita

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Release Date: 2000 Director: Kon Ichikawa Netflix Link IMDb Link

Something in the opening credits caught my eye: screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Kon Ichikawa and Masaki Kobayashi. Four of Japan’s greatest and most prolific directors collaborated on a single screenplay and the story does not disappoint.

It is an elaborate tale of corruption and double-crosses, with a little bit of fighting and a whole lot of intrigue. Dora-Heita, expertly played by Koji Yakusho, is pitted between corrupt officials and corrupt yakuza bosses, all of whom would like nothing better than for him to go away by any means necessary. The character of Dora-Heita actually reminds me a little bit of Kurosawa’s character, Yojimbo, in the sense that he is blustery and gruff, places little value on authority, and will get the job done how he wants to, not how they tell him to. The samurai in this film are not the typical variety you see in jidaigeki who go about fighting in wars or slashing up bad guys, but rather, they are officials. Dora-Heita is a magistrate, akin to a police officer and a judge rolled into one, brought in to clean up a certain troublesome neighborhood.

That being said, in typical Ichikawa fashion, the film does drag a bit in spots and it’s not altogether as tight as it could have been. Still, this is a pretty entertaining story, made even more so by Koji Yakusho’s performance. Recommended to fans of the samurai genre.

Tora-San: Our Lovable Tramp

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Otoko wa tsurai yo / It’s Tough Being A Man Japanese: 男はつらいよ Release Date: 1969 Director: Yôji Yamada Netflix Link IMDb Link

Tora-San: Our Lovable Tramp is a new AnimEigo release of a Yôji Yamada film. First of all, I love AnimEigo. Not only are their transfers golden, but their subtitles actually explain the nuances of the cultural references and language. And secondly, I’m a big fan of Yôji Yamada. If you haven’t seen his Samurai trilogy, The Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade, and Love & Honor, you should go watch those right now.

As to the film, I think calling the main character “lovable” is a bit of a misnomer. I started out disliking Tora-San and my opinion of him didn’t go anywhere near “love” as the film progressed. He’s like a Japanese Jack Tripper from Three’s Company; misunderstanding everything, meddling and trying his best to make things better, but only making them worse. And I hated Three’s Company. Maybe if I could tolerate stupid people doing stupid things a little better, I might have enjoyed Tora-San, too, but he just came off as selfish, stupid and generally thoughtless. As much as I love Yamada, I don’t think I’ll be watching the rest of the 48-film series anytime soon.

Asyl: Park and Love Hotel

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Japanese: パーク アンド ラブホテル Release Date: 2007 Director: Izuru Kumasaka IMDb Link AsianMediaWiki Link

Another austere Japanese slice of life drama revolving around a public park built, incongruously, on the rooftop of a love motel. Since space is at a premium in Japan, love motels are rooms you can rent by the hour. We have them here in the United States, too, but they’re big business in Japan. The plot follows several people involved with the park in some way from a young runaway to a lonely housewife to the widowed owner of the love hotel. Like Ain’t No Tomorrows, it feels like a documentary and has no soundtrack to speak of. The plot, what little there is of one, rolls around without really going anywhere. I tend to like these kinds of films since they stick with you for a while. Asyl doesn’t seem like much of anything while you’re watching it, but it is one of those films that you think about from time to time long after you’ve seen it. It sneaks up and ambushes you after it’s over. It is certainly original, if nothing else.

Ain’t No Tomorrows

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Oretachi ni asu wa naissu Japanese: 俺たちに明日はないッス Release Date: 2008 Director: Yuki Tanada IMDb Link AsianMediaWiki Link

A fairly graphic and quite bizarre look at teen sex through the eyes of teenagers. It has no soundtrack, it looks more like a documentary than a feature film and it’s chock full of odd characters doing very odd things. The plot isn’t wacky, in that typically Japanese way; it’s more on the strange side. Still, incomprehensibly, I liked it. Ain’t No Tommorows reminds me of the austere Korean film, In Between Days, but this one has slightly more comedy and strangeness, and it’s a little less quasi-documentary style. Still, it’s about people trying to belong in the confusing and tumultuous teenage years. I wouldn’t recommend this for everyone, but if you like sparse coming of age tales, this one is worth a watch.

Fires On The Plain

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Nobi Japanese: 野火 Release Date: 1959 Director: Kon Ichikawa Netflix Link IMDb Link

I just finished reading the book, so I watched the movie. I’m really torn as to which I prefer. The book is packed with subtle humor and delectable phrasing which is mostly lost in the movie. However, I love the fact that Ichikawa toned down a lot of the religious references in the book and I really liked his ending better. The ending of the book drags on for a chapter or two where it doesn’t need to. Granted, the book is a supposedly true story so it couldn’t have ended the same way as the film. As usual with movies adapted from books I’ve just read, I’m not sure it would be as clear having not read the book first. I think it probably would be since it’s a rather straight forward, linear narrative. Either way, it’s a good read and a good watch. It’s one of Ichikawa’s finest films.

Hard Revenge, Milly Double Feature

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Hâdo ribenji, Mirî / Hâdo ribenji, Mirî: Buraddi batoru Japanese: ハード・リベンジ、ミリー Release Date: 2008 / 2009 Director: Takanori Tsujimoto Netflix Link IMDb Link: Part 1, Part 2

Hard Revenge, Milly has a double feature on one disc; Hard Revenge, Milly and Hard Revenge, Milly: Bloody Battle. The first movie is only about 45 minutes long though, and the the second is just over an hour. It actually might have been more effective had they boiled it down to only one movie. Hard Revenge, Milly was what Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay was trying to be and failed. It features a very capable lead heroine in Miki Mizuno, awesomely bad special effects, cheesy dialog, waaaaaaaay over the top fight scenes and more gore than you ever thought possible. Weeeeee! It’s not as good as The Machine Girl or Tokyo Gore Police in the same genre, but it’s worth a watch if you love high-octane splatter and your expectations aren’t all that high. Actually, I would recommend watching it right after Battle Girl and it will seem like the most awesome movie(s) ever in comparison.

Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay

	Rating: 2 out of 5 Original Title: Tokyo crisis wars Release Date: 1991 Director: Kazuo ‘Gaira’ Komizu Netflix Link IMDb Link

Meteor crashes, toxic clouds, zombies, battle girls… what could go wrong? Everything. I am all for cheese and Japan does some of the best cheese I’ve ever seen, especially the creative and gushing blood varieties, but this one goes beyond cheesy. This was a new release so I figured it was a new film. Once again, reading comprehension FAIL on my part. It was made in 1991, but it looks like it was made in 1981 with all the terrible special effects and new wave costumes. The only thing worse than a cheesy American 80′s movie is a cheesy Japanese 80′s movie. There wasn’t enough cheese to make it a good-bad movie; it just winds up being bad. Battle Girl isn’t really worth anyone’s time unless you want to see how terrible a movie can be in all quantifiable categories of terrible. Watch Hard Revenge, Milly instead.