― bob zemko (bob), Friday, 15 November 2002 20:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
― bob zemko (bob), Friday, 15 November 2002 20:15 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 15 November 2002 20:24 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Honda (Honda), Friday, 15 November 2002 20:30 (twenty-one years ago) link
― daria g, Friday, 15 November 2002 20:44 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 15 November 2002 20:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
Ichi made me feel really gross, but I'm still glad I saw it. Actually, I have the feeling this can be said for most of his films. I still haven't seen Audition though...
(The soundtrack to Ichi is also good.)
― ^Diego^ (dhadis), Friday, 15 November 2002 21:05 (twenty-one years ago) link
― bob zemko (bob), Saturday, 16 November 2002 11:18 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 17 November 2002 17:14 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 17 November 2002 18:01 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 17 November 2002 19:33 (twenty-one years ago) link
how were the other films you've seen so far martin?
― bob zemko (bob), Sunday, 17 November 2002 21:08 (twenty-one years ago) link
I've enjoyed 7 out of 8 (the other was my girlfriend's choice, an okay Argentine flick), mostly Oriental films, which is my big specialist interest. The two I've looked forward to most are tomorrow and Tuesday, A Chinese Odyssey (which sounds utterly crazed) and Lilya-4-Ever, the new Lukas Moodysson.
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 18 November 2002 00:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
ha my girlf wants me to come see polissons et galipettes, that old porn one. she's paying, natch
don't suppose you saw russian ark?
― bob zemko (bob), Monday, 18 November 2002 01:15 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 18 November 2002 01:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
yes. got to see all of them.
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 18 November 2002 13:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
just saw the first DoA. my favorite so far in the line of Miike's more over-the-top ultraviolent manga films (Ichi, Fudoh, etc). haven't had this kind of fun since the first time i saw "Fist of the North Star" as a young teen. i want to see the sequels now but have no idea how to find them....
― Honda (Honda), Thursday, 23 January 2003 20:24 (twenty-one years ago) link
I love that series (the movie was terrible tho').
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 23 January 2003 20:42 (twenty-one years ago) link
― zemko (bob), Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:41 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Michael B, Monday, 20 October 2003 08:52 (twenty years ago) link
― Momus (Momus), Monday, 20 October 2003 09:08 (twenty years ago) link
Takashi Miike is obviously a director with huge amounts of energy and innovative thoughts, but he seems to have trouble controlling that energy to make coherent, flawless movies. The more of of his films I see, the more I begin to suspect he'll never something as good as Audition, the one film of his which is coherent from the beginning to the very end.
― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 20 October 2003 09:27 (twenty years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 20 October 2003 09:39 (twenty years ago) link
― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 11:16 (twenty years ago) link
Diego OTM (as per usual).
― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 14:56 (twenty years ago) link
Is it worth struggling through the last 1:40 if I'm already squicked?
― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Sunday, 16 January 2005 06:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― Martha Stewart and Jeanne-Claude (deangulberry), Sunday, 16 January 2005 06:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― ryan (ryan), Sunday, 16 January 2005 11:48 (nineteen years ago) link
― cºzen (Cozen), Sunday, 16 January 2005 13:49 (nineteen years ago) link
its rad btw
re: miike, ive onyl seen happiness of the katakiris and it was off the chain, the zombie dancing is awesome. dont want to watch audition and ichi etc cos i am a wimp
― ambrose (ambrose), Sunday, 16 January 2005 14:34 (nineteen years ago) link
Nope. The film is kinda formless, and there aren't that many funnily macabre scenes, even less than in Visitor Q. Audition and Happiness of the Katakuris are the only ones of his films I'd recommend wholeheartedly (see myst post uphtread). Dead or Alive is worth seeing too, I guess, if only for what is one of the most jaw-dropping endings in the history of cinema.
It sorta feels like Miike is a victim of the fanboy syndrome; he's talented, sure, but he just keeps on feeding his core audience hungry for gore and shock values. There's nothing wrong with blood and the macabre per se, obviously (Audition proves he can make a good film using them), but in films like Ichi there's nothing more.
― Tuomas (Tuomas), Sunday, 16 January 2005 15:06 (nineteen years ago) link
SO THERE.
― sugarpants (sugarpants), Monday, 17 January 2005 04:21 (nineteen years ago) link
is there going to be a BFI short book about it? can anybody direct me to any good writing about the film?
which of the gangster movies should i watch next, "graveyard of honor" or "dead or alive"?
― vahid (vahid), Saturday, 9 April 2005 16:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Eric von H. (Eric H.), Saturday, 9 April 2005 16:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 9 April 2005 17:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― cozen (Cozen), Saturday, 9 April 2005 17:19 (nineteen years ago) link
"Dead or Alive" is pretty fun, haven't seen any of the sequels.
― sugarpants: bea arthur's secret lover (sugarpants), Saturday, 9 April 2005 17:26 (nineteen years ago) link
The next person who says Miike is a genius must sit through all the "Young Thugs" films.
― Z-Freak, Saturday, 9 April 2005 18:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dan I. (Dan I.), Saturday, 9 April 2005 18:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Saturday, 9 April 2005 18:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― Mil (Mil), Saturday, 9 April 2005 23:44 (nineteen years ago) link
And who the heck's saying that Visitor Q isn't a comedy until the final 3rd? It's a comedy the minute Q whacks Dad w/ a brick!
― David R. (popshots75`), Sunday, 10 April 2005 00:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 10 April 2005 07:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 10 April 2005 08:02 (nineteen years ago) link
― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 10 April 2005 08:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― David Beckhouse (David Beckhouse), Sunday, 10 April 2005 16:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Sunday, 10 April 2005 21:16 (nineteen years ago) link
― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Sunday, 10 April 2005 21:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― David Beckhouse (David Beckhouse), Sunday, 10 April 2005 23:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― fcussen (Burger), Monday, 11 April 2005 11:09 (nineteen years ago) link
Izo is quite numbingly depressing save for a couple great scenes. It's very well made, but my brain just turned off midway through. He sure loves birthing scenes and lactation.
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 11 April 2005 12:41 (nineteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Monday, 11 April 2005 12:50 (nineteen years ago) link
http://monkeytownhq.com/horrorweek.html
http://imdb.com/title/tt0257885/
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 17:00 (eighteen years ago) link
― Michael B, Wednesday, 11 January 2006 04:51 (eighteen years ago) link
Holy crap - Miike is IN Hostel (directed by that Cabin Fever guy)!
― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 05:27 (eighteen years ago) link
― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 05:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― Mugged Outside the Jabberjaw, 1993 (Bent Over at the Arclight), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 06:04 (eighteen years ago) link
http://www.kaijushakedown.com/2006/11/weirdness_ho_mi.html
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 15:17 (seventeen years ago) link
oh man.... awesome!!!!!
― roc u like a § (ex machina), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 17:11 (seventeen years ago) link
― Grey, Ian (IanBrooklyn), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 18:00 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jena (JenaP), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 18:01 (seventeen years ago) link
This will rock my socks.
― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 18:28 (seventeen years ago) link
― less-than three's Christiane F. (drowned in milk), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 19:24 (seventeen years ago) link
Audition: His best. I don't care if he never tops it, it's a bit like complaining Coppola never topped The Godfather; there are plenty of other goodies in Miike's swollen corpus.
Box: This is his segment of Three: Extremes, and its probably my favorite after Audition. At first you'll say "oh noes scary Asian girl w/ long straight hair again" but then Miike goes so far in 3 different directions that your eyes start to gently cross. There's a poetic fairy tale simplicity to the way the story unfolds, and the final shot both surprises and makes perfect dream-logic sense.
Graveyard of Honor: This is quite good, and those who complain that Miike is incapable of maintaining mood need to absorb this 2+ hour straight forward character study of a gangster careening his way into an early grave. If you need to empathize with a character's actions in order to enjoy a film then this probably isn't for you, but as an unblinking study in self-destructive sociopathy it's hard to beat.
City of Lost Souls: Embodies many Miike tendencies that I don't like (hyperactivity, shallow characterization, cheap action) but this one works for some reason. Don't laugh, but the light touch + forward pitch used to tell the tale of doomed criminal lovers trapped in a postmodern funhouse reminds of me of early Godard stuff like À bout de souffle, Band à parte, and Pierrot le fou (though this may be received-Godard by way of Tarantino/Scott's True Romance). Lots of replay value, and anytime I put it on I find myself sucked into its ridiculous web.
Ichii The Killer: Manga made flesh, think X-men Go Salò, and a very potent rumination on sadism, masochism, and vengeance. A lot of people are put off by the misogyny, and they should be. It's not a pretty movie, and I'd fault it more if the film weren't so successful at creating a fantasy world that operates by its own twisted rules. By rights it shouldn't be as funny or as effective as it is, but it is. Like Cronenberg's Crash on crank. I wish they had kept the original name, though: Killer #1.
Happiness of the Katakuris: You must have a very sensitive funny bone to be amused by most of what goes on here, and George Landis and Michael Jackson did dancing zombies much better a long time ago. But it is tres wacky, and there are several numbers worth the price of admission, mainly the first love song and the final number.
Visitor Q: If it were half as involving as it were shocking, it would be a success, but I didn't care a) what happened to any of these characters, or b) where it was going. The song playing over the final credits is fantastic, though.
Dead Or Alive: I just couldn't get with this. Yes, it's hyperactive and the ending is mind-blowing. So what? Maybe it'd be different in a theatre with 100 brahs throwing popcorn at the screen, but as a movie there was not a lot of substance there for me to grab hold of. I've heard DOA 2: Birds is better, though.
Still want to see: Black Society Trilogy (Shinjuku Triad Society, Ley Lines, Rainy Dog), DOA 2, DOA Final, Blues Harp, Bird People of China, Gozu, Sabu, Great Yokai War and Imprint
Not very interested in (should I be?): Fudoh, Nostalgia, Innocent Blood, Full Metal Gokudo, Salaryman Kintaro, The Guys From Paradise, MPD Psycho, Zebraman, Family, Yakuza Demon, Agitator, Andromedia, Violent Fire, One Missed Call, Izo
On a final DVD nerd note, Miike's films are available in varying quality. All the US DVDs of Audition are crap (get the UK R2), and Ichii The Killer's best incarnation I believe is still the Dutch version (US has a soft transfer and UK is cut). Graveyard of Honor isn't available in the US, but I think there's a release coming in 2007. The German DVD has no English subs, but does have a great cover:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/edwardiii/graveyard_of_honor.jpg
― Edward III (edward iii), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 19:52 (seventeen years ago) link
― Edward III (edward iii), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 19:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― Grey, Ian (IanBrooklyn), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 20:52 (seventeen years ago) link
― roc u like a § (ex machina), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 20:55 (seventeen years ago) link
Singing and dancing zombies. Insane lactating mothers. Incestuous killer sisters. A son rebuilt by mad science from pieces of a father figure. A minotaur-licking loser. Two daughters literally joined at the hip. Images that mix literal, metaphoric and just plain bizarre Oedipal nightmares. Others that gush over-the-top gore and sentimentality in equal parts. In the course of films that shift from abject horror to slapstick comedy, one can easily miss the fact that Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike is a family guy.
Best known in the U.S. as director of the mega-disturbo Audition, Japan’s mad dog of pan-genre disturbance is as obsessed with family as Steven Spielberg is, with comparable technical chops but more honesty and a way better sense of humor.
Sometimes it’s a “normal” family under siege by outside forces (The Happiness of the Katakuris). Sometimes, the nuclear family fragments on contact with spiritually void consumer culture (Visitor Q). More often, that “family” is a substitute unit — the Japanese yakuza crime families that fill many of his films. (If this seems a stretch, note that Miike has a yakuza franchise called Family.)
In the most extreme instances — and when talking Miike, “extreme” takes on new meaning — you get something like Gozu, in which a lonely yakuza separated from his crime family gives birth to himself via a lover’s birth canal, which makes her his default Mom. Or something.
Miike’s family thing is a prime reason why, despite the cultural details lost in translation, his films sink deep claws into a Westerner’s back brain. Viewers can depend on nothing but knowing that the unexpected is the rule. Like an early Brian de Palma on amphetamines, even his most horrid nightmares exist cheek by jowl with tenderness. Or as Eye Weekly’s Jason Anderson smartly summarized, “Takashi Miike is not just some sick bastard — he’s a sick bastard with heart.”
He’s also insanely prolific. Miike has finished two movies this year and is filming his third, while this month will see the DVD release of 2005’s The Great Yokai War. So, rather than attempt to be comprehensive, the following is a list of representative titles that might help you get a grip on a sizable filmography.
Miike masterpieces
The Bird People in China (1998) — Magical realism, tragedy and comedy blend as a salaryman and a yakuza travel on a Herzog-like upriver search for a mystery tribe. An amazing underwater CGI shot of a flock of turtles powering a boat and a strobe-lit gangster gunfight nightmare are early indications of Miike’s febrile invention, while a character sums up the director’s career-long modus operandi, “It’s a metaphor, dummy!”
Three Extremes (2004) — After two feh shorts by Chan-wook Park and Fruit Chan, this anthology becomes essential because of Miike’s Box, the tale of a woman novelist whose increasingly surreal/frightening memories of patriarchal incest are causing her reality to break into sad, conflicting bits. Elegiac and visually gorgeous in a way suggestive of an Asian Bergman, it’s a meditative, mature look at identity.
The Great Yokai War (2005) — Miike shocks by doing a Jim Henson-y, super-cute kid’s movie involving a boy from a broken family ending up in a supernatural battle between some supernatural creatures of Japanese mythology.
The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) — The aforementioned zombie musical. What else can be said? OK — it’s a deeply spiritual, family zombie musical. With jokes.
Audition(1999) — Widowed patriarch systematically seeks new wife, finds sexually traumatized girl his daughter’s age. Multileveled hallucinations, mangled desire, acupuncture needles and knives meet body parts in less-than-conventional ways.
Visitor Q (2001) — An emasculated TV reporter tries to reconnect with his family via the creation of a documentary on family; incest, interfamilial lactation, necrophilia and worse follows. In the end, it’s actually an affirmation of familial happiness. Really.
Flawed but freakishly fab
Ichi the Killer (2001) — Thought Peter Jackson’s Dead/Alive was the last word in operatic gore? Think again. With one main character into lacerating S&M (when not blowing away roomfuls of yakuzas) and a meek programmed “assassin” who slices people sideways with his knife-enhanced Reeboks, Ichi is a reprehensible piece of manga slaughter that also manages to be, well, quite funny.
Gozu (2003) — A mystery woman indulges Miike’s lactation fetish, a character gives slimy birth to himself through his girlfriend’s birth canal and a minotaur haunts the director’s incomprehensible but hilarious idea of a road movie.
MPD Psycho (2000) — So there’s this detective suffering from multiple personality disorder. He goes after a cult with bar codes on their eyes and a killer who cuts off the tops of people’s skulls and plants sculptures in their exposed brains. Then Miike’s TV series gets weird.
Zebraman (2004) — This film is Miike in full-on adorable mode: A failed dad gets to “be” his favorite superhero. Despite or because of the loopy premise, it’s a sappy delight.
Fudoh: The New Generation (1996) — In his efforts to avenge the killing of his brother by his yakuza dad, a boy enlists the help of other teen malcontents, including a herm-aphrodite whose vagina shoots poison darts. While boasting unique set pieces and feverish, inventive style, Miike hadn’t yet perfected the mashing of melancholy, gore and comedy.
Other nonessential but fascinating offerings include 1999’s N-Girls vs. Vampire (virgin models become vampires), 2000’s The City of Lost Souls (a moody interracial gangster love story highlighted by a Matrix-style CGI cockfight) and Shangri-La (2002) a comedy that deals with, um, homelessness.
Miike misses
Look, the guy makes a lot of movies; some duffers are inevitable. These are titles you might want to skip. A good deal of these lesser efforts are yakuza films aimed to fill Japan’s ravenous direct-to-video appetite. The best (i.e., most perverse) of the lot is Deadly Outlaw: Rekka (2002), a gang turf–war/inter–crime family soap opera that is alternately dull and almost unbearably hyperviolent.
The most genre-recombinant is Full Metal Yakuza (1997). Equal parts gangster revenge film, RoboCop rip and Frankenstein, it’s a flawed jaw-dropper about an oafish yakuza who is killed trying to protect his father figure, a crime-family boss; a mad scientist “rebuilds” him with spare cyber-stuff and parts from the aforementioned boss.
Graveyard of Honor (2002), Dead or Alive (1999) and Kikoku (2003) prove that even Miike can be generic, and nobody will dis your Miike cred if you skip his competent but inessential J-horror entry One Missed Call and the extended J-pop video Andromeda.
But as career downsides go, and considering his astonishing fecundity, these few off entries are small beer indeed. Especially in light of the fact that Miike is only 46 and just now hitting a new aesthetic peak as his ongoing family “project” is gaining a tighter focus. God only knows what images and ideas we’ll be gasping over when this article is hopelessly obsolete in, say, three months.
film@orlandoweekly.com
― Grey, Ian (IanBrooklyn), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 20:55 (seventeen years ago) link
― Edward III (edward iii), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 21:05 (seventeen years ago) link
― roc u like a § (ex machina), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 21:07 (seventeen years ago) link
― Grey, Ian (IanBrooklyn), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 21:13 (seventeen years ago) link
― roc u like a § (ex machina), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 21:15 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dan I. (Dan I.), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 23:22 (seventeen years ago) link
― zombierza (tehresa), Wednesday, 22 November 2006 01:28 (seventeen years ago) link
― La Monte (La Monte), Wednesday, 22 November 2006 01:52 (seventeen years ago) link
Then get THREE EXTREMES, skip the first two films and dig BOX.
Then BIRD PEOPLE OF CHINA.
*THEN* get VISITOR Q.
heh heh
― Grey, Ian (IanBrooklyn), Wednesday, 22 November 2006 06:25 (seventeen years ago) link
― jhoshea megafauna (scoopsnoodle), Wednesday, 22 November 2006 06:32 (seventeen years ago) link
uh http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/post.phtml?pk=2301
― dmr, Saturday, 2 August 2008 18:42 (fifteen years ago) link
^^^^ that's the trailer for Sukiyaki Western Django starring Q.T.
not sure whether this looks good-bad or actually-bad
― dmr, Saturday, 2 August 2008 18:43 (fifteen years ago) link
mm....I haven't seen a lot of this dude's movies, but loved Audition, liked Ichi the Killer (although this one I REALLY have to be in the mood for)...
relaly disliked Visitor Q. it was too far into left field for me....though no doubt others probably worship it.
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Saturday, 2 August 2008 22:38 (fifteen years ago) link
saw that preview on G4. why anybody would cast Tarantino in anything (other than to draw people to the theatre) is beyond me. Dude can't act at all, especially in his own movies....
woulda loved the "does my garage say Dead nigger storage" scene a lot more if someone else had been playing the part.
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Saturday, 2 August 2008 22:41 (fifteen years ago) link
who?
― goole, Saturday, 2 August 2008 23:05 (fifteen years ago) link
orson welles
― rockapads, Sunday, 3 August 2008 03:33 (fifteen years ago) link
nice to see Bird People getting a lot of love up there. That and Visitor Q are really the only movies of his I re-watch.
I have a few of his movies on my netflix queue that I keep pushing back because I've never heard any positive word of mouth from any of my Asian film buff friends. Anyone have thoughts on any of these?
Bang Bang Love: Juvenile A Neighbor 13: Special Edition Sabu
― rockapads, Sunday, 3 August 2008 03:39 (fifteen years ago) link
Sukiyaki Western Django is a lot of fun, though as you'd expect the Tarantino bits are pretty cringeworthy.
― Simon H., Sunday, 3 August 2008 04:02 (fifteen years ago) link
SWD is great even with (or perhaps helped by) laughable Tarantino part. Parts of this reminded me of the awesome Tears of the Black Tiger.
― Alex in SF, Friday, 21 November 2008 15:56 (fifteen years ago) link
Audition: FUCKIN HELL.
What else is good?
― chap, Thursday, 8 October 2009 00:40 (fourteen years ago) link
I love The Happiness of the Katakuris, but it's a very different movie.
― Your heartbeat soun like sasquatch feet (polyphonic), Thursday, 8 October 2009 00:44 (fourteen years ago) link
Katakuris was fun but The Quiet Family is a much better film
― zappi, Thursday, 8 October 2009 00:51 (fourteen years ago) link
i dug great yokai war
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 8 October 2009 00:56 (fourteen years ago) link
had IZO sitting at home for about a month now--worth watching?
― ian, Thursday, 8 October 2009 04:48 (fourteen years ago) link
Izo's a chore. Yokai War was fun, but I'm getting the impression that the late 90s/early 00s were a creative peak for Miike. His recent work seems to lack the intensity and wildness of the films that really made his rep in the West. Haven't seen everything he's done lately by any means, but Gozu was the last Miike flick to really grab me, and as great as it is, it's still a bit restrained and coherently organized for my tastes. Its excesses feel intentional rather than exploratory. Still a fantastic movie, funny and creepy as hell. Even romantic.
― That's not just me saying that, that's the Pentagon. (contenderizer), Thursday, 8 October 2009 05:08 (fourteen years ago) link
Visitor Q rules.
― Neotropical pygmy squirrel, Thursday, 8 October 2009 05:52 (fourteen years ago) link
seventh the rec of bird people in china, it's amazing. first time i watched i was hi and when the girl started singing i was like holy shit.
― clotpoll, Thursday, 8 October 2009 05:55 (fourteen years ago) link
Just saw Zebraman - can't recommend to it to most people, but man it was indeed sappy and I loved it. A much dryer take on the first Spider-Man and Men in Black movies, and better! Can't wait to be able to get a hold of Yatterman if it's anything like this.
Thank goodness for this thread, there's so much stuff of his it's hard to sort through - as a result I generally see one Miike film more or less by accident every year or so. Loved Audition, tried Ichi the Killer but like a poster early in the thread I had to turn it off in less than 20 minutes, guess I'm just too squeamish. Loved Katakuris, Bird People in China was okay. Guess I'll try Dead or Alive next.
― Nhex, Thursday, 3 June 2010 04:34 (thirteen years ago) link
Watching MPD Psycho again at the mo, easier to keep up with a second time.
― disastrous sixth series (MaresNest), Thursday, 3 June 2010 15:37 (thirteen years ago) link
finally got around to visitor Q and it is def my favorite miike. still think audition is boring and ichii doesnt do it for me, but this and happiness of the katakuris are just so much fun (an odd word for the experience, but accurate i think)
― AESTHOLE (jjjusten), Wednesday, 23 June 2010 19:35 (thirteen years ago) link
wow, totally opposite reaction to those 4 movies
have you seen imprint?
― (e_3) (Edward III), Wednesday, 23 June 2010 19:40 (thirteen years ago) link
was that the masters of horror one about the brothel demon or whatever?
― AESTHOLE (jjjusten), Wednesday, 23 June 2010 19:48 (thirteen years ago) link
if so, yeah, ive seen it, and it was a gleaming treasure compared to the rest of masters of horror, but that kind of like being the shiniest piece of corn in the toilet bowl tbh.
― AESTHOLE (jjjusten), Wednesday, 23 June 2010 21:47 (thirteen years ago) link
just watched visitor q, actually. whoa.
― original bgm, Thursday, 24 June 2010 04:30 (thirteen years ago) link
can't really say I enjoyed it but more power to ya.
jjjusten have you seen gozu
― samosa gibreel, Thursday, 24 June 2010 04:48 (thirteen years ago) link
kinda with you, jjjustin, on the value of the miikes. love happiness & visitor q, not so fond of ichii. do like audition, though. slow but really well done. dead or alive, gozu & zebraman are good, too. really should fill in some gaps, as it's been a long time since i watched a miike flick.
― contenderizer, Thursday, 24 June 2010 05:51 (thirteen years ago) link
Love Audition and Imprint. Seems like he hasn't done anything *amazing* in a while, though, huh?
― Simon H., Thursday, 24 June 2010 07:00 (thirteen years ago) link
I like gozu a bunch. been on a mini miike kick and I re-watched it the other day. definitely overlong but lots of memorable scenes... esp that ending! @__@
audition, gozu, and doa 2 are my faves from what I've seen. ichii didn't do much for me and imprint was too rough for me to handle.
― original bgm, Thursday, 24 June 2010 14:35 (thirteen years ago) link
i started gozu but was distracted at the time so i stopped, def intend to go back to it soon.
― AESTHOLE (jjjusten), Thursday, 24 June 2010 15:57 (thirteen years ago) link
watched audition for the first time now. first 2/3 are neat, last 1/3 is gratuitous, huh?
― once a remy bean always a (remy bean), Sunday, 17 October 2010 17:53 (thirteen years ago) link
gratuitously awesome
― only ad hominem strawman can troll me (Edward III), Sunday, 17 October 2010 19:00 (thirteen years ago) link
dialogue during torture scene is great, love asami's philosophy lessons
― only ad hominem strawman can troll me (Edward III), Sunday, 17 October 2010 19:03 (thirteen years ago) link
the last third is so effective because of the stark difference!
― Nhex, Sunday, 17 October 2010 19:56 (thirteen years ago) link
^^
― toastmodernist, Sunday, 17 October 2010 21:16 (thirteen years ago) link
He's coming to NYC for his Lincoln Center retro.
http://subwaycinemanews.com/archives/1581
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 26 February 2011 03:58 (thirteen years ago) link
Yokai war is either batshit awesome or batshit awful and honestly I kinda flip back and forth every time I see it
― O_o-O_0-o_O (jjjusten), Saturday, 26 February 2011 04:01 (thirteen years ago) link
13 Assassins was really something.
― reggaeton for the painfully alone (polyphonic), Friday, 29 April 2011 07:20 (thirteen years ago) link
In a good way?
― the crap gig in the sky (MaresNest), Friday, 29 April 2011 07:24 (thirteen years ago) link
Definitely. Strictly for the ultraviolence crowd though.
― reggaeton for the painfully alone (polyphonic), Friday, 29 April 2011 07:29 (thirteen years ago) link
Brilliant, I'm there.
― the crap gig in the sky (MaresNest), Friday, 29 April 2011 10:00 (thirteen years ago) link
One of the better remakes I've seen. tremendous.
― Winky Dinky Dawgz (Capitaine Jay Vee), Saturday, 30 April 2011 15:51 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSJxRbrvmUM
― more horses after the main event (Eazy), Saturday, 30 April 2011 16:03 (thirteen years ago) link
13 Assassins was pretty great. Not ground-breaking in any way, but just a lot of fun, pretty self-aware of samurai movie tropes, with a dash of really out-of-place Miike ultraviolence extremities. I love how the final battle more or less drops the pretense of realism that the movie had been following for the most part. A wonderful slow burn build up to that phenomenal set piece.
It was really strange how in parts it was remarkably restrained in its graphic violence (i.e. the opening harakiri, though just the sound effects might have been even worse!), the surprising lack of arterial blood spray - I'm guessing in reverence to its sources, and yet other times it was totally over-the-top (that woman early in the film).
― Nhex, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 03:52 (twelve years ago) link
dying to see this on a big screen
― banter panchali (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 31 May 2011 07:35 (twelve years ago) link
i think i enjoyed the build up more than the battle itself. especially the part with 'that woman'
― + +, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 11:08 (twelve years ago) link
13 asses was kewl - has pretty much everything you'd want from a bloody samurai flick. i didnt think the build up was that great - lots of scenes of stern men going 'nng!' and 'hmm!' while talking about duty and honor - but at the same time it was just right for the payoff you get (the battle). the japanese version is longer but it's mostly just draggy exposition from what i understand and not miike craziness - stick with the intl vers
― ( . __ . ) . o O ( cum ) (Princess TamTam), Tuesday, 31 May 2011 11:25 (twelve years ago) link
I like some of some of them.
― MrDasher, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 15:17 (twelve years ago) link
the japanese version is longer but it's mostly just draggy exposition from what i understand and not miike craziness - stick with the intl vers
Interesting...obviously it's a great action film but few of the characters were developed satisfactorily (about half of the assassins were 100% interchangeable/disposable), which detracted from its emotional impact for me.
Thought the opening shot was extremely effective (those sound effects!!!).
― Fear Moldova and the Nation of Leaners (seandalai), Tuesday, 31 May 2011 15:37 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, i honestly could only remember Shinzaemon's name and the rest were just 'types' - probably the biggest thing holding the movie back from being really great.
one weird thing i noticed was that upashi was played by the same actress who played the wife of the nephew samurai... and only he and the mysterious immortal hunter survived hmmmm
― ( . __ . ) . o O ( cum ) (Princess TamTam), Tuesday, 31 May 2011 16:16 (twelve years ago) link
I was going to mention that but thought it might count as a spoiler...assuming it's intentional I can't think of any explanation that isn't totally wtf and nonsensical in the context of the rest of the film.
― Fear Moldova and the Nation of Leaners (seandalai), Tuesday, 31 May 2011 23:44 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, i didn't understand what was going on there
― Nhex, Wednesday, 1 June 2011 02:13 (twelve years ago) link
I am stupidly excited about the Phoenix Wright movie he's supposedly working on.
― muus lääv? :D muus dut :( (Telephone thing), Wednesday, 1 June 2011 04:18 (twelve years ago) link
i saw "gozu" recently. amazing demented film. id forgotten about this guy in the last few years but film 4 have shown a couple of his movies this week. i have "13 assasins" dvr'd as well so im looking forward to seeing that.
― Old Boy In Network (Michael B), Thursday, 22 August 2013 13:09 (ten years ago) link
exploring some obscurities (96 films!)
http://www.filmcomment.com/entry/kaiju-shakedown-takashi-miike
― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 25 September 2014 14:59 (nine years ago) link
i used to dismiss this guy but i don't think he's dismissable (miike that is)
96 films!
― I dunno. (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2014 15:40 (nine years ago) link
BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL was pretty awesome. Warning - super long, overstuffed, and gratuitous, and that's just I wanted to see.
― Nhex, Saturday, 4 November 2017 23:41 (six years ago) link
watching Blade of the Immortal
man and I thought I loved 13 Assassins. This one is even more ott but with an added layer of grotesque fairytale, i am loving it.
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 24 December 2017 02:17 (six years ago) link
better than 13 Assassins?
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/499/679/770.gif
― omar little, Sunday, 24 December 2017 02:42 (six years ago) link
maaaaybe? i’m not sure yeteasily on par tho
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 24 December 2017 04:08 (six years ago) link
it’s like 13 Assassins but at operatic levels.Blade is more complicated & emotional, which i love, but god the simplicity of 13 Assassins was so good it’s hard to beat it. it’s hard to fault either film on their own merits though. i’m still reeeling from this. the hurt-fight scene chroeography is sooooo crazy-good & the acting is so convincing. and the music! . and the revenge triangle climax is so fkn beautiful & desolate ugh. love!
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 24 December 2017 05:14 (six years ago) link
^^Just noticed this was on Netflix! it's as tremendously fun, OTT and gory as you'd expect. also appreciated the ridiculous anime fashion/hairstyles (shout out to lady assassin in bright purple yukata and platform sandals) being translated into live action.
― Roz, Sunday, 21 January 2018 15:31 (six years ago) link
Is it a different cut to the UK dvd because that was a 15 and you could see how some shots had been cut early?
― koogs, Sunday, 21 January 2018 19:02 (six years ago) link
(oh, are you talking blade... Or 13 assassins? I'm talking 13 assassins)
― koogs, Sunday, 21 January 2018 19:03 (six years ago) link
Was talking about blade, yeah
― Roz, Friday, 26 January 2018 00:43 (six years ago) link
My bf was like "hey look Ichi The Killer is getting a re-release" and I said "you like Takeshi Miike?" and he said "I haven't seen any of his films" and I said "omg don't read ANYTHING about Audition, you just have to walk into it cold". That same evening we ordered in food and I turned on Audition and he got really angry when it was over, he said "you're a fucking jerk" and I said "why? you didn't like the movie?" and he said "no, I feel like you're an older kid who is bullying me at school, you do this all the time" and then I spoke the next day with my therapist about larger personality-defects in myself (tendencies toward smugness and sanctimony)
Anyway I'm gonna show him Blade Of The Immortal tonight
― flamboyant goon tie included, Friday, 26 January 2018 03:43 (six years ago) link
Kudos, that's a story
― i believe that (s)he is sincere (forksclovetofu), Friday, 26 January 2018 04:23 (six years ago) link
hahaha, i love that storyi kind of have to agree with your BF though as much as I love Audition
― Nhex, Friday, 26 January 2018 05:29 (six years ago) link
Yakuza Apocalypse man
A little long but as nuts as you can hope for.
― blood, loud screaming and nudity (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Friday, 21 December 2018 07:15 (five years ago) link
But you could almost make a normal person watch it!
watched Dead or Alive yesterday. i stood in my living room and applauded upon its conclusion.
― andrew m., Monday, 1 July 2019 16:16 (four years ago) link
I don't think it ever tops the long opening sequence.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 1 July 2019 16:31 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f-dyjACbB0
― With an Extreme Burning (aka The Tormentor) (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, 4 September 2019 09:06 (four years ago) link
https://www.angelikafilmcenter.com/nyc/film/first-loveMonday NYC Q&A with Miike
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:19 (four years ago) link
maybe it's sold out because the 7:10 show doesn't appear for monday or tuesday
― Nhex, Saturday, 28 September 2019 16:13 (four years ago) link
whoops, that was weeks ago. mb!
Forty minutes into Blade of the Immortal I am intrigued but hope I don’t fall asleep.
― Meet Me in the Z'Ha'Dum (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 22 November 2022 01:48 (one year ago) link
i dont think you will imo
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 22 November 2022 01:52 (one year ago) link