Fatally, perhaps, I went into Shin Kamen Rider as a Hideaki Anno fan first and a Kamen Rider fan… not so much. I knew about it, of course: the iconography of the motorbike-riding superhero with his bug-eyed grasshopper mask is as thoroughly ingrained into Japan’s pop-cultural consciousness as any Marvel or DC character in the States, having been a staple of TV, film, manga, and young boys’ imaginations for over half a century. Consume enough Japanese pop culture, and some exposure to Kamen Rider––his bike, his mask, his kabuki-like battle poses––is inevitable. Having seen barely one of the hundreds of hours of Kamen Rider content out there, however, I could not fill you in on the finer points of its character names, relationships, or plotlines––meaning that when Anno’s latest, allegedly standalone film stopped for regular applause lines and deep-cut lore references that received whooping ovations...
- 6/6/2023
- by Eli Friedberg
- The Film Stage
Stars: Nao Ômori, Lindsay Hayward, Mao Daichi, Hairi Katagiri, Gin Maeda, Suzuki Matsuo, Hitoshi Matsumoto, Eriko Satô, Shinobu Terajima, Ai Tominaga | Written by Hitoshi Matsumoto, Mitsuyoshi Takasu, Tomoji Hasegawa, Kôji Ema, Mitsuru Kuramoto | Directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto
Hitoshi Matsumoto is a director who, though I can’t say I know a great deal about, only that he is a comedian known for his surreal and crazy style, I have enjoyed greatly in the past with his films Symbol (2009) and Big Man Japan (2007) so I was intrigued and excited to see that R100, Matsumoto’s latest, was going to be a part of Frightfest in 2014.
A stiff bodied and reticent office worker, Takafumi, joins a strange club which has one rule, the rule being that, under no circumstances can you cancel your membership within the year in which the membership runs for. Simple. No. What this results in is hard to quite explain,...
Hitoshi Matsumoto is a director who, though I can’t say I know a great deal about, only that he is a comedian known for his surreal and crazy style, I have enjoyed greatly in the past with his films Symbol (2009) and Big Man Japan (2007) so I was intrigued and excited to see that R100, Matsumoto’s latest, was going to be a part of Frightfest in 2014.
A stiff bodied and reticent office worker, Takafumi, joins a strange club which has one rule, the rule being that, under no circumstances can you cancel your membership within the year in which the membership runs for. Simple. No. What this results in is hard to quite explain,...
- 8/22/2014
- by Chris Cummings
- Nerdly
A live action version of the enduringly popular Japanese manga and anime series, “Cutie Honey” was directed by Hideaki Anno of “Neon Genesis Evangelion” fame. Originally released back in 2004, the film now arrives on region 2 DVD via Mvm Entertainment, finally giving fans a chance to revel in its sugary sweet bubblegum madness. Although comic book adaptations are big business around the world, it’s hard to imagine another coming quite so close to matching its source material, with Anno delivering a colourful, fun filled burst of energy that truly captures the giddy joy of the manga. Former model Eriko Sato (who went on to star in the likes of horror “Slit Mouthed Woman” and “Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers!”) stars as the titular Honey, a cutely incompetent office worker who spends most of her time sitting around at home in her underwear. However, when her inventor uncle is kidnapped,...
- 5/24/2009
- by James Mudge
- Beyond Hollywood
Director: Daihachi Yoshida. Review: Adam Wing. George Santayana once said that family is one of nature’s masterpieces. Personally, I prefer the words of Friedrich Nietzsche; he claimed that family is more like bad wallpaper, messy, clinging, and of an annoying and repetitive pattern. Whichever way you look at it, family is family, you can choose your friends but the rest is more or less a case of bad timing. In his first film, writer/director Daihachi Yoshida introduces us to one of the most dysfunctional families to ever grace a movie screen, Eriko Sato (Cutey Honey) and Aimi Satsukawa star as warring siblings in the 2007 Japanese comedy drama Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers! Kyomi (Aimi Satsukawa) has a problem with cats, to be fair to her though she does have good reason. One sunny day she watches in horror as her parents are killed trying to save a black cat from oncoming traffic.
- 5/16/2009
- 24framespersecond.net
Marrakech International Film Festival
MARRAKECH, Morocco -- "Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers" (Funuke Domo, Kanashimi No Ai Wo Misero), black comedies about dysfunctional families based on a novel by Yukiko Motoya, has a talented cast yet looks like a television soap. Maybe that is what director Daihachi Yoshida wanted to attract younger audiences, women in particular. The movie has a good boxoffice potential, though it appears out of place in a festival competition.
Yoshida packs dark humor in his narrative, much of it comes from Sumika (Eriko Sato), a failed actress who returns from Tokyo to her rural home when her parents die in a accident trying to save a Black Cat sitting in the middle of a road. Her hardworking woodcutter stepbrother, Shinji (Masatochi Nagase), and his new wife, Machiko (Hiromi Nagasaku), are not happy when Sumika asks for an allowance to live in Tokyo.
Four years before, Sumika quarreled and almost killed her father for refusing her money to pursue stardom. But Sumika was not one to be stopped: She prostituted, made money and left home, although not before getting into an incestuous relationship with Shinji, a relationship she resumes after her return to get favors out of him. Their little sister, Kiyomi (Aimi Satsukawa), is inspired by her family mess to draw manga comic strips, winning huge prize money and ruining Sumika's reputation. Naturally, Sumika holds Kiyomi responsible for her failure as an actress.
The film can be seen as a commentary on Japanese society, where schoolgirl prostitution, uneasy father-daughter relationships, domestic violence and suicides are not uncommon. Machiko bears the brunt of her husband's ill temper, yet she keeps smiling and laughing. Kiyomi stoically bears Sumika's bullying, but continues to draw and ridicule her family. Sumika overcomes obstacles with her cunning ways. But Shinji crumbles.
A couple of decades ago, another generation of Japanese helmers would have made a serious study of a dysfunctional family from such material. Not Yoshida, who uses comedy to make his points, even if the film comes off a bit like a trashy television serial.
FUNUKE SHOW SOME LOVE, YOU LOSERS!
Phantom Film
Credits:
Writer/director: Daihachi Yoshida
Based on a novel by: Yukiko Motoya
Producers: Shuji Kakimoto, Keisuke Konishi, Yutaka Suzuki
Directors of photography: Shoichi Ato, Atsushi Ozawa
Production designer: Yasuaki Harada
Music: Soichiro Suzuki, Yoshiaki Kusaka
Editor: Kumi Okada
Cast:
Sumika: Eriko Sato
Kiyomi: Aimi Satsukawa
Shinji: Masatochi Nagase
Machiko: Hiromi Nagasaku
Running time -- 111 minutes
No MPAA rating...
MARRAKECH, Morocco -- "Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers" (Funuke Domo, Kanashimi No Ai Wo Misero), black comedies about dysfunctional families based on a novel by Yukiko Motoya, has a talented cast yet looks like a television soap. Maybe that is what director Daihachi Yoshida wanted to attract younger audiences, women in particular. The movie has a good boxoffice potential, though it appears out of place in a festival competition.
Yoshida packs dark humor in his narrative, much of it comes from Sumika (Eriko Sato), a failed actress who returns from Tokyo to her rural home when her parents die in a accident trying to save a Black Cat sitting in the middle of a road. Her hardworking woodcutter stepbrother, Shinji (Masatochi Nagase), and his new wife, Machiko (Hiromi Nagasaku), are not happy when Sumika asks for an allowance to live in Tokyo.
Four years before, Sumika quarreled and almost killed her father for refusing her money to pursue stardom. But Sumika was not one to be stopped: She prostituted, made money and left home, although not before getting into an incestuous relationship with Shinji, a relationship she resumes after her return to get favors out of him. Their little sister, Kiyomi (Aimi Satsukawa), is inspired by her family mess to draw manga comic strips, winning huge prize money and ruining Sumika's reputation. Naturally, Sumika holds Kiyomi responsible for her failure as an actress.
The film can be seen as a commentary on Japanese society, where schoolgirl prostitution, uneasy father-daughter relationships, domestic violence and suicides are not uncommon. Machiko bears the brunt of her husband's ill temper, yet she keeps smiling and laughing. Kiyomi stoically bears Sumika's bullying, but continues to draw and ridicule her family. Sumika overcomes obstacles with her cunning ways. But Shinji crumbles.
A couple of decades ago, another generation of Japanese helmers would have made a serious study of a dysfunctional family from such material. Not Yoshida, who uses comedy to make his points, even if the film comes off a bit like a trashy television serial.
FUNUKE SHOW SOME LOVE, YOU LOSERS!
Phantom Film
Credits:
Writer/director: Daihachi Yoshida
Based on a novel by: Yukiko Motoya
Producers: Shuji Kakimoto, Keisuke Konishi, Yutaka Suzuki
Directors of photography: Shoichi Ato, Atsushi Ozawa
Production designer: Yasuaki Harada
Music: Soichiro Suzuki, Yoshiaki Kusaka
Editor: Kumi Okada
Cast:
Sumika: Eriko Sato
Kiyomi: Aimi Satsukawa
Shinji: Masatochi Nagase
Machiko: Hiromi Nagasaku
Running time -- 111 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/29/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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