FanFare

A “metal fetishist,” driven mad by the maggots wriggling in the wound he’s made to embed metal into his flesh, runs out into the night and is accidentally run down by a Japanese businessman and his girlfriend. The pair dispose of the corpse in hopes of quietly moving on with their lives. However, the businessman soon finds that he is now plagued by a vicious curse that transforms his flesh into iron. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Jan 12, 2023 - 5 comments

Original title: Sagasu. Depressed and in debt, Santoshi (Jirô Satô) tells his young teen daughter Kaede (Aoi Itô) that he's going to find an infamous serial killer and collect a reward. However, when Santoshi disappears without a trace, she starts to fear the worst and begins searching for him. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Jan 4, 2023 - 2 comments

[TRAILER] While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi (Kei Satô). The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 21, 2022 - 2 comments

[TRAILER] A group of impoverished misfits inhabiting a Japanese landfill have experiences that are alternately joyful and disheartening. Young, disabled Roku-chan (Yoshitaka Zushi) spends his days in a fantasy world where he is the captain of an imaginary train, while his mother, Okuni (Kin Sugai), remains in constant prayer, rarely venturing out of her shanty. A homeless man and his child lovingly envision every detail of the home they wish they had money to build, and a mute girl has a tragic encounter. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 15, 2022 - 4 comments

At the age of seventy, after years of consolidating his empire, the Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) decides to abdicate and divide his domain amongst his three sons. Taro (Akira Terao), the eldest, will rule. Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu), his second son, and Saburo (Daisuke Ryu) will take command of the Second and Third Castles but are expected to obey and support their elder brother. Saburo defies the pledge of obedience and is banished. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Oct 14, 2022 - 5 comments

Japanese peasants Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara) and Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) try and fail to make a profit from a tribal war. They find a man and woman whom they believe are simple tribe members hiding in a fortress. Although the peasants don't know that Rokurota (Toshirô Mifune) is a general and Yuki (Misa Uehara) is a princess, the peasants agree to accompany the pair to safety in return for gold. Along the way, the general must prove his expertise in battle while also hiding his identity. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 1, 2022 - 7 comments

Takashi Miike remakes a 1963 film based on historical events. Shinzaemon Shimada leads a team of assassins in 19th-century Japan to eliminate the ruthless Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira, who is wreaking havoc against his own people. Hired secretly by a government official hoping to end Matsudaira's reign of terror, Shimada recruits the best samurai in Japan and then sets a trap for the lord's large contingent of faithful bodyguards. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Jul 2, 2022 - 8 comments

Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) is a widower who decides to start dating again. Aided by a film-producer friend (Miyuki Matsuda), Aoyama uses auditions for a fake production to function as a dating service. When Aoyama becomes intrigued by the withdrawn, gorgeous Asami (Eihi Shiina), they begin a relationship. However, he begins to realize that Asami isn't as reserved as she appears to be. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Jun 27, 2022 - 14 comments

Don't stop the camera! Things go badly for a hack director and film crew shooting a low budget zombie movie in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility, when they are attacked by real zombies. [more inside]
posted by lesser weasel on Mar 10, 2019 - 16 comments

A pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside fast food stop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, pleads them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle soup making".
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 12, 2018 - 9 comments

A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town. [more inside]
posted by MoonOrb on Jun 18, 2018 - 4 comments