All articles by Mark Schilling – Page 3
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News
Japan, France strike joint production, distribution agreement
Representativesfrom UniJapan, the Japanese film industry's export body, and the FrenchNational Film Centre (CNC) signed a protocol for mutual cooperation in filmproduction and distribution at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14. CNC DirectorGeneral Catherine Colonna and UniJapan chairman Kaoru Yosano and TokyoInternational Film Festival chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa participated in ...
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Reviews
Negotiator (Koshonin Mashita Masayoshi)
Dir: Katsuyuki Motohiro. Jap. 2005. 127minsKatsuyuki Motohiro's Negotiatoris an action spin-off from his major hits Bayside Shakedown (1998) and BaysideShakedown 2 (2003), the latter of which set a record $162m at home for aJapanese live-action film. But this time, the bumptious detective of before(who faced off against the entire Tokyo ...
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News
New Line buys rights to Japanese comic Monster
US mini-major New Line has acquired rights to make alive-action version of Naoki Urasawa's hit comic Monster, Japanesepublisher Shogakukan has announced. Running in Big Comic magazine from 1994 to 2001, Monsterhas sold 20 million copies in paperback editions in Japan. It has also beenmade into an animation series broadcast on ...
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Nippon Herald woes lead to stock market delist
Leading Japanese distributor Nippon Herald is to be delistedfrom the Japanese stock-market after recently posting an annual loss of $43.4m.Kadokawa Holdings, the core company of the expandingKadokawa media group, is instead to make Nippon Herald a wholly ownedsubsidiary through a share swap. Kadokawa has purchased 43 percent of outstanding NipponHerald ...
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Reviews
Lorelei: The Witch Of The Pacific Ocean (Rorerai)
Dir: Shinji Higuchi Jap.2004. 128minsLorelei may have the typical elements of a submarine movie(exploding depth charges, steely-jawed captain), but is nonetheless a genrestandout. Produced by Fuji TV's Chihiro Kameyama - the Japanese JerryBruckheimer, who was also responsible for the megahit Bayside Shakedownfilms - Lorelei is the first Japanese film of ...
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Japanese, Korean film giants unveil partnership
Japan's Kadokawa Holdings, the core company of theKadokawa media group, has announced a wide-ranging tie-up with leading Koreanfilm outfit CJ Entertainment.Kadokawa officials told reporters in Tokyo that the twocompanies will jointly produce films using Kadokawa comics, novels and othercontents as source material. In addition to film investment, they will partnereach ...
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News
Shochiku named ShoWest Exhibitor of the Year
Shochiku has been named International Exhibitor of the Yearby ShoWest, the first Japanese distributor and exhibitor to win the award sincethe event launched in 1996. Shochiku president Junichi "Jay" Sakomoto willreceive the award at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas on March 14. A leading exhibitor in Japan, Shochiku operates ...
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News
Half A Confession tops 28th Japanese Academy Awards.
Half A Confession(Hanochi), Kiyoshi Sasabe'scourtroom drama about a man who confesses to murdering his wife, has been named2004 Best Picture at the 28th Japan Academy Awards. Based on a best-sellingnovel by Hideo Yokoyama, the film was also one of 2004's biggest domestic hits,grossing $18.1m (Y1.9 bn) for distributor Toei. Half ...
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Studio Ghibli to part company from parent company
Studio Ghibli, the animation house that produced HayaoMiyazaki's biggest hits, including Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl'sMoving Castle, will separate from its long-time parent company, TokumaShoten Publishing, according to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbunnewspaper. Ghibli has already established a Studio Ghibli Co., Ltd.By the end of the current ...
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News
Kadokawa, Intermedia to remake One Missed Call
Kadokawa Pictures USA andIntermedia are to jointly remake One Missed Call, the Takashi Miikehorror that grossed $14.6m (Y1.5bn) in Japan following its release in January2004. The deal was announced byYasushi Akimoto, who wrote the novel on which the film was based, at the Tokyopremiere of One Missed Call 2 on ...
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News
Japanese box office surges in 2004
The Japanese box office was worth $2.05bn (Y211bn) in2004, an increase of 3.8% over 2003, according to figures released today by TheJapan Motion Picture Producers Association (Eiren). Admissions stood at 170 million.In comparison, the US box office reached $9.4bn in 2004 on ticket sales of 1.51 billion; the UK saw ...
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Japanese are Windstruck by Korean film
Windstruck, director Kwak Jae-young's follow-up to hishit romantic comedy My Sassy Girl,has set a new box office record for a Korean film in Japan. Released by WarnerJapan on 300 screens on December 11, the film recorded $17.65m (Y1.8bn) on 1.37million admissions as of January 16. Reuniting Jun Ji-hyun andJang Hyuk, ...
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News
Crying all the way to the bank
The Japanese appetite forweepies - originating in the early days of Kabuki theatre - remainsundiminished, and local producers are counting on this cinematic staple to paydividends in 2005.What producers have beendiscovering, with the runaway success last year of Isao Yukisaka's romanticdrama Crying Out Love In The Centre Of The World ...
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News
Japanese police make first pirate vendor arrest
In the first case of itskind in Japan, local police havearrested a street vendor for selling pirated DVDs. Among the 1,000 DVDs seizedfrom 35-year-old Shigeyoshi Oshio were 300 copies of Howl's Moving Castle,the Hayao Miyazaki animation currently on release. Others included pirated DVDsof Spider-Man 2 and other recent Hollywood films, ...
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2004: Japan toasts samurai, love and Miyazaki
The three main themes of the Japanese box office in 2004were samurai, love and Miyazaki. Unlike most Hollywood films set in Japan, TheLast Samurai was embraced by localaudiences as one of their own. The film outpaced Harry Potter And ThePrisoner Of Azkaban, Finding Nemo and TheReturn Of The King at ...
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Reviews
Godzilla: Final Wars
Dir: Ryuhei Kitamura.Jap. 2004. 110mins.Godzilla: Final Wars, director Ryuhei Kitamura's send-off to the Big G,going into retirement after a 50-year run, is like one of those documentariesof R&B greats - the old guys can still play the notes, but the heat left along time ago. They once shook the world ...
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Japanese studios set to build country's biggest multiplex
Shochiku, Toho and Toei will jointly build and operate thelargest multiplex cinema in Japan.Construction of the 12-screen, 2,500-seat site will begin in2006 in Osaka, Japan's second-largest city, as part of a new Osaka rail stationcomplex.The total cost of the project, including renovations of thestation building, is estimated at $1.45 bn ...
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News
Court sentences Japanese film pirate
AJapanese man has received a one year prison sentence for making Hollywoodfilms available over the internet.However, the sentence was suspended for three years, meaning that if he behaves himself during that time, he will not have to serve the one-year sentence.Ina case expected to influence the prosecution of film piracy ...
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News
Fire destroys Japanese sound stage
A fire has destroyed a sound stage at Kadokawa-Daieistudio in Chofu, a western Tokyo suburb. The blaze, which broke out in thestructure in the early morning hours of November 21, did not result in anyinjuries. The cause has not yet been determined and total damages have not yetbeen assessed.The 1,067 ...
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Reviews
Blood And Bones (Chi To Hone)
Dir: Yoichi Sai.Jap.2004. 144mins.Known in Japan as a TVcelebrity, actor and director of both commercial hits (Quill) and awardwinners (All Under The Moon), Yoichi Sai resembles friend and colleagueTakeshi 'Beat' Kitano in not only his resume but his earthy,quick-witted public persona.He is now building asimilarly high international profile with his ...