Venue: Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 Ninth Street, Suite 290, Oakland

Join us for a special film screening of the Kabuki drama, “Rampei Goes Insane” (Rampei Monogurui), an audience favorite because of its entertaining mix of action, comedy, and historical drama.

The foot soldier Rampei has a strange condition: every time a sword is drawn, he goes into a mad frenzy. But could it all just be an act hiding his real agenda?

Featuring an all-star cast at the famed Kabuki-za Theatre in Tokyo. 83 minutes. In Japanese with English translation.

If you are curious about why Kabuki’s unique combination of drama, music, dance, and spectacle continues to entertain millions every year, “here’s your chance to see one of the finest Kabuki films ever made, free, amongst fans and experts who will gladly fill you in on all the social and historical aspects of the performance” (Flavorpill “Editor’s Pick”).

Free and open to the public. Presented by JETAANC Kabuki Club. Co-sponsored by the Oakland Asian Cultural Center.

More info: http://www.jetaanc.org/event/rampei/

This post was submitted by kabuki.

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CAAM and the Japantown Merchants Association partner up once again to bring you a very special presentation of Hayao Miyazaki’s HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE . Join us at the Japantown Peace Plaza on Sunday, September 19, 2010 at 8:30pm for this free event. Early arrival is highly suggested as seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE follows the story of Sophie, 18-year-old girl who toils in the hat shop opened years ago by her late father. Often harassed by local boys, one day Sophie is unexpectedly befriended by Howl, a strange but flamboyant wizard whose large home can travel under its own power. However, the Witch of the Waste is displeased with Sophie and Howl’s budding friendship, and turns the pretty young woman into an ugly and aged hag. Sophie takes shelter in Howl’s castle, and attempts to find a way to reverse the witch’s spell with the help of Calcifer, a subdued but powerful demon who exists in the form of fire, and Markl, who protects the four-way door which can instantly take visitors to other lands and dimensions.

Sunday, September 19, 2010 | 8:30PM

FREE FOR EVERYONE!
Peace Plaza in Japantown
Post Street at Buchanan Street
San Francisco, CA

Early arrival highly suggested. Seating is first-come, first-served.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=145790608775671

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Gurren Lagann The Movie: Childhood’s End [ENCORE!]
(2008, 113min., With English Subtitles, Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi)
11/17 (Tue) & 11/18 (Wed) 5:00pm

Watch the first film and get ready for the U.S. Premiere of Gurren Lagann: The Movie 2! Based on the anime television series, Gurren Lagann, the film takes place in a fictional future in which human beings have been forced to live in closed-off underground villages. Kamina and Simon are constrained by the limits imposed by the village elder. Yet, all this will change when Simon stumbles across a fantastic device – just as the village’s peace is broken by a violent intrusion.

Gurren Lagann The Movie 2: The Lights In The Sky Are Stars [ U.S. Premiere ]
(2009, 130min., With English Subtitles, Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi)
11/17 (Tue) & 11/18 (Wed) 7:30pm

Watch both 1 & 2 and get a special discount! Overcoming a big loss of loved ones, Simon survived in mortal combat with the Beastmen leader Lordgenome. Seven years later, humans return to the surface to build a flourishing civilization. However, the peaceful time does not last forever as the humans begin developing beyond their world into outer space and encounter an unknown enemy.

$15 special COMBO tickets so you can watch both movies on both days!

Tickets: $10 per movie or $15 for both movies [Buy Tickets]

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Mizuho Nishikubo (Miyamoto Musashi: Soken ni haseru yume, Japan 2009)
Location: Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema, SF Intl Animation Festival
Tickets: General admission $12.50, Senior $11, SFFS member $10 [Buy Tickets]

Quite likely the first anime-style documentary, this wholly unique film penned by master anime director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, The Sky Crawlers) is set in Japan’s early Edo period during the early 17th century and focuses on the real-life events surrounding the development of the Niten Ichi-ryu (a classical style of Japanese swordsmanship) by Musashi Miyamoto. Oshii playfully questions the tale’s—and his own film’s— veracity, weaving together facts and myths while alternating between reverence and silliness in his treatment of events and exaggerations about the “the seeker of the way of the invincible sword” in this refreshingly offbeat look at militarism and machismo. While there is a relatively recent prevalence of animated nonfiction features including  Chicago 10, Waltz with Bashir and Persepolis, the specific use of anime with nonfiction remains rare. One of only a handful of true animation auteurs, Oshii, throughout his career, continually has reformulated the uses and meanings of animation, presenting a nuanced and urgent personal world view in a series of changing contexts and with massively popular results. As Oshii states, “My goal is to always make a new kind of movie that nobody has seen before.” Once again, He has definitely succeeded with this genre-bending marvel.

U.S. Premiere. Written by Mamoru Oshii. Photographed by Hisashi Ezura. (72 min, Production I.G.)

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Voices of a Distant Star is about two young teenagers, Mikako and Noboru, in the mid-21st century. While in the final year of junior high, Mikako is chosen by the U.N. Space Army as a “Special Member,” or combat space pilot, and is sent to serve in space.

She and Noboru communicate by texting messages to each other on their cell phones, but as Mikako’s division travels farther and farther away from Earth, the longer it takes for cell phone mail to be delivered. At first it takes six months; then one year; then, as Mikako travels light years to Sirius, eight years and seven months. And as Noboru grows older in Earth years, Mikako remains virtually the same age.

As Mikako fights the alien Tarsian forces and experiences grand new vistas on different planets, Noboru remains behind in Japan, waiting longer and longer to receive each of her messages. Both he and Mikako, in her combat ship in space, miss each other as the years pass, but time and distance begin to take their inevitable toll.

The themes of isolation and people drifting apart feel as immediate as in any story set in present day, with the futuristic elements just adding to the overall visual effect. The animation is beautiful, with magnificent alien landscapes contrasting with rain falling on Japanese city streets, infusing the film with a quiet melancholy.

If you have friends who don’t understand why you watch anime, Voices of a Distant Star is the perfect recommendation for them.

Voices of a Distant Star (2002) was directed by Makoto Shinkai.

Jan Suzukawa works in the manga industry as a freelance editor and English adaptation writer. Website: www.jansuzukawa.com. Blog: jansuzukawa.blogspot.com.

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Shown in the original Japanese 35mm prints with English subtitles.

Location: Pacific Film Archive, UC Berkeley

For film descriptions and to purchase tickets, please visit:

http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/miyazaki_2009

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FEAR(S) OF THE DARK.
Collection of animated shorts by renowned graphic artists.
Starts in San Francisco and Berkeley October 31, 2008

Landmark’s Embarcadero Theatre – One Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, (415) 352-0820
Tickets are $10.50 for general admission and $8.25 seniors and children.

Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas – 2230 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, (510) 464-5980
Tickets are $10.00 for general admission and $8.00 seniors and children.

Showtimes available Tuesday, October 28 at http://www.landmarktheatres.com/
Advance ticket purchase at: http://www.landmarktheatres.com/tickets and at theatre box office.

Official Film website at: http://ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=856

Read more...

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