BayAnime.com

RSVP now to get into the party with SF Bay Guardian and watch 20th Century Boys 1 for FREE!

NEW PEOPLE is excited to have SF Bay Guardian host their VIP movie night at our venue! The VIP reception is from 6 to 7:15 and is open to all guests who RSVP. The private screening of 20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End will be open to the first 125 folks who check in at the VIP Reception so get there early!

WHEN:
Thursday, December 17th
Reception Time: 6:00pm – 7:15pm
VIP Movie: 7:30pm

WHERE:
Lobby and VIZ Cinema
NEW PEOPLE building 1746 Post Street, Japantown, San Francisco, CA 94115

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.)

Opening September 18 in San Francisco, CA
AMC Loews Metreon – 11:55am | 2:05 | 4:30 | 7:00 | 9:30

*Special cast and crew appearances:
Friday, September 18 – 7:00 and 9:30pm
Saturday, September 19 – 4:30 and 7:00pm

Opening September 18 in San Jose, CA
Camera 3 Cinemas
Friday, September 18 – 5:05 | 7:10 | 9:15pm
Sat/Sun, September 19/20 – 1:00 | 3:00 | 5:05 | 7:10 | 9:15pm
Mon-Thurs September 21-24 – 7:10 | 9:15

*Special cast and crew appearances:
Saturday, September 19 – 1:00, 3:00 and 9:15pm

Jimmy (Hiroshi Watanabe, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA) loves dinosaurs and sleeps on the top bunk. Unfortunately, Jimmy is 40 and shares that bunk with Bob (Justin Kwong), his 10-year-old nephew. Freshly divorced, Jimmy lives with his sister Aiko (Japanese Academy Award winner Nae) and her family while boldly searching for a new wife. His brother in-law, Tak (Mio Takada, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”) thinks he’s a disaster. And although Jimmy may lack social grace, he is convinced the best years of his life are just beginning. His plan seems like it’s all falling into place when Tak’s beautiful niece Ramona (Lynn Chen, SAVING FACE) moves in. But once Jimmy sets his sights on stealing her from his best friend Tim (James Kyson Lee, “Heroes”), he sees his intentions go hilariously awry.

Website: http://whiteonricethemovie.com

Shown in Japanese with English subtitles.

5:00 NANA (Anime, 22min.) + NANA (Live Action, 114min)
8:00 NANA (Anime, 22min.) + NANA 2 (Live Action, 130min)

Come join us for Shojo Beat Anime Party celebrating the release of NANA Anime series DVD Box Set in association with VIZ Media! The party begins with the first episode of NANA anime series followed by the live action movie. Stay seated until the end of the show for a special poster giveaway!

Tickets: $10 per movie plus fees if purchased online [Buy Tickets]

Japantown Peace Plaza
Post & Buchanan Streets
San Francisco

Celebrating the grand opening of the NEW PEOPLE building in Japantown and the presentation of the J-Pop Summit Festival 2009

Marking this double occasion, The Center for Asian American Media and the Japantown Merchants Association will host a free outdoor screening of the wacky, fun film, Kamikaze Girls, on Friday, August 14, at 8:15 pm. Written and directed by Tetsuya Nakashima, it is one of the best reviewed Japanese films to be released in the US in recent years.

Kamikaze Girls offers a candy-colored glimpse into Japanese “Lolita” pop culture, and the outlandish rococo fashions and lifestyle of young Japanese woman. Called a “yummy Japanese confection” by The New York Times, it tells the story of Momoko (Kyoko Fukada), who yearns to live in 18th century Versailles rather than in her back-country hometown of Shimotsuma, heartland of the Yakuza. To escape, she loses herself in the dreamy, doll-like fashions of the “Lolita” scene. Her idol is Akinori Isobe, chief designer of Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, her favorite Lolita design house. She travels all the way to Tokyo to shop at its store.

To help fund her expensive hobby, Momoko runs a classified ad offering brand-name knock-off clothes (produced by her dad) for sale. She encounters a buyer named Ichigo (Anna Tsuchiya), a super-rebel, “Yankee”-style member of the Ponytails motorbike gang, one of Ibaraki’s “Wild speed tribes.” Somewhat against Momoko’s will, she and Ichigo slowly develop a strong friendship as they share their feelings on the odd goings-on around them and discover they have more in common than they expected.

103 minutes; in Japanese with English subtitles.
Early arrival recommended. Seating is first come, first served

Location: Asian Art Museum, Samsung Hall (Space is limited and is on a first-come, first served basis.)
FREE general admission courtesy of Target

Films by Akira Kurosawa
Arguably the most celebrated Japanese filmmaker of all time, Akira Kurosawa had a career that spanned from the Second World War to the early nineties and that stands as a monument of artistic, entertainment, and personal achievement. With the production of Seven Samurai (1954), the most popular and important Japanese film of its time, Kurosawa began a long and fruitful obsession with medieval Japan. Kurosawa pioneered widescreen cinematography in Japan, and his films inspired the “Spaghetti Western” genre in Italy. Kurosawa reinvigorated the samurai film genre in Japan and revitalized the American Western in the process.

2:00 pm
Sanjuro
Japan, 1962, 96 minutes, Black and White, DVD, not rated
Japanese with English subtitles

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa’s tightly paced Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, the jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan’s evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a “proper” samurai on its ear.

Source: http://www.asianart.org/samurai/films.htm#july5

Location: Asian Art Museum, Samsung Hall (Space is limited and is on a first-come, first served basis.)
FREE general admission courtesy of Target

Films by Akira Kurosawa
Arguably the most celebrated Japanese filmmaker of all time, Akira Kurosawa had a career that spanned from the Second World War to the early nineties and that stands as a monument of artistic, entertainment, and personal achievement. With the production of Seven Samurai (1954), the most popular and important Japanese film of its time, Kurosawa began a long and fruitful obsession with medieval Japan. Kurosawa pioneered widescreen cinematography in Japan, and his films inspired the “Spaghetti Western” genre in Italy. Kurosawa reinvigorated the samurai film genre in Japan and revitalized the American Western in the process.

11:00 am
Yojimbo (The Bodyguard)
Japan, 1961, 110 minutes, Black and White, DVD, not rated
Japanese with English subtitles

The incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawa’s visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo. To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade twice, by Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars) and Walter Hill (Last Man Standing), this exhilarating genre-twister remains one of the most influential films ever produced.

Source: http://www.asianart.org/samurai/films.htm#july5

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

BIG MAN JAPAN
Japanese Superhero Comedy
Opens Friday, May 29, 2009 in Bay Area

Landmark’s Lumiere Theatre, 1572 California St., San Francisco, (415)267-4893
Tickets are $10.50 for general admission and $8.00 seniors, students, and children
Showtimes and tickets will be available Tuesday, March 24

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 and tickets will be available Tuesday, March 24

Advance ticket purchase at: http://www.landmarktheatres.com/tickets and at theatre box office.

Official Film Website: http://www.sixshooterfilmseries.com/bigmanjapan

A middle-aged slacker living in a rundown, graffiti-ridden slum, Daisato’s job involves being shocked by bolts of electricity that transform him into a stocky, stick-wielding giant several stories high who is entrusted with defending Japan from a host of bizarre monsters. But while his predecessors were national heroes, he is a pariah among the citizens he protects, who bitterly complain about the noise and destruction of property he causes. And Daisato (director/co-writer Hitoshi Matsumoto, a popular Japanese stand-up comic) has his own problems—an agent insistent on branding him with sponsor advertisements, an Alzheimer-afflicted grandfather who transforms into a giant in dirty underwear, and a family who is embarrassed by his often cowardly exploits. A wickedly deadpan spin on the giant Japanese superhero, BIG MAN JAPAN is an outrageous portrait of a pathetic but truly unique hero. (Japan, 2007). Official Selection at 2007 Austin Fantastic Fest, 2007 Cannes Director’s Fortnight, 2007 Toronto Midnight Madness. BIG MAN JAPAN was featured in the Festival Forum in the 2009 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival

“One of the most thoughtful and funny superhero films for adults. It hits just the right balance of dry humor and big dick jokes. Big Man Japan is ultra-human and really funny.” – Simon Abrams, NY Press

“A mere synopsis can’t convey how delightfully weird all of this is on screen. As they say, you have to see it to believe it…” – Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com

Welcome to Stuff You Should Watch, my chance to play an interweb film critic and recommend some strange and wonderful Japanese movies. My first recommendation comes from ancient Japan: 1963! Post war Tokyo was a swinging place with the Japanese keen to imitate Europe and the West, and from this came new styles of film. Director Seijun Suzuki gives us a glimpse into this world with Youth of the Beast (Yaju no seishun).

The plot is a simple yet satisfying one: Jo is a detective set up by some baddies. When his former partner shows up dead with a whore, Jo sets out to find out what’s up. This naturally leads him to the Yakuza where he gets a gig as a new soldier for the boss, a guy who strokes his cat constantly and throws knives with deadly accuracy. 

Now this should already be enough to get you to watch this film! However I’d also like to add that this film still looks great visually especially when compared to other films of the same era. The music is very nicely done bebop which lends fitting accents and punctuation throughout. Unlike many other Japanese films of the era, the whole of Youth of the Beast is very stylized and the pacing keeps things from getting stale. The film is light viewing and all a bit camp, but still charming from beginning to end.