Tag Archives: japanese

The moment he’s released from prison, the honorable gangster Miyamoto recovers the stolen diamonds he had stashed before getting pinched. When he returns to his haunt to make good by friend who took a bullet for him, he is diverted by the greedy boss Oyane and his insatiable taste for Miyamoto’s precious stones. Replete with film noir style, “Underworld Beauty” is one of Suzuki’s best nods to the American gangster genre.
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When a space probe crash-lands on a far-flung Pacific atoll, the craft’s alien stowaways decide to take over their new world one creature at a time. Soon, the parasitic life forms latch onto three indigenous critters – a squid, a crab and a snapping turtle – and transform them into colossal mutant monsters.
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Based on real events reported in Japanese newspapers in 1966 “Boy” follows the title character, Toshio Omura, across Japan, as he is forced to participate in a dangerous scam to support his dysfunctional family. Toshio’s father, Takeo Omura, is an abusive, lazy veteran, who forces his wife, the boy’s stepmother, Takeko Tamiguchi, to feign being hit by cars in order to shake down the motorists. When his wife is unable to perform the scam, Toshio is enlisted…
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Takeshi Yasui, a junior high school student is found dead in a river. The police investigate it as a murder related to bullying. The dead boy turns out to have been murdered by two of his schoolmates, who he had been bullying.
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Hisamatsu’s son Hayato lives an honest, crime-free life but is best friends with Ogoshi’s son Daisuke, who’s still working as a bodyguard for the gang. It all kicks off when a reporter asks Hayato’s mother to reveal the truth about the original attack on the Goseikei, and soon history is threatening to repeat itself.
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Several intertwining stories explore the true meaning of “proper love”. A filmmaker dedicates himself to stop cheating on girlfriends. Meanwhile, a man intends to buy a gift for a part-time employee at the filmmaker’s favorite cafe, but instead falls in love with a shopkeeper. A longtime fan of a pop idol finally gets a chance to meet her after 10 years of pining. Unfortunately, she’s meeting him for the first time just as she’s about to get married…
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Mid 50s: the trials and tribulations of Shinsuke Ibuki, freshly arrived in Tokyo from Kyushu.
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A ruthless real-estate tycoon sets his sights on a small fishing village, which he believes he can buy cheaply and turn into a profitable tourist destination. Read More »

The Kobayashi family finally get the chance to move out of their tiny, cramped Tokyo apartment in favour of the suburban house of their dreams. But all is not well: the house is infested by termites and the family starts cracking up: Son Masaki is studying so obsessively for his exams that he’s losing his mind; daughter Erika is oblivious of all but her forthcoming record company audition, grandfather Yasukuni starts getting World War II flashbacks and father Katsuhiko is so worried about his family’s “sickness” that he thinks can only be cured by group suicide…
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The story of men devoted to the yakuza lifestyle and their struggles during a time of fading yakuza power.
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