wahhhhhh

Subculture Shithead + Commie + Kebab Lover / サブカルクソやろう + 共産主義者 + ケバブ好き

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Bit of a curveball here, as I take a moment to reflect on a weirdly comforting and somewhat enlightening evening I had with some old colleagues from my very first salaryman job here.

Read on! https://t.co/B0a3HiZzjL

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

OdaJoe himself studied abroad in the US, so perhaps that informed the story–the fish out of water element feels quite real and relatable. Also gotta hand props to Jai West for his lively and convincing performance as a part-Japanese drug dealer in New York.

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Hazard (2006)

Directed by: Sono Shion
Written by: Kumakiri Kazuyoshi, Sono Shion
Starring: Odagiri Joe, Jai West

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Interesting mix of hard American street culture and emo Japanese indie film trappings. As an American it barely works, but it does have an emotional heft that carries things nicely. On a visual level it has a cool and rough–and endearingly cheap–handheld cam charm.

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

The story does have a few decent twists, and some of the down and dirty action is pretty cool.

Weirdly, a lot of it is shot in bright broad daylight, which they utilize to drive some contrast by dropping stark violence into civilian settings, but it's underbaked.

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Danger Point: Jigoku e no Michi / Danger Point: The Road to Hell (1991)

Directed by: Hasebe Yasuharu
Written by: Nakanishi Ryūzō, Hasebe Yasuharu
Starring: Aikawa Shō, Shishido Jō

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Standard V-Cine gangster fare that's entertaining, but lacks the style or character that helps elevate these otherwise low budget works to something memorable. Aikawa is the best part, playing an excellent shit of a yakuza, but Jō is unfortunately kinda boring.

#AHWatching

[ニュー伊吹 @ibukiinterpress]

廃墟かと思い恐る恐る入店したら老夫婦が細々とやっているサイバーパンクな焼肉屋だった

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

The film mixes documentary-style footage with more traditional scenes, and dreamy non sequiturs that subtly blur the lines of reality as you watch it.

Also, it's a great picture of the bubble, before society realized they were in one.

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Comic Zasshi Nanka Iranai! / No More Comics! (1986)

Directed by: Takita Yōjirō
Written by: Takagi Isao, Uchida Yūya
Starring: Uchida Yūya

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Pitch-perfect satire on Japanese media, driving home the superficiality of scandal-chasing and the fight for constant "content." Basing the story off of real incidents and asking the actual people involved in them to appear gives it a hefty weight.

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

As always, he brings a palpable mood of uneasiness, anxiety, and absurdity that drives the film, along with a bizarre mystery underpinning the whole thing. However it does feel somewhat stretched thin given the premise, and bit too abstract for me on a first watch.

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Charisma (1999)

Written and directed by: Kurosawa Kiyoshi
Starring: Yakusho Kōji

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Likely one of the bleakest Kurosawa Kiyoshi joints I've seen in my limited experience. Excellent use of locations, which despite being quite sparse, at times create extremely beautiful shots, be them in abandoned buildings or in the middle of mountain forests.

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Furthermore, this is a lovely Tokyo film, and a great time capsule of the city before redevelopment. And being set in autumn, the comfy feels are just off the charts.

Lastly, I love just walking around random parts of Tokyo. So of course I love this film.

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Flies close to the sun on the corny sentimentality, but Miki has such a way of delivering weird non sequitur humor that feels extremely genuine and human, while lightly mixing in the well-earned warm and touching moments as well. The great cast also helps a lot!

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Tenten / Adrift in Tokyo (2007)

Written and directed by: Miki Satoshi
Starring: Miura Tomokazu, Odagiri Joe

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

And as yakuza are want to get out of prison and just cause mischief again, the way it caps off the stories of two main players in the saga gives the whole thing good closure. And hey, everyone loves a surprise Shishido Jō appearance, right?

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

Jingi Naki Tatakai - Kanketsu-hen / Battles Without Honor and Humanity - Final Episode (1974)

Directed by: Fukasaku Kinji
Written by: Takada Kōji
Starring: Sugawara Bunta, Kobayashi Akira, Kitaōji Kinya

#AHWatching

[wahhhhhh @wah_s63]

As a forced finale, Final Episode does get close to jumping the shark in how it kind of just plays the hits. But the updated setting and clear intention to portray the "gokudō" way of life as out of date gives it a hefty realism that carries it.

#AHWatching