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Another Decade with Takashi Miike is a series of essays on the 2010s films of the Japanese maverick, following Notebook's earlier survey of Miike's first decade of the 21st century.In tallying up the sum of Takashi Miike’s work, getting anything like a concrete read on his artistic outlook and output is difficult, bordering on impossible. He made it easy to pigeonhole him by specializing for a time on the outré and the unapologetically crass at a time when, in America anyway, artists were losing a culture war. Western critics didn’t quite know what to make of a turn towards unrepentantly violence images in horror films as a species. Gore in service of a deliberate sledgehammer nihilism seems to be catching on so the majority of critics do as they always do and ghettoized the efforts, even gave the work a suitably boogeyman-style moniker in “torture porn.” Miike...

Because of the rising amount of felonies, the number of trials has also increased all over Japan, resulting in a drastic change of the judicial system. Instead of a traditional trial in the new bench trail system, prosecution and defense face each other in an open trail and have three days to present evidence as well as cross-examine witnesses before on the last day a sentence is made. Young attorney Phoenix Wright (Hiroki Narimiya) is a very ambitious, but inexperienced attorney when he takes over his second case: the defense of Maya Fey (Mirei Kiritani) who is the prime suspect for the murder of her sister Mia (Rei Dan). During the trail, Phoenix also has to face his childhood friend Miles Edgeworth (Takumi Saito) who is the prosecutor, an infamous figure among his colleagues since he has never lost a case in court.

However, as the trial proceeds, Wright finds...

Ring director Hideo Nakata's new film The Complex is hitting iTunes, Amazon, and VOD on September 9th via Orchard and Shock Till You Drop, and right now we have a new trailer and poster for you. Dig 'em!

The Complex stars Atsuko Maeda.

Synopsis

Nursing student Asuka has just moved into an apartment complex with her parents and younger brother. On the first night in her new room, she is awoken by a strange scratching sound coming from the apartment of her neighbor, a reclusive old man who has refused all attempts at communication. Concerned over his well being, Asuka enters his home, only to find him dead from malnutrition. Worse, it looks as if he had been trying to claw his way into her room.

Asuka learns that there have been a number of strange deaths in the complex over the years from Shinobu (Hiroki Narimiya), the handyman...

Stars: Atsuko Maeda, Hiroki Narimiya, Masanobu Katsumura, Naomi Nishida, Kanau Tanaka | Written by Jun’ya Katô, Ryûta Miyake | Directed by Hideo Nakata

Hideo Nakata is well known in the horror world for his work, directing Ring, Ring 2 and Dark Water, among others, so it wasn’t unwelcome to see a new release from Nakata that sounded like it was along the lines of the films that made him so famous in the first place.

The Complex comes at a time when films like Ring and Dark Water are less frequent after a period, a few years ago, where the popularity of these originators caused many other ghost stories along similar lines to materialise until the marketplace felt a little saturated by them. I found myself, after taking a step or two back from the genre for a couple of years, feeling excited about this film.

The Complex tells the tale...

With the onslaught of Comic-Con coverage beaming your way right now, this a firm reminder that Fantasia, one of the world’s preeminent genre film festivals, is also kicking off today; and we have a list of our Top 11 most anticipated entries.

The Fantasia Film Festival, now in its 17th year after debuting in 1996, will likely be making heads explode with this year's lineup so we thought we'd point you in the direction of those films that look dressed to impress. So take off your Hulk Smash Hands for a few minutes and give these talented filmmakers a little bit of your time!

24 Exposures (USA) Dir: Joe Swanberg (World Premiere)

Joe Swanberg has been an indie darling for years for his intimate portraits of twenty-something hipsters, but it’s his latest stint in the horror genre that has us turning our heads. After the director’s effort in last year...

Stars: Atsuko Maeda, Hiroki Narimiya, Masanobu Katsumura | Written by Junya Kato, Ryûta Miyake | Directed by Hideo Nakata

Review by Andrew MacArthur of Cinehouse

We should know better than to get excited when a once great horror director makes a back to basics comeback. It’s happened with John Carpenter (The Ward), George A. Romero (Survival of the Dead), Wes Craven (My Soul to Take), and Dario Argento (Dracula 3D), and now it is the turn of Japan’s own Hideo Nakata – the man behind Dark Water and Ringu. In a miraculous feat Nakata has managed to make a film worse than all those aforementioned combined.

The Complex follows a young nursing student (Maeda) who moves with her family into a derelict apartment block, which her friends claim is haunted. After being disturbed by eerie noises coming from her neighbour’s apartment it seems these claims may have some truth.

Nakata...

How much absolute lunacy can you fit in a television spot that only lasts a few seconds? Holy shit, are you about to find out as the first international TV spot for Hideo Nakata's The Complex has hit the interwebs, and it's a must-see!

The Complex stars Atsuko Maeda. Look for more on this one very soon!

Synopsis

Nursing student Asuka has just moved into an apartment complex with her parents and younger brother. On the first night in her new room, she is awoken by a strange scratching sound coming from the apartment of her neighbor, a reclusive old man who has refused all attempts at communication. Concerned over his well being, Asuka enters his home, only to find him dead from malnutrition. Worse, it looks as if he had been trying to claw his way into her room.

Asuka learns that there have been a number of...

Hideo Nakata has brought American audiences many J-horror terrors over the years including Ring (Ringu, as it's also known, is Not the title of the movie, not even in Japan) and Dark Water. Can his unique brand of terror strike gold again?

Below you will find the first poster and international trailer for his latest film, The Complex, starring Atsuko Maeda. Look for more on this one very soon!

Synopsis

Nursing student Asuka has just moved into an apartment complex with her parents and younger brother. On the first night in her new room, she is awoken by a strange scratching sound coming from the apartment of her neighbor, a reclusive old man who has refused all attempts at communication. Concerned over his well being, Asuka enters his home, only to find him dead from malnutrition. Worse, it looks as if he had been trying to claw his way into her room.

Takashi Miike has been on an oddball streak of live-action films hat distinctly feel more like a series of live-action cartoons. Since last year’s whimsical Ninja Kids!!! and this year’s For Love’s Sake, a musical which played at Cannes out of competition, there has been an overwhelming sense of playfulness normally absent from his work with these manga adaptations. Perhaps this is yet another one of the director’s enigmatic cinematic phases of obsessing over specific genres (his previous streaks include yakuza, horror and samurai films). Yet it is something that very few Western directors even attempt and usually when they do, fail horribly.

Granted, Miike is no guaranteed success, but there is always something unusual to appreciate about his films, even some of the not so impressive. With his latest film Ace Attorney, an adaptation of immensely popular Capcom video game franchise for the Nintendo Gameboy and DS,...

Give us a cut of Ace Attorney that clocks in at say, 90 minutes, and it would probably be gold. There's a lot to like about director Takashi Miike's take on the first game in the long-running series. What trips the ultimately enjoyable adaptation up is that it wears out its welcome at 135 minutes, and coupled with structural problems inherent in every courtroom setup requiring Phoenix Wright to delay for time, it feels like the movie overstates its case by the one hour mark.

As such things goes, Ace Attorney (Gyakuten saiban) is very faithful to the source material, the 2001 Gba title. That game, and the movie see awkward but well-coiffed defense attorney Phoenix Wright embroiled in a series of murder cases where he has to piece together contradictions to evidence and testimony from the prosecution, typically embodied by unscrupulous lawyer for the state and former childhood friend of Wright's,...

Ace Attorney, the live-action film based on the Capcom series of legal mystery games is finally coming to the U.S. as part of the New York Asian Film Festival and AM2.

The film, helmed by Ichi the Killer/Gozu director Takashi Miike is the big-screen adaptation of Capcom's long-running series. The story sees luck-challenged defense attorney Phoenix Wright (Hiroki Narimiya) coming to the aid of his nemesis, corrupt-ish prosecutor Miles Edgeworth (Takumi Saitou). There will certainly be the collecting of evidence, twists, and objections. I'm calling it now: the spectacularly named Manfred von Karma (Ryou Ishibashi) is somehow behind it. That hair is too regal and his suit too purple for him not to be up to some kind of dirt.

The movie makes its U.S. debut as part of the Anime, Manga, and Music Con (AM2), which runs from June 15-17. For those of you on the East Coast,...

Capcom’s Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the incredibly popular legal drama/thriller video game series, originally titled Gyakuten Saiban (or Turnabout Trial) in Japan has been adapted into a brand new live-action movie courtesy of prolific director Takashi Miike. The film, which is out in its native territory in February 2012, stars Hiroki Narimiya as the defense attorney Phoenix Wright, Mirei Kiritani as Maya Fey and Takumi Saito ss prosecutor Miles Edgeworth.

We’ve already had a trailer and TV spot for the film, which looks to be based on the first game on the series judging from what we’ve seen, and now here’s a dozen images from the movie – and boy does Miike look to have captured Phoenix Wright and co, perfectly!

Director Takashi Miike gets that a well-coiffed attorney is an Ace Attorney in the Japanese adaptation of the Capcom series.

Japanese film site Eiga.com released a batch of exclusive cast photos from the live action Ace Attorney film over the weekend, providing our first detailed look at the characters before the movie hits in February. Directed by Takashi Miike (Audition, 13 Assassins), the director is in full-on Yatterman/Zebraman-mode, letting loose with the wild colors and exaggerated performances because hey, who's going to see a Phoenix Wright movie done as an understated chamber drama? No, we want him to make objections and we want weird murders and maybe some ghosts (Phoenix Wright games can get exceedingly bizarre).

Hiroki Narimiya as Phoenix Wright

The story sees luck-challenged defense attorney Phoenix Wright (Hiroki Narimiya) coming to the aid of his nemesis, corrupt-ish prosecutor Miles Edgeworth (Takumi Saitou). There will certainly be the collecting of evidence,...

Capcom’s Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the incredibly popular legal drama/thriller video game series, originally titled Gyakuten Saiban (or Turnabout Trial) in Japan has been adapted into a brand new live-action movie courtesy of prolific director Takashi Miike. The film, which is out in its native territory in February 2012, stars Hiroki Narimiya as the defense attorney Phoenix Wright, Mirei Kiritani as Maya Fey and Takumi Saito ss prosecutor Miles Edgeworth.

The first trailer and TV spot for the film, which looks to be based on the first game on the series judging from the action within, have surfaced online and we have them both for you:...

How many movies can Takashi Miike (13 Assassins, Audition) possibly direct in one year? It seems like the prolific director can do as much as he pleases. His latest is a film adaptation of the Phoenix Wright video game series, created by Shu Takumi and published by Capcom in which players assume the role of a defence attorney in a fictional courtroom setting. Based on the Japanese legal system, players strive to find their clients “not guilty” using investigation, evidence, and cross-examination to prove their case. The film will be a courtroom drama combined with the video game series’ signature style. Sci-fi elements are also used such as characters bringing up projected images during trials. Ace Attorney stars Hiroki Narimiya, Mirei Kiritani, and Takumi Saito, and is scheduled to be released in Japanese cinemas on 11 February 2012.

Via The Collidor...

Just over a week ago we got the first still and footage from Takashi Miike, the director that has given us 13 Assassins, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, Ninja Kids!!!…and that is just this year. Now the first two Japanese teasers have arrived for his next film, and this is all we’re likely to get anytime soon as no Us distribution has come aboard.

His live-action adaptation of the popular Nintendo DS video game series Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney looks to be faithful. As someone who has never played the videogame, I’m unsure how much enjoyment I’ll get out of this fantastical courtroom drama. Miike has described the film as a “very light comedy” and one can see the star Hiroki Narimiya in the two trailers below via Collider.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney hits Japanese theaters next February with no word on Us distribution yet.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is the first game in the very popular series of legal drama/thriller video games that was released as Gyakuten Saiban (Turnabout Trial) in Japan. Earlier this year we learned [1] that wildly prolific genre-hopping director Takashi Miike has been at work on a film adaptation of the series, and just over a week ago we saw the first footage [2] from that film. Now we've got the trailer for Phoenix Wright. No English subtitles on this one, unfortunately, but fans of the game should quickly be able to see what's going on, and even those new to the series will get the gist pretty fast. Hiroki Narimiya (Nana 1 & 2) stars as the defense attorney Phoenix Wright; Mirei Kiritani is Maya Fey; and Takumi Saito (Robogeisha) is prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney will be released in Japan in February 2012. We don't have any word of a Us date at this point.

As reported by Twitch back in May, prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike's new film will be a movie adaptation of the hugely popular Nintendo Gba and DS game franchise, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (original title: Gyakuten Saiban). Those who have played the game would know that it involves intense courtroom battles between the attorney and the prosecutor, where they have to present evidence, cross-examine witnesses and detect any contradictory statements that may hold the key to the case. The cast includes Hiroki Narimiya (Nana 1 & 2) playing defence attorney Phoenix Wright, Mirei Kiritani as Maya Fey the sister of Wright's boss, and Takumi Saito (Robogeisha, Vampire Girl Vs Frankenstein Girl) as prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. The film will be released in Japan in February 2012....

It is challenging to find a more prolific filmmaker than Takashi Miike. The Audition director’s samurai epic 13 Assassins hit this year in the states and we saw his remake Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai at Cannes and his children’s film Ninja Kids!!! at New York Asian Film Festival. And he has already shot another film.

We reported just earlier this summer on his live-action adaptation of the popular video game series Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and now the first still has arrived from Kotaku (via Collider). As someone who isn’t versed in the Nintendo DS game I can only go my image comparisons, and it looks to be quite faithful. Miike described the courtroom drama as a “very light comedy” and one can see the star Hiroki Narimiya, below.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney hits Japanese theaters next year with no word on Us distribution yet.

Are you a fan of the game?...

Over the last forty years, video games have put forth a lot of unlikely heroes. A plumber, in the form of Mario. A glutton, in the form of Pac-Man. A horndog loser, in the form of Leisure Suit Larry. But few have been as unheralded as Phoenix Wright, the legal eagle who starred in a series of Capcom games.

The "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney" games placed you in the wingtips of a hotshot lawyer, tasked with proving the guilt or innocence of a motley procession of everyday folk and faded celebrities. In a typical "Ace Attorney" game, you'd hunt for clues in various locations and talk to persons of interest who might info on a case. Then, like a "Law & Order" episode, the action shifts to a courtroom where you put witnesses on the stand and whip out evidence that shatters their alibis. (Now that I think about it, it's very similar to "L.

In what is surely one of the weirdest news stories I've read all week, Capcom have officially announced that a movie adaptation of their popular Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney video game series is in development. The franchise has been a hit on the Nintendo DS both in Japan as well as the rest of the world, with players taking control of a rookie defense lawyer who investigates various cases and ultimately takes them to the courtroom. The games have a cartoony style and a goofy sense of humour, and are generally considered to be fun for the whole family. That's not really the weird part though. The weird part is that the director of the movie is none other than Takashi Miike, the man behind such violent and disturbing films as Audition, Ichi the Killer, and most recently, 13 Assassins. Has the renegade filmmaker finally sold out? Rumours of Miike's involvement first started at Cannes,...

Just a few days after it was announced, we not only know who will be starring in Takashi Miike’s upcoming adaptation of Capcom’s Nintendo DS video game franchise, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, but also a planned release for the project.

Read more on Capcom confirms Ace Attorney film from Takashi Miike; Hiroki Narimiya starring, will hit spring 2012 in Japan...

Earlier this month, a trailer was released for the upcoming film adaptation of Akiko Itoyama’s love story Bakamono.

The story begins in 1999 with 19-year-old Hide (Hiroki Narimiya) meeting a 27-year-old woman named Gakuko (played by former teen idol Yuki Uchida) who takes his virginity. Hide quickly falls in love, and is devastated the following year when Gakuko abruptly informs him that she’s marrying another man.

Hide eventually leaves university and moves to Tokyo where he finds work and a new girlfriend named Shoko (Miho Shiraishi), but his misery leads him to become dependent on alcohol.

Almost 10 years after their first meeting and the youthful love affair which followed, Hide and Gakuko meet again under drastically different circumstances, with each of their lives having been drastically altered by irreparable loss.

The film was directed by Shusuke Kaneko (Death Note, Pride) and will be released in Japan sometime this December.

Earlier this month, a trailer was released for the upcoming film adaptation of Akiko Itoyama’s love story Bakamono.

The story begins in 1999 with 19-year-old Hide (Hiroki Narimiya) meeting a 27-year-old woman named Gakuko (played by former teen idol Yuki Uchida) who takes his virginity. Hide quickly falls in love, and is devastated the following year when Gakuko abruptly informs him that she’s marrying another man.

Hide eventually leaves university and moves to Tokyo where he finds work and a new girlfriend named Shoko (Miho Shiraishi), but his misery leads him to become dependent on alcohol.

Almost 10 years after their first meeting and the youthful love affair which followed, Hide and Gakuko meet again under drastically different circumstances, with each of their lives having been drastically altered by irreparable loss.

The film was directed by Shusuke Kaneko (Death Note, Pride) and will be released in Japan sometime this December.

Director: Masayuki Miyano. Review: Adam Wing. Based on Hideo Okuda’s collection of short stories, Lala Pipo (taken from the English phrase "a lot of people") is the debut feature from Masayuki Miyano, who worked on Tetsuya Nakashima’s Kamikaze Girls and Paco and the Magical Picture Book. Hiroki Narimiya headlines, alongside Yuri Nakamura, Mari Hamada, Tomoko Murakami, Takashi Yoshimura and Sarutoki Minagawa. Six characters, six stories, ninety minutes of comedy heaven. If you’re a fan of Nakashima’s quirky cinematic offerings, Lala Pipo should be right up your street. It bares all the hallmarks of a Tetsuya Nakashima picture, no great surprise really, he did write the screenplay after all. Colourful, comical, hypnotic and bizarre, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Nakashima directed it himself. Never a bad thing in my book, Masayuki Miyano has certainly chosen wisely, imitating one of the most exciting directors in the world today.

The more I see of this upcoming movie addition to the Gokusen canon the more I can see that the production team behind it is really, really catering to only fans of the show. Thus dictates how successful they will be at the box office but with the new trailer and announcement of a lot of the returning cast from the first two seasons making appearances in the film it should boost their success at home in Japan. And then there are the gaijin like me who like the show as well who will want to see this as well but will have to resort to getting it on DVD cause I don’t imagine this could travel outside of Japan as a stand alone film.

With “Gokusen: The Movie” less than a couple months away, a new announcement has revealed that six more actors from the drama’s earlier seasons will be returning,...