Films

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (Academy Award Nominee – Best Documentary Short)

The trailer for “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom,” a short documentary about the aftermath of the March 11th disaster:

Survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan’s recent tsunami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins.

A stunning visual poem about the ephemeral nature of life and the healing power of Japan’s most beloved flower.

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Hollywood “Whitewashes” Japanese Films: Uses White American Actors Instead of Asians

CNN’s InAmerica blog has an article that discusses the fact that upcoming American remakes of Japanese films are going to cast white American actors to play characters that were originally Japanese:

Tom Cruise is rumored to be in talks to play the lead role in the Warner Bros. adaptation of Japanese novel “All You Need is Kill,” replacing a Japanese main character. Warner Bros., which is owned by the same parent company as CNN, is also in the pre-production stages of making a live-action version of “Akira,” a graphic novel that was made into a landmark 1988 animated feature film in Japan. All of the actors rumored to be in consideration for the upcoming film’s main characters are white Americans, although casting calls invited actors of “any race” to audition.

That’s troubling to both the series’ devoted fans and advocates of diversity in casting.

Similar things happen in the Japanese film industry, as some of you may remember from a recent post about Hiroshi Abe playing an Roman in the “Thermae Romae” movie. And “Sideways” was remade with a Japanese cast.

For those who have missed it, here is Harry Partridge‘s hilarious take on the issue of American remakes:

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Last Message: A Short Movie Filmed in the Tohoku Disaster Area

Here’s the trailer for Last Message, a short movie that was recently filmed in the tsunami-hit areas of Tohoku:

A wealthy, independent Japanese woman is in search of her grandfather who is lost in the tsunami chaos. Throughout her journey, she discovers herself and the importance of life.

By capturing real scenes of the devastation, it conveys the message of how valuable our lives really are.

For updates on the film, including information about upcoming screenings, please visit its Facebook group.

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Hop: An Easter Movie, Coming to Japanese Theaters on August 19th

Here’s a great example of how the Japanese release dates for foreign movies are delayed to the point of absurdity. The Easter Bunny movie “Hop” will be released on August 19th in Japan, months after the end of the Easter season:

Almost nobody in Japan celebrates Easter, but the movie is still being marketed under a new title that emphasizes its association with Easter. In place of its original title, the movie is called “Easter Rabbit’s Candy Factory” in Japanese (イースターラビットのキャンディ工場).

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Anachronisms In Chinese War Movies

ChinaSmack has translated a pretty funny article that points out the use of ridiculously inaccurate weapons and uniforms in some of the popular anti-Japanese war movies that appear so often on Chinese TV:

Domestically produced war films or television series have always been controversial, the reason being that the enemy is always portrayed as having low intelligence, dying immediately upon shot. Whereas our military are all incomparably heroic, almost invincible and ever victorious.

Look at these pictures below, they’ll definitely dumbfound/stun you.

[...]
AK-47! In the 30’s and 40’s did China already have such a divine weapon??!

The Japanese Army [of WW2] equipped with the extremely advanced weapon, the AK! Note the red circle!

View the rest of the silly pictures and translations of Chinese netizens’ comments here.

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James Franco to Play Lead in American “Akira” Film?

Actor James Franco is being considered for the role of Kaneda in the American live-action adaptation of the classic Japanese anime film “Akira”:

Filmmakers Albert and Allen Hughes (The Book of Eli) are collaborating with Iron Man/Cowboys & Aliens co-screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby on the live-action version of Akira, which shifts the setting from futuristic Tokyo to Manhattan. According to Just Jared, Franco would star as the leader of a biker gang (a character named Shotaro Kaneda in the original manga/anime), whose comrade is kidnapped by the government and subjugated to scientific experiments that cause him to develop dangerous psychic powers.

While Franco is arguably a more convincing choice to play the head of an anarchistic gang than Zac Efron, the 32-year-old actor seems a bit much on the mature side to star as an adolescent rebel. The Hughes Brothers movie might feature a significantly re-worked version of the Kaneda character, so that he’s more of a fully grown, Mad Max breed of ruffian than a futuristic James Dean type – if so, Franco being cast makes more sense.

Unofficial fan trailer for this movie:

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