Wasn't sure if there would be a part two but the post done ten days ago was much more popular than I figured it would be so why not have another? As far as popular goes can't say it compares to an Idol photobook which usually receives well over a thousand views. That previous post for my recently watched movies has 325 views to date so it will probably come close or even exceed 500 which to me is a success. So often in the past have talked about doing a continuing series for movies which I enjoy much more than dramas and perhaps even J-Pop Idols. But those plans fizzled out too quickly but not this time as this is the second post this month for what I've recently viewed and will have one other for September films. After this won't be doing three posts a month but one is easy enough to do and I really enjoy writing these kinds of posts up. Did say that my goal was to view one movie a day for this month and have kept that goal alive. All of the movies in these posts are from DVD's I've purchased, have around 2,000 of them with 90% of them being Japanese films, also have many from Korea. Do have some American movies but doubt if I will ever mention them in these posts, every American movie I have was released before 1986 and I much prefer older films and dramas.... older J-Pop too...
EDIT: Was thinking of why I enjoy older movies so much and I'm not alone as so don't the vast majority of Japanese movie fans. As a matter of fact at least two terrific websites which I visited often have closed down the last few years, the main reason is because movies aren't close to the level they were at from the 1950's to 2000. Every now and again there are some good flicks, still watch "Ping Pong" often along with the pair of "Death Note" movies and a few others though it's not a huge amount. Films these days have become too 'Hollywood' and that's what the writers of the esteemed Midnight Eye site said in their farewell message. But the site is still active if you want to view older reviews and they were so correct with that assessment. So many films from before 1985 are still talked about by movie fans, how many movies from today will be considered classics forty or more years from now? What sets the older films apart from newer ones or many American films from way back then is that Japanese movies were so unique, the stories were very original and the main thing about a film was how good it was versus how much the box office take was! Plus there were no cellphones which has affected modern dramas and films so negatively, didn't plan on writing this up but those thoughts just popped into my head. Did just have two comments about the 1980's classic drama "Abunai Deka" so there is one person who may enjoy these older things, do recommend viewing the videos as they just show exciting or intense many movies are.
In that previous post had been in a midst of a Meiko Kaji marathon, watched two more of her films after that post. There isn't too much I can say about her but she is my top actress and also my #1 woman of all time, why couldn't I have been born forty years earlier?! She doesn't have the figure of a gravure model but who cares as her sultriness is second to none plus what a very interesting woman she is, bet I've read twenty or more of her interviews and she also has features in most of the books I have on Japanese cinema. The final movie in that marathon was from 1976, it wasn't Meiko's largest role though she was very important to the story. EDIT: Hmmmm, no movies today today for her but in the past have mentioned how Kumi Mizuno 😍 could be my dream woman, least the version of her from the 1960'a and 70's! Have had a few photos of her in the past and will have one her films in my next movie post.... "Matango" is a solid choice but would prefer to view a lesser known film.
"Yakuza Graveyard" is that flick and this was only the third time I've viewed it even though I've had the DVD for a dozen years! That's what happens when you have close to 2,000, I end up forgetting about so many of them but for my huge favorites will watch those too many times to count! Now I've watched this for a third time it will be a film that I won't let gather dust again, this was one of the better Yakuza films and the cast was second to none! There was this group of 20-25 actors back then who would regularly appear in these gangster movies but only about 7-10 at a time. That group had the mannerisms of a Yakuza member down to a science and also many of these films were directed by Kinji Fukasaku who also did the must see series "Battles Without Honor and Humanity". Tetsuya Watari played the main character of Kuroiwa and his brother starred in many previous movies with Meiko. In this film Kuroiwa was a police detective and had been reassigned from Tokyo to Osaka. In a way he was that rare honest cop who couldn't be bribed yet ended up taking cash to help his semi-girlfriend out. But there was much more to the story than that, naturally there was a lot of action but the plot was more realistic than most other Yakusa tales. A common theme in many 1970's films was of the lead actor/actress getting killed at the end, Kuroiwa did in this film and it must have happened to Meiko at least five times when she had the lead role, that trailer is quite intense.
It's hard to be like me(is that good or bad?) and not watch many of the numerous Sukeban/Girl Boss films from the late 1960's, early 70's and there were about 125 in all! Did mention Yayoi Watanabe above and she was one underrated beauty back then, she was in this movie I viewed which was from 1971, "Queen Bee's Counterattack". This was the first of seven films in this series, I have five and all are highly recommended. Another big star in these kinds of films was Miki Sugimoto but she didn't start to become popular for another year or so but did have the most memorable scene in this film when she stripped in front of a store manager! She wasn't forced to and there was a brief clip of that scene in the trailer which is why I don't have the video for this post, no sense taking the chance of someone reporting me. So have a different video which features the star having a showdown in another movie, in this flick the main character was named Reiko.
That also happens to be the real first name of the woman who played that role who was Reiko Ike. After Meiko she may have been my second favorite actress from the 1971-76 period and have seen Reiko in a dozen films. It's hard to use the word Sultry without mentioning Reiko and she(to me) is one knockout, she's worth the price of admission for any film she's in. Reiko also played some meatier roles such as in the "Female Yakuza.... Sex and Fury.... Cops vs. Thugs.... Street Fighter's Last Revenge" films. Reiko didn't make any movies after 1979 but did appear on TV until 1982 though had become so disillusioned with the industry and disappeared, I don't think anyone really knew what became of Reiko after 1982 and at the time was just 31 in age.
I do watch a large variety of films, another series from the 1970's were the "Truck Rascal" movies. The first came out in the second half of 1975 and was so successful there ended up being a total of ten films up until 1979! On the left below is one of my all time top actors, Bunta Sugawara who was the star of the "Battles Without Honor and Humanity" five film series. Second time I've mentioned that so guess I just may start on that again tonight, twice a year I watch all five movies in a row. Bunta starred in too many action packed Yakuza films to list, he usually had the lead role and this is the first time I had ever seen him in a comedy though there is a lot of action. I just have the first two movies in the series and that should be enough as the plot is the same for each.
Bunta plays the role of Momojiro Hoshi, his 'partner' on the right below is Kinzo Matsushita who was played by Kinya Aikawa. The pair were truck driving partners though drove separate rigs, Momo is a bachelor and always strikes out in attempting to find the love of his life in each film. Meanwhile Konzo aka Johnathan is married with eight children(!), the pair deliver goods everywhere in Japan and what a fun two movies I've viewed but there are eight others. In the bottom pic below is Junko Natsu who played a female driver named Okyo, she was someone I liked immensely and if possible check out the "Bad Girl Mako" film which she had the lead role in.
Will end with my top two recent movie watches and this first could be among my top ten Japanese films of all time! But it's not a hugely known movie which is titled "Zero Focus" and was released in 1961 but anyone who has viewed it calls it a must watch! The story revolves around three women and a man named Kenichi, a massive positive about this film is that most scenes didn't take place in Tokyo but the dreary city of Kanazawa and it's suburbs which are on Japan's west coast. Kenichi had been the head of an ad agency office in Kanazawa but was being promoted to the main office in Tokyo. He had been recently married a woman named Teiko and after a week of marriage Kenichi told his new wife he had to travel to Kanazawa to wrap up his duties and would be back in 3-4 days. But that return never happened and Teiko ended up traveling to Kanazawa to begin her own search for her husband, after that the plot twists were too many to count!
For as Teiko found out Kenichi had been living under a different name and had a common-in-law wife! As it turned out he had been killed though at first it was presumed a suicide, then Kenichi's brother was killed and then so wasn't the common-in-law wife! All by the woman on the left on the above DVD cover and gave away enough of the plot! I have viewed this movie 25+ times and never grow tired of watching it, when I talked about movie plots/stories being so much better decades ago this is a prime example of what I meant, the same goes for the next movie and both are must watches! What also helped making this thriller even creepier and more intense is that it was filmed in Black and White, call me an Oddball but I much prefer the older films that weren't in color. Occasionally there is a newish movie that's not in color, an excellent one was "The Most Terrible Time in My Life" from 1994 which was the first of the Mike Hama trilogy. The entire cast was also superb, all were very known actors but can't call any of them huge stars. There was a remake in 2009 but I avoid those kinds of movies.
Final film and let me wrap this up quickly as the mini reviews were longer than planned. Another intense Black and White film was from 1962 and titled "Black Test Car", not quite as good as the above film but not too far behind it either. This seems like the kind of film some of you viewers would like and it was a crime thriller dealing with corporate espionage. The Tiger auto company had designed a new car called the Pioneer but their rival company Yamato stole the plans for it, there was no way Tiger could prove that. Both cars were coming out on the same day and the automobile companies would do anything to one up their rival! There was so much back stabbing, bribery, betrayal, a suicide and the intensity level was so sky high from the first second! Have heard there other movies in this genre of corporate espionage but I don't know of any, don't care about an American film with a similar story but now need to try to find more from Japan in this genre. This is a film I have the DVD to and bought it over a decade ago, like the above movie have watched this at least 25 times. Also like the above film the cast was so superb but none were big stars. The trailer isn't the highest quality one on YT but it is subbed in English, do recommend viewing it and then the entire movie!!!!
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