NEW PEOPLE Entertainment

DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 to be continued

admin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:29:40 +0000

This documentary follows the unstoppable all-female Japanese idol group AKB48 and gives you a glimpse into the girls’ struggle and growth that is behind their success and ever-growing popularity. Five years ago they started as a small Akihabara idol group with only seven people showing up to their shows. Now, they’ve topped Japan’s music chart with the top two best-selling singles of the year in 2010 as well as another two singles ranking in the top 10.

With a complicated balance of competition and friendship among the members, their bond is strong. Throughout 2010 the camera captures AKB48’s history with scenes from their concerts, general elections, and activities abroad amounting to over 1000 hours of footage. The documentary also includes personal interviews with select members revealing each of the girls’ struggle, joy, growth, and dream.

What is AKB48?
AKB48 is an all-female idol group formed in December 2005 by none other than Yasushi Akimoto, one of Japan’s most respected producers. ‘AKB’ stands for A-Ki-ha-Bara (also referred to as Akiba), a Tokyo district known as the center of Japan’s otaku pop culture. With the concept “idols you can always meet”, AKB48 performs almost everyday at their own theater in Akihabara.

One unique aspect of AKB48 is that they are divided into teams. When AKB48 debuted in 2005, originally there were only 24 girls. Now there are 16 girls each on Team A, Team K, and Team B, who are the core members of the group. In addition to them, there are trainees who are aspiring members. Members total to around 60 girls as some graduate and some new members come in. Another interesting concept about the group in the recent years is that they hold general elections to determine the members who will participate in the recording of AKB48’s upcoming single. Fans vote for their favorites and the girl ranked number one performs as the center of the group.

Credits:

Cast: AKB48
Senior Executive Producer: Shunji Iwai
Producer: Yasushi Akimoto
Director: Yuri Kanchiku

2011 / Japan / 120 min
Japanese with English Subtitles

GANTZ II: Perfect Answer

admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:27:31 +0000

Part 2 of the GANTZ film saga. With an intense and gripping story different from the original manga, this explosive film will grab you and keep you in suspense.

Kei Kurono along with the other members cannot escape the world of Gantz and are forced to continue fighting in order to earn points until they reach 100. With those points, Kei is determined to resurrect those who have been killed in the missions. But with the emergence of a mysterious man investigating the Gantz members, Gantz begins to act up and the next target shocks the members. Some fight for love, some for justice but what will each member sacrifice?

Credits:

Based on the manga by Hiroya Oku
Cast: Kazunari Ninomiya, Kenichi Matsuyama
Director: Shinsuke Sato

2011 / Japan / 140 min
Japanese with English Subtitles / English Dubbed

Official Selection:

New York Asian Film Festival 2011
Fantasia International Film Festival 2011
and more!

www.gantzmovies.com

GANTZ

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 06:33:49 +0000

This two-part feature film, based on the popular Japanese manga and anime series GANTZ, is the ultimate survival game. The GANTZ manga debuted in the July 2000 issue of Weekly YOUNG JUMP (SHUEISHA Inc.) introducing a unique storyline of people being spared from death only to be summoned by an entity known as “GANTZ” to battle aliens. The YOUNG JUMP Comics’ ongoing sci-fi action epic has become a smash hit bestseller in Japan. The film stars Kazunari Ninomiya, who has received international acclaim for his performance in Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima, and Kenichi Matsuyama, who has won numerous awards and praises for his portrayals of unique characters in films such as Death Note, Detroit Metal City, and Norwegian Wood (the film adaptation of the popular Haruki Murakami novel).

Kei Kurono and his childhood friend Masaru Kato attempt to save a man who has fallen onto the train tracks but are run down by an oncoming train. However, rather than finding themselves dead, they are transported to a strange apartment in which they find a mysterious black orb known as ‘GANTZ’. In this inescapable room, they are provided weaponry and forced into participating in the extermination of ‘aliens’ in order to survive. While Kurono chooses to fight for survival, Kato refuses to engage in battle and rejects a world controlled by violence. Kurono and Kato along with the others sharing their fate are pushed to their limits in the relentless battles against the aliens. Is this world, which tests your will to survive, a game or reality?

Credits:

Based on the manga by Hiroya Oku
Cast: Kazunari Ninomiya, Kenichi Matsuyama
Director: Shinsuke Sato

2011 / Japan / 128 min
Japanese with English Subtitles / English Dubbed

Official Selection:

New York Asian Film Festival 2011
Fantasia International Film Festival 2011
and more!

www.gantzmovies.com

eatrip

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 03:21:52 +0000

To eat is indeed to live. Life is just an “eating trip”.

People eat. That is how we survive. For people, however, eating has become more than just replenishment of nutrients and sustenance. It has become an opportunity for bonding with others, for chatting about what we’ve been up to, and asking about our loved one’s days. The act of eating is also the act of interacting with nature. Meat, vegetables, fruit and grains are all living organisms that combine to sustain us. And if life is a journey, then surely eating is an excursion in itself. After all, is not life a series of dinner times? Are our lives not sequences of feeding, nurturing and growing?

eatrip is a contemporary Japanese food culture documentary and the directorial debut of food coordinator, creator and teacher, Yuri Nomura. The film explores the interpersonal relationships that food nurtures. To eat is a universal experience and this documentary takes the audience on a journey throughout Japan looking at how life can be led richly through the daily ritual of eating. From the Tsukiji fish market to an Okinawan farm, the film offers poignant interviews with intriguing personalities, a few of whom include: Nichiji Sakai, head priest of the Ikegami Honmonji temple; Kanji Takahashi, a distributor of Dried bonito; Naoko Morioka, an Okinawan leading a self-sustainable lifestyle; So-oku Sen a tea ceremony master and descendant of famed Sen No Rikyu; and Yayako Uchida, a musician and writer who recites poems about food. The film culminates with a passionate meal cooked by the director herself, for actor Tadanobu Asano and singer UA and a handful of other eclectic guests.

Credits:

Cast: Kanji Takahashi, Shoichiro Akiyama, Naoko Morioka, UA,
So-oku Sen, Tadanobu Asano, Nichiji Sakai
Director: Yuri Nomura

2009 / Japan / 80 min
Japanese with English Subtitles

Official Selection:

Montreal World Film Festival 2009
Vancouver International Film Festival 2009
Le Festival International du Film d’Environnement 2009 (Paris)
Barcelona Asian Film Festival 2010
and more!

www.eatripfilm.com

Detroit Metal City

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:14:33 +0000

This isn’t the music I wanted to play! Not this kind of band at all!!

Based on the #1 hit death metal comedy manga series by Kiminori Wakasugi. Starring Kenichi Matsuyama, an actor adored by fans for his role as “L” in the smash hit Death Note films and directed by one of Japan’s most popular television directors, Toshio Lee. Gene Simmons of KISS plays the role of the king of death metal, Jack IL Dark. In the music battle scene with DMC, Marty Friedman (former guitarist for the metal band Megadeth) on guitar and Jeremy Colson on drums joins Gene Simmons. This film has the most heated live music scenes ever in Japanese film history.

Soichi Negishi (Kenichi Matsuyama) is a sweet and shy young man who dreams of becoming a trendy singer songwriter. But for some reason, he is forced into joining the devil worshiping death metal band “Detroit Metal City” (DMC). In full stage make-up and costume, he transforms into Johannes Krauser II (Sir Krauser) the vulgar-mouthed lead vocalist of the band. But he must keep this a secret from his crush Yuri Aikawa who strongly despises death metal. What would she think if she found out? But against Negishi’s will, DMC rises to stardom. Now the legendary king of death metal Jack IL Dark (Gene Simmons) himself is challenging DMC to a duel. What is the fate of the innocent Negishi as he climbs to the top of the death metal world…

Credits:

Cast: Kenichi Matsuyama, Rosa Kato, Ryuji Akiyama, Yoshihiko Hosoda,
Yasuko Matsuyuki, Gene Simmons
Director: Toshio Lee

2008 / Japan / 104 min
Japanese with English Subtitles

Official Selection:

Toronto International Film Festival
San Diego Asian Film Festival
and more!

www.DMCtheMovie.com

Battle League HORUMO

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 03:03:41 +0000

After failing the entrance exam and enduring 2 years of cram school, Akira Abe (Takayuki Yamada) finally gets accepted to the prestigious Kyoto University. One day on his way home with a friend, they meet a senior who invites them to a welcome party hosted by his club “Azure Dragon.” With nothing to lose, they decide to go for the free food, and there, Abe meets Kyoko Sawara, the girl with the perfect nose, and falls head over heels for her. Abe drags his friend Takamura to join the club with him in hopes that he can get closer to the girl of his dreams.

At first, the club appears to be an ordinary social club but the new members soon find out about the 1000 year-old tradition upheld by the four universities of Kyoto and the “Horumo” battle. The battle is fought between 10 players from each team with the players manipulating an army of 100 spirits (referred to as Oni) to fight the opponent. The members go through a rigorous training achieving the fluency of the Oni language as well as the indefinable gestures required to go along with it. Let the battles begin!

Credits:

Cast: Takayuki Yamada, Chiaki Kuriyama, Gaku Hamada
Director: Katsuhide Motoki

2009 / Japan / 113 min
Japanese with English Subtitles

Official Selection:

Hawaii International Film Festival
Montreal Fantasia Film Festival
and more!

www.horumo.com

Katsura Funakoshi: Whispering Gaze

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:36:00 +0000

Katsura Funakoshi: Whispering Gaze observes the visionary sculptor Katsura Funakoshi as he quietly breathes life into camphor wood. Take a look as he works in his atelier, preps for exhibitions, and speaks at lectures. The simple, warm and gentle figures carved out by Funakoshi can be attributed to the harmony of precise calculations and accidental occurrences. His human-like sculptures draw in beholders with their distant marble gaze as if pondering philosophical thoughts and projecting subtle yet bold emotions.

Credits:

Cast: Katsura Funakoshi
Director: Kenjiro Fujii

2004 / Japan / 98 min
Japanese with English Subtitles

www.newpeopleartistseries.com

20th Century Boys 3: Redemption

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:30:18 +0000

It is now 2017, and after the spread of the deadly virus, a wall was built around Tokyo and people’s lives have been restricted. As World President, Friend tells everyone that aliens will destroy mankind and only those who believe in him will be saved.

Kanna and Yoshitune both lead rebel groups in an attempt to fight against Friend. Maruo finally finds Kenji’s sister and Otcho makes his way back to Tokyo reuniting with Kanna. As a familiar song plays from the radio, is it proof that Kenji is still alive?

At the same time, outside the wall, one man was determined to go see Kanna. Everyone is ready to make their final stand and all mysteries are soon revealed.

Credits:

Based on a manga by Naoki Urasawa
Cast: Toshiaki Karasawa, Etsushi Toyokawa, Takako Tokiwa, Teruyuki Kagawa, Airi Taira
Director: Yukuhiko Tsutsumi

2009 / Japan / 155 min
Japanese with English Subtitles

Official Selection:

Hawaii International Film Festival
and more!

www.20thboysfilms.com

Makoto Aida: Cynic in the Playground

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 02:25:58 +0000

Makoto Aida: Cynic in the Playground captures Makoto Aida at work as he creates his “Human Project” and “Shinjuku Castle” as well as various moments in his personal life. Known for his diverse and controversial works in various media, such as painting, installation and Japanese manga, the artist’s unique character surfaces through his creative process.

Aida’s work can exhibit both dark cynicism and a lighter, more lowbrow humor as he tackles such potentially controversial subjects as terrorism, pedophilia, and societal misogyny.

Credits:

Cast: Makoto Aida
Director: Yusuke Tamari

2003 / Japan / 98 min
Japanese with English Subtitles

www.newpeopleartistseries.com

K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 02:18:39 +0000

It is 1949 in Japan, in a world where World War II never happened and the nobility system established in the Meiji Era is still in place. An extreme divide exists between the upper and lower classes, with 90 percent of the country’s wealth being held by the upper class. The capital of Teito is in crisis with the emergence of a phantom thief known as “The Fiend (Kaijin) with Twenty Faces” or simply “K-20.”

Heikichi Endo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is a circus acrobat who is deceived by K-20 and is set up to take the fall for the phantom thief. Using his incredible physical dexterity, Heikichi wages war against K-20 in order to clear his name, fighting alongside K-20′s next wealthy target, Duchess Yoko Hashiba (Takako Matsu), and her fiancée, brilliant detective Kogoro Akechi (Toru Nakamura). But what is the ultimate decision Heikichi has to make?

Credits:

Cast: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Takako Matsu, Toru Nakamura
Director: Shimako Sato

2008 / Japan / 137 min
Japanese with English Subtitles

Official Selection:

Santa Barbara International Film Festival
New York Asian Film Festival
San Diego Asian Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
Florida Film Festival
and more!