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| hitomi #1 |
 Posted: Sep 04, 2009 11:57 pm |
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PEACH
Joined: 17 Feb 2009
Posts: 1933
Location: On Ai's speed dial!
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Maybe I should upload the movie The Yen Family for you two, I got the DVD, but it's without subs, I could understand a bit of it, but not enough, still seemed like an enjoyable movie.  Guess this could have gone in the movie section, figured you would miss it there. 
A western movie about the Japanese obsession with money would be lambasted for stereotype-mongering. Put a Japanese director behind it and the criticism no longer holds. "The Yen Family," directed by Yojiro Takita, takes this license and runs with it.
For a time, the movie's a pleasurable, one-dimensional yuk. Married partners Takeshi Kaga and Kaori Momoi head the most industrious home in surburban Tokyo -- if not the world. Patriarch Kaga, who holds a regular office job, runs a newspaper delivery business. He delivers packed lunches to commuters at bus stops. At the office, he photocopies on the side for money. He even earns blackmail money for keeping quiet about a co-worker's extramarital affair.
Wife Momoi is more than his manic equal. Each morning, as she slaves over pots of rice (for those packed lunches), she moans orgasmically into the phone for high-paying clients. She's never off-duty. When hubbie feels amorous, he has to fish for change -- a lot of it. In their bedroom ritual, he strews the bed with coins until she is satisfied with the grand total. Then, as if by magic, love kicks in.
Their 12-year-old daughter, Hiromi Iwasaki, is no slouch. She heads a kiddie gang at school that, on one occasion, forcibly runs a recycling dealer off their turf. The only fly in the family ointment is younger son Mitsunori Isaki, who hates making money.
When we're meeting the family, "Yen" is at its outlandish best. The four members are constantly out of breath, their daily gains clinking in purses around their necks. They move through life with single-minded precision. When Kaga dispatches newspapers to his senior citizen delivery people, his daughter chirrups: "Grannies and granddads, you'll be dead if you don't hurry up."
When the satirical no longer outpaces the mawkish, the movie flops. Little son Isaki writes plaintive letters to his uncle and aunt, who, as previous guests of the family, have witnessed the household obsession firsthand. When they openly offer to adopt the boy, the father is suddenly forced to confront his life.
Certainly, the moral element needs to be addressed. But "Yen" does it in such a cutesy, sitcomish manner (with cloying music to boot), it goes against its earlier, funnier grain. While the forces of love grapple with the evils of profit, they choke the comedy.
As an interesting sidelight, the movie (shown here at Filmfest DC in 1989) was a phenomenal box-office hit in capitalist outpost Hong Kong. Screenwriter Nobuyuki Isshiki asserted in a Tokyo interview that he based his characters on what the Japanese think Hong Kong families are like. So even when supposedly lampooning its own, this Japanese production manages to implicate others. That's Teflon Zen for you. |
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| flintandtas |
| Posted: Sep 05, 2009 12:24 am |
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クラゲ, 流れ星
Joined: 07 Jul 2009
Posts: 8414
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Mangomalte, glad you're enjoying it, I think the shorter episodes and the simpler storyline make it a lot easier to follow than the normal evening dramas. The asadramas are also good for this, I've watched Hitomi ( no not you Hitomi#1) that was also quite good, though I have enjoyed Love letter a lot more. btw if you pm me your IP address I'll add you in as friend in my bittorrent client so you get your downloads faster. 
@hitomi#1, thanks for the recommendation, I'll probably pass on it for now though, I find comedy especially difficult to follow, I might ask you for it later though when I feel more confident in my language abilities (hopefully that's sooner rather than later). I'll probably enjoy it more then as well. But thanks anyway.  |
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| hitomi #1 |
| Posted: Sep 05, 2009 12:55 am |
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PEACH
Joined: 17 Feb 2009
Posts: 1933
Location: On Ai's speed dial!
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Hah hah, that's okay, it's just collecting dust, it'll be a while before I can understand it 100%, by then there will too many others to watch. 
Then try reading hitomi! You baka. 
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| flintandtas |
| Posted: Sep 11, 2009 9:16 am |
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クラゲ, 流れ星
Joined: 07 Jul 2009
Posts: 8414
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Just finished Kimi wo Petto (actually about a week ago) which was enjoyable without reaching any great heights. Now started on my next series Egao no Hosoku, this is a very enjoyable and easy to watch series starring Yuko Takeuchi and Hiroshi Abe. Yuko is definitely one of my favourite actresses  , has a very cute onscreen persona and brings a lot of life into the shows she is in. If you haven't watched anything with her in it try watching Lunch Queen especially, or some of here more recent roles in Bara no nai Hanaya, or Pride (which are a bit more somber). |
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| hitomi #1 |
| Posted: Sep 11, 2009 7:14 pm |
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PEACH
Joined: 17 Feb 2009
Posts: 1933
Location: On Ai's speed dial!
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Yuko is one of my faves too, Pride is good, Takuya is great in that, but favorite role by her is in the movie Heaven's Bookstore, such a simple romantic story but really is one worth watching  ...also must have seen Ringu before I realized that was her, need to change my user name to Baka #1! |
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| flintandtas |
| Posted: Sep 24, 2009 8:29 am |
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クラゲ, 流れ星
Joined: 07 Jul 2009
Posts: 8414
Location: Sydney, Australia
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I've finished Love Letter, all 60 episodes and Egao no Housoku as well. Both excellent series which I really enjoyed. Actually that was about a week ago. I'm now watching Koukou Kyoushi, which features none other than Aya Ueto and wow is she good in this, she really brings her characters to life, and is just so cute and innocent in this series. The storyline though is quite controversial, hope the plotline holds together for the full series.  |
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| mangomalte |
| Posted: Sep 24, 2009 9:41 am |
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クラゲ, 流れ星
Joined: 10 Oct 2006
Posts: 3579
Location: Sweden
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right now i'm watching Shiroi Haru (still.... waiting for the last two eps).
also, i started watching GTO a couple of days ago. i've already read a lot of the manga, so i know most of the story, but i already got a dvd with all the eps... so might as well watch it. 
also, i've started rewatching Hotaru no Hikari. i just love Ayase Haruka in this one.
and of course, i'm still watching Love Letter. |
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| tadabelle-paaan |
| Posted: Sep 25, 2009 10:16 pm |
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ネコに風船
Joined: 20 May 2007
Posts: 555
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| ^ I loved Shiroi Haru! Especially Yoshitaka Yuriko hehe |
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| sljinu |
| Posted: Sep 26, 2009 9:22 pm |
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ユメクイ
Joined: 02 Aug 2007
Posts: 1203
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Oh, I watched the first episode of Shiroi Haru. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to watch anymore T_T Abe Hiroshi is such a good actor...I'd pretty much watch anything that stars him
I also watched a few episodes of Mr Brain. Kimura Takuya played such a funny character. I must admit, so many of the 'genius' points of the drama were so predictable but that was probably because I'd already seen such scenarios played out in American TV dramas/movies. Nakama Yukie even makes an appearance in it |
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| flintandtas |
| Posted: Sep 27, 2009 12:40 am |
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クラゲ, 流れ星
Joined: 07 Jul 2009
Posts: 8414
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Hey, Mr Brain is next on my list of things to watch (actually I've already watched the first episode - so I totally get your 'caption this' post sljinu ).
Just finished Koukou Kyoushi, which was pretty good. The plotline is much more controversial and dark than what you usually get in Japanese Dramas, and because of this there was always the fear that they would do something completely outrageous, but thankfully they managed keep things together pretty smoothly. The acting was pretty good, there was some pretty difficult scenes that came out quite well (Hiroki Narimiya probably had the hardest role). And of course it had Aya who was brilliant throughout, and played such a sweet and innocent role |
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| Eugeniu |
| Posted: Oct 06, 2009 6:09 pm |
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Happy Days
Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 112
Location: Minnesota, USA
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| Right now I just finished watching the special final to Zettai Kareshi. I loved it, but still found some things extremely weird xD. |
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| mangomalte |
| Posted: Oct 06, 2009 6:21 pm |
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クラゲ, 流れ星
Joined: 10 Oct 2006
Posts: 3579
Location: Sweden
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| Yunchen |
| Posted: Oct 07, 2009 3:10 am |
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恋愛写真
Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 1242
Location: Germany
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^ yay, Stand Up! was really funny
I finished Teioh and Orthros no Inu yesterday! 
in retrospective, Orthros no Inu was really good! the ending was weird, though
now, I'm thinking about what I want to watch next...there're so many doramas on my to watch-list...and I don't really know what I'm in the mood for  |
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| flintandtas |
| Posted: Oct 07, 2009 5:53 am |
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クラゲ, 流れ星
Joined: 07 Jul 2009
Posts: 8414
Location: Sydney, Australia
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It's been a while since I posted here, since then, Mr Brain has come and gone. Definitely lived up to its hype ( I was in Japan just before they started showing it and were they ever advertising it heavily then ). A really great cast, quite a bit if decent action and special effects as well. I gave a copy to my one of my non-converted friends as well so hopefully this will tip him over the edge.
Now watching (or rather nearly finished) Ryusei no Kizuna (yeah that's right Ryo Nishikido Yunchen ) . This show caught me completely off-guard in the first episode, it has some amazing mood swings , one minute it is so deeply serious and the next it's totally bizarre - but once I got used to that I've quite enjoyed it. I got quite a shock as well when M.N made a guest appearance. I was thinking who is that; I know her; then slapped my forehead when I realised who it was.
@mangomalte - Yeah, I agree Engine is really enjoyable, one of those series you just don't want to end
Still got so much good stuff to watch I haven't seen any of Stand up, Teioh, Orthros no Inu, Love Generation, Long Vacation or Zettai Kareshi Special yet |
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| Yunchen |
| Posted: Oct 07, 2009 6:42 am |
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恋愛写真
Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 1242
Location: Germany
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^ hehe, Nishikido Ryo ....
yeah, RyuKizu really has a variety of different moods to offer! I even wrote a review on it for one of my English courses and my teacher found it really interesting, so I got an A! 
when I said I'd reviewed a Japanese drama, she went "Atsuhime?" and I was like "WHY does she know the name of a Japanese drama???  "
I bet she went off to watch RyuKizu somewhere after reading my review....lol XDDD
uhm yeah....M.N.'s guest appearance...she has such a bizarre character, but she's always good for a laugh XD"
Zettai Kareshi SP...nice of you to remin me of that! I'd completely forgotten about it but I haven't seen it, either |
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