i'm a huge Miike fan, i have pretty much every film he's made, which is hard seeing as he makes about 5 films a year.
everyone has their own favorite miike film, that being either ichi the killer or audition.
i on the other hand love the DOA series. dead or alive 2 being the favorite. just something about getting short to hell and living long enough to eat some noodles that gets me.
anyone got their favorite miike film that they care to speak up about?
I've only seen one of his films - Odishon/Audition.
A real slow burn psychological-thriller/horror and then a powerful punch at the end. Really disturbing as it descends into a Hellraiser kind of fantasy.
The main reason I watched it was a few people commented on a script that I wrote, mentioning my anti-heroine reminded them of the woman in Miike's Audition - sweet and innocent on the exterior, but there's a scary side to her, lurking beneath the surface. And she hurts a lot of men, which is similar too...
So, I'm guessing you'd be happy with Miike directing the action in Hipster & the Schoolgirl? His kinda film?
you gotta watch Dead or Alive. it has the most insane first 10 minutes of any movie ever made. that was the first miike film i ever watched. and it was the heavily edited version i got from blockbuster. after hearing how much was cut, i went and bought the collectors edition with all three films.
part two i mentioned already, and part three has giant penis robots at the end. why? no idea. they're just there.
he did this amazing western called Sukiyaki Western Django. everyone speaks english in the film, but none of the actors know how to speak engilsh they just memorized their lines and nothing else. it also features QT as an old cowboy.
his latest film was 13 Assassins. hands down i say it's his best film. the last hour is this giant battle in a town of death. 13 ronin against 200 soldiers. even if you arent a miike fan, you'll love this movie.
as for Hipster & The Schoolgirl, only Sean Tracy can direct it. or Miike. either or. though my main goal is to get people to answer the phone like Masa does. Crazy MotherF%@ker hotline. if one person answers the phone with that, i'll be happy.
I watched the first 10 minutes of Sukiyaki Western Django last night (thanx Netflix) and it was crazy good!!! I dig the whole visual style and the action and quirkiness. Added bonus seeing QT as a cowboy.
This is how Takashi Miike fans are born. I'm set to watch the rest of it, and any others I can lay my hands on.
I liked the East meets West vibe, too. Things like the Japanese torii with the hanging corpse. I actually wrote a version of BH with a geisha working in a wild west cathouse, so this was right up my street. Also, I like Kurosawa's Yojimbo, which it looked like Miike blended with American spaghetti-westerns... So, I though Sukiyaki was a cool concept, crashing cultures together, to make something different and "new."
Miike and Tracy should get together on this Hipster film! I think their artistic/directing styles would compliment each other... Or, if Miike's busy with his dozens of movies that he makes each year, then I'm sure Tracy would rock it solo.
SWD is pretty much the reused formula of Yojimbo, which has been done so many times i've lost count, but i still loved it. maybe i'm blind to it, but i also like QT's acting. he isn't great but i put him about as good as Marilyn Manson's acting.
was looking on netflix, they have the unrated version of DOA. if i had netflix back then i might of not spent so much on getting all his movies.
ichi the killer is up for streaming and it's the unrated version. he used real blood in this movie. well, real pig blood and guts. in the commentary he talks about how horrible the set smelled, he also kinda makes fun of QT, calling him a fanboy.
if you're a david lynch fan you might like Gozu. it's really strange and funny. it also has the craziest ending i've ever seen. but you need to watch the unrated version.
i would have liked to of seen a geisha girl in Black Hat. but i guess half the budget alone would have gone just in to the makeup. in 13 Assassins they talked about this pretty and young geisha girl and when we see her, she turns around and she has no eyebrows. was just creepy looking. then i noticed none of the girls had eyebrows. must have been the style back then or something. like how we had poodle hair and big shoulder pads in the 80's.
ST talked about doing a test film for Hipster & The Schoolgirl, but he's got a lot on his plate right now i guess. and i think the budget would be too high. not to mention you would have to find an actor willing to play the piano with his junk.
Maybe we're crazy, but I find QT compelling to watch. He has a monologue in Four Rooms and Desperado, both are great scenes. If it's not acting, it's his wild-eyed enthusiasm in how he tells a story. He doesn't just tell it - he sells it.
So, I think QT, TM, or ST would have fun with Hipster. In the case of ST, I'm sure a lot of possibilities open up, depending on the outcome of the contest. We'll have to wait and see, but I know I'd like to see more of his movies - sooner rather than later!
Still, I'm definitely interested in seeing Hipster on the screen. Just like Velvis, the dialogue is killer. FYI - I've got a script idea percolating that I think would be a cool collab... Get ST onboard, too. QT might do a cameo. First I'm watching DOA.
i guess i kinda got inspired by this film called Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl. i can't remember what it's about but the title stuck with me. after i got done watching Kil Bill vol. 1 at the theater, i went across the street to a blockbuster and rented that and DOA. i mostly just wanted to write a story where everyone was the bad guy. like a slasher film where the killer finds out that everyone he's been killing is a serial killer too.
dont forget QT's small role in Destiny Turns on the Radio and him as this blind preacher in Little Nicky. i think he was also on Alias.
i got a feeling Sean Tracy is going to be big, we gotta snatch him up before he goes all hollywood on us and shaves that beard.
So, Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, that's another Japanese movie? But, it's not a Miike film... Takeshi Kitano has made some good films, too.
I think QT also directed that Alias episode. It was like a Killing Zoe/Reservoir Dogs heist on SD-6... He is a bit of a fanboy, as he gets involved in the TV shows he loves. That's how he hooked up with Clooney, after directing that awesome ER episode which made Clooney into a hero. The whole episode was focused on Clooney saving the day.
I agree about ST going big time. He already has the talent, and the entourage.
However, if he decides to shave his beard, we'll both need to grow one to compensate, otherwise the Earth will fall off its axis.
i never watched that many asian films because i hated reading subtitles, but i got over it. that title Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl just pulled me in. i can't remember what it's about or if it was good, but i love that title. though it does remind me of that Robert Rodriguez film Sharkboy and Lavagirl. i don't get how RR can just make a film like Machete then to a bunch of films written by his kids.
"Beat" Takeshi! love him! he is the man. more on him later.
Sonatine i guess is the film everyone has seen of him. thinking it might be that QT has his face on the cover saying you gotta watch this. they had a gun fight in an elevator. how cool is that? it ended on a strange note though. i think he kills himself, right? he has a different way of directing, he likes these long static shots of nothing, then bursts of violence. for some reason it works for him.
one of my favorite scenes comes from his film Brother. where they have him at gunpoint in the car and he just pushes the gun away, causing the car to crash. i think that's another movie where they go out firing in a hailstorm of bullets.
are we the entourage? i see myself more like his stalker. every great director needs a good stalker. i dont know about the beard thing, i dont think i can pull it off. but if it's to save the world, maybe i'll give it a try. maybe.
Brother is a great example of Beat Takeshi's films, and Violent Cop, Sonatine, Johnny Mnemonic... Maybe not the last one, but he is in it.
I love how the Japanese adore him and named him a national treasure, he's so revered over there. You can't switch on the TV without seeing him talking on a panel or gameshow. BTW, Takeshi's Castle is funny stuff, and totally the opposite of his movies - it's like the original inspiration for the ABC show Wipeout.
I prefer to think of you as Sean's #1 fan. Unless you send him a vial of your blood and then you're a stalker. I guess his entourage would be the dedicated crew of friends who help behind-the-scenes on his films (and sometimes they jump in front of the camera for a cameo, too!). They really make it possible to put together a production even when your budget is tight. And I think they have a great time doing it - have you heard the laughter on the Black Hat bloopers? :-)
hey, Johnny Mnemonic has a place... somewhere. it wasn't as bad as... well it does have Keanu... i give up. no! wait! on VHS it did come in bright orange. that's something. right? i liked the cool laser ring thing, gotta get me one of those. and that dolphin that could speak.
Takeshi's Castle aired on spike a few years ago but they dubbed over it and made it like MST3K. can't remember what they called it, it was damn funny though, always ended the show with dont get eliminated! i remember watching it and thinking, hey, this guy looks a lot like Beat. but Beat would never do a game show. but you're right, wipeout is such a ripoff.
so you're saying don't send him my blood or do?
i knew there had to be some out takes of the guy with the shotgun trying to pump it in the air. and i was right. it's not as easy as it looks. i liked the redeye spit take, that was good. it looked almost as bad as this chocolate wine i just drank. yuck.
Johnny Mnemonic sounded so good. We all loved Speed and wanted to see Keanu continue his action streak with another hit. And the premise was intriguing - he has a hard drive in his head and if he doesn't download the data his head explodes. It sounded like Speed except "there's a bomb in your brain... if you don't get it out in 24 hours, your head blows up. What do you do? What do you do?!"
Not sure where it all went south. Probably the talking dolphin in the giant fish tank. And Dolph Lundgren was a weird preacher man; he was barely recognizable. Ice-T was in it, too.
Bizarrely, Tank Girl came out the same year and that also starred Ice-T - playing a kangaroo-human hybrid. And, somehow, it was better than Johnny Mnemonic.
Wow, 1995 was a strange year for future-based movies...
How about Battle Royale? A much better future-based film - Japanese school children compete in a new gameshow... to the death!
dont forget Strange Days, that came out in 95 too. that one was my favorite, who wouldn't want to record a memory and play it back so you can keep reliving it? and it was one of Tom Sizemore's last films before he got black listed from hollywood.
who would have thought that Tank Girl, TANK GIRL! would be better than Johnny Mnemonic but it was. a movie that had giant kangaroo people, and Malcolm McDowell as a crazy man that wants to make water using people. who would drink that by the way? a guy made a machine that can turn pee into water, but you gotta pay someone to actually wanna drink that. no one will be waiting in line to drink pee water.
i was never a fan of Battle Royale. i always found it funny how someone would profess their love in their last seconds of life. the sequel had Riki Takeuchi, who was the star of like every Miike film since film one. i think Riki and Beat have themselves one hell of a fight at the end too.
another influence was Seijun Suzuki. he did films like Branded to Kill, Tokyo Drifter, Pistol Opera he did that one when he was 80 something. if you've seen Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog, it uses a lot of shots and scenes from Branded to Kill. i figured if it wasn't for this guy, Miike would never have made the films he has, so the least i could do was name a character based on him. though the character is a psycho the cuts peoples eyes out, so maybe not the best homage.
A Participant says:
might be off topic, but has any one seen i saw the devil
when it comes to me and T, there's really no topic too off for us.
I Saw the Devil was amazing. it was one of those films i've heard about and heard about, then when it went to dvd i never bothered to watch it. but i caught a trailer for it on another dvd and right there i knew i had to rent it. it's one of those films you know it's going to get a US remake, like Oldboy. just a matter of time.
speaking of Oldboy, i think Spike Lee is set to direct. i remember when Brad Pitt then will smith were going to star in this, maybe smith still is, not sure.
I Saw the Devil is a revenge flick. but after our hero F's up, the killer gets away, kills the rest of the family, there really isn't much left for you to do to him. nothing you do will give you satisfaction. but getting the killer's family to finish him off was a nice trick.
Yep, these threads are fairly organic - we just go with the flow.
I've heard people raving about I Saw the Devil. Not sure if I can hold out much longer before checking it out... Definitely want to watch it before Hollywood orders a remake! Spike Lee is circling in the sky and who knows where he might land next...
Apparently there's a Hollywood remake of Battle Royale in the works, too!
Why can't we just watch films with subtitles like the rest of the world?
you mean read? like while watching a movie? that's crazy talk.
i think i might have spoiled the ending to I Saw the Devil for you. you will remember nothing. Forget Spike Lee, I wanna see another Spike Jonze film. he's gone back to making short films again. no one watches short films, granted no one watched Where the Wild Things Are either.
guess we find out on wed who the finalists are. dont expect Hipster & The Schoolgirl to be one of them. but it was nice to at least make the first round. i guess they stopped handing out the tsotchkes. was going to go for the shirt this time. would still be cool if they handed out mouse pads, i still really need a new one.
Spike Jonze made cool music videos back in the day - very short 'short films'. Beastie Boys and Fat Boy Slim vids being some of his best...
I'm hoping Hipster moves forward as I think Stacey Sher would dig the writing style/vibe of the script. And it would be cool for a script to win that I would actually pay to watch!
I think this is our last chance for Black Hat as it's the final cut. Sean's receiving a prize of $1,000 this month. Now it's just a case of finding out whether we walk away with $1,000 or $100,000...
Re: tsotchkes -- First month I got a mug, second month a hat, didn't get asked last month (maybe they forgot?) and this month they asked me, so... I considered completing the trilogy of gifts with a t-shirt, but instead I opted for another mug.
Now I will have two mugs for my redeyes, and a black hat to keep the sun out of my eyes...
i think my best option is to try and seduce Stacey Sher. that way she will have to read it and like it.
well let's hope it's $100,000. but a thousand isn't anything to be sad about either. you know how many redeyes you could drink with a thousand bucks? a thousand of them? i dont know how much redeyes cost. i'm thinking less than a taco at Taco Bell. i think if it doesn't win this time around ST will pull his beard off. maybe i should send him some of my blood, that might make him feel better.
would you ever wear the t-shirt out in public though? or the hat? i just feel strange wearing it. i like hats, but i can't seem to want to wear it out in public. some Elvis sunglasses would be nice. though i'm sure they would say amazonstudios on the side.
We're planning two parties to celebrate Black Hat's victory - one is a lavish night of gowns and candelabras and magic. The other is a $20 trip to Taco Bell and then a few homemade redeyes to wash 'em down.
Just depends on the number of zeros on the check...
And, if we win, I would definitely wear the hat to Taco Bell, or any other fine dining establishment. I might even pretend I'm Roy Price and see if we get a nicer table or special service.
We're planning two parties to celebrate Black Hat's victory - one is a lavish night of gowns and candelabras and magic. The other is a $20 trip to Taco Bell and then a few homemade redeyes to wash 'em down.
Just depends on the number of zeros on the check...
And, if we win, I would definitely wear the hat to Taco Bell, or any other fine dining establishment. I might even pretend I'm Roy Price and see if we get a nicer table or special service.
You're invited, of course... But, if this accidentally double-posts again, it's still only good for one invite.
Last time I posted about an imaginary party, it turned into the gate-crashing scene from Weird Science with that biker gang from hell...
hey, it happens. last time i had a party an old zombie cowboy showed up, kept talking about this crystal skull and his partner Slim. then a caterpillar-dog showed up and we had to go back in time to the wild west to battle said Slim. just a crazy time we all had. they even made a movie based on it called House 2. never seen it though.
who is to say you can't have magic and tacos? the two kinda go hand-in-hand. or magic tacos, they're the best.
speaking of magic and tacos, just heard some great news, Captain Planet is getting a live action tv series on cartoon network! everyone hold your rings up. i said hold them up!
