A Honeymoon in Hell: Mr & Mrs Oki's Fabulous Trip

Synopsis: Mr & Mrs Oki are what you would call a rather apathetic newlyweds, and no this has nothing to do with the storyline but it's a trait that you would constantly be reminded of throughout the entire movie. There initially was no plan other than to get on with life until one day a strange occurrence involving a lost rice steamer and a fish bought from the supermarket originating from Hell that intrigued them into a Honeymoon trip they will never forget.

Casts: Asami Mizukawa as Saki Oki, Yutaka Takenouchi as Nobuyuki Oki

Review: This is one of the most bizarre movie you would ever encounter. Perhaps for a Western audience there are a number of references of folklores, legends and customs that would be unfamiliar but it is understandable given that the many references were generated from Japanese cultures. But either way, this would be one trip that would intrigue, delight and entertain you in so many different ways.

The bizarre plot doesn't give you enough time to question what is happening and rather just forces you to accept it. The movie is not fast paced and rather reflective, it gives enough space in its quietness to present an atmosphere and on most occasions show the couple's indifferent and rather apathetic attitude, which is a good thing, given you're on a Honeymoon trip to Hell.

To be honest, I don't have much to complain about the movie because for the most part the bizarreness just neutralise the boring parts of the movie. But one thing that should be noted is that be aware when the main actor will be showing up in the theatre as a guest and be even more alert when there are heaps of Japanese women in the theatre.

Just to give a bit of premise, a friend and I went to see this movie out of our own accord. We didn't quite register at the time why the seats were sold out nor why there were so many Japanese women or women audiences in general in the theatre. Until I recalled that the main guest was going to visit for a Q&A session.

Let me just tell you this much, it was madness in the theatre as soon as Takenouchi-san walked down the side aisle to get to the front of the cinema. From all around our seats women stood up for a peek and flashes from cameras started blasting its way throughout the entire room. Herds of women ran down the aisle to get to the front of the cinema to swoon over the main guest. It was completely unexpected.

Personally, I have never seen such a scene before even when I saw Ewan McGregor as a guest for a Q&A session after a screening for another movie festival, the crowd didn't escalate to such an extent. It was quite a scene that I shan't forget for quite a while.

And on that note, I shall leave my review at that.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Image courtesy asianmediawiki.com

Princess Toyotomi

Synopsis: Osaka 2011, the National Audit Bureau was sent to the city of Osaka to do a government audit on institutions to assess irregularities in government money. Hajime Matsudaira (Shinichi Tsutsumi), Tadako Torii (Haruka Ayase) and Asahi Gainsbourg (Masaki Okada) were sent to do this grueling task. Everything went as planned except for the one occasion when Matsudaira-san mindlessly forgotten his mobile at the H.R.H. Foundation. This started a chain reaction that will bring these three unassuming National Audit Bureau members into the mystery of the city.

Through a series of investigation they discovered a 400-year-old secret buried beneath the City of Osaka.

Review: This was quite a disappointment in the end because admittedly the first half of the movie was very enjoyable and entertaining. It (unfortunately) began to falter towards a cliched second part of the movie. The movie sold itself as a high-pace comedy that began smartly but somehow towards the second half decided to change course towards the dramatic. This is when it became apparent that perhaps it oversold its intent at the beginning of the movie. As you can tell from my opinion of this movie I was rather disappointed but don't let this be a testament of the movie's merit

It has its moments of belly-aching laughter, smart puns, random and yet clever scripting so I think as a movie it was enjoyable to a certain extent. Don't let this deter you from viewing it because it has quite a fascinating plot. Let's just say... a Japanese version of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. Tabloid drama (or comedy, depending on how you look at it) with an edge.

Having said all of that just remember to eat something before this movie or you'll end up craving something at the end. I'm just trying to warn you now before it's too late.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Image courtesy asianmediawiki.com

15th Japanese Film Festival

Finally the 15th Japanese Film Festival is over. I'll partly miss it but on the one side am glad it has ended. Not as a reflection of the festival itself but rather trying to fit the movies into my schedule was definitely physically demanding. The posts following this brief introduction would be some reviews on the movies that I've seen within the period of the festival, which started on 17 November to its closing of today 27 November 2011.

Now let's begin.