Geek of Oz

The Japanese Film Festival is, without a doubt, one of my favourite events of the year. Not only is it incredibly well organised, but the line up is always assured to be top notch. But what happens if you miss out on seeing one of your most anticipated films? Running from the 9th to the 13th of July 2014,   JFF ENCORE  has got you covered! You can now see some of the best, Academy Award winning Japanese films of recent years. I sat down to have a chat to Masafumi Konomi, Artistic Director of Japan Foundation Sydney, to find out what we can expect from JFF ENCORE. Ryan: First of all, how did JFF Encore come to be?  Mr Konomi: 2014 marks the 18th year of the Japanese Film Festival, our main event in the JFF calendar. Over the years, more than 300 titles from a range of genres have been enjoyed by audiences across Australia. The Japanese Film Festival is traditionally held each year between October and December. As Artistic Director, I try to select the most...

Just when you thought that the Japanese Film Festival couldn't possibly get any bigger or better, The Japan Foundation Sydney have announced another wave of titles which are sure to delight. Whether you're a cinema purist, an indie-film lover, anime or manga fan, there's something included in this new wave that you're sure to love. Following on from Adelaide, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland, the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) 2014 continues its international tour with stops at Sydney’s Event Cinemas, George Street, and for the first time in Festival history, Event Cinemas, Parramatta from 13 – 23 November. In Melbourne, it will stop at Hoyts Melbourne Central and ACMI Cinemas, Australian Centre for the Moving Image from 27 November – 7 December. Over 50 titles will feature in the program with early bird tickets going on sale from 1 October in Sydney, and 15 October in Melbourne. Tickets are available for purchase via www.japanesefilmfestival.net or from the p...

Why wait until October to get your fill of Japanese cinema? From the 9th to the 13th of July 2014, the fine folks at Japan Foundation Sydney will be presenting the JFF ENCORE - JAPAN ACADEMY AWARDS EDITION which allows audiences to revisit some of the most critically acclaimed Japanese films in recent memory. Tickets can be booked ahead of time or at the venue for $18 for adults, $15 for concession and $13 for JPF members. Films in the inaugural JFF ENCORE - JAPAN ACADEMY AWARDS EDITION include: Departures (2008) Always - Sunset on Third Street (2005) Rebirth (2011) Tokyo Tower - Mom & Me, and Sometimes Dad (2007) Confessions (2010) Key of Life (2012) The Kirishima Thing (2012) When the Last Sword is Drawn (2003) Tickets will be available to purchase from japanesefilmfestival.net and at Event Cinemas, George Street, Sydney from June the 11th. ABOUT JFF ENCORE JFF Encore is a new addition to the Japanese Film Festival event calendar, featuri...

For those who missed the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) earlier this year, you're in luck. Because an off-season program called JFF Fringe , which will feature four contemporary Japanese films has just been announced. The films will be screened once only over the period of May 30 - August 29, 2018 at Sydney's Event Cinemas George St and Event Cinemas Brisbane City Myer Centre. Tickets are $15 each and are on sale at participating cinemas' box offices and online. For further details head over to www.japanesefilmfestival.net/jff-fringe-2018 Screening Schedule: May 30 - Gintama Lightening the mood is the live-action gag-comedy Gintama, set in an alternate universe where feudal Japan is occupied by aliens. June 27 - Honnouji Hotel Present meets past in the Australian premiere of Honnouji Hotel, an entertaining period film with a fantasy twist. July 30 - In This Corner of the World The beautifully hand-drawn animation In This Corner of the World ...

Could you imagine if you woke up tomorrow in someone else's life, or perhaps if you stole someone else's lifestyle? How would you present yourself as a Police officer, an actor or a drug dealer? Fact of the matter is, you'd probably do an absolute hatchet job of it because although we think that we know how other people's lives work, we really have no idea.  So what if you took on the role of a master assassin? Big shoes to fill, no? This is the basic premise of Kenji Uchida's KEY OF LIFE (鍵泥棒のメソッド). Takeshi Sakurai is a down-on-his-luck actor who, after considering suicide, crosses paths with Junitsu Kondo and immediately envies the cashed up assassin's lavish lifestyle. When and errant bar of soap gets the better of Kondo, Sakurai swoops in and takes over the lifestyle of the amnesiac hit man. But before this, we meet Kanae Mizushima, a dedicated magazine editor who announces her intention to get married even though she doesn't have a partner. This is...

Gantz the film is based upon the wildly successful Gantz manga and Gantz anime series created by Hiroya Oku. This is one seriously whacked out thrill ride. Luckily, or possibly unfortunately, the film is MUCH more tame than the manga and anime. There is a good chance that if it was kept panel for panel true, it would almost certainly have been refused classification. Kei, a socially awkward college student stumbles across an old friend at a local railway station. Next thing he knows he is helping his friend save an old drunk from an oncoming train which doesn't stop in time and kills Kei and his school friend Kato. Strangely, the boys find themselves in a white room, seemingly alive. Tasked with the destruction of alien invaders, Kato and Kei must hunt down strange creatures in a sadistic and bloody game of cat and mouse. You either win your life back or die trying.

Just when you thought that the Japanese Film Festival couldn't get any bigger or better, The Japan Foundation Sydney have announced FOUR superstar guests who will be attending this years festival in Sydney and Melbourne.

It seems only fitting that our first review of the 16th Japanese Film Festival, presented by the Japan Foundation, belongs to one of our favourite franchises, K-ON! (けいおん!) Long term followers of Geek Of Oz will have undoubtedly come across our overwhelming and unbridled love for the gals from Sakuragaoka Girl's High School and their shenanigans through season one and season two of the series as released locally by Madman . Five-piece girl band HO-KAGO TEA TIME have been together all throughout high school, and now it’s time to graduate. Ready to let their hair down and celebrate, they start planning a graduation trip - destination London! The band’s overseas debut is a whirlwind mix of gigs, adventures and comic mishaps, packed with K-ON style laughs, music and – of course – tea. Based on the wildly popular TV anime series, this is one for K-ON fans young and old. - Japan Foundation Check out the full review after the jump!

CGI extravaganzas are usually reserved for the likes of Michael Bay but this film, based on a long-running manga series of the same name, uses CGI to create nostalgia, not explosions. Always Sunset on Third Street (ALWAYS 三丁目の夕日) by director Takashi Yamazaki takes place not long after World War II over the course of one year while Tokyo Tower is being built. During the course of the film we meet seemingly disparate members of the local Tokyo community and following them through a series of life events. Released years ago on DVD by Madman, Always Sunset on Third Street is all but impossible to find locally. Thankfully, you'll be able to see it on the big screen in all of its honey-soaked glory. The real strength of this film is the characterisation of not only the main protagonists, but also secondary characters and Tokyo itself. The reason that these characters work so well is because they're all inherently flawed, as we all are. Their foibles to only highlight their hum...

With the dramatic sensibilities of a great zombie film, Shield of Straw replaces shambling corpses with every day people who are equally as driven by the almighty dollar as they are by justice. Kunihide Kiyomaru, a cold blooded pedophile and murderer, who finds himself in everyone's crosshairs when the victims Grandfather places a 1 billion dollar bounty on the criminals head. Charged with his safety and delivery to Tokyo for due process, Tokyo's finest police officers are assigned to the case and in protecting his life put their own on the line.  This is Japanese cinema on a Hollywood scale and proof that superstar director Takashi Miike (Audition, Ninja Kids!!! ) can do no wrong.

Imagine, if you will, the love-child of Naruto and Yo-Gabba-Gabba. Sure, its not the most likely of mash-ups but if you can wrap your head around it, you'd get Ninja Kids!!!  (忍たま乱太郎). Stylistically the film takes its cues from the original manga and anime series' Rakudai Ninja Rantaro by Sōbē Amako. Rantaro is born into a bottom tier, yet incredibly dedicated ninja family. In order to get the family back on track he is sent to a prestigious ninja academy to learn the sacred and spiritual art of ninjutsu. A boy who is swift of foot and pure of heart, Rantaro quickly excels at school and amasses a solid group of friends with whom he embarks on an adventure of snot covered peril. If only Rantaro could get a hang of those pesky throwing stars.... There is no way to truly explain Ninja Kids!!! You just have to see it for yourself.

Gantz: Perfect Answer is a direct continuation of the first film although it has a completely different feel to it. The dark angst remains but this film hits us with a fist full of anger and unbridled violence. When we left our hero, Kei (Kazunari Ninomiya), he was just finding his feel in this sick and twisted death match. Now when we return, he has fully embraced the power at his disposal and is a relentless killing machine. Kei and Kato return to their normal lives, albeit momentarily, and fall back into the routines of their daily routines. Kato cares for his brother while Kei focuses on a burgeoning relationship with college classmate Tae. Just when their routine begins to offer a sense of normalcy, Gantz plays the cruelest trick of all.

Making its Australian premiere at the Japan Foundation's 15th Annual Japanese Film Festival , Buddha: The Great Departure is an animated retelling of Osamu Tezuka's manga "Buddha" which ran for 14 volumes between 1972 and 1983. Although best known as the creator of Astro Boy , Tezuka was a prolific manga creator who often created stories that were much more dark, and sometimes disturbing, that our favourite little robot boy. The manga, and more importantly the film, is a gritty insight into what life may really have been like once the rose coloured glasses of religion are removed. Traces of sex, violence and a great deal of prejudice give sense of realism and weight to what would become the great Buddha's journey. Although not always as dark as the source material, Buddha: The Great Departure takes us into a world that is just as barbaric and magical as any fantasy world.

Reminiscent of Audition by Takasii Miike , Helter Skelter   is a thrilling insight into the insanity of living in the public eye, a fact that seems to resonate with the films director and lead actress. Dangerously beautiful superstar Lilico has the world at her feet. She also has a secret: she owes her entire ‘perfect’ body to plastic surgery. When a naturally gorgeous new talent arrives on the scene, Lilico’s reign is threatened – but this is just a precursor to a more sinister threat which could see Lilico spiral out of control. Directed by fashion photographer Mika Ninagawa, Helter Skelter is an unsettling, discordant visual feast that lays bare the perversion and pathology of beauty - Japan Foundation

The God of Ramen is a touching, heart-felt documentary about one mans' desire to serve people his deceptively simple ramen. Whist glaringly unpolished, the human story in the piece is so enveloping that the result is a compelling, if bittersweet, film that should definitely be seen. For over forty years, Kazuo Yamagishi has served thousands of queuing fans his signature ramen dish. This isn't the upmarket end of Japanese cuisine; it's basic but superbly executed rustic-style fare that captures his diners’ adoration and devotion. The film focuses upon the twilight of Yamagishi’s career as he is struggling with health issues and coming to terms with the modern world starting to leave him behind.

The hardest part of writing this entire review was deciding what to name the film! In Japan it is known as The Borrower Arrietty , in the US The Secret World of Arrietty and in the UK simply Arrietty . I decided to go with the UK version, Arrietty, not only because its what the Japan Foundation call it but also because it is easier to write. Although the source material is based upon Mary Norton's "The Borrowers", there can be no doubt that this is a Studio Ghibli affair. No one, not even the House of Mouse, manages to make animated films of such a high quality and with as much soul as our dear Arrietty. This film is comparable to a big, ol' slice of chocolate mudcake. It looks delicious, its sweet and moreish and even those who aren't all that fond of mudcake will still love it.

Gatchaman is a mildly entertaining superhero film which sadly lacks the must-see moments to warrant a viewing. The production design is best summed as an unhappy marriage between low-budget practical and computer-generated effects, resulting in a film that is all too often reminiscent of an episode of Power Rangers .

For many older fans of Japanese animation, 1974's Space Battleship Yamato was the first and most enduring series which was heavily edited and subsequently screened in many western countries under the guise of " Star Blazers ". Before Star Wars, Yamato paved the way with a grand sweeping space opera which was rehashed for years to come, finally culminating in 2010's live-action blockbuster which will be screening at this years Japanese Film Festival thanks to the Japan Foundation . The year is 2199. Earth is besieged by a ruthless onslaught of nuclear attacks by an alien race, the Gamila's. To escape the radioactive wasteland above, humans have retreated underground and all but resigned themselves to eventual annihilation. In a last ditch effort the United Nations Space Administration launch their greatest weapon, Space Battleship Yamato, hoping to find a cure for their  dying planet.

SMASH! 2012 was huge. Upon entering the main exhibitor floor it was immediately apparent that, compared to last year, numbers were well and truly up. Perhaps because of the fantastic line up of stars or perhaps because the state of anime fandom in Australia is on the rise. Either way, we had a ball at SMASH! and look forward to 2013. Follow on after the jump to check out a few photos from throughout the day (click to enlarge) and don't forget to check out our coverage of the Madman panel , the Hanabee panel and our interview with the lovely Sakura Tange!

Bunny Drop, based on the manga and anime series of the same name by Yumi Unita, tells a tale which, while wildly left of centre, is able to be appreciated at its most basic level by anybody who has ever had to make a major change in their life for the good of another. At his grandfather’s funeral, 27-year-old Daikichi discovers a family member he never knew he had: six-year-old Rin, his late grandfather’s illegitimate daughter. Abandoned by her mother and left alone by her father’s death, little Rin has nowhere to go. When Daikichi takes pity on her and decides to take her under his wing, the sudden change for both of them brings Daikichi to understand what it takes to be a single parent. This award-winning heartwarmer features acclaimed child actor Mana Ashida - Japan Foundation Check out the full review after the jump!