Takeshi Kitano appreciation

TheMack

finally saw Sonatine tonight. shit was soooo ill. not as good as Violent Cop or Fireworks, but still insanely dope. this dudes films are so great. So deep on so many levels

DOR

finally saw Sonatine tonight. shit was soooo ill. not as good as Violent Cop or Fireworks, but still insanely dope. this dudes films are so great. So deep on so many levels

I've seen Sonatine and fireworks. Both I liked... I also liked Brother and Zat??ichi was dope. A few of his films are kinda tho.

As for just straight acting, BR was dopppeee...

aleit

sonatine never grabbed me.

liked fireworks much more. seen that movie at least five times.

his version of zatochi is really good. caught it in the theatre when they released it. pretty true to the original.

yuichi

never seen any of those movies. i need to though. I have seen Brother and i liked it.

First and foremost though, he is the godfather of comedy in Japan. Loved across generations. Still doing it too.

twoply

finally saw Sonatine tonight. shit was soooo ill. not as good as Violent Cop or Fireworks, but still insanely dope. this dudes films are so great. So deep on so many levels

You've had the poster up on your wall, but you just now got around to seeing it?

At any rate, you're right. It's an amazing film. Just about all of his are. I just watched Boiling Point again last night. I even liked Kikujiro and that one about the mute surfer. I couldnt get into "...Getting Any Lately," but that's because I don't know shit about Japanese pop culture. I need to watch Dolls again. I really couldn't figure out if I liked it or not.

generique

I saw Hana-bi (great poetic violence) at the Rotterdam filmfestival and afterwards had to take a leak and while I was at it Kitano entered the bathroom and he took a leak next to me and I said, in the middle of all this action, that I thought his film was perfect and I really enjoyed it. As if this wasn't uncomfortable enough we got into this courtesy ritual as to who would open the door for the other. The only thing I think that was missing from this scene was that I would bow to him (he's Japanese, right?) and that he would do the same and we would bump our heads real hard. By the way, the guy is mean looking in real life with the scar and all. He was nice though and we had a quick talk after that in a less compromising spot.

There was beautiful music in that movie by the way. I must get me the soundtrack some day or is it rare, like the Ghost in the Shell one?

Mondeyano

Agreed.

Think Fireworks is really fucking good and I liked most of the stuff I've seen although I wasn't too fond of Brother.

Just picked up the LaserDisc of HanaBi a few weeks ago after surprisingly not finding any of his films in the many hundred LD bins I went through. Now all I need to do is to brush up my japanese so I'll understand the film without the subtitles.

Swayze

...you should check this one out as well. Waga jinsei saiaku no toki, translates into "the most terrible time in my life", super dark humor, funny as fuck. enjoy.

silvertone

beat is the man !

love that shit!

ariel_calmer

beat is the man !

Funny thing is he used to be a stand-up comedian.

grandpa_shig

First and foremost though, he is the godfather of comedy in Japan. Loved across generations. Still doing it too.

dude is fucking FUNNY. he can be seen on that MXC game show thing on spike tv. when i was out there, he was doing a TV show where it's just all these gaijin and he basically just caps on them. its some funny shit if someone can explain it to you.

but yeah, im a big fan of his movies. wasnt really feeling the zatoichi, but then, nothing can touch the OG's. hanabi is prolly my favorite. nice taste there themack. better than that david lynch crap.

MoSS

I've liked all of his films except that love crap Erotikkuna kankei. It was pretty shit. Blood and Bones was heat though. It's a 2004 film so you should check it out if you see it around.

bboyparkz

I don???t generally dig his films.
But.
His ???Dolls??? is on of the most beautiful films Iv ever seen.
Though my friends who generally dig his stuff though it sucked.

hcrink

beat is the man !

Funny thing is he used to be a stand-up comedian.

His comedy show was great! Wasn't it called "Downtown"? I like most of his movies, but I didn't like Sonatine as much as some of the others.

On_the_Red_Clay

Kikujiro is my hands-down favorite.

Big_Chan

LOVE Kitano's films. Dude is a one man industry in Japan. He has TV shows, radio shows and newspaper columns. He is VERY well educated and has a serious understanding of global politics. He sometimes has as many as six or seven different weekly TV shows in Japan. He'll have like a talk show, variety show, crazy game show, comedy show, etc. It is quite common to see him on TV every night of the week. Kitano keeps it gangster and is not to be FUCKED WITH! A few years back he was doing a movie with a VERY hot young actress. A tabloid magazine in Japan printed an article about Kitano with pictures of him and the actress together off the film set. The article suggested that they were having an affair. Kitano is married with kids and likes to keep his personal life private. He and his crew rolled up to the office of the magazine that published the article. Kitano asked where the writer was. Kitano then went right up to the writer's desk, picked him up out of his seat and SMACKED THE SHIT out of the guy in front of the whole magazine staff. Knocked the guy down onto the floor. Kitano does not have much of a problem with the tabloids after that. A lot of people suspect he is mobbed up with the Yakuza. The real Yakuza cats enjoy his films and have a great deal of respect for him because of the way he portrays gangsters in his films.
Funny thing is, his movies are NOT popular in Japan. In Japan he is number one as a television personality, but very few people care about his movies. People in Japan are only trying to watch Hollywood movies or the newest Miyazaki anime movie. Kitano films are HUGE in Europe and popular in North America as well. Kitano started a support Japanese films campaign and is trying to help the domestic Japanese film industry. My wife thinks his films are boring. She only really liked "Brother." Joe Hisaishi does most of the soundtracks for his films. DOPE composer. Crink, "Downtown" is those two dudes from Osaka and is not a Kitano show. Kitano is CRAZY paid. He used to have a chain of curry rice restaurants, but I think they all closed. His Tokyo house is two blocks from my mother in laws crib in Aoyama. The house is right on Killer Street. SUPER nice neighborhood. His house is three stories with a garage and it is huge. It is worth MILLIONS. I walk by his house almost every day when I'm in Tokyo. The garage has a couple of S class Benzes in it so his Rolls Royce is always parked on the street in front of the garage. Below is a picture of me on the street in front of his house from last summer. That's his Rolls Royce. The windows are tinted REAL dark. I think Kitano was in the car at the time, but his driver was waiting till no one was walking by to run him into the house. Dude at the back of the car by the trunk is his driver. I asked dude if we could take a picture with the car and he said sure. He was very polite. After we were done with the picture and we were walking away, Wifey said she is sure the driver is Yakuza.




Kitano =

grandpa_shig

ne


the big chan unmasked!

magnetic

I liked the movie "Brother" i decided to check out some other stuff from him and i made the mistake and purchased "Boiling Point" i didnt like at all.
Zatoichi was good though,i'm gonna buy that Zatoichi/Sonatine double bill dvd package.

TheMack

people really dig "Brother"? i didnt think it was very good. definitely some cool parts but not too good overall.

grandpa_shig

people really dig "Brother"? i didnt think it was very good. definitely some cool parts but not too good overall.

yeah, i thought it was crap and highly unbelievable

bboyparkz

The house is right on Killer Street.

Chan:

Iv asked so many people so maybe but maybe you know the answer:

Why is Killer Street called Killer Street? I meant its an unusual name!
And a few streets over there???s Cat Street?

Their weird names for a city where the streets generally don???t have names.

Big_Chan

The house is right on Killer Street.

Chan:

Iv asked so many people so maybe but maybe you know the answer:

Why is Killer Street called Killer Street? I meant its an unusual name!
And a few streets over there???s Cat Street?

Their weird names for a city where the streets generally don???t have names.

What up Parkz?

Good question. Why do they do all kinds of funny things with the English language in Japan? Why are small new apartments called "Mansions?" Why do Japanese kids like to wear t-shirts with English language slogans that make no sense? I'll be on Killer street in Aoyama with a cold Kirin beer in hand tomorrow night! I'll ask around and try to figure out the name for ya!
I hope you and your family are doing well. I know you work for the train system
in England and now must be a very hectic time. Stay safe and I'll have a post about Tokyo when I get back to Seattle in August.
One,

Chan

yuichi

damn Chan! i thought that was you for a second! like da-mn, you ballin' like that??? and is that your crib??? i suppose that is one of Takeshi's many cribs eh?

but still Seattle Mariners hat=