Cambiare - The Suspiria Bar

I've been up to a lot of no good this week. On top of trying to get screenings going for my film "New Neighbor", I put up a piece on the production of the three episodes of "The ABCS of Death" I was on set for in my blog over at Monster Pictures, a DVD / Blu-ray label down in Australia.

If you want to check out that blog entry, click on this photo of Arisa Nakamura I took on set as she attempts to "cut the cheese" for the camera on "F is for Fart".

In more personal news, I went to the opening of "Cambiare", AKA The Suspiria Bar, in the Golden Gai section of Shinjuku on 6 June 2013.

As I'm too lazy to write my own entry, I am copy-pasting the Wiki entry on Golden Gai:

"Golden Gai is a small area of Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, famous both as an area of architectural interest and for its nightlife. It is composed of a network of six narrow alleys, connected by even narrower passageways which are just about wide enough for a single person to pass through. Over 200 tiny shanty-style bars, clubs and eateries are squeezed into this area."

Well, unless you are some kind of a fat pig you can easily navigate the so-called "narrower passageways". Other than that, I guess this description is spot-on.

I've been going to Golden Gai off and on for a couple of years now. One of the things I like about it is that it's quiet and in general, a good chill spot to meet up with friends. The things I don't like about it are that it can be pricy and, as with most small bars in Japan, they have a table charge. (If you are unsure if you are being charged to occupy chair space, you'll know for certain if the bartender places some sort of food item in front of you. This can range from a simple cup of peanuts to some sort of cooked item.) I guess if you drink like a fish a table charge is not a big deal, but I don't pound away the brew, and sometimes just want a single beer. I don't mean I milk a beer for hours on end, I mean, sometimes I have a beer and split. In that scenario a table charge is a huge pain in the ass.

The other I thing don't like about the area - and this really is no fault of the area itself - are annoying foreigner types looking to impress friends back home with their stupid tales of "wild Japan" who turn Golden Gai into some kind of virtual reality Blade Runner theme park. I'm not knocking the area, but as I said, it's a pretty quiet spot and, when you get down to it, is basically a friggin' dump.

But, as a long time fan of Goblin, Argento and of course the film "Suspiria", there wasn't anyway I wasn't going to not spend the entire 20minutes it takes to get from my home to Golden Gai. I'd also been invited to go by my friend Yoshiki Takahashi, who acted as an advisor on the design of Cambiare.

Yoshiki and I hit our favorite yakiniku restaurant beforehand where we reaffirmed our commitment to the nonproliferation of vegetarianism.

The "Suspiria" bar is on the second floor of a building at the end of one of the alleyways of Golden Gai. The sign out front and in the flyer said that for the opening they had an all you can eat and drink price of 3,000 yen in effect. This sounded reasonable to me, especially for Golden Gai.

We walked in to find the place jam packed, which is totally what I expected. People were pressed together and chatting fiercely with beers held close to their faces since arms couldn't be lowered - all while the Goblin song "Black Forest" played over head.

In no time friends turned up. They included artist Miyako Kojima, heavy metal enthusiast Mika Tatamama, model / translator Haruka Hazard, dancer Maico Tsubaki, actor Yuya Ishikawa, impossible to describe Roserose Moonwitch and writer Kiichiro Yanashita, to name a few. Yeah, good friggin' times.

The bar itself was cool and as advertised is based on imagery found in the Dario Argento film "Suspiria". The left wall has the same black / white (silver?) flower design as found in Olga's room while on the other side of the bar is a stained glass window like in the hallway of Suzy's school, at least I guess that's where it's from, I'll have to re-watch the film to make sure. There was also some floor design stuff going on but this was impossible to admire since the place was so packed. Hanging from the ceiling was a red chandelier that I couldn't figure out where in "Suspiria" it comes from. (I guess I really do need to re-watch it!) Best of all, there was Goblin music going on all night. This is for me ultra-bliss. I should mention that I could sit in a Greyhound bus terminal all day and be happy as long as they had Goblin coming from the speakers. 

I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a wall given over to any Escher prints like in the film. There also weren't any Suspiria items, like posters or lobby cards. I guess you could say that the bar is more about the art direction and style of Suspiria than Suspiria the movie. If this is so, I think they could do a little more to up the ante in this department with a few more bits from the film. But what the hell? A bar based on the art direction of "Suspiria"? Yeah baby!

On the way home I was thinking... "I should open a bar based on the art direction in Romero's zombie films! We can have the windows boarded up on one end, and on the other have a blow up photo of the second floor of the Monroeville Mall! Yeah, that's totally what I should do!

Until next time...

New Neighbor - The Poster

The poster for "New Neighbor" is complete!

Created by writer / designer Yoshiki Takahashi, it is pretty much everything I could have hoped for. Hats off to Yoshiki for another amazing contribution to the "New Neighbor" production.

I'm also pleased to announce too that the film will have its premiere screening tomorrow night (Friday 24 May) at "Japan Filmfest Hamburg" in Hamburg, Germany.

Here's a link to the film's entry...in German of course.
http://www.jffh.de/2013/new-neighbor/

Until next entry...

Trailer for New Neighbor

I'm happy to report that after much back and forthing, my awesome editor Yasu Inoue and I have completed the trailer to my upcoming film, "New Neighbor".

Actually, the film itself was completed this past week. It's hard to believe that two years has past since I first thought up the story and over a year since the bulk of the shooting was completed. But that's the way it goes for small productions. Not able to pay out a lot, I have to work around other people's schedules or figure out how to do things myself. This is not a complaint at all. I feel lucky that I can do the things I want and with people I like and respect. Everyone involved with "New Neighbor" has only been 100% supportive.

Next week I'll be announcing the first screening of "New Neighbor". I'm also working on more screenings.

Here's the trailer... I hope you like it.

(Click photo to access trailer:)

And now The iDol does facebook!

Taking a cue from the page I made for my upcoming film, "New Neighbor", I decided to make a similar page for my first film, "The iDol".

Click the banner to visit and perhaps bestow the page with one of those much sought after "likes":

Why now after all these years since finishing the film?

First off, I've never been happy with the outcome of the film and how it's never gotten a release. While I'm well connected to filmmakers, I'm not so when it comes to the business end. I did have a few meetings with DVD companies in Japan, but I felt their offers were self-serving and there was a general sense of laziness to the way they do business (a common problem in Japan). I wasn't looking to retire from the film, but I also wasn't looking to getting ripped off, or get with some company I have to bow to all the time while they do nothing (a common problem in Japan). So, I've basically sat on the film...

However, that's about to change.

A month or so ago, the on-line video service Vimeo introduced an "on demand" option. As such, I'll be offering "The iDol" on the site in a few weeks time. I have a few things to do on the film before it is available, however. Now that I'm a professional subtitler I'm giving the film a new set of subs I feel will make it more enjoyable for non-Japanese speakers. I also have to work out my account with Vimeo (figure out how this on demand thing works!) and get the film's splash page looking pretty. Thank god it's the holiday time in Japan (Golden Week) so I can sit at Starbucks all day long working on it while everyone else is out having fun... :-/

In the meantime, I've uploaded a trailer to "The iDol" that I made this week. It's more what we call in Japan an "image trailer" as it's a collection of random scenes from the film. My hope is that this will give viewers a taste of the variety of material found within the film.

Here's the trailer:

(Click photo for trailer:)

I'll update the blog again once the film is up and ready for eyeball consumption!

Monster Pictures & The Devil's Path

I've been doing a blog over at Monster Pictures, a DVD / Blu-ray company down in Australia that specializes in horror and strong content film. I met their head honcho Neil when he was in Japan about two years ago. He came by the Nikkatsu Studio office when I was interviewing Megumi Kagurazaka for the "Guilty of Romance" and Iguchi for "Tomie Unlimited" DVDs. Neil and I have been talking off and on about me writing for his website and last month I took the plunge.

I've done two entries so far. The first was just a "who the hell is this guy anyway?" kind of entry. The last was a detailed look at the Tokyo premiere of Lust of the Dead 2 and 3.

Here a link to the Lust of the Dead blog:

Monster Picture's The Gemba Getaway

I don't know if it's the best title, but I call my blog there, "The Gemba Getaway."

Gemba being the Japanese word for set...as in movie set.

In other news, I've just finished subtitling the upcoming Nikkatsu film "The Devil's Path." The original title is "Kyoaku," but this didn't work so well in English. So, I changed it.

"The Devil's Path" is produced by my friend Yoshinori Chiba and directed by Kazuya Shiraishi. It is a fantastic film that is both well acted and deftly directed. I visited the set once and, man, was I scared out of my wits! The story, based on real events, is about a reporter following up on confessions of a death row inmate. This leads to the discovery of some rather vicious crimes. The scene I saw was one of the most brutal scenes in the film and one of the most intense I've ever seen filmed.

I finished subtitling "The Devil's Path" last week and am now polishing off the promotional writing.

This is the Japanese poster, or at least the chirashi... The international one is in production now.

New Neighbor Does facebook

Quick update here.

As I'm nearing completion of "New Neighbor," my new film, I've made a facebook page for it. While there's not a whole lot to the page (what can you really do in facebook other than chit-chat?), I've made a few photo folders that give a pretty good idea of what the film looks like. I suppose I'll post information too when I feel the need.

Speaking of finishing the film, the production has reached its tail end. Final tasks include color correction, title creation, and sound mixing. I anticipate the film will be finished in the first half of April.

Click on the banner beneath, visit the page, and if so inclined, click the "like" button.

Click me to go to the New Neighbor facebook page.

Back From The Dead...And Ready to Blog!

Well, I've totally let my blogging life go to pot, which when you get down to it isn't any great crime against humanity. For one thing, I make most of my income writing so it's hard to justify getting away from writing by doing more of it. Besides, what purpose does a vanity blog serve? Does anyone read this thing? Hello out there! 
(OK...Now that I've gotten my blog disclaimer out of the way, it's down to business!!)

The New Year came, but like most holidays, I didn't care all that much. It's odd how quiet New Year's is in Japan when compared to the party-like-it's-the-end-of-the-world style in my native America. I used to party hop relentlessly on NY's eve back when I lived in New York City, going from apartment to apartment until I couldn't take another step. Unless you're going to hang out in some gaijin club, this isn't the case in Japan. This year I joined a small group over at my friend Yoshiki's house where we watched "The Avengers" on his insanely large Blu-ray projector system. I brought a bottle of tequila along, which I sadly couldn't get anyone to join me in downing!

Work goes well. I've managed to keep up with my monthly deadlines for Eiga Hiho, writing slices of Times Square life back in the 1980s. As mentioned in the previous post as something I was going to do, I penned a full page about my love of the film "Howard the Duck" and the month before that I detailed my adoration for horror hostess Elvira and told the story of a funny encounter I had with her on Times Square around 1986.

This month is the big, end of the year "best / worst films of 2012" issue and as such my column is on a one month hiatus. But don't think I'm out of the picture. I contributed plenty of scathing thoughts on what I feel to be the past year's film merits and demerits. For this issue I also contributed a two-page, full-color story about what it was like working as staff photographer on DEAD SUSHI.

All in all, I think I'm pretty lucky to have a forum such as Eiga Hiho available to me. I can write whatever I want, say whatever I want, and best of all, curse as much as I want – and with it reach tens of thousands of people around Japan each month. A guy can get saddled with worse jobs, you know.

Speaking of DEAD SUSHI, the movie opened in Japan recently. I went on opening night to some theater in Shinjuku (can't recall the name off hand) to take photos of director Iguchi and nearly everyone from the cast as they stood and talked to the audience before the show. After this all of us who worked on the film went to a nearby izakaya to celebrate.

I have to say, the people I worked with on DEAD SUSHI are some of the best I've met. Sure, everyone's a bit usual (like I'm not?), but they know the meaning of hard work and do what has to be done to get the job finished. So, not only do I like everyone, I respect everyone. Best of all, they know how to hold a party. Iguchi is insanely funny and always seems to know the right words to say in front of everyone. He's a great party host.

Rina Takeda, the lead actress in DEAD SUSHI, happens to be one of the most charming, down-to-Earth actresses I have ever met. Is it cliche to say how I love her? At one point during the night I spied her in a close huddle with co-star Shigeru Matsuzaki and nudged Yoshiki. "Check it out," I said. "Rina's about to cry." Sure enough, not thirty seconds later, tears of joy were running down her face. We all began chanting "Speech! Speech!" And sobbing non-stop, she stood and went on and on about how DEAD SUSHI was one of the best experiences of her life. Oddly, as she spoke, everyone began chanting "Norman! Norman!" As the set photographer, it seemed it was up to me to snap photos of Rina as she cried.

One thing I'm quite proud of is the DEAD SUSHI theater program book. I've always been a huge fan of Japanese movie program books and have a stack of them in my room. They are well designed and chock full of photos. For DEAD SUSHI's, other than the photos taken in a studio for the film's poster and PR and frame caps from the film, all the photos are ones I took on the set last year. I picked up a copy at the theater after the screening and excitedly thumbed through to see how my work was used. I honestly think it's an amazing looking program book and it is something I'll cherish until the day I die.

The subtitling gig goes well. I recently completed the film THE COMPLEX directed by Hideo Nakata of RING and DARK WATER fame. I've known Nakata for over a decade having done numerous interviews with him during the J-horror boom at the turn of the century. He even got me a job writing an essay for the theater program book of THE RING 2 back in 2005. when it came out in Japan. It was a real thrill to finally work on one of his films, and one that is his first, true horror film since DARK WATER.

THE COMPLEX opens in Japan in May, but will have its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival this month. The movie stars Atsuko Maeda, who was a lead singer in AKB48 until she "retired" – whatever that means – a half a year or so ago. We had a cast / staff screening last November and Nakata was kind enough to introduce me to Atsuko, who can now boost of surviving the full brunt of my inanity. Seriously, though, Atsuko was very nice and I enjoyed talking to her. She's also a good screamer, which is a must for horror film actresses.

In addition to the subtitles, I wrote the catch copy for the film as well as came up with the English title "THE COMPLEX". In case you're wondering, it's called "Kuroyuri-danchi" in Japanese, which translates to "The Black Lilly Apartments").

If you want to know more about the film, here's a story I did on it for the Fangoria website: 

Fangoria article on THE COMPLEX 

Also since the last entry, I went over to Toei Studios for a staff / cast screening of Shusuke Kaneko's "The Centenarian Clock". I have a small speaking part in this (really small) but I'm just glad to be a part of the film. I really loved it. Being an old softie, I must have cried five times during the screening. Kaneko's good at tugging the heartstrings. The film also has an appearance by Kumi Mizuno, who is my favorite Toho actress of all time (if only for her great performance in WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS). While we don't do a scene together, at least I'm in a film with the goddess Kumi!

Afterward we had a small party at a restaurant near Toei. I had a totally great time talking about deviant behavior in the 60s and 70s with Mickey Curtis, the film's male lead. The film opens in Japan in a month or two. At some point I'm supposed to do subtitles. I also came up with the film's English title, the Japanese being "Hyakunen no tokei".

Another film I helped out on, MORATORIUM, had its premiere on November 10th at a "space" in Shibuya. As it is just a 30min film, the show was rounded out with some other shorts. Attending the screening was its director Takashi Hirose, a young guy with a lot of ambition. I have a very small scene as a zombie, which I wrote of in a previous blog entry.

Also making the scene were Asami (she starred in MORATORIUM) and directors Noboru Iguchi and Takashi Shimizu of THE GRUDGE fame. Before the screening there was some bizarre zombie performance piece that was quite fun, gory, and I got a lap dance from a decaying, bloody dancer. My kind of night.

My own filmmaking work goes well, and I've finished several "Behind the Scenes" films recently. One was for the Naoyuki Tomomatsu film "Lust of the Dead" parts 2 and 3, (shot simultaneously). I pieced together a 27min film from video I shot on the three days I spent on set (my tolerance limit for this kind of movie) that pretty much exposes the absurdity that goes on when Tomomatsu takes the helm. It should be on the film's DVD, unless the director feels I went too far, which to be fair, I think I may have done. Like I care...

In any case, despite the subject matter, I feel it to be the best "behind the scenes" I've done to date. I've been trying to develop a style where I don't rely on fluffy actor / staff comments, and let the material speak for itself. I use my experience on the set as my guide when editing, where I try to reconstruct the set feeling so that viewers can get emotional insight rather than, as with many "behind the scenes", some PR piece designed to impress viewers with the awesomeness of the filmmakers and the production. The photo here is of me and my friend Saya Kobayashi, one of the film's leads, at the wrap party in mid-October. Saya's an original and is insanely funny in my "Behind the Scenes" of LUST OF THE DEAD 2. I might shoot a film with her this year... 

The other three films I did were for the ABCs of DEATH. I had shot on-set stuff for the trio of Japanese shorts back at the end of 2011 and, as is typical in this business, was contacted suddenly and given an impossible deadline. But, as they only had to be between 6 and 10 minutes long, I was able to edit each into a shape that I quite like. I know that the one I did for Yoshihiro Nishimura's Z IS FOR ZETSUMETSU will be playing along side the film when it screens at Yubari film festival later this month, meaning that in the end I actually do have a film playing at Yubari this year. I'm not sure if the other two will be playing too. (The photo at the top of this blog entry is a shot I took on the set of Z IS FOR ZETSUMETSU.)

The ABCs film is now available via on-demand somewhere on the web. I'm told my "behind the scenes" films will be on the upcoming DVD / Blu-ray release. The photo here is one I took on the set of Yudai Yamaguchi's entry: J IS FOR JIDAI-GEKI.

Now here's something different from me: I had a 1/2 dozen lines in a WOWOW movie. WOWOW is a Japanese cable channel, sort of like HBO in the US. I was contacted by Mei Hanawa, the woman who did art direction on my new film, asking if I could play a foreigner talking about dying languages, or something like that. "Just send me my lines and give me an idea of what you want me to do and I'll figure it out on set," I said to her. 

Shooting was up in Gunma in a town called Kiryu, one of the most boring places I've been to in Japan. I finished shooting at 3pm on the first day and the only thing I could find to do in town was sit in a Denny's restaurant and watch old people slurp spaghetti as if they were chowing down on steaming ramen. Shooting was a lot of fun, and somehow I managed to make it through my Japanese lines without flubbing them. The most fun was that I got to share a few lines with actress Naomi Nishida. I had met Naomi on the set of GODZILLA 2000 in 1999 and took her over to Stage 9 at Toho to show her the special effects set and to take photos with her next to the Godzilla suit. So...13 years later and we're acting together. I like when life does stuff like this.

FINALLY! I'm in the process of putting the finishing touches on my film "New Neighbor". I'd like to write about the total enthusiasm I have for this and how great I think it's coming out, but I'll save that for when I get the thing done, which should be over the next month. The photo on the right is from when we did our last bit of shooting over at Yoshiki's at the end of November. Just a couple of time consuming yet important pick up shots. The film is now being scored and I'm working with soundman Kyuya Nakagawa on the mix. 

Well, this isn't the 1/2 of it, but I think this is enough to go on in one blog entry.

Until next time... Be cool.

Too busy, but not too busy for Howard the Duck!

I have been too busy with work to update the blog.

As an offering to the Blog Gods, I give you two frame caps from the '86 film "Howard the Duck". My upcoming article in Eiga Hiho is a love letter to this very misunderstood and under appreciated film.

And you see the drummer in the back? It's freakin' Liz Sagal from my favorite '80s sitcom DOUBLE TROUBLE. I snapped a punk bracelet on her wrist after watching Frankie Goes to Hollywood play "Relax (Don't Do It)" at the MTV New Year's Eve Party '85. 

HOWARD was basically a kids film, but the creature at the end was so hideous and grotesque it had moms across America up in arms. How cool is that?

Until whenever...

Sticky Summer Stuff

Godzilla fending off copyright offenders. 

 Two months since the last entry... Where to start? The obvious, I suppose: It's summer in Japan. Hot, sticky, sweaty, cicada chirping summer. I hate it. Ironically, I was the original tanned, always-in-the-sun boy, playing baseball with friends, hiking in the woods, expanding my mind with space exploration games, or hanging out at lakes and beaches. These days, considering my ghost-like, sun starved complexion, I could perfectly fit in as a Moonbase Alpha cast member if someone were ever to remake SPACE 1999.

Picking up from my last entry, I put in another film appearance, this time in a low-budget production directed by Takashi Hirose, a youngish director I met through Ayano, the star of my newest film. I was more than happy to cameo in his film, titled MORATORIUM, especially since it meant being in a scene with Asami, one of Japan's primo cult actresses. Coincidently, the makeup woman on MORATORIUM, Risa Hirakawa, put in a few days on my first film, THE iDOL. I was very happy to work with Risa once again.

Studio 1 first day of GMK shooting.

Another fun gig I did during this time was voice work for PLATINUM DATA, an upcoming Toho film. I got a call from a woman I used to work with during my Godzilla years at Toho Studios explaining their production's need for a couple of "native English speakers". I brought a friend, Lora Colose, along to handle the female parts while I provided the security checkpoint dialogue. You know, "authorization granted" type of lines. I don't know why, but I kept imagining Leonard Nimoy's voice work in the Sega arcade game Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (1983). The entire session was way fun. I was able to write all the dialogue for the scenes we were involved and had a good time kidding around with director Keishi Ohtomo.

Returning to Toho was a blast. It's been almost two years since I was last there. Each corner of the studio holds some kind of special memory for me despite the fact that it's been under reconstruction for the past several years, which is kind of saddening actually. Sure, change is inevitable and there is no reason to expect Toho to maintain decaying sound stages. In fact, the studio we worked in for PLATINUM DATA was in a new building outfitted with all the latest sound doodads. It was a comfortable and exciting place in which to get creative. Still, it was shocking to see that Studios 1 and 2 have been torn down with new stages nearing completion in their place. These were two of Japan's oldest, having been built in the 1930s. The film history within them was enormous. 

Studio 2, smoke filled, kaiju battle filled.

While I've seen a lot of shooting inside in both S1 and S2, my strongest memories are from the Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack production. The first day of shooting was held in S1 for the scene when Yukijiro Hotaru fell into the King Ghidorah cavern. My memories of S2 are mostly from the underwater battle between Godzilla and King Ghidorah. For a week the stage was kept filled with smoke to simulate the murky look of being underwater. The very last time I stood inside S2 was during the shooting of Hideo Nakata's KAIDAN in 2006. That reminds me. I should probably watch that film.

My subtitling work continues unabated. First off, DEAD SUSHI had its premiere at Montreal's Fantasia film fest in July. It seems by all on-line accounts that it went over super well. Director Iguchi and star Rina Takeda were on hand for the sold-out show. The night prior was the Fantasia screening of ZOMBIE ASS, which readers of my blog know I also subbed.

Here's your one-stop-shopping link to the DEAD SUSHI website, where all your DEAD SUSHI needs can be fed:

DEAD SUSHI website

I just put the finishing touches on the subs for AKAI KISETSU (English title: A Road Stained Crimson), a new yakuza film from Nikkatsu. It was an interesting job as it was the first time I could write honest-to-god, foulmouthed dialogue. Also noteworthy was the challenge of subtitling a film with very few lines of dialogue.

FYI: What a movie should look like.

On average, films have about 1,300 lines of dialogue. This film has around 400. While this makes the workload lighter, it also means that the opportunity to convey the story is considerably lessened. The film stars Hirofumi Arai and Jun Murakami. Also in it is Shigeru Izumiya, who I had chance to share a beer with back in the late '80s in a New York City, Lower East Side bar. Who would have guessed then that twenty-plus years later I'd be subbing his lines into English.

Unfortunately for the film, I was forbidden from translating the songs appearing in the movie. I suppose the director and band think I'm some dweeb translator, or something, incapable of understanding rock and roll. Now, what is there is, to put it nicely, mediocre crap. Loaded with inappropriate phrasal verbs, the lyrics are clunky and their (limited) meaning difficult to comprehend. But what do I know? I played in bands in New york City for over a decade, have written a ton of songs and poetry, have written hundreds of magazine articles, and have subtitled a dozen feature films and countless short films. Etc etc etc. Well, every gig has its share of irksome lameness. With this job done, I'm working on a much bigger film for an A-list director. More on this in a future entry.

My awesome friend Ayano.

My writing work at Eiga Hiho continues. The last two columns (the latest issue seen here with my friend Ayano) were a kind of two-parter detailing the opening night of RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD on Times Square back in '86. My tale revolves around the long gone video arcade "Fascination" and a gun shooting that went on while I was closing in on my high score on Ms Pacman. I don't know what it says about me, but while everyone in the arcade was flat on the floor avoiding bullets, I stood my ground, finished the game, and got my high score.

My piece in the upcoming issue, on sale in less than two weeks, deals with the Tobe Hooper film INVADERS FROM MARS. This, too, is another favorite from the era. Even though I'm a huge fan of the 1953 William Cameron Menzies directed original, the 80s version in no way challenges my feelings for the Menzies' masterpiece (unlike the way the so-called DAWN OF THE DEAD remake does). In fact, I love the remake as much as I do the original. I might add that I have no trouble with many of the remakes done in the '80s. THE THING, THE BLOB and IFM...all were great in my book. However, this might be because remakes then were not the modus operandi that they are today. Also in the upcoming issue of Eiga Hiho is my first movie review for the magazine. It's on the recently released PROMETHEUS, a film I liked quite a bit.

Ayano creeping about in her PJs.

In personal news, I'm thrilled to report that I recently finished principle photography on my new film NEW NEIGHBOR. It was a tough day to make happen, as almost all of my actors and crew members have been busy with other films. On this last and final day of shooting I needed everyone to be on hand. It was an all or nothing kind of day. Somehow the planets aligned and, on August 2nd, we all met in a studio in Northern Tokyo to capture the film's various "hallway" scenes.

Shooting was a lot of fun and wasn't half as complicated as the previous days of production. It also wasn't one of those 24-hour plus shoots, which can really test a person's fortitude. We started at 9:30am and, as I had planned, were done at 5pm. Things moved briskly yet there was also enough time to fully workout the various beats within each shot. Not too slow, not too rushed. Just the tempo I like when shooting.

Aya, some guy in a 25 year old tee, Asami.

The film is now in the editing stage and I'm VERY happy with the scenes I've gotten from the editor. I think it's my best work to date. After I get the film edited into a full rough cut and an idea of when it will screen I'll update here (or somewhere) all the various info so vital to a film's promotion...

Well, not even the half of it, but that's enough for this update.

Until whenever...

The Merry ol' Month 'o' May...

The Sushi Bites Back!

A month plus since the last entry. 

Guess it's time to hit the ol' blog keys...

May turned out to be another "full calendar" month.  Deciding to branch out and hone new filmmaking skills, I worked two gigs as a soundman. It's a job that comes naturally enough for me, as I slaved away in an audio rental house in NYC for a decade back in the glory days of the 1980s. Mikes, booms, zeppelins, Nagra recorders, XLR, RCA, phantom power, etc etc... I know sound. I even set up the audio rental packages on cool films such as the original "Bad Lieutenant" and several Spike Lee films (Well...I'm sure if I tried, I could remember something cooler than a Spike Lee film). 

The first gig up was a short directed by Alex Paillé. I'm uncertain of the title, but I believe it will be CASTING COUCH, although Alex says this is probably going to change. It was a fun, one-day shoot over at the dojo of action director-actor-director Tak Sakaguchi right here in Shimokitazawa.

Actresses, actresses, actresses...

The film stars Tak as an arrogant action actor confronted by his bed-hopping ways. Rounding out the cast were several attractive actresses (one of them, Ami, played a small role in my new film) and some of stunt / action guys from Tak's group.

On hand for the shooting was director Sion Sono, who co-wrote the story with Alex. While I've met Sono before, this was the first time to be on-set with him and to get a taste for his directing style. Sono has an interesting, if somewhat crass, way of getting the cast motivated. I learned a lot watching Sono and was happy to add another director's film set under my belt.

Although holding a boom mike in the air for hours and hours, trying to get it as close to an actor's mouth while not getting in frame, is a pain in the rear, I enjoyed the day and doing the soundman role.  All in all, a good experience and I'm looking forward to the final product.

Tak and Sono wait for the action to begin.

I also put in a day of sound on a film directed by Risa (Lisa) Takeba. This one was tough because of a slow pace and an exorbitant amount of takes per shot. Ultimately, I think we averaged a piddling two cuts an hour.

Now, the slowest films I've ever worked on were Godzilla ones. But I'm talking about the FX stage, not the live-action set. On those you get two, maybe three shots in per day. This is because of things like the all-consuming art direction (everything is built up, even the landscape), the Godzilla suit (which has an entire staff taking care of it), the explosions, the lights, etc etc. It would take hours and hours just to make a single shot happen. Yet it didn't feel slow at all because things were always moving along at a good pace. My feeling is that on a low budget film with only a few cast and crew members in a single room you should get in a minimum of 4 shots an hour, and even then that's slow.

I only did one day on her film, and from what I hear, I went on what was probably the hardest, least organized day. Just my luck... But here too, I'm looking forward to the final result.

I hope her socks are clean.

In good news, I have officially finished work on Iguchi's DEAD SUSHI.

After eight months on that, I'm ready to move on...

We had a final sub session over at Pabaan on 18 May. After making changes here and there and adjusting the timing in various spots, I reviewed the film with director Iguchi, explaining what was (and wasn't) being represented in the subtitles, making him aware of what information is (and isn't) present in the subtitles, how this information is being conveyed (how I framed his gags), and how non-Japanese viewers will likely interpret the film. This is also Iguchi's chance to ask questions, makes suggestions, and make alterations if he so desires (he didn't).

Rice zombies?

A week before this was the cast / staff screening of DEAD SUSHI over at Imagica. That was a blast. In attendance were the entire cast and crew. As is usual of the people working on Iguchi films, there is a strong camaraderie, and everyone looked genuinely happy to be back together again, especially under nice conditions, not like those 20-hour plus work days during shooting last year!

After the screening we went out for dinner and drinks at a nearby Chinese restaurant where we engaged in the Japanese "mission accomplished" hand clap and then set in on "speech time". It seems just about everyone had to get up and say something. Personally, I find it unnecessary, but it's how people do things here. Once the speeches were over, Iguchi stood up, thanked everyone for coming and then called the evening at an end. One staffer yelled out, "Hey! We still have 40mins left on the clock." "Oh," exclaimed Iguchi. "That gives us time for more speeches!" Oddly, I was the only one who laughed at this. 

With Rina at the DS wrap party.

Now DEAD SUSHI moves to the PR stage. There is a piece up on TWITCH about the film, which can be found here, that features stills I took on the set. I swiped my favorite three off of the Twitch feed and dropped them in the blog (the one at top, and the two just above this writing).

DEAD SUSHI also has a Facebook page and a Twitter feed. Join them!

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

Looking forward to working with Iguchi and crew again.

Another cool project I've been working on has finally been announced. This is the Blu-ray of George A. Romero's DAY OF THE DEAD. To be released by Nikkatsu, the disc is produced by Yoshinori Chiba, creator of the Sushi Typhoon label. As one of my favorite films, I was more than thrilled to take on the task of providing content for the Blu-ray's booklet and to locate content for the on-disc extras. (Not all, as some of the content will simply be ported over from the US release, but there is enough original content on it to make the claim that this release comes fully-loaded!)

To those about to rock...

The booklet features three original articles. One is by Gary Klar, the actor who played the tough-as-nails "Steel". Gary was kind enough to contribute a piece about his approach to the character and gives fascinating tidbits of information about the DAY shoot. The second one is by Taso Stavrakis, who played Torez, a minor soldier in the film. Taso was also stunt director and has a long association with Tom Savini. His article is a captivating, first hand look into the DAY production. The final piece I wrote, and details how I crashed the premiere staff / cast screening of DAY in NYC back in 1985. As one of the best days of my life, I'm happy to include the tale in an official release of the film.

Designing the disc and its booklet is Yoshiki Takahashi. As regular readers of my blog know, Yoshiki is a multi-talent who is highly capable in a variety of fields. One thing Yoshiki wanted to do for the DAY disc was to make it look unlike any other DAY release out there – and there are a lot out there! The typical cover is a holdover from the original VHS, Beta and LD release, the one featuring a sun-yellow background with the zombie Bub in the forefront. Abandoning this and the usual route of set photo manipulation or some original-yet-disappointing painting, Yoshiki commissioned makeup artist and sculptor Kakusei Fujiwara to make a full-sized Bub head.

Talk to the hand...

On 3 May we did the photo session with the Bub bust in a Shibuya photo studio. To complete the shot of Bub saluting (as seen at the end of the film) a real hand was needed. I'm happy to report that my right hand passed the audition! I can now add "hand model" to my list of accomplishments. The most awesome thing about this is that at the film's premiere 28 years earlier, Howard Sherman, the actor playing Bub, talked to me specifically about how Tom Savini did his hand makeup. I suppose I can say that I got my direction from the source itself.

The shoot took hours as Yoshiki and cameraman Ito and his staff set out to recreate the lighting in the original scene. During the session I noted that it probably took Romero and his crew no time at all to light, or no more time than usual. But trying to recreate the original lighting was a whole 'nother thing.

I'll have more info on the Blu-ray when it gets closer to the release date, which should be this September.

Here's a link to the disc and what's on it on Amazon (this is in Japanese):

AD Murakamai, myself, Kaneko

The other day I did a bit of acting in Shusuke Kaneko new film "Hyaku-nen no Tokei". In it, I play an art expert talking about the main character's background. Although I don't consider myself an actor (given the credits I've been amassing, I should probably rethink this) I'm always up to any filmmaking challenge.

Kaneko sent over a document with what he wanted me to say that I translated into English (as he wanted my character to be speaking in English). I didn't write specific dialog, but rather gathered the facts and then practiced an improvisation around them.

Birthday boy.

Going over the part several times at home, I was never able to make it through to the end without flubbing it. On the way over to the location, I must have had people on the train questioning my sanity, as I was basically standing and talking to myself as I went over the dialog again and again.

The location was in a small bar-like restaurant in Roppongi that, after the shoot, was the location of Kaneko's 57th birthday party. I should point out too that this was the very first day of the shooting of the film, which added a bit of pressure. After the first day of shooting Kaneko's Godzilla film GMK, we went out for drinks and he told me how much importance he places on the first day, and how it can set the tone for the rest of the shoot.

I'm pleased to report that I nailed it on the first take. Ironically, after we checked it on playback, Kaneko looked a little sad. "Oh," he said. "I guess we're done." With the extra time before the party, the two of us went out for beers where he admitted that he was looking forward to working on the scene with me, but as I did it so fast he didn't really have anything to do. We both just laughed at this.

The birthday party was a lot of fun, if a bit on the low-key side. The usual Kaneko regulars, family members, and some new faces to spark things up were there. All in all, a good time. Kaneko's been a good friend for almost 15 years now. I've learned a lot about filmmaking from him. I'm looking forward to working with him again and again.

And of course, my run of articles in Eiga Hiho continues with a piece on the 1986 film, "Maximum Overdrive". In the story I tell about why I think it's an amazing and totally outrageous bit of 80s exploitation and I talk about meeting King during the editing of the film back in 1985. 

I leave you with a shot of director Kaneko pouring over my article.

Until next time...