If you liked Shimotsuma monogatari you'd like... - Shimotsuma monogatari (2004) Discussion

[–] gregieb0i 19 years ago

Well i know more of hong kong films then japanese films. but there is a movie called suicide club, a total different take then to the cute style the director filmed the movie.

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[–] vinja512 18 years ago

Um........I think you might've watched a different kamikaze girls than the rest of us. :P

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[–] dioditto 19 years ago

I highly recommend "Amelie" if you really love "Kamakazie Girl"
The director of Kamakazie girl seems to have copy almost everything from Amelie except the plotline. The camera work, color, timing, quirkiness of some humours, are so similar it's almost identical.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211915/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnx0dD0xfGZiPXV8cG49MHxrdz0xfHE9QW1lbGllfGZ0PTF8bXg9MjB8bG09NTAwfGNvPTF8aHRtbD0xfG5tPTE_;fc=1;ft=139;fm=1

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[–] astronomicon 17 years ago

yeah, but Japanese cartoons have been doing this for like 20 years.

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[–] za_kannushi 19 years ago

There is a recent film very much like this one called "Nana". It is also about two young girls who are very different but end up being close friends. Also, I would say that "Train Man" ("Densha Otoko") is in the same category of modern Japanese romantic comedy. I also think that you'd like "Swing Girls" and "Waterboys". Both are hilarious and very entertaining. Check them out here on IMDB and I'm sure you'll find one that you'll like.

The One-Man Institute of Japanese Film Recommendations - Live from Tokyo :P

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[–] matte160 19 years ago

Heh, gotta thank you for recommending Swing Girls. It was a fun film that I would never have seen if it wasn't for you. So, thanks!
(probably not for people who don't like big band music though.)

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[–] sweetsamurai 16 years ago

If you liked SWING GIRLS you will like WATERBOYS - the film - there is also the tv series.

Japane have amazing tv shows - the best!

Blain: If you loose yourself here, you're entering a world of hurt.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] rooprect 19 years ago

If it's the visual style you like (colorful, fast-smooth camera action, lots of quirky angles), I second dioditto's suggestion: Amelie (JP Jeunet). Kamikaze Girls had to be heavily influenced by Jeunet.

Also check out Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer). It's a German flick with a wild techno soundtrack.

For Japanese films, you might want to rent Cutie Honey (Hideaki Anno). I didn't see the whole movie, but the beginning looked good. It's about a pink motorcycle superhero chick. Crazy stuff.

But my favourite modern Japanese film is Shiki-jitsu (also by Anno) about a borderline psycho chick who lives in an abandoned office building and has a strange obsession with railroad tracks. Beautiful camerawork on that one, and the girl (played by Steven Seagal's daughter!) does a fantastic acting job.

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[–] sebedard 19 years ago

i tought the movie also had a strong "ghost world" theme to it.

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[–] tokyomonkey 19 years ago

Try Taste of Tea..Its one of the best Japanese films I've seen-very funny and the characters are wonderful-it's only available on Japanese Region 2 DVD

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[–] takatomon 16 years ago

definately amelie as mentioned and run lola run in particular which apparently inspired alot of the imagery. i haven't seen it and don't want to, but there's a gay male film that looks like it has some common ground with Shimotsuma Monogatari called Yaji & Kita: Midnight Pilgrims, you can see a trailer for that on youtube.

some other films that you might try include doki-doki (PBS version), the shoe fairy, the taste of tea, wasabi, the big lebowski, tokyo godfathers, american beauty, the science of sleep, eagle vs. shark, benny and joon, big fish, & yo-yo girl cop

DEFINATELY watch doki-doki though. if your local library doesn't have it, request that they get a copy. i waited a couple years for that to come out after it blew me away on PBS and it's never on the shelf at the libraries i've recommended it to. you can buy it for $10 direct from chris eska's doki-doki website. just make sure to get the pbs version! some day i want to make a fan trailer for that film. it has the best ending EVER! i'm pretty sure you'd like that one a lot. the shoe fairy is probably the next closest thing after that. the taste of tea has some similar visuals too... little girl sitting on the porch, fantasy dream sequences and so on, but a very different tone. it's available either on region 1 or region free now because i just watched a library copy of that last month.

it's a bit of a stretch, but tank girl is pretty wacky and colorful with occasional animated bits too, but is more of a dark action film. i just made the connection watching trailers for my website's weird movie central section. check the trailer for that one out and decide for yourself. it's also a girl power film too, so it's in the ballpark.

"You'll have to take my word for it. We can't afford to show it."

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[–] takatomon 16 years ago

i just started watching my copy of cutie honey last night and loved it! it's the funnest, cheesiest, sexiest b-movie i've seen in a very long time. i'm sure it's going on my top 10 b-movie list. i tell you, that lady chief of police is hot! wow! she rings my "naughty librarian bell" so nicely. oh, those full pouty lips are just... i gotta go. LOL

My Movie Site
takatomon2000.googlepages.com/takatomonsmoviepages

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[–] rooprect 16 years ago

hahaha glad you liked it, tak! Did you get to the part where the villain sings & dances to a string quartet while wasting Tokyo? Now that's class. Most of my friends don't get it, but I say what's to get? You got the cutest, pinkest superhero in the world, her clothes keep falling off, a hot naughty librarian police chief... and oh the colours... I've never dropped acid, but I assume that's what it's like.

Btw, I checked out your movie site, and I'm definitely checking out some of those titles. Ya got great taste! City of Lost Children = best movie ever. And I just saw Zardoz the other day. "The gun is good. The penis is bad!" WTF...LMAO!

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[–] takatomon 16 years ago

i actually DON'T like the city of lost children when he (jeunet?) gets in full victorian era furniture fetish and fast cut slapstick mode i find him just as annoying as terry gilliam when he's doing the same thing. i have a zero tolerance threshold for slapstick, fast cutting & musicals. city of lost children is a beautifully made film, but it's style just rubs me the wrong way. i can't stand brazil, time bandits or the adventures of baron munchausen and at least one other similar film by the french director for the same reasons, but both are capable of making films i can connect with. like 12 monkeys & the fifth element (jeunet?) i'm terrible with names and #s. i might be confusing 2 different french directors. maybe i'm just thinking of delicatessen which i'm mostly indifferent to, but does have some funny moments, as well as di niro in another weird bounty hunter cameo.

i finished watching cutie honey last night and liked it all. i see what everyone was saying about the second half slowing down, but it wasn't bad, but it still offered eye candy right up to the end.

i just added a recommendations thread to the kyuti hani IMDb page and see similarities between these
Yo-Yo Girl Cop *
Kamikaze Girls *
Tank Girl *
Aeon Flux (eh)
Ultraviolet (eh)
Battle Angel *
Armitage
Ghost in the Shell
Mystery Men *
Cyber Ninja *
Kung Fu Hustle ****
Metoroporisu
The Fifth Element *
Batman: The Movie
Barbarella &
Zu Warriors *
The Evil Brain from Outer Space
Casshern
&
Dead Leaves *

i highly recommend you watch the films with asterisks if you haven't yet.

thanx for the feedback on my site. i should update it today. it's overdue. i have almost a dozen titles to add and some quotes etc. is there anything you can think of i could do to improve the site? something you'd like to see that isn't there? titles i've overlooked? any content or constructive criticism you have to offer is appreciated. did you find the trailer linking handy?

if you have any specific questions about specific movies and want more info too, i'm always glad to help. the site actually grew out of copying and pasting the same lists every time weird movie titles, top 100 lists and best surreal movies etc. topics came up here, so i figured that the info was worth organizing once it could no longer fit in my IMDb profile where it started out.

thanx again for taking the time to visit my site and i'm glad you got something out of it. i rarely hear that even after i drag unsuspecting IMDb members to the site kicking and screaming one at a time. LOL it's nice to know that the hours of hard work help SOMEONE. what a way to start the day. :)

My Movie Site
takatomon2000.googlepages.com/takatomonsmoviepages

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[–] rooprect 16 years ago

Yeah I know what you're saying about Jeunet's slapstick mode. City starts out that way (full spaz attack with screaming, crying & the woman slapping the clones) and I think that sets a really bad tone, which is why some people probably shut it off after 5 minutes. But later the film becomes much more poetic. Like the seagull scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLrnrbtBUGs
(sorry lousy quality)
I can watch that over & over and never get tired. I have a theory that the slapstick moments were co-director Marc Caro's influence, because in later years when Jeunet goes solo (Amelie, Very Long Engagement) there's less slapstick & more poetry.

And yeah Terry Gilliam annoys me sometimes too! But for me it's his dark, cynical, negative attitude that grates on my nerves. At least Jeunet is a cheerful old coot at heart...

Thanks for the list... I think I'll check out Kung Fu Hustle since you recommend it so highly. (All these years I must've confused it with some forgettable Jackie Chan flick). Definitely the trailer links on your site are awrsome.

I wouldn't change a thing about your site... except maybe adding a thumbnail image for each movie title? But that could get tricky with 100+ titles already...

Oh, and here's one for the next update... for "Bad Movie Titles as a Story" you simply MUST add this one, the all-time worst...
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (1964)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057181/
(never seen it, but imdb rates it a 1.9! Must be gloriously awful)

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[–] kayeanna77 19 years ago

I would strongly suggest staying as far away from "Suicide Club" (as someone else suggested) as you can. I watched this one last year and it was confusing, at times badly directed, and in the end, not really satisfying as far as plot goes. PLUS, it has NOTHING in common with Shimotsuma monogatari except that it's a Japanese film...I'm honestly not sure why the other poster suggested this one in the first place

The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance -- Socrates

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[–] ken-ohki83 19 years ago

im watching it right now on AZN tv, and i'd compare it to Sharkskin Man Peachhip Girl and FLCL but those are more actiony but have the same type of filming style and jokes

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[–] tokyomonkey 19 years ago

Just watched another Japanese film called Nana,which is based on a manga about two very different girls,both named Nana,who become friends-I really recommend it to anyone who liked Kamikaze Girls.

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[–] NASCARaddicted 19 years ago

I also love this movie.

And while I watched it, I noticed many similarities to Amelie, a movie that I also like. But personally, I would rate Shimotsuma monogatari much higher then Amelie. I own both movies on DVD. I watched Amelie about 2 or 3 times within 2 years. But I watched Shimotsuma monogatari about 5 times within 4 weeks.

Oh, I almost forgot another great movie that might be interesting for you: Wasabi
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281364/

It's a mixture of an action movie and a comedy movie.

Jean Reno is a french cop named Hubert. He is in love with a japanse woman named Miko. She left him 18 years ago without any warning. Just when it seems that Reno is finally over it, he receives a message, telling him to come to Tokyo, because Miko died. So he flies to Tokyo. He finds out that Miko had a daughter named Yumi ... and according to the legacy of Miko, Hubert is her father (but Yumi doesn't know that). Pretty soon, Hubert finds out that Miko was murdered ...

I don't want to tell too much right now (especially because over here it's almost 4 am), but personally, I think if you like Shimotsuma monogatari, you might also like Wasabi.

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[–] bewitchingchild 19 years ago

Yeah, just like the others said, I'd recommend:

-Swing Girls
-Water Boys
-Cutie Honey
-Taste of Tea
-Amelie
-Nana
and you might want to check out the BBC series Absolutely Fabulous, or even the French movie Absolument Fabuleux.

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[–] FrighT MasteR 19 years ago

I'd also recommend a Thai movie called Citizen Dog

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0444778/

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[–] takatomon 16 years ago

hey... thanks for the heads up on citizen dog! that looks like a wacky & colorful film

"You'll have to take my word for it. We can't afford to show it."

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[–] rooprect 19 years ago

Man I just saw Swing Girls, and I gotta thank you all for that awesome suggestion! What a great movie, very cute and so funny I spit my drink all over myself (the wild boar scene).

Also I finally saw the entire movie Cutie Honey and I highly recommend that (again).

An interesting thing to note about Taste of Tea is that Anna Tsuchiya (Ichigo) plays a small role in that movie--you'd never recognize her though. That movie is a bit more philosophical & ponderous, but I think everyone here ought to like it.

BUT GEEZ, HOW COULD I FORGET one of my favourite movies of all time, Kikujiro no natsu (The Summer of Kikujiro). The humour is a bit more deadpan in that classic "Beat Takeshi" style, but it's so damn hilarious you shouldn't miss it.

I used to be a big fan of modern German cinema, but I think Japan has just taken the lead by a nose. Great stuff out there.

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[–] yukiya 19 years ago

The same director's new work is on screen in Japan from this weekend.
"Kiraware Matsuko no issyo" (Memories of Matsuko)
This is the masterpiece!

http://kiraware.goo.ne.jp/trailer04.html

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[–] takatomon 16 years ago

hey, i see a lot of kamikaze girls visual style in Memories of Matsuko although the themes are more adult. it ALSO reminded me a bit of pistol opera. you might like that surreal female hit person film too. the dream sequences in particular were similar

"You'll have to take my word for it. We can't afford to show it."

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