Details about the Singapore Japanese Film Festival 2019

The Singapore Japanese Film Festival 2019 will be held between 18 Jan and 10 Feb 2019 which straddles across the Chinese New Year holidays. However, most of the screenings are in January while there are two "outlier" sessions for the classics in February.

There are also some changes compared to past editions. For example, the commercial films are shown at Shaw Lido this time while the short films and classics will be shown at *SCAPE Gallery and The Projector respectively unlike in the past few years when the Gallery Theatre at National Museum was the primary venue. I actually like the Gallery Theatre for the convenience of its location and the vibe of the place but I guess having a commercial cinema support this film festival will be good especially in terms of the graphics and audio quality in presenting these films.

Do check out the schedule here so that you can plan ahead before ticket sales open from 3 Jan 2019. However, ticket prices have not been announced yet and it's still not clear if the presalewill be done on the respective venue's website or on the film festival's website. And in Shaw Lido's case, it's also unknown whether they will be using bigger or smaller halls for these screenings and if it will be free seating as per in the past.

If you wish to find out more about the films in the contemporary category (some of them have been featured on this blog before), you can click the title tags at the bottom of this post.

In case you are curious, here are the films which I am considering to watch. I probably may not be able to watch everything especially that screening on a Wednesday evening so will have to give some serious thought on what to catch based on my schedule. I usually limit my selection to 3 so I still have some time to consider before tickets go on sale.

Opening Film: Camera wo tomeru na! - NC16
This film was featured during the Singapore International Film Festival where the sole screening was sold out. As such, if you missed this before, you may want to catch it this time where there are two screenings. The opening film screening at 9pm on 18 Jan (Fri) will feature a post-Q&A with the director who will be here. I'm not sure if the director will appear at the other screening on the following day at 3.20pm though.

Sanposuru Shinryakusha - PG13 - 19 Jan (Sat) at 9.30pm
Cast: Nagasawa Masami, Matsuda Ryuuhei, Takasugi Mahiro, Tsunematsu Yuri, Maeda Atsuko, Mitsushima Shinnosuke, Kojima Kazuya, Mitsuishi Ken, Higashide Masahiro, Koizumi Kyoko, Sasano Takashi & Hasegawa Hiroki

Inori no maku ga orirutoki - PG - 20 Jan (Sun) at 7pm
Cast: Abe Hiroshi, Matsushima Nanako, Mizobata Junpei, Tanaka Rena, Kimura Midoriko, Iitoyo Marie, An, Kagawa Teruyuki, Oikawa Mitsuhiro, Ito Ran, Kohinata Fumiyo & Yamazaki Tsutomu etc.

Suteki na Dynamite Scandal - R21 - 23 Jan (Wed) at 6.45pm
Cast: Emoto Tasuku, Maeda Atsuko, Miura Touko, Mineta Kazunobu, Matsushige Yutaka, Murakami Jun & Ono Machiko

Ikiterudake de, Ai - NC16 - 26 Jan (Sat) - 4.30pm
Cast: Shuri, Suda Masaki, Tanaka Tetsushi, Nishida Naomi and Matsushige Yutaka

What are the films you would be interested in watching from this year's film festival? How about sharing your choices with me?

Actually, at first glance, I think the selection this year is pretty impressive so you should be able to find something of interest. In the past, the film festival tended to give the impression that the chosen films were rather indie which attracted a niche audience. Credit ought to be given to the organisers especially seen from the selection of very new movies (some even shown within the same year in Japan) and getting a mix of films with commercial appeal vs. those which tend to be more on the artistic side to attract a wider audience.

If you happen to be in Singapore in January, do support this film festival if you can by watching these movies.

Winners of the 60th Blue Ribbon Awards (2017)

Best Japanese Movie: Aa, Kouya

Best Foreign Movie: Hidden Figures

Best Director: Shiraishi Kazuya (Kanojo ga sono na wo shiranai toritachi)

Best Leading Actor: Abe Sadao (Kanojo ga sono na wo shiranai toritachi)

Best Leading Actress: Aragaki Yui (Mix)

Best Supporting Actor: Yusuke Santa Maria (Aa, Kouya / Dorobo Yakusha)

Best Supporting Actress: Saito Yuki (Sandome no Satsujin)

Best Newcomer: Ishibashi Shizuka (Yozora wa itsudemo saikou mitsudo no aoiro da)

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 18th & 19th Nov 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) It  (202)

2) HiGH & LOW THE MOVIE 3 FINAL MISSION (319)

3) GODZILLA Kaijuu Wakusei (157)

4) Dorobo Yakusha (225)

5) Thor: Ragnarok (353)

6) Last Recipe Kirin no shita no kioku (312)

7) Eiga Kira Kira Puri Kyua Ala Mode Paritto! Omoide no Mille-feuille (216)

8) Gochuumon wa usagi desuka?? Dear My Sister (40)

9) Logan Lucky (304)

10) Mix (275)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 11th & 12th Nov 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) HiGH & LOW THE MOVIE 3 FINAL MISSION (317)

2) It (202)

3) Thor: Ragnarok (353)

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 4th & 5th Nov 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Thor: Ragnarok (353)

2) It (202)

3) Last Recipe Kirin no shita no kioku (312)

First-day-screening event of new movie "Mix"

The first-day-screening event of new movie "Mix" was held at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills on 21 October which was attended by the director Ishikawa Junichi and cast members Aragaki Yui, Eita, Hirosue Ryoko, Nagano Mei, Sano Hayato, Tanaka Misako and Endo Kenichi. The movie describes how the heroine (Aragaki) used to be a genius at table tennis when she was a child but suffers setbacks in love and her career as an OL. In order to resurrect the table tennis club owned by her late mother, she forms a mixed doubles team with a former boxer (Eita) to take part in the All Japan table tennis tournament and get back at her ex-boyfriend (Seto) and his girlfriend (Nagano).

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 28th & 29th Oct 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Eiga Kira Kira Puri Kyua Ala Mode Paritto! Omoide no Mille-feuille (216)

2) Blade Runner 2049 (335)

3) Mix (275)

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 21st & 22nd Oct 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Mix (275)

2) Saiki Kusuo no Sainan (275)

3) Barry Seal (291)

Preview of "Mix" (movie)

Title: Mix ミックス。
Official website: here
Official Instagram: here
Official Twitter: here
Screening date: 21 October 2017
Produced by: TOHO
Directed by: Ishikawa Junichi
Scriptwriter: Kosaka Ryota
Theme Song: "Hora, Waratteru" by SHISHAMO
Insert Song: "Saboten" by SHISHAMO
Cast: Aragaki Yui, Eita, Hirosue Ryoko, Sano Hayato, Seto Koji, Nagano Mei, Endo Kenichi, Tanaka Misako, Maki Youko, Kohinata Fumio, Morisaki Hiroyuki, Aoi Yu, Suzuki Fuku, Tani Kanon, Yoshida Kotaro, Nakamura An, Namase Katsuhisa, Kumada Rinka, Yamaguchi Sayaka, Saito Tsukasa

Completion screening event of new movie "Mix"

The completion screening event of new movie "Mix" was held at Roppongi Hills Arena on 20 September which was attended by the director Ishikawa Junichi and cast members Aragaki Yui, Eita, Hirosue Ryoko, Seto Koji, Nagano Mei, Sano Hayato, Morisaki Hiroyuki, Nakamura An, Suzuki Fuku, Tani Kanon, Endo Kenichi, Tanaka Misako and Saito Tsukasa. The movie will be shown in cinemas from 21 October and describes how the heroine (Aragaki) used to be a genius at table tennis when she was a child but suffers setbacks in love and her career as an OL. In order to resurrect the table tennis club owned by her late mother, she forms a mixed doubles team with a former boxer (Eita) to take part in the All Japan table tennis tournament and get back at her ex-boyfriend (Seto) and his girlfriend (Nagano).

At the red carpet event attended by about 1,000 people, the cast members spent about 30 minutes shaking hands with the fans and threw specially-made ping pong balls to them. During the main event, Eita revealed that there will be a scene in the movie which is likely to make him the top enemy of Aragaki's male fans nationwide and joked that he was prepared for the aftermath. Just then, a male fan started cheering loudly which led Eita to exclaim that he was startled and his reaction made the audience laugh. Hirosue then chipped in to say that just watching Aragaki's cuteness and Eita's "unexpected" coolness in this movie will be worth the trip to watch this movie in the cinema. Eita followed up by saying that this will be a movie which will make everyone feel refreshed and happy at the end while Aragaki said that this is a movie which she really liked.

As Eita and Aragaki had many scenes together, they spent a lot of time together but actually spent their breaks in silence most of the time unless Eita was bombarding her with various questions. Aragaki revealed that there was once when she was asked if her heart was still beating which made her feel bewildered but she still replied to him in the affirmative.

As for the scenes where Aragaki's character had to take part in the All-Japan table tennis championships' Kanagawa Prefecture prelims, the cast were impressed by how hard she played during those 4 days of the competition. Hirosue commented that Aragaki must have felt very tired and got muscle aches from the filming while Endo praised her for working so hard. In response, Aragaki said that as time went on, she was hanging on with her perseverance and was so engrossed in the playing. She also expressed thanks to everyone for supporting her through those tough days.

In the movie, Hirosue and Sano play mixed doubles partners. Sano revealed that his father is a big fan of Hirosue and was so jealous when he heard that Hirosue had made a bento for him as he was trying to lose weight for the filming. He even ordered Sano to bring the bento back to his hometown in Aichi instead of eating it which led everyone to laugh upon hearing it. On the other hand, Hirosue was quite conscious of the age gap between her and Sano especially when he was getting better at table tennis faster than her. However, when she heard about the actual age gap between them, Hirosue was so shocked that she tried her best not to look like mother-and-son when she was with Sano.

Endo who plays the owner of a mini tomato farm and teams up with his wife Mika played by Tanaka Misako, expressed how he was very impressed with his co-star who would be so engrossed talking on her smartphone and wasn't looking at her script during the breaks. When it was time for filming, she would then ask him what scene they were filming. This led Tanaka to "protest" that it made her look bad but Endo explained that he was praising her for being able to switch between her on and off modes so easily when acting which was a reflection of her high level of concentration.

Sources: Eiga.com 1 / Eiga.com 2

SHISHAMO to sing the theme & insert songs for new movie "Mix"

3-member rock band SHISHAMO will be singing the theme and insert songs for new movie "Mix" starring Aragaki Yui and Eita which will be shown in cinemas from 21 October. The movie also features Seto Koji, Aoi Yu, Hirosue Ryoko, Endo Kenichi, Nagano Mei, Yoshida Kotaro, Saito Tsukasa, Morisaki Hiroyuki, Namase Katsuhisa, Yamaguchi Sayaka, Kumada Rinka, Suzuki Fuku, Tani Kanon, Kohinata Fumio and Maki Youko in its cast.

The comedy movie describes how the heroine Tomita Tamiko (Aragaki) used to be a genius at table tennis when she was a child but suffers setbacks in love and work when she gets cheated on by her boyfriend Ejima Akihiko (Seto Koji) and loses her job. In order to resurrect the table tennis club owned by her late mother Hanako (Maki), she forms a mixed doubles team with a former boxer Hagiwara Hisashi (Eita) to take part in the All Japan table tennis tournament and get back at Ejima and his girlfriend Ogasawara Airi (Nagano Mei).

This is SHISHAMO's first attempt at writing movie theme songs. The theme song "Hora, waratteru" is a ballad while the insert song titled "Saboten" is an up-tempo number. The band's guitarist and vocalist Miyazaki Asako revealed that "Saboten" was written with the image of Tamiko running thus the fast tempo was meant to coincide with that. As for "Hora, waratteru", it was meant to convey the movie's theme of how things rarely go well all the time in life so the focus was more on the setbacks that people encounter.

Source: Eiga.com

Aragaki Yui & Eita to star in new movie "Mix" as mixed doubles table tennis players

Aragaki Yui and Eita will be starring in the new movie "Mix" which is written by Kosawa Ryota and directed by Ishikawa Junichi. The comedy movie describes how the heroine (Aragaki) used to be a genius at table tennis when she was a child but suffers setbacks in love and work as an OL. In order to resurrect the table tennis club owned by her late mother, she forms a mixed doubles team with a former boxer (Eita) to take part in the All Japan table tennis tournament and get back at her ex-boyfriend (Seto Koji) and his girlfriend (Nagano Mei). Co-stars include Hirosue Ryoko, Endo Kenichi, Tanaka Misako, Sano Yuto, Aoi Yu, Morisaki Hiroyuki, Yoshida Kotaro, Namase Katsuhisa, Yamaguchi Sayaka, Saito Tsukasa, Kumada Rinka, Suzuki Fuku, Tani Kanon, Maki Youko and Kohinata Fumio.

Aragaki who is working with Eita for the first time, commented that her impression of her co-star when they first met for table tennis training was that he is very passionate about his work and good at livening up the atmosphere. In response, Eita said that he wasn't sure if he should call her Gakki (her nickname) or by her surname so he was trying to hide his shyness in front of her. He expressed his anticipation at getting better in table tennis so as to look convincing as players who can compete at the national level and looks forward to the filming. Although both Aragaki and Eita have no experience in table tennis, the two of them have picked up the sport relatively quickly and are trying hard to practice as much as possible since they started training from the beginning of this year.

The movie will be shown from the middle of this month and is expected to be shown in cinemas this autumn.

Sources: Eiga.com / Nikkansports