Monday, November 29, 2010

Blog entry from Yoshihiro Nishimura

Director and special effects maestro Yoshihiro Nishimura is a frequent blogger in Japan. He doesn't write much, but is always uploading photos of what he's doing. But like most people who don't ordinarily say much, when he does say something, it's usually pretty weighty and well-thought out.

That's why we thought it was worthwhile to bring you an English translation of a recent entry by the filmmaker, where he shares some year-end thoughts on the birth of Sushi Typhoon, and its first year of life.

The original entry (with photo).
And our English translation (thanks to Don Brown!):

With the preview screening of YAKUZA WEAPON yesterday [Nov. 26], this year's lineup of films from the Sushi Typhoon label is complete. ALIEN VS NINJA, MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD, COLD FISH, HELLDRIVER, KARATE ROBO ZABORGAR and YAKUZA WEAPON.

Objectively speaking, I truly feel that they represent an amazing variety. There tends to be a presumption that "They're just a bunch of movies with blood spurting everywhere!", but actually that's totally wrong. COLD FISH is a shocking 'family' film with a heavy physical and emotional impact; ZABORGAR is a good old-fashioned
tokusatsu [special-effects] film for kids; and YAKUZA WEAPON is a full-on action film that takes a different approach to most manga adaptations.

I think the fact that such a richly diverse collection of films has come together this year is largely attributable to the ability of producer Yoshinori Chiba. I can't say this to his face, but in an industry where so many producers start out saying to you "Please make this film!" and yet don't fulfill their responsibility to stick with it until the very end, this guy makes absolutely sure that your film will be entertaining. Chiba has a unique talent for sniffing out interesting projects, and while that may be thanks to his own sensibilities, he has skillfully deployed each director to make what he considers to be entertaining films in several different genres. That's why, after yesterday's preview screening, I genuinely felt from the bottom of my heart that I want everyone to see all of them!

New reviews online!

A bunch of new reviews of our early titles have gone online. Here's a roundup.

SciFi Japan covers ALIEN VS NINJA and MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD

Variety on ALIEN VS NINJA

Some film blogs in Britain cover COLD FISH from the London Film Festival

Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow reviews COLD FISH
And so does Variety
And so does Film Business Asia

Film Business Asia also reviewed MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD

Twitch gives a mixed review after the premiere of HELLDRIVER

Plus a bunch of coverage from Fantastic Fest this past September and from the New York Asian Film Festival in July

Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow also covered ALIEN VS NINJA

There have also been a bunch of interviews online...

SciFi Japan interviewed producer Yoshinori Chiba

Variety also ran a piece about the label and an interview with Chiba

Geekadelphia interviewed director Noboru Iguchi

And finally, io9 interviewed director Yoshihiro Nishimura


And as always, there's much more to come. Stay tuned!