Takashi Sasano Movies

Comedy and suspense take turns in this crowd-pleasing picture from popular Japanese director Shinobu Yaguchi. Flight 1980 is preparing to take off from Tokyo to Hawaii, and a team of trained professionals is working to see the flight goes smoothly. Capt. Harada (Saburo Tokito) is a tough, by-the-book pilot who is training young co-pilot Suzuki (Seiichi Tanabe) who is eager to move up to full pilot's status. The flight is also carrying a new stewardess, Saito (Haruka Ayase), who is nervous about working under exacting Chief Purser Yamazaki (Shinobu Terajima), a taskmaster who also intimidates the more experienced Mari (Kazue Fukiishi). Meanwhile at the airport, Kimura (Tomoko Tabata) deals with lost luggage and disgruntled passengers, and the head of the ground crew (Ryosei Tayama) and his chief weather adviser (Ittoku Kishibe) strive to get the flight off the ground safely and on time. Despite the hard work and expertise of everyone involved, two unexpected crises put the flight in grave danger -- a new computer system aboard the jet malfunctions, and as Capt. Harada turns back to Tokyo, it's discovered a hurricane is brewing just off the coast. Can Flight 1980 safely land before the storm hits the airport? A major box office success in Japan, Happy Flight was also screened in competition at the 2008 Pusan International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A high-class prostitute and two misfit admirers are on the run in 19th Century Japan in this comedy from director Hideyuki Hirayama. Okino (Kyoko Koizumi) is a courtesan edging into her forties who wants to give up the business, but her "managers" demand more money than she can pay for her freedom. With the help of her friend Yaji (Kanzaburo Nakamura), a sweet but hare-brained pastry chef who has carried a torch for her since the death of his wife, Okino sends fake severed fingers to her best clients hoping they'll help her raise the money, but the scam fails to fool anyone. Okino tells the caretakers of her house that her father is ill and she needs to visit him, and she and Yaji hit the road towards freedom, but it isn't long before her pimps realizes what's happened and they give chase. En route, Okino and Yaji are joined by washed-up actor Kita (Akira Emoto), who is looking to cheer himself up after an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Kita and Yaji become rivals for Okino's affections while the trio is joined by a street kid (Takato Sasano) who has magical powers and can transform himself into anything from a raccoon to pair of dice in a crap game. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A diminutive Shaolin monk who has never ventured outside of his remote home village is send by his master to Japan in order to pass his crucial final test. Years of non-stop training have made young Kung Fu a true master of the martial arts, and now the gifted young fighter faces just one last test before he achieves the highest honor imaginable. Kung Fu's master is a wise old man with magical powers. In order for Kung Fu to complete his final assignment, his master uses his powers to transport the boy to the "New Koraku" restaurant in Japan. Later, after getting acquainted with restaurant owner and Tai Chi master Izumi, as well as his young granddaughter Reiko, Kung Fu begins waiting tables at the "New Koraku" while gradually acquainting himself with such foreign concepts as modern technology, grandmothers, and flying noodles - all the while wearing a secret wristband designed to alert him when he meets his final opponent. When Reiko becomes the target of some particularly nasty schoolyard bullies, Kung Fu begins to get the feeling that her pupils have been brainwashed and overtaken by a malevolent force. As the mystery deepens, the young master begins to realize just how perilous his final mission will be. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Acclaimed Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa departs from the horror genre for this mystical story of urban ennui. Friends Mamoru (Tadanobu Asano) and Yuji (Joe Odagiri) are aimless young men stuck in dead-end jobs in a dreary factory in Tokyo. Mamoru, the more antisocial of the two, is obsessed with his pet project of acclimating a poisonous jellyfish to fresh water by gradually changing the water in its tank. One night, he inexplicably murders his boss' family and is sentenced to death. Yuji, left to continue the jellyfish experiment, befriends Mamoru's estranged father, and the two form a bond that helps him overcome his emotional troubles. But his attachment to the jellyfish is even stronger, and problems arise when he accidentally releases the poisonous creature into the canals of Tokyo. ~ Tom Vick, Rovi

A teenage boy takes a road trip and learns a lot about himself along the way in this youth-oriented drama. Daisuke Kawashima is a 15-year-old boy who is eager to see the world and find adventure outside his hometown. When he reads of a tree on an island off the Southern coast of Japan that's over 7,000 years old, Daisuke is so impressed that he decides he wants to see the tree for himself; without telling his parents, he packs his bags and hits the road, catching a ride to Osaka with Sumire, a female truck driver who lets him stay with her and her two kids. Daisuke strikes up a friendship with Sumire's shy son Noboru, but the call of the open road gets stuck in his ear again, and before long Daisuke is en route to Yakushima Island, home of the remarkable tree, where he is befriended by a girl who encourages him to live out his dreams to the fullest. As the title suggests, Jugosai: Gakko IV is the fourth film in the series which began with Gakko in 1993. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi