Ako Movies
Carol Fuchs adapts writer/director Sandra Nettelbeck's screenplay for the 2001 romantic drama Mostly Martha for this Scott Hicks directed remake starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, and Patricia Clarkson. Kate Armstrong (Jones) is the master chef who is equally intense both in and out of the kitchen. Though Kate's "Type A" personality serves her well when whipping up meals in the trendy Manhattan eatery where she has made a name for herself, it threatens to sink her when she is named as the guardian of her nine-year-old niece Zoe (Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin). To complicate matters, an impetuous new sous chef named Nick Palmer (Eckhart) has recently joined the kitchen staff and his freewheeling personality seems to stand in direct opposition to Kate's unwavering perfectionism. Yet, despite the fact that they couldn't be more different on the surface, there's no denying the strong attraction between Kate and Nick. As the rivalry between the competitive cooks gradually gives way to romance, the lessons learned by compromising in the kitchen reveal to Kate the importance of learning to openly express herself in order to truly connect with Zoe and find romance with the good-natured Nick. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, (more)
- 1987
In the 12th century, Buddhism was still a relatively new religion in Japan. At that time, one school (Shingon) offered extensive training in complex and very demanding practices which might eventually bring about spiritual purification and realization. Various Zen schools offered students a lengthy path, literally composed of a blank wall and unceasing meditation. Yet another school (Tendai) emphasized complex metaphysics and the study of philosophical systems. Basically, all of them were designed to cater to the few who were able to give up everything else in their lives and focus on liberation, such as scholars and noblemen. In this historical and biographical drama, this is the situation that the young Shinran (1173-1263) discovered when he began exploring Buddhism as an alternative to the violence and ceaseless civil wars that racked Japan at the time. There was nothing out there for the common man, and the common man was desperately in need of hope and succor. Out of his experiences, the compassionate priest came to understand that "self-power" forms of practice were not especially helpful, and his teachings emphasized "other-power," the compassionate intervention of the Buddha Amida (Amitabha), which followers could receive by reciting an homage to him (Namo Amida Butsu). This alone would ensure the devotee's rebirth in Amida's Pure Land (a kind of heaven) and many blessings in this life. Hence, the school of Buddhism he founded came to be known as "Pure Land" or Shin Buddhism, and along with its many offshoots it became (as intended) the most popular and widespread form of Buddhist practice in Japan and continues in that role today. As for this complex movie, though lavishly produced, it was reportedly quite confusing to less well-informed (usually non-Japanese) audiences and failed to involve those for whom these religious controversies were not particularly compelling. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shigeru Izumiya
- 1986
- R
Mysterious and suspenseful, with a touch of the supernatural thrown in, this first feature by director Sara Driver follows Nicole (Suzanne Fletcher), a woman who works at a computer all day, through an odd and menacing series of events. Nicole has been translating an old Chinese manuscript, and the more she translates the stranger her life becomes. Surreal events seem to interrupt reality on a regular basis. A Japanese woman who worked on the manuscript has been killed, Nicole's roommate Isabelle (Ann Magnuson) develops some inexplicable problems, and now Nicole's son is missing after he fell asleep in Isabelle's car, which was then stolen. A desperate Nicole goes out looking for her son in a reality that seems less and less "real" all the time. This film was in competition at the 1987 U.S. Film Festival. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzanne Fletcher, Ann Magnuson, (more)
Though this film is unlikely to find a wide audience in America, Akai Kami No Onna was ranked fourth in prestigious film journal Kinema Jumpo's annual ten best list in 1979, and Junko Miyashita, an icon of Japan's popular softcore films, garnered a best actress award. Director Tatsumi Kumashiro gives us an intimate portrait of the film's central character set against a working-class background. Miyashita plays a hitchhiker picked up by a truck driver (Renji Ishibashi) who takes her back to his rundown hovel. Claiming that she is running away from her husband, she moves in with the trucker and proceeds to engage in a grueling routine of non-stop sex -- until her violent ex-boyfriend pays an unexpected visit. This film is considered one of the finest movies in the Nikku Roman Porno genre. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Junko Miyashita
- 1978
A young Japanese man finds himself in the company of a strange, effeminate gay man and a girl with a seedy sexual history and who even now is pregnant again. They share a predisposition for drug use and spend time together in an old house. He refuses the advances of the gay man, who then commits suicide. When a gang administers a beating to him, his father re-enters the scene and takes him home, along with the girl. However, the girl has decided to have her baby, and she goes to live with its father. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Koichi Miura, Ako, (more)
