Kimiko Yo Movies

A special kind of toy is suddenly introduced to the real world around her in this artful fantasy from Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda. Hideo (Itsuji Itao) is a middle-aged man who doesn't have many friends, but he wards off loneliness with his companion Nozomi (Bae Du-na), who joins him for dinner each evening and in bed afterwards. But Nozomi is actually an inflatable love doll that can't speak or move on her own -- or she can't until one morning when she discovers she's developed the heart, flesh and soul of a human being. Unfamiliar with the world outside Hideo's apartment, Nozomi tentatively learns to walk, dress herself and venture out into the neighborhood, where she mimics the speech and habits of others. Hideo is surprised when he discovers his "air doll" has come to life, but he soon adjusts to Nozomi's new form. But Nozomi begins learning about the pain and confusion that having a heart can bring when she gets a job at a video store and falls in love with one of her co-workers, Junichi (Arata). As she struggles with her feelings, she seeks out her creator -- Sonoda (Joe Odagiri), the designer who invented the model of doll she used to be. Kuki Ningyo (aka Air Doll) was an official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the "Un Certain Regard" program. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A freelance writer living in Tokyo defies social taboo by choosing life as a single mother in director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's meditative tribute to acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. When Yoko announces that she is pregnant and has no intentions of marrying the father of her child, her traditional family is outraged. Though the headstrong decision made by the young mother-to-be leaves her finding little sympathy from within her family circle, a blossoming friendship with the owner of a local second-hand bookstore goes a long way in alleviating Yoko's feelings of loneliness. As Yoko begins to re-evaluate her increasingly complicated life, her newfound friend silently pines for her despite his frustrating inability to vocalize his true feelings. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This dark horror film begins with the grisly spectacle of 54 Japanese schoolgirls jumping in unison into the path of an oncoming train. This is only the first in a wave of mass suicides that sweeps across Japan, baffling the police and panicking the populace. The two police officers assigned to the case have to piece together such mystifying clues as a website seems to be predicting each wave of deaths, a coughing child who periodically calls them with enigmatic tips, and a coiled rope stitched out of human flesh. All of it may or may not have to do with a prepubescent all-girl pop group whose latest hit single seems to have hypnotized the nation. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide

Following up on his 1995 violent crime-thriller Gonin, Tadashi Ishii adds sex into two-fisted mix of action and bloodlust: instead of a quintet of disenfranchised guys, this go-around features five very angry women. Small factory owner Masamichi Toyama (Ken Ogata) is deeply in debt to the local yakuza. One night, while returning from buying his wife a birthday present, he comes home to find the mobsters demanding payment. They rape his wife and beat him as a warning. The incident drives his wife over the edge: she frantically starts looking for the lost birthday present and then that night hangs herself. Like in the first movie, Toyama sets out to strike bloody revenge against the yakuza office. Meanwhile, the film catches up with four women in similarly desperate straits: Ran (Kimiko Yo), an out of work former owner of a fitness club; Sayuri (Shinobu Otake), an aging hooker with few prospects; Shiho, a housewife who just discovered her husband in mid-philander; and Saki, a low-rung corporate drone who is still traumatized by memories of a childhood rape. The four find themselves in the midst of a daylight robbery of a high-end jewelry store. While the ski-masked thieves busy themselves with grabbing as much loot as possible, the office worker zaps one with a tazer while the housewife bashes another on the head. Chaos breaks out and soon the four, along with a store saleswoman (Mai Kitajima), are fleeing place with jewels in hand. Having laid waste to the Mob lair and still brandishing a bloodied weapon, Toyama staggers to the store, looking to buy his dead wife the diamond ring she longed for, only to get swept up in the melee. Soon Toyama and the five women are fending off vengeful yakuza and enraged jewel thieves. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide