Shidou Nakamura Movies

Too epic in scope to be contained in just one film, the historical saga that began in John Woo's Red Cliff heats up as Prime Minister-turned-General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) leads the Emperor's army southward to do battle with a small but resolute coalition led by fierce opponent Zhou Yu (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai). Incensed at the rebellion displayed by southern warlords Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen), Emperor Xian (Wang Ning) grants his trusted General Cao Cao permission to crush their outspoken opponents. But the journey south isn't easy for Emperor Xian's massive military, and before long, the soldiers are tiring from lack of water and sheer exhaustion. Meanwhile, Zhou Yu's army draws a line in the sand and prepares to defend it with their lives. When typhoid breaks out among Cao Cao's troops, the quick-thinking strategist successfully infects Zhou's army with the disease, causing the latter to realize that psychological warfare has finally come into play. Subsequently deserted by Liu Bei, Zhou prepares to lead an army of approximately 30,000 men against Cao Cao's massive force of several hundred thousand. The battle drawing near, Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) resorts to some clever tactics in order to undermine Cao Cao, and undercover princess Sun Shangxiang (Vicki Zhao) delivers secret messages from the Cao Cao's camp. As violence erupts on the Yangtze River, Zhou Yu's wife (Lin Chi-Ling) emerges to play an unexpectedly crucial role in the historical proceedings. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Shusuke Kaneko picks up right where Death Note left off with this sequel to the box-office phenomenon that finds Light finally giving in to his dark side. In the first Death Note, Light (Tatsuya Fujiwara) focused his wrath on the criminal element, but these days the troubled teen is a bit more hasty in wielding his deadly pen. Lately, Light has taken to eliminating just about anyone who happens to get on his bad side -- a disturbing development that finds the police stepping up their efforts to discover the mysterious killer's true identity. Public opinion is split about what to make of Light's murderous exploits; while some view him as a godsend, others deride him for assuming the roles of judge, jury, and executioner. To the regular citizens, Light has taken on a godlike role and is frequently referred to as Kira (a katakana variation on the work "killer"). It seems that the teenage detective L (Kenichi Matsuyama) is hot on Light's trail, and as the clueless police task force continues to speculate, Light does his best to throw L's investigation off balance. When yet another notebook is dropped by death god Rem, adorable television personality Misa Amane (Erika Toda) discovers it and realizes that she now has the power to identify other notebook owners. Now, despite the fact that Light and Misa fall for each other hard, Light knows that their relationship can only end in disaster and attempts to keep his distance despite a growing emotional attachment to the pretty popular icon. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

After bringing the story of the American soldiers who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima to the screen in his film Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood offers an equally thoughtful portrait of the Japanese forces who held the island for 36 days in this military drama. In 1945, World War II was in its last stages, and U.S. forces were planning to take on the Japanese on a small island known as Iwo Jima. While the island was mostly rock and volcanoes, it was of key strategic value and Japan's leaders saw the island as the final opportunity to prevent an Allied invasion. Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) was put in charge of the forces on Iwo Jima; Kuribayashi had spent time in the United States and was not eager to take on the American army, but he also understood his opponents in a way his superiors did not, and devised an unusual strategy of digging tunnels and deep foxholes that allowed his troops a tactical advantage over the invading soldiers. While Kuribayashi's strategy alienated some older officers, it impressed Baron Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara), the son of a wealthy family who had also studied America firsthand as an athlete at the 1932 Olympics. As Kuribayashi and his men dig in for a battle they are not certain they can win -- and most have been told they will not survive -- their story is told both by watching their actions and through the letters they write home to their loved ones, letters that in many cases would not be delivered until long after they were dead. Among the soldiers manning Japan's last line of defense are Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a baker sent to Iwo Jima only days before his wife was to give birth; Shimizu (Ryo Kase), who was sent to Iwo Jima after washing out in the military police; and Lieutenant Ito (Shidou Nakamura), who has embraced the notion of "Death Before Surrender" with particular ferocity. Filmed in Japanese with a primarily Japanese cast, Letters From Iwo Jima was shot in tandem with Flags of Our Fathers, and the two films were released within two months of one another. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The debut feature film from Sori is a tale of adolescent angst and stylish table tennis sequences. Ping Pong's main character, Tsukimoto (Arata), is an overly sensitive young man who refuses to actually defeat his opponents at the game table because he does not want them to feel bad. His buddy Peco (Yosuke Kubozuka) is a brashly confident and flamboyant player, who meets his match in Kong (Sam Lee). After suffering injuries and temptations, both enter the same major tournament only to realize that they may end up facing off against each other in the finals. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi