Aki Maeda Movies
Four schoolgirls put the axiom "the show must go on" to the test in this rock & roll teen comedy drama from Japan. Nozumi (Shiori Sekine) and Kyoto (Aki Maeda) are two friends who attend the same high school and have decided to put together a rock band to play the school's talent show. Things are going well until two days before the show, when the group's lead guitarist quits for fear of breaking her fingernails and the singer walks due to lack of interest. Determined to make a showing one way or another, Nozumi takes over as bass player, Kyoto becomes the group's drummer, and their pal Kei (Yu Kashii) is drafted as lead guitarist, even though keyboards are her first instrument. Needing a singer, the girls literally take on the first likely candidate who crosses their path. However, the new vocalist turns out to be Song (Doona Bae), a Korean exchange student who not only hasn't sang before, but has only the most rudimentary command of Japanese. The girls give themselves the goal of being able to play "Linda Linda Linda," a hit for the Japanese pop-punk band the Blue Hearts, in time for the show, but is there any way Kei and Song can overcome their steep learning curve? Linda Linda Linda received its North American premiere at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2001
In a future where society is on the verge of collapse, the government takes drastic action against the problem of rebellious teenagers in this violent sci-fi opus from Japan. In the year 2002, Japan's economy has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, and massive unemployment and inflation have thrown most adults into a state of chaos; the nation's youth culture responds with unprecedented violence, delinquency, and truancy. Desperate to restore order, the Japanese parliament responds by creating the Millennial Reform School Act, in which groups of junior high students are selected at random, sent to an isolated island, and forced to play a rigorous war game, in which all but one of their number are killed. Kitano (Beat Takeshi) is an embittered school instructor who guides the 44 students of the Zentsuji Middle School's Class B through the deadly game known as "Battle Royale," as they struggle to survive against the elements and each other. Battle Royale proved to be both successful and highly controversial in Japan, where it set box-office records and prompted political leaders to call for stricter controls on violence in Japanese entertainment; the film was initially rated R-15 (no one under 15 admitted), unusual for violent films in Japan, though director Kinji Fukasaku later prepared a re-edited version that earned a more lenient classification. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, (more)
Daei studio's answer to Toho's wildly popular Godzilla, Gamera -- a monstrous fire-breathing turtle -- appeared numerous films from 1966 until 1971. In 1995, he made his triumphant return with Gamera Daikaiju Kuchu Kessen (Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe) which featured slick new special effects, a smart script by Kazunori Ito, and sharp direction by Shusuke Kaneko. Gamera 3 opens with scientist Mayumi Nagamine (Shinobu Nakayama) finding the corpse of a Gyaos in a remote Fillipino village. Cut to teenage girl Ayana (Ai Maeda), who is forced to live with her relatives in a rural village near Nara after Gamera killed her parents. One day, a gang of bullying classmates forces her to venture into a cave that supposedly houses a demon. Instead, she finds a rock that lights up at her touch. Later, a tentacled baby beast emerges from an adjacent egg; Ayana cares for it and names it after her dead pet cat, Iris. This, she surmises, could be her means of vengeance against Gamera. Meanwhile in Tokyo, Mayumi attends a meeting of the Monster Damage Control Committee. There she meets the creepy government astrologer Mito Asakita (Senri Yamasaki) and her simpering colleague, an extraordinarily creepy game designer (Toru Tezuka). Just as the meeting is about to commence, a Gyaos attacks Tokyo with Gamera in hot pursuit. Soon, a train station is blown up, glitzy buildings are trashed, and Gamera is dubbed enemy number one by the government. Back in Nara, Ayana finds the desiccated shells of animal as her pet monster has grown to the size of a house. Yet in order for it to reach its full strength, it fuses with its adoptive mother in a manner that is incredibly slimy. Later, Asagi Kusanagi (played by Steven Seagal's daughter Ayako Fujitani) -- the protagonist in the previous two Gamera films -- returns from studying abroad to help Mayumi and Gamera thwart this new villain, Iris. This film was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shinobu Nakayama, Ai Maeda, (more)
