Akira Yamamoto Movies
- 2008
A young slacker discovers his true purpose in life after falling in love with a knife-wielding beauty locked in an eternal battle against a menacing giant with a chainsaw for a hand director Takuji Kitamura's adaptation of author Tatsuhiko Takimoto popular cult novel. Ever since his best friend died one year ago, Yosuke has been sleepwalking his way through life. It's not that Yosuke lacks intelligence; he just doesn't really see the point in living when life can be taken in the blink of an eye. One night, while wandering the darkened city streets, the depressive Yosuke happens across mournful young beauty Eri. Eri, too, is nursing a painful loss, though she has precious little time to grieve thanks to the menacing giant who falls from the sky determined to carve her up with his enormous chainsaw-hand. It's evident from Eri's arsenal of hidden blades that this is a fairly regular occurrence, and though it's plain to see that she's fully capable of handling the task at hand, Yosuke still can't resist the urge to come to her aid. In helping Eri, Yosuke has finally found something to live for, but why does Eri have to fight in the first place, anyway? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hayato Ichihara, Megumi Seki, (more)
- 2007
The new kid in town finds his new friends might know something his father doesn't in this playful comedy from Japanese filmmaker Isao Yukisada. Ryunosuke Kusunoki (Ryunosuke Kamiki) is a boy from Tokyo who moves with his family to a farming community in Hokkaido province, where he soon finds he doesn't fit in. Ryunosuke's difficulties with his new school mates isn't helped by the fact his father (Tomokazu Miura) is a government functionary who has come to persuade a handful of farmers to sell their land so that a new airport can be built. Ryunosuke's father isn't the first man to try to get the local farmers to sell their land, and the landowners don't regard him with any greater friendliness than they did his predecessors. Ryunosuke is frequently taunted by Kohei Tsuchida (Yuma Sasano), whose father is a scientist and the leader of the local opposition to the new airport, but while their parents are increasingly at odds, Ryunosuke and Kohei strike up a friendship through their shared love of pranks. As Ryunosuke slowly begins to enjoy his new environment and the joyously eccentric community around him, he finds he can no longer support his father's desire to tear up the countryside in the name of air transportation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryunosuke Kamiki, Suzuka Ohgo, (more)
The One Missed Call series winds to a terrifying conclusion as a fearful schoolgirl attempts to save her friends by breaking the cell-phone curse. Bullied by her classmates into missing a field trip to Korea, timid Asuka plots revenge as her best friend Emily prepares for the exciting excursion. When the fabled "Ring Tone of Death" begins emitting from her classmate's cell phones and the body count begins to multiply, Emily desperately searches for a means of breaking the deadly cycle. The only way of avoiding death is to forward the call to someone else, but who is truly deserving of such a grim fate? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maki Horikita, Meisa Kuroki, (more)
