Home Vision Entertainment

[Nihonophile]

I watched volume 2 of Yakuza Papers and am responding as promised. This film was an overall improvement of the story, the series, and the direction. From watching these two movies, I would recommend a blind buy of the box set.

Volume 2 features Sonny Chiba and Meiko Kaji both putting in really great performances that made the movie fly by. Bunta Sugawara is a supporting role in this film however, the outcome of the story affects his character directly and I'd even argue that the purpose of the movie not only furthers the whole storyline but effectively shows hints of how much Shozo Hirono will have changed by volume 3 through the outcome of this film.

[Blissful Sinner]

I'm confused. Is the Yakuza Papers a series or are they individual films within the same genre?

[Poncho Punch]

I'm confused. Is the Yakuza Papers a series or are they individual films within the same genre?

It's a series in that they all take place in the same fictional world, and I believe there is a protagonist across all five (but I'm not certain).

[analoguezombie]

I'm confused. Is the Yakuza Papers a series or are they individual films within the same genre?

It's a series in that they all take place in the same fictional world, and I believe there is a protagonist across all five (but I'm not certain).

It's like the Godfather Saga. The Yakuza Papers moniker refers to the memoirs on which the films are based. The series is comprised of five films:
1) Battles Without Honor and Humanity
2) Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima
3) Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War
4) Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics
5) Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode

They tell the TRUE story of the fight for Yakuza control of Hiroshima's underworld from 1946-1970. Bunta Sugawara plays Shozo Hirono, the main character, but his prominence in each film waxes and wanes with his periodic incarceration and plot developments. He only dominates screen time in Vol. 1 and Vol. 3.

Sonny Chiba appears in Deadly Fight in Hiroshima as mentioned above. What's interesting is when his character reappears in Final Episode, he's played by "Branded to Kill's" Joe Shishido.


On another Fukasaku note:
The cover art for SYmpathy for the Underdog has just been posted at HVe. I'm starting to like their art much more than Criterion's. Compare the recent Criterion Suzuki film covers, with the new Fukasaku covers. Much better at conveying the film, and nicer to behold.

[neuro]

Where can I subscribe to this magazine?

[analoguezombie]

On another Fukasaku note:
The cover art for SYmpathy for the Underdog has just been posted at HVe. I'm starting to like their art much more than Criterion's. Compare the recent Criterion Suzuki film covers, with the new Fukasaku covers. Much better at conveying the film, and nicer to behold.

looks like I spoke too soon:

yuk!

[Nihonophile]

zombie if that is a picture of Fall Guy (broken link) then I disagree heartily. ITs a fukasaku comedy which calls for a drastically different look for the cover. Plus to me that line "from the director of Battle Royale" on this cover is the funniest manifestation of that credo.

[cafeman]

I haven`t seen Fall Guy, but already I really want to, so that cover must work.

[analoguezombie]

I guess I'm just missing it. The ironic 'Battle Royale' tag owrks for sure, but the cover just conjures images of silly animated credit sequences.

[Poncho Punch]

I like the cover. The combination of the 'by the director of Battle Royale' line and hand-drawn figure makes me think of Rejected, and that's always a plus. Even if this film isn't animated, or has a similar sense of humor, I have a feeling I'll want to enjoy it immensely, and will try my damnedest to do so.

[Cinephrenic]

hmm...Battle Royale? The marketing would work if it was released in R1. So maybe something is cooking secretly. Criterion..........?

[Tribe]

From today's New York Times:

By DAVE KEHR

'Mikey and Nicky'

Elaine May's "Mikey and Nicky" (1976) has had a troubled existence. But the film's fine new DVD incarnation from Home Vision Entertainment provides a happy ending, firmly setting this neglected wonder among the finest American movies of the 1970's, and perhaps of all time.

Ostensibly a buddy comedy about the small-time Philadelphia hoods Mikey (Peter Falk) and Nicky (John Cassavetes) who spend a frenzied night together during which Mikey must finger his boyhood friend for a mob hit man (Ned Beatty), the film was the product of a difficult production. Ms. May, coming off the commercial and critical success of "The Heartbreak Kid," took her sweet time in shooting "Mikey and Nicky," insisting on shooting entirely after dark and leaving her crew standing idle for hours at a time as she discussed the characters and situations with her two extraordinary collaborators, improvising pages of new dialogue nightly.

In the end, says the producer Michael Hausman in an interview on the new disc, Ms. May exposed more than one million feet of film, a record many believe stands to this day. Holed up in a hotel suite at the Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood, Ms. May carved the film down to a perfectly paced 105 minutes over a period of many months. When the film opened in New York in December 1976, it sank quickly out of sight and has remained for the last 28 years a legend among those lucky enough to see it at its periodic revivals.

Seen today, "Mikey and Nicky" offers an almost Shakespearean appreciation of human complexity, paradoxically centered on two characters who are anything but self-aware. During the long night, as Mikey, supposedly trying to help his old friend in a moment of mortal consequence, actually steers him toward an assassin's bullet, the two men instinctively explore the history of their friendship, from childhood alliance to adult betrayal.

Mikey's monstrous act is revealed to have so many complex roots, from perceived adolescent slights to a cold economic decision to back his mob bosses (played by the great acting coaches Sanford Meisner and William Hickey) over his unreliable, irresponsible friend, that his betrayal comes to seem inevitable and even necessary - a working definition of modern tragedy.

In a movie filled with unforgettable performances, it is worth underlining the contribution of Carol Grace, who in two brief scenes creates an indelible portrait of Nellie, Nicky's sweet, sad mistress. Truman Capote's inspiration for Holly Golightly of "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and later the wife of William Saroyan and Walter Matthau, Grace, who died last year, modestly displays a magical presence that more than justifies the tales that have grown up around her life.

The Home Vision disc features a scrupulously cleaned-up and color-corrected print (along with an informative documentary on how the buffing up was done) as well as an essay by one of the film's longtime critical champions, Jonathan Rosenbaum of The Chicago Reader

[Narshty]

Deep Crimson

Wow - a remake (or at least, reinterpretation) of The Honeymoon Killers? Sounds interesting.

[Tribe]

I'm not familiar with any these March 2005 releases from HVE. Can anyone elaborate on the films?

Tribe

[Fletch F. Fletch]

I'm not familiar with any these March 2005 releases from HVE. Can anyone elaborate on the films?

Waydowntown is a funny (in that odd, Canadian way) satire on office politics. Most of the characters are pretty self-absorbed and but the film chugs along in a dry, laid-back kind of way that reminded me a bit of the tone of another office satire, Clockwatchers. The first time I watched Waydowntown, I was not all that impressed by it but subsequent viewings on TV wore me down and it is become of one of my favourite Canadian films.

It's a shame that the DVD doesn't have much in the way of extras (an audio commentary would have been nice) but still, it is nice to see it finally arrive on DVD in its original aspect ratio and with a 5.1 soundtrack.

[Lino]

Has anyone bought this one here:

http://www.homevision.com/users/folder. ... &id=KRI030

and care to comment? I'm a big Ullmann fan but I've still to watch one of her self-directed movies. Since Faithless is out on DVD but in poor conditions, is this a good start?

[DDillaman]

I've only seen WAYDOWNTOWN once, and I hated it - it seemed way in debt to Kevin Smith without very many laughs, and visually even uglier. (Of course, I saw it on film - seeing video on a TV, the images might not look quite so horrendous.) I may have just not been on its wavelength or something, but I'm definitely steering clear of it regardless.

[mmacklem]

Has anyone bought this one here:

http://www.homevision.com/users/folder. ... &id=KRI030

and care to comment? I'm a big Ullmann fan but I've still to watch one of her self-directed movies. Since Faithless is out on DVD but in poor conditions, is this a good start?

I bought this over the holidays as a blind buy after dvdtalk gave it their highest rating last year. I haven't watched it yet, and likely wouldn't have a chance to do so until the weekend, but I'll let you know what I think when I do.

[kortik]

Do they plan to release Zatoichi films in boxsets?

BTW: recent Zatoichi releases from http://www.animeigo.com/Samurai/ZATOICHI.t" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
7 of them are in the box set, and its here.

[kekid]

The box set is not from Home Vision but Koch. Can anyone comment on the quality of these vis-a-vis Home Vision?

[kortik]

yes there are not from HVE but if you want to complete the collection of 26, HVE got 17 and Animeigo got 7 + 1 from MediaBlaster and #14 is not yet confirmed.

I dont thing HVE sells all of there 17 DVD in one BoxSet only 7DVDs from Animeigo (Koch) can be purchased as a box set.

check here:
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa81.html#zato

[Harold Gervais]

The box set is not from Home Vision but Koch. Can anyone comment on the quality of these vis-a-vis Home Vision?

Taken as whole, the AnimEigo Zatoichi movies feature stronger transfers and they have the advantage of having different colored subtitles when more than one character is speaking. Like the HMV Zatoichi titles, the discs are pretty much extra free. Personally, I enjoy the HMV Zatoichi movies more than the AnimEigo titles.

[kortik]

anybody know if HVE planning to release
5 originals(released), then came the 3 New ones (still Kinji and Bunta) and then there was a spinoff in 79. Still Bunta, but not with Kinji anymore.

Fight without Honor and Humanity (1973) (Pt.1)
Fight without Honor and Humanity: Deathmatch in Hiroshima (1973) (Pt.2)
Fight without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War (1973) (Pt.3)
Fight without Honor and Humanity: Hight Tactics (1974) (Pt.4)
Fight without Honor and Humanity: Final Episodes (1974) (Pt.5)
New Fight without Honor and Humanity (1974) (Pt.6)
New Fight without Honor and Humanity: Head of the Boss (1975) (Pt.7)
New Fight without Honor and Humanity: Head Last Days of the Boss (1976) (Pt.8)
Spinoff: A World after Fight without Honor and Humanity (1979)

[manicsounds]

from kungfucinema:

2005.01.18 - Starring Shintaro Katsu (star of the popular Zatoichi series), Hanzo the Razor Boxed Set (Streets: 4/19/05) includes three feature-length ‘70s exploitation films on DVD in a special boxed set from Home Vision Entertainment.

From the creator of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Hanzo the Razor Boxed Set, which includes Sword of Justice, The Snare, and Who's Got the Gold? (SRP: $59.95) is dirtier than Harry and shaftier than Shaft! It's Hanzo "The Razor" Itami, “The Longest Arm of the Law,” the incorruptible and uncompromising samurai cop that packs a weapon more devastating than any sword (just ask any of the female suspects he "interrogates").

Based on Kazuo Koike's classic mangas, and starring the screen's most outrageous samurai anti-hero, Hanzo the Razor Boxed Set special features include a new digital transfer, enhanced for 16:9 televisions, original theatrical trailers, and more.

not up on the HVe site as of yet.
very nice news.

[kortik]

I am looking forward for this release. Those are Naughty films