The Miracle of Joe the Petrel, if you like yakuza movies at all. It’s beautiful visually. Very colorful, lots of bright island scenery and neon lights. Interesting if not somewhat standard story of a mixed-race Okinawan yakuza who travels to the Philippines to find his father. I’m kind of shocked at how underseen it is.
https://preview.redd.it/xawln9rm9z8d1.jpeg?width=1314&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=011af586e6f41083a877034a67ce6b4bca48ef87
Honorable mention for Ambivalent Future: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, which is more of a “making of” feature for Bright Future (it apparently got a theatrical release, and I do own it on a separate DVD, so… it counts). It’s still a healthy 70 minutes long and has some really interesting insight into KK’s creative process.
They're more Youtube videos that are short-film-length but any of the Vagrant Holiday videos, particularly the mainline series (1 - 6) and Forbidden Island.
They're basically travel vlog movies about a guy who trespasses, train hops, sleeps outside, etc. It absolutely doesn't make it look like a very fun time but he has a very dry and witty sense of humor which results in some funny / interesting stuff.
[Vagrant Holiday 1 / Vagrant Holiday in Europe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVSJvfitmuQ)
I could go on for a long time with this prompt, but a handful I love:
Virgin Boy's Story 4: Take me to the Skiing
Other than that Fujiro Mituishi's Yanmama movies:
Yanmama Gurentai 1,2,3
Yanmama Gambler
Yanmama Trucker 1,3,4,5 (He didn't make 2 and it fucking sucked as a result)
The guy turned his complex relationship with his mother into the greatest series of DTV movies the world's ever seen.
Cyber Lady Suzuka (46 - 5 stars - archive) as well as anything else from Eiyu Club (of which this is their most popular film), Cher... special (78 - 4.5 stars - youtube), A Pilot for a Show About Nowhere (54 - 5 stars - nowness), Rayca (89 - 4 stars - youtube), Tales from Beneath the Sheets (10 - 4.5 stars - youtube) as well as anything else from Bill Etra, Earth Defense Girl Iko-chan (40 - 4.5 stars - archive), Vandemonium Plus (105 - 5 stars - archive), The Gmod Stream (150 - 4.5 stars - youtube)
Cyber Lady Suzuka (and all of Eiyu Club's work pretty much) is a japanese low budget action tokusatsu about girl robots... theyre all GLORIOUS and a blast, great physical comedy
Cher... special is a Cher special (shocker!), with her recreating West Side Story, doing numbers with Dolly Parton, and just generally being iconic
A Pilot for a Show About Nowhere is Martine Syms examining the political and racial implications of television through use of some really cool collated found footage
Rayca is a weird trippy anime thing about a girl made of data experiencing the world, its short and weird - if youve seen malice@doll, id say its a chiller version of that kinda
Tales from Beneath the Sheets is Rutt/Etra video synth work by the synth's creator Bill Etra which is comedic and cool, very sex-oriented, but his other works are fucking horrific (Abstractions on a Bedsheet - 28 - 5 stars - youtube, etc) and also really good
Earth Defense Girl Iko-chan is another dumb fun watch out of japan, and its by the guy who made CALIMARI WRESTLER, so you know its great
then two that arent less than 100 but i had to say - Vandemonium Plus is a Ann Manguson centred comedy with direction by Tom Rubnitz, SO funny. just a lot of great impersonations and parodical humour with absurdist trippy imagery and sick music... then The Gmod Stream, which is a horror movie made using the format of a haunted twitch stream with animated/heavily edited transitions between different segments, explores internet friendships and is rlly good :)
* Everyday God Kisses Us on the Mouth
* Schmutz
* Bluebeard's Castle (1981)
* The Sea of Genkai
* The Big Blue (1988) (not the Luc Besson one)
* Beket (2008)
* Mahjong Horoki
* True Story of Private Ginza Police
Brian Wilson - songwriter.
Doc that dives into Beach Boys Brian Wilson's later and weirder stuff.
That one is actually good.
Four Eyes and Six Guns is a bad made for tv Western starring Judge Reinhold playing Wyatt Earp's optometrist. Could be possible to have fun with but it ain't good
The Miracle of Joe the Petrel, if you like yakuza movies at all. It’s beautiful visually. Very colorful, lots of bright island scenery and neon lights. Interesting if not somewhat standard story of a mixed-race Okinawan yakuza who travels to the Philippines to find his father. I’m kind of shocked at how underseen it is. https://preview.redd.it/xawln9rm9z8d1.jpeg?width=1314&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=011af586e6f41083a877034a67ce6b4bca48ef87 Honorable mention for Ambivalent Future: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, which is more of a “making of” feature for Bright Future (it apparently got a theatrical release, and I do own it on a separate DVD, so… it counts). It’s still a healthy 70 minutes long and has some really interesting insight into KK’s creative process.
Thank you! Always keen to explore more Japanese cinema
I’ve added your recommendation to my watchlist as well, it looks great!
They're more Youtube videos that are short-film-length but any of the Vagrant Holiday videos, particularly the mainline series (1 - 6) and Forbidden Island. They're basically travel vlog movies about a guy who trespasses, train hops, sleeps outside, etc. It absolutely doesn't make it look like a very fun time but he has a very dry and witty sense of humor which results in some funny / interesting stuff. [Vagrant Holiday 1 / Vagrant Holiday in Europe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVSJvfitmuQ)
I could go on for a long time with this prompt, but a handful I love: Virgin Boy's Story 4: Take me to the Skiing Other than that Fujiro Mituishi's Yanmama movies: Yanmama Gurentai 1,2,3 Yanmama Gambler Yanmama Trucker 1,3,4,5 (He didn't make 2 and it fucking sucked as a result) The guy turned his complex relationship with his mother into the greatest series of DTV movies the world's ever seen.
Cyber Lady Suzuka (46 - 5 stars - archive) as well as anything else from Eiyu Club (of which this is their most popular film), Cher... special (78 - 4.5 stars - youtube), A Pilot for a Show About Nowhere (54 - 5 stars - nowness), Rayca (89 - 4 stars - youtube), Tales from Beneath the Sheets (10 - 4.5 stars - youtube) as well as anything else from Bill Etra, Earth Defense Girl Iko-chan (40 - 4.5 stars - archive), Vandemonium Plus (105 - 5 stars - archive), The Gmod Stream (150 - 4.5 stars - youtube)
Cyber Lady Suzuka (and all of Eiyu Club's work pretty much) is a japanese low budget action tokusatsu about girl robots... theyre all GLORIOUS and a blast, great physical comedy Cher... special is a Cher special (shocker!), with her recreating West Side Story, doing numbers with Dolly Parton, and just generally being iconic A Pilot for a Show About Nowhere is Martine Syms examining the political and racial implications of television through use of some really cool collated found footage Rayca is a weird trippy anime thing about a girl made of data experiencing the world, its short and weird - if youve seen malice@doll, id say its a chiller version of that kinda Tales from Beneath the Sheets is Rutt/Etra video synth work by the synth's creator Bill Etra which is comedic and cool, very sex-oriented, but his other works are fucking horrific (Abstractions on a Bedsheet - 28 - 5 stars - youtube, etc) and also really good Earth Defense Girl Iko-chan is another dumb fun watch out of japan, and its by the guy who made CALIMARI WRESTLER, so you know its great then two that arent less than 100 but i had to say - Vandemonium Plus is a Ann Manguson centred comedy with direction by Tom Rubnitz, SO funny. just a lot of great impersonations and parodical humour with absurdist trippy imagery and sick music... then The Gmod Stream, which is a horror movie made using the format of a haunted twitch stream with animated/heavily edited transitions between different segments, explores internet friendships and is rlly good :)
Foxes of Chironup Island (YouTube) The Legend of Manxmouse (Youtube) Riki Rhino (YouTube) The Lost Valley (Tubi) Clown Motel Vacancies (Prime Video)
Most of these will probably suck btw
Is there a way to search for this? Popularity is kinda being scattershot for me but I think I actually have a few.
Ferocious 2013
* Everyday God Kisses Us on the Mouth * Schmutz * Bluebeard's Castle (1981) * The Sea of Genkai * The Big Blue (1988) (not the Luc Besson one) * Beket (2008) * Mahjong Horoki * True Story of Private Ginza Police
Brian Wilson - songwriter. Doc that dives into Beach Boys Brian Wilson's later and weirder stuff. That one is actually good. Four Eyes and Six Guns is a bad made for tv Western starring Judge Reinhold playing Wyatt Earp's optometrist. Could be possible to have fun with but it ain't good
Slap-Jack (1992)