 Audition 1999  R, 115 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Takashi Miike
Cast: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura, Renji Ishibashi, Miyuki Matsuda, Toshie Negishi, Ren Osugi, Shigeru Saiki, Ken Mitsuishi, Yuriko Hirooka, Misato Nakamura, Fumiyo Kohinata, Yuuto Arima, Ayaka Izumi
Another unique film from Director Takashi Miike, this is the story of an executive, Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) who has been a widower for seven years. He would like companionship, but it must be with a "proper" woman. His movie-executive friend has an idea: he will hold an audition pretending that it is for an upcoming production. Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina) is selected, and an affair begins. Now comes the dark side as the disturbing truth about Asami is revealed.
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Brother 2000  R, 114 min.
Genre: Action
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Omar Epps, Claude Maki, Masaya Kato, Susumu Terajima, Royale Watkins, Lombardo Boyar, Ren Osugi, Ryo Ishibashi, James Shigeta
Yamamoto's (Takeshi Kitano) Tokyo gang has been annihilated when he flees to Los Angeles and moves in with his half-brother, Ken (Claude Maki), who happens to be a lowly drug dealer. But Yamamoto makes use of his ability to run a gang, calls on his pal Kato (Susumu Terajima) for help, and soon has Ken set up as a real player in the crime scene. Now, the question is, "How long will it last?"
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Charisma 1999 N/R, 104 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Cast: Koji Yakusho, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Ren Osugi, Yoriko Douguchi, Jun Fubuki, Akira Otaka, Yutaka Matsushige, Sachiko Meguro, Masayuki Shionoya, Masahiro Toda, Yoji Tanaka
After a hostage negotiator fails at his rescue attempt, he takes a vacation in a remote forest where he comes across a strange tree called "Charisma" that some of the local people want to destroy.
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 Cure 1997 N/R, 115 min.
Genre: Foreign / Thriller
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Cast: Koji Yakusho, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Masato Hagiwara, Anna Nakagawa, Yoriko Douguchi, Yukijiro Hotaru, Denden, Ren Osugi, Masahiro Toda, Misayo Haruki
Homicide Detective Kenichi Takabe (Koji Yakusho) investigates a series of murders in which the victims have had a large "X" carved on their bodies. In each case, the murderer is nearby and confesses, though not sure of what happened. Eventually, a drifter comes under scrutiny but on questioning does not seem to have a memory of anything and always asks "Who are you?" Meanwhile, Kenichi's wife has her own mental illness problems, and Kenichi begins to understand more about the drifter's situation. Eerie.
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Dangan Runner 1996 N/R, 82 min.
Genre: Foreign / Action
aka: Non-Stop
Director: Sabu(2)
Cast: Tomorowo Taguchi, Diamond Yukai, Shin'ichi Tsutsumi, Akaji Maro, Ren Osugi, Hiroshi Simizu
Yasuda (Tomorowo Taguchi), unhappy in both his personal and professional lives, decides to rob a bank. On the way, he steals a mask at a convenience store, fights with the clerk Aizawa (Diamond Yukai), and runs. Unfortunately, Aizawa, who is chasing Yasuda, runs into mobster Takeda (Shin'ichi Tsutsumi) to whom he owes money. Now all three are in a mad chase across Tokyo.
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Dead or Alive 1999 N/R, 104 min.
Genre: Foreign / Action
Director: Takashi Miike
Cast: Riki Takeuchi, Sho Aikawa, Renji Ishibashi, Hitoshi Ozawa, Shingo Tsurumi, Kaoru Sugita, Dankan, Michisuke Kashiwaya, Ren Osugi, Susumu Terajima
Now here's a shocker. The first 10 minutes grab your attention with the violence and blood but then settles into a conventional, but good, tale of the narcotics cop (Sho Aikawa) pitted against a drug czar (Riki Takeuchi).
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Dead or Alive 2: The Birds 2000 N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Foreign / Action
Director: Takashi Miike
Cast: Sho Aikawa, Riki Takeuchi, ShinyaTsukamoto, Kenichi Endo, Edison Chen, Ren Osugi, Masato, Tomorowo Taguchi, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi, Teah
In the second installment of Takashi Miike's trilogy, two hit men (Sho Aikawa and Riki Takeuchi) cross paths while performing their jobs. They had been childhood friends growing up in an orphanage and now decide to go in business for themselves–this time ridding the world of the bad guys while giving their rewards to children in need.
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 Dolls 2002 N/R, 113 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Cast: Miho Kanno, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tatsuya Mihashi, Chieko Matsubara, Kyoko Fukada, Tsutomu Takeshige, Kayoko Kishimoto, Kanji Tsuda, Yuuko Daike, Ren Osugi
Three stories about obsessive love intertwine in this film, which is modeled in the manner of the traditional, 300-year-old Buhraku doll theater performances that are loaded with symbolism.
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 Fireworks 1997 N/R, 103 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi, Susumu Terajima, Tetsu Watanabe, Hakuryu, Yasuei Yakushiji, Taro Istumi, Kenichi Yajima, Makoto Ashikawa
Recently suspended from the police force, Detective Nishi (Takeshi Kitano) must deal with the fact that his wife, Miyuki (Kayoko Kishimoto), is dying and his partner Horibe (Ren Osugi)–now in a wheelchair following a shooting–needs money to become a painter. Nishi's solution: buy an old car, camouflage it as a police car, rob a bank, and take off with Miyuki for a farewell journey–all this when Nishi is already in trouble with loan sharks who are hot on his trail.
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Korei 2000 TV, 95 min.
Genre: Foreign / Thriller
aka: Seance
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Cast: Koji Yakusho, Jun Fubuki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kitarou, Hikari Ishida, Ittoku Kishibe, Ren Osugi, Sho Aikawa, Daikei Shimizu
Junko (Jun Fubuki) is a medium who yearns for public recognition. Her chance for success comes when a kidnapped girl is found in their home, and she and her husband (Koji Yakusho) keep the location of the girl a secret from the police. But, when the girl dies, she haunts the couple, and the plot backfires.
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Ley Lines 1999 N/R, 105 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama / Thriller
Director: Takashi Miike
Cast: Kazuki Kitamura, Michisuke Kashiwaya, Tomorowo Taguchi, Sho Aikawa, Samuel Pop Aning, Koji Tsukamoto, Dan Li, Ryuushi Mizukami, Ren Osugi, Naoto Takenaka, Yukie Itou
This third entry in the "Black Society" trilogy–the other films are "Rainy Dog" and "Shinjuku Triad Society"–involves teenagers looking for a better life and eventually running into big trouble with a crime boss.
| Cast | | Dan Li | Anita, Chinese Prostitute |
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Sonatine 1993 R, 94 min.
Genre: Foreign / Action / Drama / Thriller
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Aya Kokumai, Tetsu Watanabe, Masanobu Katsumura, Susumu Terajima, Ren Osugi, Tonbo Zushi, Kenichi Yajima, Eiji Minakata, Houka Kinoshita, Yuuki Natsusaka, Rome Kanda, Kanta Yamazaki, Kanji Tsuda
This film shows the brutality of gang life when a gang war on Okinawa accelerates after Tokyo yakuzas enter the fray. Yakuza underboss Murakawa (Takeshi Kitano) has arrived to bring an end to the warfare and then wonders if his boss Kitajima (Tonbo Zushi) has set him up to become the target of the Okinawa gangs. He plots revenge but wonders if it is all worthwhile.
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Tokyo Eyes 1998 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Jean-Pierre Limosin
Cast: Shinji Takeda, Hinano Yoshikawa, Kaori Mizushima, Tetta Sugimoto, Ren Osugi, Takeshi Kitano, Masayuki Yui, Moro Morooka, Ken Mitsuishi, Fumiya Tanaka, Hidaki Oikawa, Asaidori
"Four Eyes," a young man with thick glasses, terrorizes the neighborhood by shooting at people but not hitting any of them. The daughter of the policeman who is assigned to the case finds the shooter, befriends him, and they eventually fall in love. In the process she finds out the motivation for his actions.
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 The Twilight Samurai 2002  N/R, 129 min.
Genre: Foreign / Action
Director: Yoji Yamada
Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Nenji Kobayashi, Min Tanaka, Ren Osugi, Mitsuro Fukikoshi, Miki Ito, Erina Hashiguchi, Hiroshi Kanbe, Kanako Fukaura, Reiko Kusamura, Keishi Arashi
Samurai Seibei (Hiroyuki Sanada) suffers when his wife dies–not only is he left with two daughters and an aging mother to protect, but he was forced to sell his sword to pay funeral expenses. Now, instead of joining fellow samurais for evening activities, Seibei spends his evenings making bird houses. Seibei secretly loves his childhood friend, Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa), who now comes to his home to care for his family. Under pressure to remarry, Tomoe proposes to Seibei but is turned down because he believes she will not find happiness in his less affluent surroundings. Tomoe stops coming to the house–until Seibei is assigned to a duel with a samurai in the opposite camp. Tomoe returns, prepares Seibei for a battle from which he may never return, and awaits the outcome. Nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
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Zebraman 2004  N/R, 115 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy / Fantasy / Sci-Fi
Director: Takashi Miike
Cast: Sho Aikawa, Yui Ichikawa, Kyoka Suzuki, Koen Kondo, Teruyoshi Uchimura, Atsuro Watabe, Akira Emoto, Ryo Iwamatsu, Ren Osugi, Makiko Watanabe, Yu Tokui, Yoji Tanaka
When problems enter his family's lives, mild-mannered school teacher Shinichi Ichikawa (Sho Aikawa) escapes by dressing up as Zebraman, a TV superhero he watched as a child. Now, Japan really is being invaded by aliens, and Shinichi uses his Zebraman personality to save his town.
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| 1. Audition (1999)
2. Brother (2000)
3. Charisma (1999)
4. Cure (1997)
5. Dangan Runner (1996)
aka: Non-Stop
6. Dead or Alive (1999)
7. Dead or Alive 2: The Birds (2000)
8. Dolls (2002)
9. Fireworks (1997)
10. Korei (2000)
aka: Seance
11. Ley Lines (1999)
12. Shinjuku Triad Society (1995)
13. Sonatine (1993)
14. Tokyo Eyes (1998)
15. The Twilight Samurai (2002)
16. Zebraman (2004)
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