Third Window Films

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ex-cowboy
Joined: Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:27 am

Re: Third Window Films

#301 Post by ex-cowboy » Sat Jun 05, 2021 4:35 am

Meant to post the other week - in case anyone missed it, the final title in the new Toyoda set is 'I'm Flash' with Fujiwara Tatsuya and Matsuda Ryuhei.

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Adam X
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:04 am

Re: Third Window Films

#302 Post by Adam X » Sat Jun 05, 2021 9:51 am

…and posted a few days ago:
Meeting director Toshiaki Toyoda this week to make video interviews for the bluray releases of each of:
Hanging Garden / I'm Flash / Monsters Club / Day of Destruction / Wolf's Calling
So if you have any questions for him on any of the above, let us know and we'll put them in!
His new documentary Shiver is available to stream worldwide (except Japan) through 6th June, as part of Germany’s Nippon Connection festival.

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konoyaro
Joined: Wed May 25, 2016 12:11 am

Re: Third Window Films

#303 Post by konoyaro » Thu Jul 01, 2021 7:29 pm

It seems the Funky Forest release from 3WF has now been pushed out to "Autumn 2021".

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L.A.
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Third Window Films

#304 Post by L.A. » Tue Jul 20, 2021 12:45 pm

Upcoming titles:

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes
Crazy Thunder Road
Funky Forest / Warped Forest
Funuke: Show Some Love, You Losers!
Hiruko the Goblin
Nobuhiko Obayashi: Anti-War Trilogy Box (Casting Blossoms to the Sky, Seven Weeks, Hanagatami)
Toshiaki Toyoda: 2005-2020 Box (Hanging Garden, I’m Flash, Monsters Club, Day of Destruction, Wolf’s Calling)
Zokki

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Third Window Films

#305 Post by colinr0380 » Tue Jul 20, 2021 2:10 pm

Oh, excellent! Everything looks great but a couple of things stand out immediately: Crazy Thunder Road is another Sogo Ishii film, coming two years before even Burst City.

And Hiruko The Goblin was Shinya Tsukamoto's attempt at a 'commercial' horror film (falling between the two Tetsuo films) which has somewhat fallen by the wayside in the West with the attention paid to his more arthouse entries. It had a UK DVD release through Artsmagic in the mid-2000s but it is good to see it being upgraded. The other 'commercial' Tsukamoto films that are left to be rescued from OOP DVD status in the US (and which have never been released at all in the UK) are the first of the Nightmare Detective films from the mid-2000s (released in the US by the "Dimension Extreme" arm of Miramax. The second film has never received a disc release in the West) and Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (released in the US by IFC).

EDIT: Zokki looks interesting, at the very least for apparently being co-directed by Naoto Takenaka! (Takenaka also stars in Hiruko The Goblin too, though is probably best known in the West as one of the supporting cast of salarymen turned ballroom dancers in the original Japanese version of Shall We Dance?)

And here's the trailer for Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes which looks like the one-take idea of One Cut Of The Dead meeting Being John Malkovich's lo-fi sci-fi shenanigans.
Last edited by colinr0380 on Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:15 pm, edited 6 times in total.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Third Window Films

#306 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Jul 20, 2021 2:26 pm

I loved Funuke. Not a fan (at all) of Funky Forest.

Zokki looks like 5 short films (interrelated short stories) split between 3 directors. The trailer doesn't tell me a whole lot....

yoshimori
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:03 am
Location: LA CA

Re: Third Window Films

#307 Post by yoshimori » Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:16 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:
Tue Jul 20, 2021 2:26 pm
I loved Funuke.
Saw it at Cannes, back when. And since Yoshida is probably one of my two or three favorite working directors - Kirishima Thing was my top pick in the 2010s poll; Beautiful Star and Pale Moon are great too - I'm looking forward to re-watching this one, his debut.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Third Window Films

#308 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Jul 20, 2021 4:20 pm

yoshimori -- Alas, I never got to see these later Yoshida films. Last I saw was (unsubbed) Permanent Nobara, which I thought was quite good also.

yoshimori
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:03 am
Location: LA CA

Re: Third Window Films

#309 Post by yoshimori » Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:03 pm

Yes. We need subbed Permanent Nobara and Scythian Lamb discs.

Kirishima Thing and Pale Moon are available, subbed, in HK, but only on dvd. [Was relatively easy to marry English-subs to rips of the Japanese BDs, though.]

Beautiful Star, subbed, can be had on BD in HK.

The 2021 Kiba: Fangs of Fiction (which I haven't seen) comes out on BD in Japan in September. It plays at NYC's Japan Cuts in August - but not in the online fest, sadly. One hopes it will make the US fest rounds after that.

Kuhio Taisa is horrible, so ...

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ex-cowboy
Joined: Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:27 am

Re: Third Window Films

#310 Post by ex-cowboy » Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:18 pm

Excellent news about Crazy Thunder Road. Very much looking forward to seeing it again. If I remember correctly, it was on a Takeshi Kitano list of best (Japanese) films, written for Kinema Jumpo (though I can't remember if that was a year end or decade end list (or both)). Hopefully if this sells well, we can expect more Ishii - Labyrinth of Dreams is sublime and Crazy Family is also great. Would be nice to get some of his short films out as well (particularly Shuffle), and maybe some box sets, like TW have been doing with Toyoda.

Interested to see the Obayashi's - I've got Hanagatami, but will no doubt get this set. Have had the Italian Raro release of Hiruko for a few years, but still haven't gotten round to watching.

yoshimori
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Location: LA CA

Re: Third Window Films

#311 Post by yoshimori » Wed Jul 21, 2021 12:09 am

ex-cowboy wrote:
Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:18 pm
If I remember correctly, it was on a Takeshi Kitano list of best (Japanese) films, written for Kinema Jumpo (though I can't remember if that was a year end or decade end list (or both)).
This site says this is Kitano's list ... from, I think, a 2002 S&S poll:

Children of Paradise (1945, Marcel Carne)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick)
A Clockwork Orange (1971, Stanley Kubrick)
Seven Samurai (1954, Akira Kurosawa)
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985, William Friedkin)
Wild at Heart (1990, David Lynch)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974, Sam Peckinpah)
Darkman (1990, Sam Raimi)
Crazy Thunder Road (1980, Sogo Ishii)
The Railroad Man (1956, Pietro Germi)

Rather eclectic.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Third Window Films

#312 Post by Finch » Tue Aug 03, 2021 12:34 am

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes dated for 15th November
region-free
extras: ‘Howling’ Short film, Making Of, Interview with director Junta Yamaguchi

I watched the trailer, and I'm in!

Embedded on the TWF site

Image

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L.A.
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Re: Third Window Films

#313 Post by L.A. » Mon Aug 09, 2021 6:19 am

L.A. wrote:
Tue Jul 20, 2021 12:45 pm
Funuke: Show Some Love, You Losers!
Release date August 30th.

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yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Re: Third Window Films

#314 Post by yoloswegmaster » Sat Oct 02, 2021 6:29 pm

Preorder link to Nobuhiko Obayashi's Anti-War Trilogy (2000 copies only)

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Disc 1: Casting Blossoms to the Sky この空の花-長岡花火物語 (2011)
Endo Reiko is a journalist visiting Nagaoka to comment on the aftermath of the earthquake in Tohoku. From local residents, Endo learns about the city’s fireworks traditions, and how the region was destroyed during the war.
Special Features: 45 minute Interview with Nobuhiko Obayashi

Disc 2: Seven Weeks 野のなななのか (2014)
Weaving the life of a 92-year-old doctor into the history of a small Hokkaido city, “Seven Weeks” addresses Japan’s wartime responsibility, its present nuclear crisis and the heartaches of youth and love.
Special Features: 75 minute Making Of

Disc 3: Hanagatami 花筐 (2017)
In the spring of 1941, sixteen-year-old Toshihiko leaves Amsterdam to attend school in Karatsu, a small town on the western coast of Japan. Immersed in the seaside’s nature and culture, Toshihiko soon befriends the town’s other extraordinary adolescents as they all contend with the war’s inescapable gravitational pull.
Special Features: 35 minute interview with Nobuhiko Obayashi

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L.A.
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Third Window Films

#315 Post by L.A. » Tue Oct 12, 2021 4:26 am

The Yurei’s interview with Toshiaki Toyoda.

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ex-cowboy
Joined: Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:27 am

Re: Third Window Films

#316 Post by ex-cowboy » Thu Oct 14, 2021 6:24 am

Just preordered the Obayashi - thanks for the link Yolosweg. Have I missed something - are Arrow no longer the distributor for Third Window going forward? Does this also effect Second Run?

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yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Re: Third Window Films

#317 Post by yoloswegmaster » Thu Oct 14, 2021 7:47 am

ex-cowboy wrote:
Thu Oct 14, 2021 6:24 am
Just preordered the Obayashi - thanks for the link Yolosweg. Have I missed something - are Arrow no longer the distributor for Third Window going forward? Does this also effect Second Run?
Arrow still distributes Third Window and Second Run titles (though there is no link for the Obayashi trilogy on the Arrow site). I only linked the Terracotta page since the guy who runs Third Window says the company gets more money if you buy from them.

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Adam X
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:04 am

Re: Third Window Films

#318 Post by Adam X » Mon Oct 18, 2021 7:08 am

It might just be COVID-related supply issues, but the new Toshiaki Toyoda box set (ltd-2000 copies) seems to be selling out at various places online, in case anyone thought they could wait a bit. Terracotta still has it up.

Don’t think it’s been mentioned here, but TWF ended up squeezing in the third new short Toyoda’s made over the last two years, Go Seppuku Yourselves.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Third Window Films

#319 Post by Finch » Sat Nov 27, 2021 12:31 pm

Terracotta have Crazy Thunder Road up for pre-order (best place to buy TWF titles by the way; my orders arrived within 10 days)

Image
The first video release (in any format) outside of Japan of Sogo Ishii's punk classic, featuring a new restoration supervised by the director alongside many new and exclusive extras!

Hailed as Japan's Mad Max, Sogo Ishii's high-octane, loud-and-proud breakthrough hit was one of that country's great success stories, a graduation project from a film school punk rocker bought by Toei Studios and released nationwide.

The plot involves Ken, a gang leader dreaming of a quiet life with his girlfriend Noriko, and Jin, Ken's maverick successor, who isn't about to let yakuza kingpins or right-wing nutjobs tell him what to do or whom to kill.

Jin's violent individualism in a world where even outlaws follow the bosses' orders references the doomed anti-establishment heroes of Kinji Fukasaku, but Crazy Thunder Road points toward a new style of genre filmmaking-fast-paced, quick-witted and brilliantly stylized.

BLU-RAY CONTENTS

New master approved by the director
New interview with Gakuryu (Sogo) Ishii
Audio commentary by Tom Mes
Video Essay: Jasper Sharp on Jishu Eiga

Region: B

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yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Re: Third Window Films

#320 Post by yoloswegmaster » Wed Dec 22, 2021 11:19 am

Preorder link to Funky Forest/Warped Forest Double Pack.


Image

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Third Window Films

#321 Post by Finch » Mon Dec 27, 2021 1:29 pm

Adam Torel implied via the TWF twitter account that there is going to be more Obayashi on the way from the 1980s.

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agnamaracs
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 3:13 am

Re: Third Window Films

#322 Post by agnamaracs » Mon Dec 27, 2021 2:26 pm

yoloswegmaster wrote:
Wed Dec 22, 2021 11:19 am
Preorder link to Funky Forest/Warped Forest Double Pack.
US release from Error 4444 is now up for preorder. Promises an "extra mystery disc."

Calvin
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am

Re: Third Window Films

#323 Post by Calvin » Thu Dec 30, 2021 1:21 pm

Finch wrote:
Mon Dec 27, 2021 1:29 pm
Adam Torel implied via the TWF twitter account that there is going to be more Obayashi on the way from the 1980s.
Has confirmed on the podcast that there will be a boxset released in 2022 containing The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, School in the Crosshairs, His Motorbike, Her Island, and The Island Closest to Heaven

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TraverseTown
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2014 4:38 am

Re: Third Window Films

#324 Post by TraverseTown » Fri Dec 31, 2021 2:12 am

His Motorbike, Her Island feels a little out of place there since the other 3 are stories of high school girls and in that film, the characters are a bit older. But, they are all vital films that I'm glad they are getting official English-language releases. I was hoping for Arrow to do them so they could get a Region A release too but that seems unlikely now. Wonder who the next best distributor could be?

I recommend School in the Crosshairs for fans of House, since the climax of the former is one of the only moments in Obayashi's 80s filmography that matches the frenetic energy/artifice of the latter film.

Glowingwabbit
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Re: Third Window Films

#325 Post by Glowingwabbit » Fri Dec 31, 2021 8:53 am

TraverseTown wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 2:12 am
His Motorbike, Her Island feels a little out of place there since the other 3 are stories of high school girls and in that film, the characters are a bit older.
I thought that too but I suppose boxing them up with what many say is his best film will certainly help sell a lot more copies. I'll be buying it primarily for that one as it's definitely the best film I've seen of his so far. I didn't care for School in the Crosshairs and haven't seen the other two yet. I'm so happy Third Windows is doing these.

In terms of Region A the only company I can think of that might release his work is Grasshopper tbh (Arrow would have been the other). He still seems to left of field for Criterion although they really should amend the disservice they did to his work by the way they promoted House upon it's release

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