Third Window Films Discussion Thread

[logboy]

Originally Posted by Yami

Third Window will be announcing their 2013 schedule soon and, apart from what's already announced, they "have 4 BIG releases scheduled for next year: 2 restored classics and 2 new Japanese hits".

one of the new films will doubtless be 'land of hope'. I'm not on the sono bandwagon, so of no interest to me.

[rewak]

I'd want one of them to be Helter Skelter but i already know that aint happening, real shame too

Helter Skelter Trailer

[Sinthetic]

Come on Suicide Club. Haha.

[Refused]

Originally Posted by Sinthetic

Just finished watching the Tetsuo double set. Outstanding release.

One of my favourite of 2012.

Body Hammer is such a bloody superb film.

First time seeing it the other day, I loved it.

I really wish Third Window would include booklets with their blu-rays. Would make their releases some of the best around if so.

[Sinthetic]

Originally Posted by Refused

First time seeing it the other day, I loved it.

I really wish Third Window would include booklets with their blu-rays. Would make their releases some of the best around if so.

Agreed mate.

Slipcovers/booklets add some real character and distinguish releases. Tetsuo is definitely a superb effort on the packaging front, love the reversible covers.

[logboy]

Originally Posted by rewak

I'd want one of them to be Helter Skelter but i already know that aint happening, real shame too

glad it's not coming. apparently an astonishingly vacuous empty film.

[rewak]

It's one of those movies you'll either get or you won't, but you could at least watch it before making the decision instead of reading some reviews. There have been really positive reviews and negative reviews, so it's a polarizing one, but with Vertical releasing the manga in July it would be a perfect time to put the movie out too. Personally i thought Himizu and Cold Fish were failures and turned up empty and i do wish Third Window would maybe cut back on the worship of Sono, but that's just my personal opinion.

[logboy]

Originally Posted by rewak

It's one of those movies you'll either get or you won't, but you could at least watch it before making the decision instead of reading some reviews. There have been really positive reviews and negative reviews, so it's a polarizing one, but with Vertical releasing the manga in July it would be a perfect time to put the movie out too. Personally i thought Himizu and Cold Fish were failures and turned up empty and i do wish Third Window would maybe cut back on the worship of Sono, but that's just my personal opinion.

think I'd understand it. don't see why i wouldnt.

have read reviews. reactions from friends that are pros that I trust are negative.

all that aside, I've tracked about 500 new J films this year, so I'd expect never to have the chance to see most, but I've the experience to know which I'd like to give chances to if I can see them - helter skelter won't feature on any flexible list of mine.

far too many manga adaptations being made, and even if familiar franchises stateside they don't necesaarily appear.

don't rate sono's work in recent years. don't like the blind adoration for him either.

[rewak]

Originally Posted by logboy

think I'd understand it. don't see why i wouldnt.

have read reviews. reactions from friends that are pros that I trust are negative.

A lot of the reviews i've read have been overly negative on it because they say the narrative is unstructured, but that's the point (it's called Helter Skelter for a reason). They think the movie is supposed to be a social commentary on how the media treats stars, it isn't, it's about how that affects the star and the unstructured narrative reflects Lilicos mental breakdown. It might not succeed, but i haven't seen a review actually pick up on what the point was meant to be.

The only other negative point i've seen is that it's too long and that's a fair point, the manga itself was actually unfinished because the creator was in an accident so it went out unedited, the movie could have taken the opportunity to sand off the rough edges. Those are really the only negative aspects i've seen in reviews, and it's getting knocked to scores like 2/5, pretty unfair when you consider movies like Cold Fish are getting 4 or 5/5 and it goes to complete hell in the final act.

[Sinthetic]

You've got 2 sides of Sono.

The Good: EXTE, Suicide Club (also vile, but damn good), Himizu, Love Exposure.

The Vile: Cold Fish, Guilty of Romance (hated it), Strange Circus.

I've got a love/hate relationship for his work.

[rewak]

It's true he can't really seem to find a middle ground of just being ok, but for a small distributor they need to be more careful in avoiding the vile side. I noticed this comment they posted on Facebook

...the more people buy the more we can release, and right now we've just come off the back of our WORST year in sales, so even just pulling together a schedule of titles for 2013 was hard enough

I'm honestly not that surprised this has been their worst year for sales, the movies released this year just haven't been that interesting. I hope they've managed to pull together a good selection for next year to get themselves back up.

[Sinthetic]

Originally Posted by rewak

It's true he can't really seem to find a middle ground of just being ok, but for a small distributor they need to be more careful in avoiding the vile side. I noticed this comment they posted on Facebook



I'm honestly not that surprised this has been their worst year for sales, the movies released this year just haven't been that interesting. I hope they've managed to pull together a good selection for next year to get themselves back up.

Sad to see that kind of stuff you quoted.

I tell you what though pal, I applaud them on some incredible work.

Love Exposure, Himizu, TETSUO and Confessions are some of the best Asian releases available anywhere.

I recommend everyone go and get at least 1 of those to support the great effort they are doing.

[jonboy24]

I am probably in the minority in that I enjoyed all of Sono's films. Love Exposure is easily my favorite. My rankings are:

Love Exposure 9.5/10
Himizu 8/10
Cold Fish 7.5/10
Gulity of Romance 7/10

I really enjoyed the serial killer performance in Cold Fish. The ending is questionable though

[charnier]

There's an even worse comment on the others page, suggesting that they're on the verge of bankruptcy. I hope not as Third Window is a superb little label.

If you want to see the sort of challenges they face, check out the sales rank for their new releases - The Woodsman and the Rain, and the Foreign Duck, the Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker dvd (The latter deserves a purchase alone simply for that title). They need all the help they cant get, particularly the blus as they chose to take the risk by putting it out; it's time to be adventurous and reward them with a few blind buys.

Even though I know this is a site for blu, they have some serious gems on dvd - the Satoshi Miki boxset is a must particularly for Adrift in Tokyo and Instant Swamp. I also recommend Fish Story which was great fun.

And even though Cold Fish is unpleasant, I found it leaps and bounds better than Guilty of Romance - at least Third Window did not put that one out.

[jonboy24]

Originally Posted by charnier

There's an even worse comment on the others page, suggesting that they're on the verge of bankruptcy. I hope not as Third Window is a superb little label.

If you want to see the sort of challenges they face, check out the sales rank for their new releases - The Woodsman and the Rain, and the Foreign Duck, the Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker dvd (The latter deserves a purchase alone simply for that title). They need all the help they cant get, particularly the blus as they chose to take the risk by putting it out; it's time to be adventurous and reward them with a few blind buys.

Even though I know this is a site for blu, they have some serious gems on dvd - the Satoshi Miki boxset is a must particularly for Adrift in Tokyo and Instant Swamp. I also recommend Fish Story which was great fun.

And even though Cold Fish is unpleasant, I found it leaps and bounds better than Guilty of Romance - at least Third Window did not put that one out.

Can't find the bankruptcy comment. I seriously hope not!

I have all their releases. I can say everyone I have watched has been worthwhile

[Zen_Amako]

I loved Love Exposure. Cold Fish and Guilty of Romance were both interesting, but a bit mediocre. I find that most Asian films, but especially Sono's, suffer from overlength. Oddly enough, I wasn't bothered by the length of Love Exposure. But in general, I think they would benefit from tighter editing. Sono hits the same notes over and over in films like Noriko's Dinner Table and Strange Circus.

That said, I'm still curious about the longer cut of Guilty of Romance....

No love for Kotoko? I haven't seen it yet, but the reviews I've seen have been mostly favorable.

[jonboy24]

Originally Posted by Zen_Amako

I loved Love Exposure. Cold Fish and Guilty of Romance were both interesting, but a bit mediocre. I find that most Asian films, but especially Sono's, suffer from overlength. Oddly enough, I wasn't bothered by the length of Love Exposure. But in general, I think they would benefit from tighter editing. Sono hits the same notes over and over in films like Noriko's Dinner Table and Strange Circus.

That said, I'm still curious about the longer cut of Guilty of Romance....

No love for Kotoko? I haven't seen it yet, but the reviews I've seen have been mostly favorable.

Kotoko is a good film. Very hard to enjoy though but not as emotionally torturing as I expected it to be. I personally enjoyed his other film vital more as I have both recently. I would probably give Kotoko an 8/10.

I agree with you about Cold Fish and Guilty of Romance. From a critical point of view they are mediocre but I found the films interesting. I have never been bored watching a Sono film even with their over indulgent length. He must be doing something right!

[Sinthetic]

I totally agree about the DVD side of things. The ones listed above are stunningly good. Especially Adrift in Tokyo and Fish Story.

You know what happened when I saw Cold Fish and Guilty of Romance? I felt dirty! Not in a good way either. The kind of dirty where you need to go to confession hahaha.

I did see Kotoko the other night and I have to say, it was extremely difficult for me to get through. I am one of the biggest Tsukamoto fans you will speak to, but I found it unpleasant and a complete mindscrew.

I'm sure that's what Shinya had in mind when he made it (given the subject matter), but I won't be watching it again.

P.S - @Zen - You are totally right about overlength. I watched Deranged last night and it could have done with some trimming (both the runtime and the narrative). But then again, I think Love Exposure could have been double the length and I wouldn't have noticed.

[logboy]

i rate third window highly, mostly because, although i don't always agree with the license choices (especially sono) i think there's good taste and knowledge on display. hard to be representative of where J film is as it's producing so much stuff, but it's showing more of a connection than other labels simply because it regularly releasing films, not misrepresenting them with marketing, showing a bit more variety from time to time.

'foreign duck' (an upcoming release) is highly recommended. a very long and slow-to-get-going film, but as a whole works very well.

[Sinthetic]

Originally Posted by logboy

i rate third window highly, mostly because, although i don't always agree with the license choices (especially sono) i think there's good taste and knowledge on display. hard to be representative of where J film is as it's producing so much stuff, but it's showing more of a connection than other labels simply because it regularly releasing films, not misrepresenting them with marketing, showing a bit more variety from time to time.

'foreign duck' (an upcoming release) is highly recommended. a very long and slow-to-get-going film, but as a whole works very well.

Will have to check it out mate.

Really hope Third Window can bounce back. It can't just be a few of us in here talking about their releases, we need more to join in.