We love movies here at TW. We’re avid Netflix consumers and theatergoers and even dabble in some celebrity gossip every once in a while between tasks. We’d like a share with you a few things we are watching this month, whether you love a good tear-jerker or action-packed thriller.
New Releases: Jordan Peele’s US, Wall-Street Drama, and more of Zach Galifianakis’ Nonsense
Japanese movie theatres are notorious for bringing to big-screen movies that are well over six months old. Here are the titles finally coming to a theatre near you…
Us (2019)
Japanese release date: September 6
Following the success of Oscar-winning Get Out, Jordan Peele continues to bring his fresh take on the horror genre with Us. Lupita Nyong’o stars as the mother of a family of four, whose nice family getaway turns into a deadly fight against their doppelgangers. While various critics say this movie doesn’t have as much punch as its predecessor, there are without a doubt some interesting theories you can discuss after the viewing.
The Hummingbird Project (2018)
Japanese release date: September 27
This small film born from the collaboration between Canadian and Belgian production houses is a story about how two high-frequency traders who tangle with their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable system to speed up share transactions thus being able to beat their opposition to share trades. If that sounds complicated to you, that’s alright. The movie does a good job explaining the consequences and risks of protagonist Vincent’s plan. At the heart of the film, however, is an issue that goes beyond Wall Street.
Thoroughbreds (2017)
Japanese release date: September 27
Friends grow apart, but sometimes they come back into our lives when we least expect it. This black comedy stars Split‘s Anya Taylor-Joy and Bates Motel’s Olivia Cooke as two childhood friends who rekindle their friendship through unusual circumstances and it’s not before long that the situation takes a dark turn. This is a fun one to take a few guesses, a few bets even, to see how the story will develop, and be surprised by the results.
Photo by Adam Rose, courtesy of Netflix
Between Two Ferns
Global release date: September 20
The latest in Netflix’s original series include The Hangover star and comedian Zach Galifianakis in Between Two Ferns, as he takes his talk show to the next level with more celebrities, more strange encounters and greener ferns as the crew hits the road. Both commentary on today’s online entertainment industry and a critique of “celebritism,” Galifianakis is sure to make you cringe, laugh and then cringe again.
Currently Streaming: BTK, the Breakthrough of Japanese Porn and Magic Cards
Jonathan Groff, Oliver Cooper and Holt McCallany on the set of Mindhunter, courtesy of Netflix
Mindhunter
Following Netflix’s ongoing fascination with serial killers, Mindhunter dives further into the psyche of the minds behind America’s most disturbing and haunting killings in the early days of criminal psychology and profiling with behavioral analysis. The first season saw Jonathan Groff’s character, Agent Ford, get uncomfortably close to Edmund Kemper through continuous interrogation. Season two sees the future Behavioral Science Unit approach BTK, the surname for Dennis Rader, as the killer was starting to make waves in the city of Wichita, Kansas.
Photo by Mio Hirota, courtesy of Netflix
The Naked Director
Based on the true story Toru Muranishi, considered to be one of the pioneers of the concept of eroticism in Japan, this series is definitely not one to watch with your parents. Made to recreate the shock the director brought to the country in the 1980s, prepare to see one “outrageous” scene after the other. Between the humorous and the BTS of adult-films production, The Naked Director is surprisingly educational when it comes to its explanations behind the current relationship between Japan and sex, going beyond the disproportionate and incorrect taboos you might have about the country.
Sakura voiced by Andrea Kwan © 1998 Universal
#TB of the Month: Cardcaptor Sakura
This month, we’re diving back into classic CLAMP animation with Cardcaptor Sakura. After Sailor Moon, this manga and series is many Europeans’ and North Americans’ first encounter with anime. The show stars Sakura, a 10-year-old student in the fictional city of Tomoeda, who accidentally releases a deck of magical cards. Her job as cardcaptor is, well, to capture all the cards that escaped to prevent an unspecified catastrophe and eventually meet with your staple shojo plot-device in the shape of Syaoran Li. But we’re here for Kero-chan, an obnoxious (to say the least) fairy-like bear-lion sidekick with comically exaggerated and surprisingly articulate Kansai dialect.
If you’re streaming this on Netflix, switch to the original Japanese track or even turn on Japanese subtitles if you wanna crunch some extra studying this evening.
