[NIHON BUNKA KENKYUU] BUNKEN 101: Reviews, comments, and insights on Japanese pop culture.
The 7th Cinemanila International Film Festival, in cooperation with the City of Manila and the Japan Foundation Manila Office, features the advance screenings of acclaimed anime films from August 31 to September 6 at SM Megamall Cinemas.
Ghost the the Shell 2: Innocence
Anime filmmaker Mamoru Oshii's Ghost the the Shell 2: Innocence (2004), his follow-up to the 1995 cult classic Ghost in the Shell focuses its story on Batou, a living cyborg whose whole body is artificial. What only remains human are traces of his brain and memories of a woman.
In an era when the boundary between humans and machines has become infinitely vague, humans have forgotten that they are humans. When machines learn to feel, who decides what is human?
One of the most honored anime films of all time, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence was nominated for four Annie awards - Best Animated Feature, Directing in an Animated Feature Production (Mamoru Oshii), Music in an Animated Feature Production (Kenji Kawai), and Animated Effects (Hisashi Ezura). It was also included in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival 2004, the Catalonian International Film Festival 2004, and the Online Film Critics Soceity 2005. It won the Orient Express Award in Catalonia.
Steamboy
Katsuhiro Otomo's Steamboy (2004) centers in Rei, a young inventor living in the United Kingdom in the middle of the 19th century. Shortly before the first ever World Expo, a marvelous invention calle the Steam Ball, behind which a menacing power is hidden, arrives at his door from his grandfather Roid in the United States. Meanwhile, the evil Ohara Foundation has sent men to acquire the Steam Ball so that they can use its power towards their own illicit ends.
Steamboy won the Best Animated Feature Film in the Catalonian International Film Festival 2004.Otomo previously directed anime films Akira (1998), Memories (1995), Apartment Horror (1991), and Give Us Guns (1981).
Appleseed
Finally, Appleseed (2004), the directorial debut of animation feature film director Shinki Aramaki, is set in a utopian society created at the end of the third world war. A female warrior who has been plucked from the badlands begins to see cracks in this new facade. This is based on an early manga by internatinally reknowned Japanese artist Masamuno Shirou, author of Ghost in the Shell.
For more information on the screening schedules, visit the official Cinemanila website.
From INQUIRER LIBRE
August 31 to September 6, 2005
SM MEGAMALL Cinemas
August 31, 2005 (Wednesday)
12:10 PM Steamboy
2:30 PM Steamboy
4:50 PM Steamboy
7:10 PM Steamboy
9:30 PM Steamboy
September 1, 2005 (Thursday)
11:30 AM Appleseed
1:30 PM Appleseed
3:30 PM Appleseed
5:30 PM Appleseed
7:30 PM Appleseed
9:30 PM Appleseed
September 2, 2005 (Friday)
11:30 AM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
1:30 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
3:30 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
5:30 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
7:30 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
9:30 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
September 3, 2005 (Saturday)
11:35 AM Appleseed
1:30 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
3:20 PM Steamboy
5:35 PM Appleseed
7:30 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
9:30 PM Steamboy
September 4, 2005 (Sunday)
11:20 AM Appleseed
1:15 PM Steamboy
3:30 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
5:20 PM Appleseed
7:15 PM Steamboy
9:30 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
September 5, 2005 (Monday)
11:35 AM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
1:25 PM Appleseed
3:20 PM Steamboy
5:35 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
7:25 PM Appleseed
9:30 PM Steamboy
September 6, 2005 (Tuesday)
11:15 AM Steamboy
1:30 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
3:20 PM Appleseed
5:15 PM Steamboy
7:30 PM Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
9:30 PM Appleseed
From the CINEMANILA mailing list.
Incidentally, for the people who get WOWOW, the japanese cable channel aired APPLESEED around two months ago, alongside another premiere animation feature film entitled MINDGAMES. If you missed it, then I guess you'll just have to content youselves with KAGEN NO TSUKI~LAST QUARTER, which will be aired on 20050901 at 2000 ASTRO (1900 PHILS).
The film was adapted from the first work of hit mangaka YAZAWA AI, who also authored the hugely popular series NANA (NANA is also slated for release as a film adaptation on 20050903, and stars NAKASHIMA MIKA and MIYAZAKI AOI). KAGEN NO TSUKI stars KURIYAMA CHIAKI (BATTLE ROYALE, KILL BILL VOL 1) and HYDE (L'ARC~EN~CIEL vocalist, MOONCHILD) in a story about two star-crossed lovers.