Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
It’s been well over a year since the infamous Human Centipede film made its theatrical release in America and it looks like it finally hit the Japanese market. According to IMDB, the film gained distribution in Tokyo on July 2, 2011. For those that don’t know, Human Centipede is a horror movie about a mad scientist who surgically grafts three people together…from anus to mouth. As a result, they each share the same digestive tract in the worst way imaginable. Fans and critics have both described it as the “2 Girls, 1 Cup” of horror. Japan’s pop culture is reputably the land of “WTF.” I bet the movie’s marketers thought long and hard to think of ways to out-weird the movie’s original premise. This advertisement is the end result.
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Bummer, but true. Michael Kevin Lallana got 180 days of jail, got out, and now has to pay for his sperm in the water bottle trick. DNA doesn’t lie, and he’s busted as a sex criminal. $27,000 it’s been revealed today. This guy is a freak. (LA Times - Sperminator) Here’s a bit more and they’re playing the Asian man, white woman card. Old! (Here’s what they look like. It’s obvious who’s the villain. KTLA) “A psychologist serving as an expert witness for the defense said that as a Filipino man, Lallana claimed that he was often disturbed by the thought that Asian women would choose Caucasian men over Filipinos. Lallana also claimed that his own mother preferred–she herself married–a Caucasian.” (ABC – Sex Crime)
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The premise is amazing: After World War II, an American prisoner of war stays behind in Japanand slowly makes his way up in the ranks of the Japanese yakuza. This is the movie idea currently in being scripted at Warner Bros. by a fellow named Andrew Baldwin. No, not the reality TV personality. The idea for “The Outsider” was conceived by John Linson, who produces the FX show “Sons of Anarchy” with his father Art. Apparently, Warner Bros. loved the idea so much that the studio bought the movie based solely on the way the premise was pitched. Some entertainment trade papers are already describing the movie idea as a criminal version of “The Last Samurai”, but to us it sounds a bit more original than that. We’ve seen crime dramas before where Americans get entangled in criminal activity in Japan. Robert Mitchum in Sydney Pollack’s “The Yakuza” and Scott Glenn in John Frankenheimer’s “The Challenge” both come to mind. But in these films the Americans are definitely on the outside trying to look into a seemingly impenetrable organization or set of codes. The idea for this movie sounds like it turns the typical East-meets-West senarios in crime drama on their head. At the moment, the movie has not even been cast. But we think Edward Norton might be a good choice for the lead, since he actually does speak some Japanese. (Reuters – American Yakuza at Warner Bros.) Moviehole also has a short piece about this upcoming film.
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A few weeks ago, we reported on the Japanese government’s Super Cool Biz campaign, which is basically an initiative to encourage Japan’s office workers and business folk to wear lighter, cooler and somewhat more casual clothing during the hot summer months. It is a big part of this year’s setsuden summer in Japan, where a premium has been placed on conserving electricity due to the country’s diminished electric power production capacity in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown back in March. And apparently the Super Cool Biz campaign has been a big hit. Polo-style shirts in particular have become a kind of new and comfortable symbol of a more relaxed and energy-conscious environment in Japan’s busy and rather serious offices. In addition, some government offices in Tokyo and other cities are allowing workers to wear pattern-free t-shirts, and even knee-length shorts. So with every day this summer basically being a casual Friday in Japan, you wouldn’t be surprised to see folks wearing Hawaiian shirts, right? Well, wrong. Seems Hawaiian shirts, known as ‘aloha shirts’ in Japan, are a source of discomfort and controversy in Japanese office environments. At the link, you’ll get some historical background about the origins of aloha shirts (they were invented in Japan) and why these shirts are an uncomfortable reminder of Japan’s loss in World War II. Oh, and on the practical side, it seems that the very hot and humid Japanese summers make wearing the typical Rayon aloha shirt a pretty uncomfortable and impractical undertaking. Who knew? (Asahi Shimbun Online – “Aloha” Shirts Not Super Cool for Biz)
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She is old now, and often has to use a wheelchair. But this seemingly frail old Japanese-American woman is a titan in the world of Judo, and can still probably kick your backside with just her hands and elbows. Her name is Keiko Fukuda, and she is the highest-ranking female judo master in history. Ms. Fukuda (she has never been married) is the last surviving student of Kanō Jigorō, the founder of judo. She was born in Tokyo in 1913, but has lived San Francisco and taught in the Bay Area since the ‘60s, when she became a U.S. citizen. Fukuda-sensei has been a recognized judo master for decades. But reportedly because of discrimination in the judo world, the progress with which her dan, or rank, has risen has been slow. She was only awarded the 9th dan in judo in 2006, fifty-three years after achieving the 5th dan in Japan. Finally, however, Fukuda’s dedication and skill have received the ultimate recognition, the 10th dan, which was awarded to her last week by USA Judo. The 10th dan is judo’s highest rank, and as the article at the link states, only three other people in the world have ever reached it. Ever. Follow the links to read more about this amazing woman (San Francisco Chronicle – Woman Earns Judo’s Highest Rank) Additional information about Fukuda-sensei’s life in judo can be found here.
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