Michael Blowhard writes:

Dear Blowhards --

Opening in the U.S. this fall, "RoboGeisha." Here's an NSFW trailer for the film:

Yeah, baby!

I'm genuinely eager to see "RoboGeisha" -- I think that Noburu Iguchi, the film's director, is a real talent. "The Machine Girl," his last picture, was by far the funnest newish movie that The Wife and I have watched in a long while. It's scrappy, giddy, hilarious, and hyper-outrageous -- a great new entry in the "Dead Alive" / "Re-Animator," low-budget splatter-satire, gross-out horror-comedy sweepstakes. Plus it features loads of that daffily mashed-up, 22nd-century quality that the Japanese sometimes bring to their films. Not for the first time do I find myself wondering why the rest of the world doesn't give up and leave moviemaking to the Asians. How can we compete?

Here's a trailer for Iguchi's "The Machine Girl":

You go, brilliant young Asians.

As a consumer advocate, I'm duty-bound to report that, sadly, not all recent Japanese splatter satires are created equal. Despite wonderful titles and heaps of far-out ideas, for example, "Tokyo Gore Police" and "Meatball Machine" both put me to sleep.

Thanks to the numerous visitors who have sent along links to the "RoboGeisha" trailer. By the way, what is it about me? Do I really have "fan of Japanese splatter satires" written all over my blogface? Hmmm ....

RELATED: I wrote about some other wonderful Japanese movies. If you aren't already 'way ahead of me on this: Why not get to know the movies of the amazing Takashi Miike? I think he's a plausible contender for the title of "most talented filmmaker working right now." Start with "Ichii the Killer" and brace yourself for a seriously wild ride. PBS this ain't!

DIMLY RELATED: Learn about the diffs between movie people and book people.

Best,

Michael

Having grown up with a good deal of girly anime while watching the Transformers on and off, Pupu believes RoboGeisha is a true blend of robotic fantasy, samuri chivalry, and erotic fetishism. It will be a sin to miss the movie!

Posted by: Pupu on July 3, 2009 1:38 PM

Just watched, well, fast forwarded through, the Machine Girl. It is too violent! Many nightmares will follow. No longer sure about watching RoboGeisha.

Posted by: Pupu on July 3, 2009 9:52 PM

Miike's Audition was shocking, I guess. I mean, there was vomiting.

Posted by: JV on July 4, 2009 9:52 PM

Pupu -- "Machine Girl" is pretty darned extreme, isn't it? Hmm, maybe a taste for satirical splatter-gore isn't something many people share ...

JV -- That's a pretty blase reaction to a film many people have found memorable and disturbing! One fairly typical response from an Amazon viewer review: "Easily one of the top five thought-provoking suspense flicks I've ever seen. Gave it to a few co-workers, who told me they wished they'd never seen it...then couldn't stop talking about it ...Left me a mess for two weeks." But if it didn't work for you, it didn't work for you ...

Posted by: Michael Blowhard on July 5, 2009 2:22 AM

My first thought was, "Wow, the Linux and World of Warcraft crowd is going to go gaga over this."

Posted by: SFG on July 5, 2009 9:50 AM

Both sushi and tempura are off the menu for at least two weeks!

Posted by: Pupu on July 5, 2009 12:43 PM






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