Takashi Miike's AGITATOR

[DevilMan]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1903254213.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Official FAB PRESS website...

>>> FAB PRESS DOT COM (http://www.fabpress.com/system/index.html) <<<

A link to snatch up the book from AMAZON...

>>> AGITATOR AT AMAZON DOT COM (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/offering/list/-/1903254213/all/ref=dp_pb_a/002-2121514-8055228) <<<

What a book! What a book! I picked up my copy the other day and all I gotta say is "WOW"! If you were ever even alittle bit interested in reading about the extraordinary Japanese filmmaker, TAKASHI MIIKE, then AGITATOR is THE book to own! Do yourself a favor and pick it up.

Simply put, it's heavier than two phonebooks, packing over 400 pages, and it's chock full of great pix that you can't find anywhere else, some of which were given to MES by MIIKE himself. And it even covers fairly newer films from 2002 such as DEADLY OUTLAW REKKA (aka VIOLENT FIRE) and MIIKE's remake of an old KINJI (BATTLE ROYALE) FUKASAKU film, GRAVEYARD OF HONOUR.

As for TOM MES, he certainly "works" MIIKE's cinema like nobody's business. After reading just a couple of chapters talking about a few of my personal MIIKE favs (AUDITION, ICHI THE KILLER, and DEAD OR ALIVE), he came up with some excellent insights into the world and mind of the director (and that's scary stuff indeed). Right or wrong in his examinations of any particular movie's metaphors and motifs, you gotta give it to him, it'll definitely have you scratching your head and you'll be thinking to yourself that it all makes sense now.

Get it before it's gone for good.

-Steve

[DevilMan]

From FABPRESS and KUNGFUCINEMA...
Takashi Miike Book, Volume 2

Tom Mes is working on volume 2, which will cover the years 2003 and 2004. This will be published summer 2005. It will have new interviews, new features, new set reports, plus of course all the films Miike made / makes in 2003 & 2004. Our plan at present is to issue an all-new volume every two years, just to keep up with the man's incredible work-rate. Doing this also means that we will not need to mess about with the first volume, which can stay just as it is and still be relevant many years from now. Also if you want the Agitator Volume 1 in hardback you better be quick because they are going fast, there are now less than 100 copies left in stock!

Tom Mes is also working on another project. He spent one month in Japan with Shinya Tsukamoto. FabPress hopes to publish the ultimate Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Gemini, etc) book at the end of this year. It will be very much along the same lines as Agitator.
-Steve

[GoredMike]

What's it about? And what are some of his movies?

[DevilMan]

Oh man, if you like over-the-top insane Japanese movies that try to go "too far", then the world of TAKASHI MIIKE will simply knock you out! I can't recommend his movies enough to new viewers of the cinema of the bizarre.

Check some of these out, if you dare...

1. Audition - ("Body Horror" at it's finest!)
2. Ichi The Killer - (The ultimate mixture of sleaze, grue, and wacky violence!)
3. Dead or Alive - (One of the greatest gangster movies of all time.)
4. Fudoh - (More insane gangster action with comic book style characters.)

Other notable suggestions...

1. Visitor Q - (Just nasty, just plain nasty!)
2. City of Lost Souls - (Patented Miike Yakuza gangster action.)
3. Happiness of the Katakuris - (A musical like no other!)
4. Full Metal Yakuza - (A Japanese Robocop... nuff said.)

I think all of these have already been released on R1 DVD with English subtitles. If not, there's bootlegs galore on EBAY for the willing.

-Steve

[GoredMike]

Hmm ok, I don't mind the different :)

[Supercool]

AWESOME! I cant wait until I can get the money together to get a copy of this! Takashi Miike is so brilliant, so a rather large book about him and his films sounds good to me!

[DevilMan]

Originally posted by GoredMike@Jan 19 2004, 06:06 AM
Hmm ok, I don't mind the different :)
Here's a link to TAKASHI MIIKE movies on R1 DVD...

>>> TAKASHI MIIKE MOVIES @ AMAZON DOT COM (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-8500382-7247110) <<<

-Steve

[umapuma]

he has some shitty movies too. like blues angel, that was the sapiest fucking movie. i didn't expect that at all.

[DevilMan]

Originally posted by umapuma@Feb 5 2004, 12:50 AM
he has some shitty movies too.
Too true. In my opinion, the BIGGEST disappointment was his newer GOZU flick. It was labeled as the first part of TAKASHI MIIKE'S "Yakuza Horror Theatre" and it was just the most boring, aimless film I'd seen in a loooong time.

Even though the ending was impressive and really "out there", it couldn't make up for the rest of the movie. Too bad.

-Steve

[DevilMan]

Just ran across another TOM MES book that covers the Japanese movie genre. It's The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film and he's currently working on another called Iron Man: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto (you can see the cover at AMAZON).

-Steve

[Red_Rapids]

I just got Ichi the Killer this weekend. Good movie. Although it gave me a choice to watch it in English. It was so funny to see Japanese people with British accents. I think I actually might have soiled myself a little when they would use the words "wanker" or "bloke". :lol:

-Bob

[DevilMan]

Originally posted by Redrapids@Feb 21 2005, 01:57 PM
I just got Ichi the Killer this weekend. Good movie.
Did you know there's an anime version of ICHI available as well as a straight to video "prequel" movie with the same actor?

I haven't seen either myself but I'm definitely curious about 'em.

-Steve

[DevilMan]

Here's a fairly newer TAKASHI MIIKE interview...

>>> MIIKE SPEAKS! (http://destroy-all-monsters.com/miikeinterview.shtml) <<<

-Steve

[Dr. Uwe Boll]

Ichi The Killer was brilliant.

Uwe bows before this mighty director/writer.

Please tell no one.

[DevilMan]

FAB PRESS has some new stuff well worth checking out.

Even though AGITATOR Volume 2 isn't yet ready, Tom Mes has Iron Man: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto completed.

They also have Shock! Horror! Astounding Artwork from the Video Nasty Era which they claim is the most awe-inspiring collection of British horror video artwork ever seen in print.

And for the Italian horror fan, there's Profondo Argento, writer Alan Jones massive Dario Argento archive.

Check out the website > HERE (http://www.fabpress.com/system/index.html) <.

-Steve