busy buddies is the 78th short film released by columbia pictures in 1944 starring american slapstick comedy team the three stooges ( moe howard , larry fine and curly howard ) .

the comedians released 190 short films for the studio between 1934 and 1959 .

busy buddies ( film )

the film title
busy buddies
is a play on
busybodies
.
busy buddies is the seventy - eighth columbia pictures short subject starring the three stooges .
busy buddies has a great ending and a somewhat interesting premise , but the humor is lacking and the film also lacks energy in its execution .
busy buddies is a 1956 animated short that is the 100th tom and jerry cartoon . it is such a disappointing episode .
you can watch this cartoon today on your computer . just click below to start viewing
busy buddies
online now .
posted in tom and jerry and tagged animated short films , busy buddies , cartoons , rating , reviews , tom and jerry .
moe : [ in total madness ] i ' ll warden you , get busy .
busy america is never too busy to laugh ! . . . and movie - goers have been laughing at filmdom ' s zaniest comedy team for ten years ! ( trade paper ad ) .
i can ' t hear pop goes the weasel without thinking of this film .
do you love busy buddies , or do you think it is the worst cartoon ever ? let us know what you think ! surely you have an opinion . . . so share what you think . take a minute and post your own comments about this cartoon here .
a scene featuring vernon dent and john merton as detectives was cut from the final film .
back to one podcast : keith poulson on developing as an actor in the ny indie film scene .
( for an explanation of what everyone does on a film set , read the sidebar article . )
this film was adapted in the three stooges # 6 comic book , st . john publications 1954 .
the short is a reworking of laurel & hardy ' s feature film pardon us ( 1931 ) .
curly’s wife in the film is played by marcia healy , sister of their late boss ted healy .
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acresses judy malcolm and sethma williams appear in lobby cards , the one - sheet and publicity photos , but are nowhere in the film . jules white ' s copy of the shooting script does not offer any clues as to their parts in the film . it is assumed that whatever their roles , those scenes were deleted from the final film .
jump in picture a noticeable jump cut in the film when curly crashes off - screen after yanking the phone wire .
leg / hand shaking during a wresting or boxing match , the third stooge ' s leg or hand begins shaking . moe asks
are you nervous ?
, and the third stooge usually repsonds something like
no , only in that leg
. also used in : grips , grunts , and groans · busy buddies · fright night · hula - la - la · fling in the ring
' busy buddies ' is a nice animated short where tom and jerry have to work together . the babysitter does nothing but talking on the phone to one of her friends while the baby keeps crawling away . tom and jerry have to make sure nothing happens to the baby . it ' s a nice and pretty funny short . it is fun to see the cat and the mouse work together for a change .
digesting indigestibles the stooges mistake something else for real food ( like a potholder for pancakes ) . after a while of having difficulties in trying to eat it , they end up coughing it back out non - stop . also used in : uncivil warriors · busy buddies · all gummed up · three hams on rye · baby sitters jitters · bubble trouble · wham - bam - slam ! · commotion on the ocean
sometimes , film shoots are awful . directors lose control ; producers are scoundrels ; people have bad ideas and worse communication skills .
barbara pepper ' s name appears on the one - sheet and lobby cards , but she does not appear in the film .
imdb lists this short as having premiered in portugal on october 25 , 1943 . . . a full month before the film even started shooting .
this was the final short in which curly cries out his famous
woo woo woo
. it was dubbed in as the film fades out .
“even though this film is so completely different from ‘the incredibles , ’ michael’s range is so great i just knew that he was the right guy for it , ” says bird . “this film is more whimsical than ‘the incredibles’ — a funny , romantic journey into paris — and michael did a tremendous job capturing that . ”
the song the stooges sing , known in the film as swinging the alphabet was originally composed by septimus winner and published in 1875 as the spelling bee . it was director charley chase who brought the song into this film , with a few tweaks . his maid had known the song and had taught the chase children how to sing it .
shooting schedule : 8 / 1 / 1940 - 8 / 5 / 1940 . the film ' s title is a spoof of the expression
beautiful but dumb
.
{ i love this film so much . it was one of the first hitchcock movies i watched back in 2012 and i agree with you , it . . . } –
comments john lasseter , chief creative officer walt disney and pixar animation studios and a two - time academy award® - winning director : “the idea of following one’s creative passion against all odds is one that brad bird cares deeply about . and it shows because he’s created an amazing film that’s deeply funny in an original way and has a real emotional core to it , which is so important to us . there’s a level of depth , complexity and humor to this film that i don’t think any pixar film has had before . ”
it ' s funny but not in a set - piece or one - liner way . it ' s busy but not in a plot development way . swanberg manages to fill the running time with moments that usually make the cutting room floor and still manages to drive the story forward . go see it .
a father ( tommy lee jones , with susan sarandon ) tries to solve his son ' s murder in paul haggis ' s film ,
in the valley of elah .
punch drunks is the only stooges film to credit the stooges for the story ; moe actually wrote the treatment , and added curly ' s and larry ' s names to it .
for the 8mm home - movie market in the 1960 ' s . film historian and author ted okuda recalled a time when wgn television in chicago once broadcast this 9 minute version .
jump in picture a noticeable jump cut in the film when curly removes the poster section of the billboard . same thing later in the short right before the chair hits curly on the head .
hope that no one on a film set will ever again ask me where to get a ladder . ( the answer is the grip department . the answer is always the grip department ) .
throw away your trash . a film set is a sacred place where creative people engage with one another and make art . every bag of chips and empty coffee cup left behind is an act of disrespect to the art - making at hand . it is also a blemish on the film itself , as an errant water bottle , discovered too late , renders a great shot useless .
delayed response after larry says ã¢â‚¬å
it ' s a good thing i had a spare boatã¢â‚¬ , moe is supposed to respond ã¢â‚¬å
what spare boat ? with this guy on the back ? ã¢â‚¬ but he ' s too busy helping curly in the boat , so a few seconds later , he finally says his line .
for most of his remarkably busy career—sixteen features in less than a decade— swanberg has worked mainly with actors who are at the beginning of their own careers , and his casting has proved as crucial to his own movies as to the cinema at large : he has given early major roles to such actors as greta gerwig , kate lyn sheil , and amy seimetz . now , with “drinking buddies , ” swanberg is working with experienced actors who have well - developed personae and who have already achieved a high level of success . swanberg’s conception of the movie depends greatly on his stars’ talents and radiance—even as he reveals hidden facets of their art that make for their stardom .
{ this sounds great . the only griffiths film that i have seen is broken blossoms . i have watched very few silent movies - ' ' sunrise ' ' is my favorite . . . } –
brandon tonner - connolly is the production designer of two sundance 2015 competition entries , unexpected and i smile back , as well as drinking buddies , about sunny and sticky notes . his other production credits include robot & frank , while we’re young , a . c . o . d . , choke , inside amy schumer and many more .
with those words , giacchino dove into the project , yet he found that even his creative process had to transform . “before i saw the film , i was thinking about it from a very practical point of view , but after i saw it , it became a very emotional process , ” he explains . “it was the scene at the end of the film where the food critic ego is giving his review made me say ‘wow , that’s what this story is about’ and that scene helped me to come up with the main theme for the score , which we also turned into a song for the film . ”
click here to read our summer 2018 issue , featuring interviews with madeline ' s madeline director josephine decker , david leitner on the new cameras of 2018 , our overview of film schools and more . . .
says the film’s director , brad bird : “i think we all have impossible dreams and we do what we can to pursue them – and remy’s dream might be the ultimate impossible dream of them all . ”
enter the film’s in - house culinary consultant , michael warch , who was a professional chef before he entered the film business , and also worked as a manager for ratatouille’s sets and layout departments . “basically , i was always at the ready . the effects people would call me up and say we need to recreate the soup that remy fixes and i would go down and make the soup , ” explains warch .
yet , to contrast with the visual wildness of ratatouille’s madcap physical comedy , giacchino kept the focus of much of his score on subtlety . “it’s easy in animation to chase every single move , ” he notes . “but the thing i like most about film music is that the slightest thing can be suggestive . so i really tried to pull back and let the picture be the picture , just as if it were a live action film . ”
this is a very underrated curly film . i have seen this and towed in a hole w / laurel and hardy , and i am going to compare them . both films have funny gags , but i like it when the stooges are quick with them , rather than taking up half of the film to build them up like l & h . ; they have better pacing than the veteran duo , and this film is great . not as slapstickish as others , and the only slow part is the beach scene . i love the ending fishing segment before the stooges are almost blown out of the water . memorable scene : the hilarious fishing segment . rating : 3 1 / 2 starsbeatlemoe
filmed in 1960 and in color , the three stooges scrapbook was originally shot as a television pilot . . . it did not sell . all was not lost however , as the film was distributed to theaters in september of 1963 as
almost no violence takes place on screen , but there are times when “in the valley of elah” feels almost like a horror film . its steady crescendo of suspense builds toward the revelation — and vanquishing — of some unspeakable , monstrous evil .
behind - the - scenes 16mm home movie footage , in color , exists . the silent film materials were discovered in 2007 and feature the stooges , jules white and the actresses who portray the stooges girlfriends on set at the columbia ranch .
in my capsule review of the movie , i liken it to goethe’s novel “ elective affinities , ” from 1809 , in which the marriage of a high - bourgeois couple is threatened by the arrival in the household of the husband’s best friend and the wife’s young protégée . goethe called his novel theoretical , and “drinking buddies” is , too , and swanberg works out his moral idea in a surprising way .
the characters in “drinking buddies” are hardly characters , in the way that they’re conceived in the era of highly - detailed , hyper - motivated tv dramas . they’ve got names , they’ve got occupations . they have almost no backstory and almost no psychology—but the performances , which are improvised in dialogue and gesture , render the characters both intensely , physically , tonally specific and give the characters a spotlit intensity of inner life .
classic curly calamities ! the whole film is great , but nothing can beat the boy ' s opening mayhem as
troubleshooters from the phone company
. extra kudos to bud and lorna . darn , i can ' t think of a signature !
viewed from one angle — straight on , from the ground level of its busy plot — “in the valley of elah” might be mistaken for a tidy crime procedural . a retired military police officer named hank deerfield ( played by tommy lee jones with his usual brisk , gruff economy ) learns that his son mike ( jonathan tucker ) , an army specialist recently returned from iraq , has gone awol from his base in new mexico .
calahan was seduced by the notion of giving the film the feeling of a perfect october day in france . “when we went to paris , it was sunny , but the light was so silvery and diffused and everything felt very soft and warm and inviting . that was the kind of overall quality i wanted for the movie , ” she says . “the film isn’t lit with a lot of heavy colored light and heavy colored shadows in the usual way because i really wanted to celebrate the local color . ”
some of waggoner’s favorite costumes are those of august gusteau himself , who was once a very robust man but has become a ghostly sprite . “we designed the clothes first for the living version of gusteau , then shrank them down to size for the sprite you see in the film , ” waggoner explains . “but we also wanted his clothing to be very sophisticated and highly tailored . there’s really no precedent for designing clothing for some of the body styles we have in the film , so that made it very interesting . ”
in a money - saving move , norman maurer devised a storyline which allowed the reuse of much of the footage from the first half of the pilot , and printed it in black & white for the feature film the three stooges in orbit ( 1962 ) .
curly : i ' m getting sick and tired of making chips for you guys . i gotta get busy for my radio contest . [ sits down with moe and larry and prepares with pen and paper to write a slogan ] roses are red . and violets are blue . try stick fast glue…and you ' ll be stuck to . i got it . oh boy ! if i get the best slogan , i ' ll make a lot of money . yaaahh !
remy’s dreams would never get a chance to come true if it weren’t for linguini , the lowly garbage boy at gusteau’s who discovers the rat’s talents and finds them changing his own fortunes . although they start out partnered together out of mutual desperation – linguini needing to hang onto his job and remy hoping to finally get his chance to work in a real live restaurant kitchen — remy and linguini slowly become buddies who learn they can truly count on one another .
this is a remake of the 1930 hal roach short the laurel and hardy murder case . two of the original cast members of the laurel and hardy film , dell henderson and fred kelsey , appear in this version , with kelsey reprising the exact same role from 15 years earlier .
as with all pixar films , the heart of ratatouille lies in the characters who – whether homo sapiens or genus rattus – bring their own unique personalities , quirks and passions to the story’s mix . their life - like natures and wonderfully familiar dilemmas – from family squabbles to job headaches to standing up for friends — are the result of a collaborative artistic effort that starts with a stellar voice cast and continues with the film’s cutting - edge animation , filled with a layered artistry that makes both the film’s animal and the human characters stand out creatively in the cg world .
the presence of an adult is interesting and i really liked that the duo teamed up here . of course that ending where the mischievous baby winks to the audience is the highlight and the film does have its moments , but given its premise , it should have been much better executed .
great short . all three are at the top of their game . so many of the standard stooge gags were first seen here which makes me think that the stooges should have gotten writing credits more often than they did . arthur houseman almost steals the film , though , as the timekeeper .
the misunderstanding implicit in all these statements is that the priority of the day is your time , your enjoyment , your feelings , your creative fulfillment or your education . instead , know this : every day on a job in film is an opportunity to prove that you deserve to come back tomorrow , nothing else . instead of asking yourself if you are having fun , ask yourself if you’ve done everything you can to help the film succeed . instead of asking yourself if something is worth your time , think about why it might be important to others . if you make yourself valuable , you will begin to be valued .
a film set is a uniquely judgmental place . everyone is relying on each other , so everyone is constantly evaluating whom they can rely on . it’s not enough to do the job , or even to do the job right . you have to do it right and look like a pro while you’re doing it .
re - review : the worst curly short . over half of this episode is reused footage . even though the
we put all the yeast in bit
is good , the rest of the film just drifts , especially the
so long mr . chumps
footage . overall , a very lousy short .
i thought this was a rather dull , uninvolving film . there was too much focus on one couple and not enough on the other . it ' s no surprise that the distributor has essentially buried it - two cinemas in dublin giving it a single late show only . that ' s usually not a good sign .
just as a film set is broken up into departments with specific responsibilities , departments are broken up into individuals with even more specific responsibilities . your department head has a million things to be concerned with , and their mind must be clear for high - level strategizing and communication . you are there to eliminate their concerns .
amidst the perils and pratfalls , the film also traverses through universal themes : the bonds of friendship and loyalty ; the battle against family expectations and finding your own independence in spite of them ; and most of all , the importance of being true to who you are , even if you’re not quite what anyone expects .
another key theme in the film is that of colette , which giacchino explains “surrounds the whole cooking process . ” he continues : “you hear it for the first time when colette is teaching linguini what to do in the kitchen and what he needs to know to be a great chef . then , it kind of changes throughout the film , depending on what’s going on . when linguini has to come up with an off - menu dish and remy starts improvising , that same theme is used in a much more improvisational way , the same way that remy is just going off the cuff and making up the recipe as he goes . the themes and the music constantly change with the story . ” skinner’s theme also shifts with his mercurial moods – starting out with a hipsterstyle french jazz theme that grows increasingly frenetic and orchestral as he loses control of the kitchen . “the theme starts out cool and suave and ends up a little insane , just like the character does in the film , ” laughs giacchino .
“drinking buddies” is a brilliant sleight - of - hand , which i mean in a positive way . most of the classic hollywood movies that we love—whichever they may be—are works of magnificent trickery , from the use of studio sets to the painted backdrops of cityscapes to the use of rear - screen projections and miniatures . though swanberg’s methods are resolutely naturalistic—he films actors on location , in places where any viewer could theoretically go—he projects the micro - crises of daily life with a big - time hollywood grandeur . it’s the second movie currently in release—the other is david lowery’s “
the rats of ratatouille might have an engaging realism , even humanism , to them , but they are also very much a part of a fairy tale – which becomes especially clear in the scenes in which remy controls linguini like his own chef marionette . for the filmmakers , the entire success of the film hung on getting the audience to believe in this fantastical and funny notion . “the animators worked it out so just the slightest tug of linguini’s hair creates a movement of his hand , ” says brad lewis . “it’s just so funny . this film has so much old school buster keaton physical humor , it has you laughing your pants off without a single word being uttered . ”
the original working title was three duds in the suds and was originally intended to be a two - reel version of laurel and hardy ' s feature , pardon us ( 1930 ) . the original script contains many gags used in the laurel and hardy film , including a reworking of the scene in prison school that appears in pardon us .
indeed , with its fast - and - furious comic pacing , its madcap antics and its painterly beauty , ratatouille features some of the most sophisticated visuals yet seen in a cg animated film , once again nudging the technical bar for animated filmmaking skyward . among the film’s many unique qualities is its locale — an ornately magical imagining of paris . then there is the food . not just any food , but the most delicious , scrumptious , artistically presented gourmet meals imaginable . all of which takes audiences into a realm of sublime visual delights previously unexplored in cg animation and helping to create an utterly authentic world in which audiences might even believe that a rat could be a chef in the kitchen .
it’s unlikely that a veteran m . p . , whose service covered at least some of the vietnam years , would entertain the illusion that all fighting men are boy scouts . but it is clear that hank has both a general fondness for soldiers and a father’s assumption that he knows his own son . that may be part of why the grisly nature of mike’s fate , and the possibility that some of his buddies were responsible for it , disturbs him so much . something , he suspects , has gone terribly wrong with the institutions and the men he has always loved and trusted .
in 1958 , screen gems used a slightly edited version of this short as the pilot film to help sell the stooge comedies into television syndication . many stations did not return the print ( which had a specially made title sequence ) and it remained in the rotation of shorts for many years . . . turning up on wtbs as late as 1984 .
bird ultimately hopes the film will take audiences on a journey that keeps them constantly off guard , yet rooting for remy to achieve the seemingly impossible and save not only himself but his new friends at gusteau’s restaurant . sums up bird : “when you can get audiences to believe in something that might seem inherently unbelievable , that’s the real magic of movies . ”
for this sensitive underlying plot , some television stations pulled the film from their rotation . listen for emmett lynn to mumble the word
bastard
uring the scene where the stooges trade their car to the farmer for his run - down farm . it ' s the last thing he says ( under his breath ) as he attempts to start the car .
the dining room at gusteau’s was equally important to the film’s whimsical look . it was inspired by an amalgam of several famous parisian restaurants , including guy savoy , taillevent , la tour d’argent and le train bleu , the beloved belle epoque dining spot in the gare de lyon railway station , as renowned for its grand , eclectic décor as for its classical cuisine .
when it came to finding the right music to fuel the manic action and subtle emotion of ratatouille , brad bird returned to the composer who had done such a bang - up job with “the incredibles” : michael giacchino , who conjured up a brassy , jazzy , percussive score that is as fun , fast - paced and french - themed as the film itself .
a hilarious short and the dogs were delightful ! i always found it interesting that for all of the stooges ' roughhouse antics , no gags were ever written in about the dogs getting hurt . i wonder how we got from there to movies like
there ' s something about mary
where a dog in a bodycast is the main attraction to the film ?
the collaborative spirit between brad bird and giacchino is part of what spurred the two on to define a fresh sound for the film . “these two guys are basically able to read each other’s minds , ” observes producer brad lewis . “brad speaks in a visual language and michael speaks in a musical language , but somehow they find a way to intertwine them perfectly in the film . sometimes the music is subtle , sometimes it’s very broad and comic and michael has this great way of creating the right mood to go along with each moment in the story . he can get really grand and emotional , he can get really small and light , and he can get a little bit goofy , all of which we needed in this movie . ”
to his great credit , mr . haggis tries to coax an answer out of his story rather than imposing one on it from the start , as he did in “crash . ” that film , which owes its best - picture oscar to the dedication of its cast and the obviousness of its themes , turned racial intolerance into fodder for a self - righteous , schematic allegory .
with so many original characters and situations , ratatouille constantly inspired the filmmakers to push the technology to new limits . notes the film’s supervising technical director michael fong : “there were so many technical challenges to tackle on this film , starting with lots and lots of furry characters , as well as very complex human characters , intense water scenes with rapids and the recreation of the beloved city of paris . along the way , we significantly changed the way we shaded models , the way we light the scenes and the way we do cloth . we took technology from our previous films and found ways to make it even better . and all of this contributes to a really different , original look that audiences will experience along with all the fun of the story of ratatouille . ”
the parents go out and leave jeanie to look after the baby , but she is irresponsible and it is up to tom and jerry to do the task themselves . the plot is typical and the babysitter is such a clichéd female character . the problem here is that the film is just not funny and it is never particularly exciting . we’ve seen this before and nothing here is memorable .
back home , the entire team got into the act with a series of cooking classes , in which computer artists more used to clicking and tapping instead learned to slice and dice like the pros — gaining essential insight into tiny but vital details about how chefs hold a knife , chop an onion , stir a soup and interact with others in a wildly busy kitchen . the cooking classes provided lots of creative fodder – and even had some interesting side effects . “it kind of ruined me , ” laughs supervising animator mark walsh . “i used to be a top ramen , tuna - outof - the - can man and suddenly i realized how much more fun it is to make something really good ! ”
swanberg ' s opening scenes set the tone for this un - rom - com rom - com , using a handheld camera under harsh fluorescent lighting ; it ' s as if to doll it up , to shoot his actors in flattering light , would be disingenuous . while avoiding conventions , swanberg aims for familiarity : he knows that half the battle here is the audience recognising that they have been in a friendship that veered towards something else , enjoying its flirty nature and having fun ignoring it . that ' s drinking buddies ' charm , and it ' s this that will hit home more than anything else . plus the ad - lib approach from wilde and johnson works a treat .
“drinking buddies” is a movie of sublime paradox : a quartet of actors—jake johnson , anna kendrick , ron livingston , and olivia wilde ( who co - executive - produced ) —play characters living in very ordinary circumstances , and they improvise their dialogue within situations that developed spontaneously in the course of the shoot . yet swanberg’s ideas—and he has always been a director of ideas—are so strong and clear that the actors realize them as if within the orienting pull of a magnetic field . i’d argue that the only reason swanberg’s earlier work hasn’t been recognized for its abstraction is that the intimate scale of the performances focusses attention on their personal element , and this movie is even more abstract in its conception than his prior work .
yet the technological achievements of the film are always in service to spinning an even more enveloping and laughter - filled tale that celebrates the challenges of being true to friends , family and the search to find real happiness in life . notes john lasseter : “these characters are so charming and so emotionally believable that the audience isn’t likely to even realize they are seeing new technology . you’re just too caught up in their story . ”
naturally , jessup started with an inspirational journey , along with director of photography / lighting sharon calahan , to france . “we were looking mainly at color , shapes and surfaces , ” jessup explains of their whirlwind trip . “it really inspired us to use a very different kind of a palette than ever before . we realized that much of paris has this kind of classical , stone quality that is then filled in with little accents of color . we’d see a woman walk by in a red coat and she would just sparkle against the gray background – and we wanted to get that in the film . that’s why the palette is more muted than any other pixar film . it was a little scary , because usually animated films are so outrageously colorful we were using colors more as accents , but i think the restraint of color can also make it much more powerful . ”
that space becomes the scene of all kinds of comic mayhem when remy enters it , which also challenged the film’s directors of photography . although remy loves to cook , a human kitchen is filled with dangers he has to avoid , from falling into pots to paddling through a sink filled with dishwater , which leads to much of the film’s physical comedy . says robert anderson , director of photography / camera : “a lot of times , the cameras are hustling just like the kitchen is hustling . in some scenes you’ve got remy cooking in his own world and the camera will start out graceful and flowing with the music as he prepares this amazing meal . and then suddenly , remy will be discovered in the kitchen and now the camera’s chasing after him , as people are throwing things at him and he’s almost getting run over and thrown into an oven . the camera is always right there with him . ”
the process started in paris , where the filmmakers’ “research” consisted of eating their way from one famous restaurant to the next , sampling the mouth - watering delights and peeking behind - the - scenes at the most creative kitchens in the world . “there was some concern that we might die of eating too much good food in too short a time , ” laughs bird . “but we really learned a lot that adds to the fun of the film . ”
the only clues he has are some jpegs his son e - mailed to him , the memory of a desperate late - night phone call from the war zone and some smeary , scrambled video recovered from mike’s cellphone . these hectic , unfocused clips stand in jarring , pointed contrast to the neatly composed frames and carefully paced shots that make up most of mr . haggis’s film , and they pose an agonizing challenge : how do you extract meaning from such chaos ?
it ' s hard to believe that only their second columbia short is considered a classic today . but i guess that just goes to show how extraordinary the boys were . i like that larry also plays a significant role in this film , too . he ' s not the star of the short , but watching him run in fast motion looking for anything playing
pop goes the weasel
cracks me up everytime .
i lost my ba - lance !
disney•pixar presents ratatouille , directed by brad bird , the film is produced by brad lewis and executive produced by john lasseter and andrew stanton . bringing to life a wide - ranging roster of memorable characters is a voice cast that includes popular stand - up comedian patton oswalt , golden globe® award - winner brian dennehy , emmy® award winner brad garrett , comic star and emmy® nominee janeane garofalo , academy award® nominee ian holm and the legendary 8 - time academy award® nominee peter o’toole .
from academy award® - winning director brad bird and the amazing storytellers at pixar animation studios comes ratatouille , the most original comedy of the summer about one of the most unlikely friendship’s imaginable . the film’s protagonist is a rat named remy who dares to dream the impossible dream of becoming a gourmet chef in a five - star french restaurant . together with a down - and - out garbage boy named linguini , the pair carves their own imaginative path to becoming the greatest chef in paris .
although many of the film’s locations are fanciful , jessup faithfully recreated several legendary landmarks , most notably the pont alexandre iii , the beautiful arched , lamp - lined bridge that spans the seine , where linguini and remy first form their reluctant partnership . “that’s really a low point emotionally for linguini and remy so brad wanted it to play out against the dramatic scenery by the seine with the soaring notre dame cathedral in the background , ” explains jessup . “we tried to recreate it very authentically . ”
an extraordinary current of pain runs through joe swanberg’s new romantic comedy , “drinking buddies , ” a deep melancholy that turns out to be the driving force of the action , which is the sustenance of the life of a couple—and the incommensurable gap between a member of a couple and a single person . there’s a stern morality at work in the movie , which begins with the irrepressible flirtation of two seemingly kindred souls—luke ( jake johnson ) , who runs a chicago craft brewery , and kate ( olivia wilde ) , the marketing director . they and their respective partners , jill ( anna kendrick ) , a schoolteacher , and chris ( ron livingston ) , a music producer , will soon learn that playtime is over , that couplehood is a vast but unstable edifice that can be shaken and even shattered—or , for that matter , defended valiantly by a single action .
yet , for waggoner who is as much an artist as a programmer , the real fun came in putting everything together into a dramatic big picture . “the primary challenge for me was really nailing the look , because brad likes things to appear both realistic and caricatured at the same time . so it was never just a case of scientifically studying the way different cloth moves and then entering in the numbers . instead , it was an overall subtle process of fitting every detail into the film’s overall aesthetic , ” she says .
eventually , keller would also voice the role of a restaurant patron in the film , but first he served as a dynamic guide into the world of culinary adventure for lewis . “brad wanted to see what a real kitchen looks like and feels like , the energy , the dynamic , how people work together and move around the kitchen – “the dance” as we call it in our restaurant” explains keller . “brad and his team also took a lot of video at the french laundry so they could study it and turn reality into animation . ”
so on the one hand , we have some of our talented in - house artists doing voices and on the other we have acting legends such as brian dennehy , ian holm and peter o’toole – yet they each bring something really specific and special to their roles . we also were lucky to cast patton oswalt , janeane garofalo and brad garrett , who are all gifted stand - up comedians . i think they give the film a special comic edge . in every case , the voice performers provided the animators with a creative turbo charge . ”
in weaving together the film’s many styles and tones , giacchino made a musical separation between the human and rodent worlds . “there’s certain instrumentation that i used a lot in the rat world , including a giant thumb piano that’s layered into the orchestration , and a lot of pizzicato strings , ” he says . “brad really loved the sound of the pizzicato strings for the rats , but again , there was no hard and fast rule . what was right for one scene with the rats might not be right for the next , so it is always changing . ”
bird was especially excited about injecting the film with wild twists and turns from nail - biting suspense to no - holds - barred comedy , from navigating the whitewater rapids of paris’s famously intricate sewers to the high - pressure hustle of a restaurant serving dinner with a critic in the house . “part of the joy of ratatouille is simply that it is so unpredictable , ” bird notes . “if we’ve done our job right , when you think it’s going left it goes right , and vice versa , hopefully all in a way that’s not only humorous but from the heart . ”
as for the theme that emerges between linguini and remy , giacchino says : “the buddy theme only really happens when they are working together . the prime example of it is when remy first learns how to control linguini – that’s the embodiment of their theme . then , it progresses into a very big , kind of heroic action cue at the end of the film when all the rats band together and linguini’s on his roller skates . it’s almost like a british world war ii theme because their friendship has evolved to the point where they’re going to get this done together . ”
as in an episode of “law & order , ” suspicion veers one way and then another as new information comes to light . was it drug dealers ? gang members ? soldiers from the young man’s own squad ? was mike himself guilty of terrible things ? paul haggis , the writer and director , obeys the rules of the whodunit genre by providing answers to some of the basic , literal questions at the center of the film . and considered strictly as a crime drama , “in the valley of elah” is a bit pedestrian , with a few too many set pieces , extraneous subplots and predictable turns .
bruce bennett appears as two different characters in the film . first as a truck driver at the beginning and later as the rock pile prison guard . during the rock pile scene , larry is placing rocks on curly ' s head and moe swings down a sledge - hammer to bust the rocks . at one point , as larry places a rock on curly ' s head , it appears that an ad - lib by curly (
hey ! . . . that ' s a real one . . . i ' m no fool ! ! !
) causes both moe and larry to break character and smile
copyright disclaimer : under section 107 of the copyright act 1976 , allowance is made for «fair use» for purposes such as criticism , comment , news reporting , teaching , scholarship , and research . fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing . non - profit , educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of «fair use» . the recent amendments to the copyright act of 1976 pertain to music . «fair use» remains in force for film and video . no copyright intended . all content used in adherence to fair use copyright law . copyright issue ? send us a message and we ' ll get it resolved .
already renowned for its pioneering work in cloth motion , the team at pixar went a step further with ratatouille by creating the most complex “wardrobe” ever for cg animated film . for a long time cloth was a sticking point in creating authentic - looking cg animation because clothing , by nature , isn’t static and the laws of physics – from gravity to friction – are subtly operating on it all the time . it was pixar that first opened up new possibilities for cloth with the life - like rumpled t - shirt in “monsters inc . ” and then made amazing breakthroughs with the array of credible , retro - futuristic clothing styles presented in “the incredibles . ”
producer brad lewis believes that brad bird was the perfect man to take on this mission of pushing the boundaries of animated comedy in the name of innovative storytelling – in part because of his remy - like refusal to believe anything is impossible . “brad bird is as intense and passionate as remy is in the film , ” lewis muses . “i’ve never seen someone so locked into what’s going to make a story work creatively and emotionally . he’s got these skills of perception where he always hones right in on what’s going to make things a little more natural , or a little more funny or a little more true . and he’s a genius with physical comedy . ”
warch worked throughout the film to assure the kind of authenticity that even the snobbiest gourmand would appreciate . this was especially true in gusteau’s kitchen . “the idea was always to create something that was stylized and fun but also true to a real french kitchen , ” he says . “we needed to have the right french copper pots , the right french knives , the correct sense of the workflow with the chefs always in perpetual motion – right down to the way the food is plated with the different types of sauces and the architectural presentation . we wanted anybody who has been behind the scenes of a great kitchen to say ‘wow , they really got it’ ! ”
the enchantment of ratatouille begins with the charm of the characters , developed by bird and jan pinkava , who first invented the film’s premise , and whose characters join the pixar pantheon with real and relatable inner lives . at the center of the tale’s emotional appeal are remy’s many different relationships – including those with the affectionate but flummoxed father who doesn’t understand the road he has chosen ; with the ghost of the legendary french chef he has idolized all his life , despite their different species ; and especially with linguini , with whom he forms an unusual symbiotic friendship based at first on their mutual desperation but which turns into something truly life - altering for both of them .
the new scenes actually have production values , so some of the time is taken up with reused footage . while that would normally knock any film down a couple notches , some of this short ' s dialogue has become part of the american lexicon with
we all put the yeast in !
and
goiter !
surviving to this day . the goiter bit was used before but this is the one everyone remembers . the over - yeasted beer was done by keaton in the silent days but this is the one everyone remembers . and the bucket of sand is my favorite vernon dent scene ever . only the stooges could take a
nothing
short and make it seem worthwhile .
in some of the film’s most uproarious scenes , linguini lets remy literally control his own attempts at cooking . explains bird : “linguini is somebody who doesn’t like to attract attention and thanks to remy he gets a huge amount of it . he’s a great example of someone who thinks they aren’t anything special , but when the going gets tough , they find it within themselves to be amazing and do the right thing . ” character supervisor brian green admits he had another contemporary movie character in the back of his mind when it came to linguini – “i thought of him a little bit like napoleon dynamite ; he’s appealing , he’s funny and somehow you can’t help but root for him , ” he says .
watching their new pets lead their daily lives also gave green and his team plenty of fun ideas and opened up new areas of exploration . “one of the things that became very important to the film is that we began to realize how squishy rats are . a rat can do all kind of amazing things with its body – they go through tiny holes you would think impossible or shrink into a little tiny ball because their rib cages are so small and flexible – and that was something that we knew would be a lot of fun inside the story . but first , we had to create special technology to simulate that and try to capture it in a way that was realistic , ” green explains .


r100 is a japanese dramedy film directed by hitoshi matsumoto .

the film had its world premiere at 2013 toronto international film festival on september 12 , 2013 .

r100 ( film )

watch the exclusive debut of the trailer for “r100 , ” the hitoshi matsumoto film that will world premiere in the midnight madness section at september’s toronto international film festival .
r100 is directed by hitoshi matsumoto and was released on jan 23rd , 2015 .
arson murder and jaywalking : the american trailer for film begins with ( fictional ) rating card ( purposely created by the drafthouse films , the film ' s us distribution ) that says the film advertised has been rated r100 for
kicking , whipping , sloshing , spitting and grenades
.
word puree title : the title is a play on japanese film ratings . a movie rated r100 would be unsuitable for viewers under 100 years of age . in - universe , the film ' s director is quoted as saying that no one under the age of 100 will enjoy his film .
r100 received positive reviews from critics . review aggregator rotten tomatoes reports that 81 % of 21 film critics have given the film a positive review , with a rating average of 6 . 7 out of 10 . [ 7 ]
ai tominaga kicks nao omori in “r100 , ” written and directed by hitoshi matsumoto .
what to see at mpls . - st . paul international film festival - urltoken
breaking the fourth wall : starting about halfway through , the film will occasionally cut to a focus group who comment about the plot and quality of the film . the supposed director of the film is also occasionally shown in the movie theater .
review for william h . macy ' s beautiful film rudderless - sundance ' 14
what to see at the minneapolis - st . paul international film festival
tokyo – hitoshi matsumoto ’s latest film , r100 , a sex comedy starring nao omori and shinobu terajima , will be released by warner bros . japan on oct . 5 .
self - deprecation : the focus group hates the film and occasionally points out the plot holes . even hitoshi matsumoto called the film
stupid
to the media .
the film features a subplot in which a group of confused people are watching takafumi ' s story , a film - within - a - film directed by an elderly man who claims that one must have lived 100 years to understand its true brilliance .
reviewed at sundance film festival ( spotlight ) , jan . 19 , 2014 . ( also in toronto film festival — midnight madness . ) running time : 99 min .
r100 is primarily a parade of kink , topped off with explicit allegory for pushing subversive art past prudes .
there are no featured audience reviews yet . click the link below to see what others say about r100 !
r100 is a 2013 japanese black comedy directed by comedian hitoshi matsumoto , of gaki no tsukai ya arahende .
the world premiere of hitoshi matsumoto’s “r100” in the toronto international film festival’s midnight madness section must be frustrating for all those japanese auteurs out there who got rejection letters from north america’s most important festival .
“r100” is a play on the japanese film rating format . the version of “r100” screening within “r100” is directed by a centenarian who claims that only fellow 100 - year - olds can fully understand his film . i look forward to putting that notion to the test on my birthday in 2075 . for now , more important than understanding the movie’s meaning , if there even is one , is understanding that it is fun , funny , and immensely entertaining , even if it doesn’t make a lick of logical sense .
r100
suggests that extreme and perverse films allow the everyman to seek thrills in his otherwise - monotonous life .
yoshimoto will send a representative to cannes to promote r100 , but with the film still in post - production , it won’t be offering it for sale at market , a spokesperson from the agency told the hollywood reporter .
show within a show : the film is a show within itself . it ' s supposedly directed by a 100 year old man . scenes of a focus group occasionally comment on the film so far .
big man japan ( dai nippon - jin ) , matsumoto’s first foray into film , was selected for the directors’ fortnight at cannes in 2007 and is currently being remade in hollywood by neal h . moritz via original film .
i was at least 65 years too young to see this film . that ' s all i can say .
culture crypt looks at a few fantasia film festival features shaping up to be hot topics among horror fans in 2018 .
r100
teaches viewers how to watch it as its plot perpetually breaks down , then reforms . you cannot trust the film to deal with its dark subject matter since it ' s constantly admitting that takafumi ' s search for carnal enlightenment is necessarily frustrated . since takafumi likes losing control , he keeps losing it until the film goes off its sprockets , and we get a
a fourth wall breaking side plot is introduced where five people screen the r100 movie and puzzle over its bizarre meaning . they eventually learn that a 100 - year - old man directed the film and he claims that only other centenarians can fully understand it .
a cinematic interpretation of beethoven ' s
ode to joy
filtered through the sexual taboo of japan , r100 will entertain and perplex .
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fictitious behind - the - scenes look at perplexed filmmakers and censors behind the film . sorry ,
the film .
then the movie starts again . and then it stops , then starts again . if you try to get closure from
as with matsumoto’s previous films , big man japan and symbol , r100 exists in a genre netherworld , perched somewhere between slapstick comedy , raw pulp , and experimental art - film . the humor wears thin , because there’s only so many times that watching an ordinary schmoe get the crap kicked out of him is funny . and given the opening warning , r100 isn’t as sensationalistic as it seems like it ought to be .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
the film premiered on september 12 , 2013 on the toronto international film festival [ 12 ] and was released on march 3 , 2015 on blu - ray disc in a 1080p video format [ 13 ] and dvd over drafthouse films . [ 14 ]
here are brief reviews , ratings and showtimes of more than 50 movies screening at the 2014 minneapolis - st . paul international film festival , april 3 - 19 . all ratings are out of four stars . ( photos provided by respective film distributors . )
matsumoto , a comedian and ubiquitous tv personality in japan , wrote and directed r100 and will make an appearance in the film , described as
an intense sex comedy about a man who joins a mysterious club which opens the door to another world he has never before experienced .
after all the end credits have rolled , we see the 5 people viewing the film - within - a - film standing / sitting uncomfortably in the waiting area , for a second or two . nothing is said , then the screen goes dark , finally .
transgressive , unclassifiable , ridiculous—all these words apply to r100 . but upon reflection , it becomes clear that matsumoto has achieved something remarkable here : he’s made a film at once boundary - defying and really fun to watch . it’s not for everyone , and best appreciated by those who already have a taste for such things ( kind of like bdsm , actually ) , but the 100 - minute running time flies by , and the film remains entertaining even when it begins to spiral out of control . to aficionados of the bizarre , r100 will be a rare pleasure indeed .
director hitoshi matsumoto ' s comedy & drama movie r100 is produced by yoshimoto kogyo company & warner bros . pictures was released 2013 - 10 - 05 .
matsumoto says he wanted to make a film that transcended the idea of genre , and in that respect , he has succeeded admirably .
culture crypt is the most reliable website for genre movie reviews and the best in popular culture , specializing in independent horror film entertainment .
adding another level to the film’s surreal comedy is the idea that takafumi and his fetish obsession are part of a wacky movie directed by a wizened old man of 100 , which is being screened by an official censorship committee . not only do they not understand the film ( and their perplexity is hilariously justified by all the inconsistencies in the plot ) , but the parade of whip - wielding ladies in black leather is too much for them to bear . hence the title r100 : they propose to rate the film as suitable for audiences of 100 and up .
an eager young film crew become embroiled in a deadly feud between rival gangs in a series of bizarre incidents that blend action and humour .
how will it play ? while warner bros . will release the film in japan , “r100” is unlikely to find a north american distributor with any company other than a genre label able to play up its irreverence to a vod audience . its theatrical prospects are severely limited by the strange plot and foreign language .
here are brief reviews , ratings and showtimes of more than 50 movies screening at the 2014 minneapolis - st . paul international film festival , april 3 - 19 . all ratings are out of four stars . ( photos provided by respective film distributors . ) complete festival listings are at urltoken
on friday 30 october 2015 , the mercury cinema got a taste of japan with the opening night celebration of the 19th annual japanese film festival .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
if a dominatrix is one who takes total control of her passive partner , then “r100” is the cinematic equivalent of a kinky femme fatale in black leather and stiletto heels , cracking a whip and a smile . at least for the film’s first half , japanese writer - director hitoshi matsumoto gets a kick out of tantalizing and torturing [ … ]
this freedom , however , has its plus side , with matsumoto ( self - destructively ? ) inserting a grimly funny subplot about censors discussing a film — the one we are watching — and finding it incomprehensible . we are invited to side with the filmmaker ( whose identity i will not divulge ) , but it’s also obvious the censors have a point . the title “r100” refers to the rating they assign the film , presumably thinking it suitable for no one likely to see it in a theater .
there ' s a reason why
r100 ,
a deeply strange comedy about sadomasochism and other secular revelations , starts with a joke - y disclaimer . the film , which takes its name from an imaginary censor board ' s rating ( like the mpaa ' s
r
rating , only forbidden to anyone under 100 years of ago ) , is deeply silly , but also startlingly outlandish , and more than a little punishing in its repetitiveness . this , of course , is the film ' s point .
“there’s probably no bigger fan of hitoshi matsumoto’s comedy in north america than me , ” said drafthouse films founder tim league in a statement . “without matsumoto , there’s no ‘jackass ; ; there’s no extreme reality tv . with the release of his brilliant new film ‘r100 , ’ i hope to expose this legendary comic genius to a new , wide audience . ”
satire , anti - satire , critique , auto - critique , exploitation , put - on : sion sono’s film accommodates all of these positions equally and without prejudice .
the reveal furthers the discussion of the film while providing a space for readers who have seen it to discuss plot - sensitive details . in other words : spoilers ahead .
rob nelson of variety , said in his review that
if a dominatrix is one who takes total control of her passive partner , then
r100
is the cinematic equivalent of a kinky femme fatale in black leather and stiletto heels , cracking a whip and a smile .
[ 8 ] deborah young in her review for the hollywood reporter praised the film by saying that
it’s hard to remember a film about s & m as funny as this one , or one as beautifully and weirdly imagined .
[ 9 ] colin covert of minneapolis star tribune gave the film three stars by saying that
to call this midnight movie entry
not for everyone
is understating it . but connoisseurs of weird , twisted sex comedy will revel in its transgressive , audacious mischief .
[ 10 ] katie rife of the a . v . club gave the film a b + . [ 11 ]
this happily scattershot approach obviously comes with its ups and downs . the introduction of a film - within - a - film subplot , whereby a set of disgruntled producers complain about the scandalous content of the film they ( and we ) are seeing , feels superfluous , an almost adolescent attempt to self - reflexively big - up its own daring . the increasing reliance on bad taste can also get enervating at times , even as it does indeed liven up the continuing stream of dominatrix interventions . in the film’s more calculated moments , you get the feeling that masumoto is all too concerned with playing to the midnight - screening gallery , where superficiality , shock value , and crassness are often virtues rather than stumbling blocks .
it’s certainly an unusual and provocative premise but not one that necessarily lends itself to a feature - length format and so it proves with a film that quickly becomes an exercise in repetitive weirdness . i do enjoy strange cinema but it is hard to ascertain the intentions of matsumoto and this story of humiliation and arousal . perhaps i am doing a disservice to the film and it possesses…
actress lindsay kay hayward is warning viewers not to talk or text during an exclusive nsfw ‘ r100 ′ psa . the clip for the s & m - themed comedy - drama showcases american actress lindsay kay hayward warning audiences that if they talk or text , they’ll get a spanking from a 6’8″ amazonian with a wooden paddle . the trailer for ‘ r100 , ’ which is currently playing in theaters and on demand , begins with hayward introducing herself , as she sits in front of a poster for the comedy - drama , as well as several s & m - themed accessories . she laughs as she informs viewers that if they talk or text while watching the film , she’ll hunt them down . she amusingly adds that she [ read more ] the post lindsay kay hayward warns not to talk or text during exclusive nsfw r100 psa appeared first on shockya . com .
the exquisite live - action quill : the life of a guide dog may be the family film of the year . quill , also referred to sporadically as qoo , is a labrador retriever born…
even if you like bizarre movies , you ' ll probably like
r100 ,
then hate it , then go back to liking it , then wonder what you ' re looking at . and then the movie will end .
shot in gloomy desaturated colors , “r100” focuses on one takafumi katayama ( nao omori ) , a sad - sack furniture salesman who is caring for his cute young son while his wife ( you ) vegetates in an irreversible coma .
in a comedic performance as a dead - pan , no - nonsense police officer , matsumoto asks the question : “what happens if you get what you asked for ? ” matsumoto set out to create a “far - out absurd nonsensical movie” that is kinky and even silly , full of s & m sexual fantasies . that’s a subject matsumoto has explored in his comedy skits and radio shows . he was intending to break down the notion of comedy . while his last three films used improvisation and employed a mockumentary style , with “r100” matsumoto stayed close to the script and hired professional actors . in that sense , “r100” resembles the more conventional structure of a feature film .
r100 , the outrageously funny film from matsumoto hitoshi will be out in cinemas and on vod on january 23rd from drafthouse films . we have an outrageous clip to share with you . it is from early on in the film and features our lead omori nao and tominaga ai , the first of many dominatrices you will meet during the course of the film . you would assume that the couple are out for a nice cup of coffee . omori is probably thrilled that a young woman as stunning as tominaga is sitting at the same table as him . and then he asks her if she knows the answer to his question . her response ? at first she seems drawn in . those words . those lyrics . then ? well , you will just have to watch , . . . [ read the whole post on twitchfilm . com . . . ]
“…despite its head - scratching moments , ‘r100’ also maintains an elevated cult movie consistency that’s par for the course with matsumoto , by combining its playful irrationality with an emotional and philosophical core , ” wrote indiewire’s eric kohn in his glowing review out of toronto .
layered on top of this is a meta b - story in which an appalled ratings board is attempting to figure out what rating to give the movie . the ancient “director” has insisted that this is the film he needs to make , and only centenarians will understand it , a timid assistant tells the incredulous suits . thus , they decide to rate it r100—no one under the age of 100 admitted . ( a r18 is the japanese equivalent of an nc - 17 . )
the brilliance of “r100 , ” if that word can be used to describe the film , is that it ramps up the bizarre meter so slowly that the audience never consciously realizes how subtly they were sucked into an uncertain absurdist unreality . one of the few things i know for sure is that i used the word “if” in four of the previous five sentences . that many qualifiers are unavoidable in order to accurately assess something so firmly entrenched in “for acquired tastes only” territory .
, a documentary that follows matsumoto over six months in 2010 . it has some fascinating behind the scenes look at matsumoto ' s process working with writers and other comedians and as he begins work on his third film ,
the r100 title is a play on the movie ratings r - 15 and r - 18 and represents the main character , played by omori , breaking through boundaries . filming wrapped last month , but further plot details and the production budget have not yet been announced .
no one under 100 will be admitted !
dang this looks crazy . drafthouse films has debuted their official us trailer for hitoshi matsumoto ' s r100 , a funky , wacky japanese thriller about a man ( nao ohmori of ichi the killer ) who joins an s & m club and gets into some crazy shit when dominatrices appear and kick his ass anytime of the day . the title r100 is a riff on the japanese movie rating system , whose equivalent to nc - 17 is r18 , and this is playing on the idea that it ' s not okay for anyone under 100 . ha . the new poster is a bit too much , aiming to sell it purely on the sex / s & m angle , but the trailer hints at the absurdity of the film in so many other ways . this definitely isn ' t for everyone , but it ' s not just for s & m fans either , i think . have fun . here ' s the official us trailer for hitoshi matsumoto ' s r100 ,
i think the film veers off too far into such strangeness ( could there be a japanese tv game show spun off from all this ? ) , but connoisseurs of this kind of thing will find the ripeness hard to resist .
there is a point where characters sit in a waiting room and discuss the same r100 we ' re currently watching . after exhibiting exasperation at the absurdity they ' ve witnessed one says
too much .
disappointingly , the real statement should be ' not enough . '
along the same meta - lines spoofing the film business are several interruptions in the story when characters think they feel an earthquake coming on . this is explained as being a nod to contemporary issues , apparently a requisite in japanese films .
fun fact : asked about his film’s divided critical reception at toronto , including a drubbing in the local paper , matsumoto noted the wild response from fans at its screening . “it pleased a lot of people , anyway , ” he said .
then , about 40 minutes into the film , matsumoto introduces a new meta twist . ( see the reveal . ) in keeping with the s & m theme , matsumoto keeps changing r100 ’s direction , defying the audience in hopes of providing a more perverse kick . often , the results are astonishing . at its best , r100 resembles some of the more outré takashi miike films , crossed with the punch - drunk love - like story of a nebbish who gets in over his head when he tries to pursue a few moments of joy . the plot takes some less - rewarding turns down the stretch , but after a certain point—when takafumi gets caught in the crossfire between an army of sadists and the covert government agency trying to bring them down—viewers have to let go of expectations and trust that matsumoto is going somewhere .
in the end , r100 does arrive at someplace oddly beautiful , concluding with a wondrous abstract homage to all those special souls who take pleasure from pain , both physical and aesthetic . when the film works , it isn’t because matsumoto is playing to the cult - movie crowd—he really isn’t—but because he’s sympathetic to all the takafumis out there who fade into the background of the service economy . when takafumi is being pursued through the streets and then kicked in the face , his giddiness in understandable . finally , somebody’s paying attention to him .
it’s easier to define what r100 isn’t than what it is . first of all , despite the presence of ninja dominatrices , it’s not a steamy thriller , and the raincoat crowd should apply elsewhere . ( might we suggest 1992’s tokyo decadence ? ) “comedy” is probably the most accurate word— r100 has a devilishly warped sense of humor , even if much of it is more “what the fuck ? ” than laugh - out - loud funny . and if you can’t call a movie with a character named the gobble queen , who literally swallows men whole , or the spit queen ( naomi watanabe , in a standout performance ) , who specializes in drenching her victims in flavored loogies , a comedy , then what do you call it ? director hitoshi matsumoto says he wanted to make a film that transcended the idea of genre , and in that respect , he has succeeded admirably .
r100 is a movie starring nao ohmori , mao daichi , and shinobu terajima . an ordinary man with an ordinary life joins a mysterious club . the membership lasts for one year only and there is one rule : no cancellation under any circumstance . the man enters into a . . . see full summary »
but in the ensuing action , which encompasses spitting , whipping and sushi pounding ( use your imagination ) , other influences are also at work . as those who follow matsumoto’s tv antics know , he is a devotee of the batsu game ( punishment game ) school of humor — and “r100” is an extreme example of it . it is as though , free to do as liked in his own film , he dreamed up “punishments” far in excess of what even japan’s lenient tv censors would allow . in excess , in fact , of anything resembling comedy , black or otherwise .
japanese cinema is well known for the weird and bizarre and r100 certainly continues this tradition . directed by hitoshi matsumoto ( big man japan ) this dark and self - reflexive comedy is centred on the awakening of a japanese salaryman who joins a mysterious bondage club where kinky and submissive experiences can happen anytime and anywhere .
actress kirin kiki wants an ending with no twists when life gave her lemons , film star kirin kiki didn ' t make lemonade , but wild grass enzyme juice . it ' s the only thing that has satisfied her taste buds since her advanced - stage cancer caused he . . .
so if “r100” is a misfire , it also has its mysteries and , since it is by the insanely talented matsumoto , it’s bent appeal . i just hope that , having made this in - joke of a movie , he dreams up one for the rest of us , including this fan from the start , the next time around .
when the bondage boss asks an increasingly aggrieved takafumi , “isn’t this what you wanted ? ” the nerved - up fan of hardcore genre fare becomes mindful of the “contract” he signed upon entering the theater . alas , matsumoto ends up tipping the meta scale a touch too hard with intermittent scenes of censors screening a movie called “r100 , ” directed by a century - old man in a long white beard . eventually the film runs out of satiric steam altogether , resorting to a lame war - movie climax with bondage’s seven - foot tall ceo ( lindsay hayward ) as a cross between a distaff bond villain and a third reich heavy .
venue : toronto film festival ( midnight madness ) a warner bros . pictures presentation of a yoshimoto kogyo co . production in association with yoshimoto creative agency , phantom film cast : nao omori , mao daichi , shinobu terajima , eriko sato , ai tominaga , naomi watanabe , hairi katagiri , haruki nishimura , gin maeda , suzuki matsuo , atsuro watabe , lindsay hayward director : hitoshi matsumoto screenwriter : hitoshi matsumoto producer : akihiko okamoto executive producer : hiroshi osaki director of photography : kazushige tanaka production designer : etsuko aikou costumes : satoe araki music : hidekazu sakamoto editor : yoshitaka honda sales : free stone productions no rating , 100 minutes .
after beethoven’s “ode to joy” plays over a montage , the manager from bondage narrates that takafumi transitioned from masochist to sadist . having submitted to a superior sadist , they in turn conceived another sadist . takafumi is then seen as a pregnant man posing for pictures with his son arashi . after the credits , the quintet outside the r100 screening room is seen again , looking flummoxed .
simply put , the best film i ' ve ever seen . it destroys the medium and reconstructs it , just like jesus did with it back in 1894 . tackles the relevant issue of s & m ninjas in a fresh , funny , darkly satiric way . also , the human condition is commented upon via talking about earthquakes .
safe , sane and consensual : katayama is never treated as a pervert for being a masochist , though it is the fodder for dark comedy . the
consensual
part of the contract disappearing is actually the reason for the film ' s conflict . katayama withdraws his consent and has to fight the dominatrixes for refusing to honor his decision .
written and directed by hitoshi matsumoto ; director of photography , kazushige tanaka ; edited by yoshitaka honda ; music by hidekazu sakamoto ; production design by etsuko aikou ; costumes by satoe araki ; produced by akihiko okamoto ; released by drafthouse films . in japanese , with english subtitles . running time : 1 hour 40 minutes . this film is not rated .
a totally bizarre experience that exists as two movies the one with the main characters and another involving a group of people watching a movie about the main characters . this film has to be seen to be believed it is utterly bewildering with its main character acquiring the dominatrix from hell who feels it ' s okay to attack him at any moment to the group of people watching his exploits as a film in a screening room . it appears to be a comment on what is acceptable in modern cinema especially in countries such as japan . it is laden with filth and uncouth characters such as the queen of saliva who spits on her customers but the black humour and the way some scenes are set up makes this very intriguing .
“r100” ( a riff on the japanese movie rating system , whose equivalent to nc - 17 is r18 ) tells the story of lonely everyman , takafumi katayama , who hires a boutique s & m agency that specialize in random acts of extreme public degradation . at first , this changes his outlook on life for the better , but a bizarre accident violates the terms of the contract and hurdles takafumi into a confounding spiral that will test his very soul .
i think that in japan , because i ' m really famous as a comedian , in a way it ' s a bit difficult when i make films . they ' re always seen in the background , on the side of my other activities . in other countries , i ' m more appreciated as a film director , it ' s not just a background thing . so it ' s completely different .
it’s hardly matsumoto’s fault , since that’s just the way the system works . strange , crazed films from japan’s “brand name” directors are in demand by overseas festivals — and that is what he happily supplies . but whereas 2007’s “dai - nipponjin ( big man japan ) , ” 2009’s “symbol” and 2011’s “saya zamurai ( scabbard samurai ) ” were full - throttle comedies , if ones utterly weird by local genre standards , “r100” plays like a confused erotic nightmare , with fun moments scattered and few .
nobody does bizarre quite like the japanese , and hitoshi matsumoto’s latest offering is right up there in the realm of cult classics . from the opening ‘disclaimer’ right until the final post credit scene , r100 is a laugh a minute story of a furniture salesman , takafumi katayama , who joins an exclusive s & m club for a year of dominatrix attention which is delivered at random times and places . the catch is , he can’t quit and has to stay the full year . sounds easy , right ?
everything about it should provide a typically ' out there ' experience normally associated with japanese cinema , a man signs up for a year of kinkiness only to try and break away when it gets too much resulting in him being pursued by the entire organization . but , like the colour palette , the whole thing comes across as incredibly muted and never quite delivering on the r100 promise ( though i ' m sure in some way that ' s part of the joke , one that strangely we don ' t…
as if his movie cannot progress any further back into the left field it came from , matsumoto breaks the fourth wall to publicly acknowledge the mental instability of his own movie’s personality . a self - aware side plot involving a focus group screening the same film verbally echoes identical sentiments of strangely delighted confusion running through the viewer’s mind . matsumoto is in effect granting permission to stop questioning the madness and to start basking in the gloriousness of the insanity .
the first 40 minutes ( or so ) of r100 plays out in a quite
ordinary
manner . we get to know takafumi . his wife is in a coma since 3 years back . he has a son . he has a job as a salesman of furniture . he ' s looking for some excitement and that leads him to becoming a member of a club that offers surprise dominatrixes . they kick him around ( literally ) . they smash his sushi to mush . they hold him under water . he likes it .
true , the section is devoted to quirk and kink , which fits matsumoto’s fourth feature , about a man trapped in an ever - escalating s & m game , to a t . but if it did not feature the name of matsumoto , who has reigned for decades as a top tv comic , this mess of a film would probably not get the prestige boost of the toronto label , as well as its distribution in japan by hollywood major warner .
based on the novel by nobel laureate mo yan , red sorghum is a wonderful story of a young woman who inherits a distillery making sorghum liquour also known as kaoliang ( similar to japanese sake ) . made into an award winning film by zhang yi mou , this dance theatre adaptation presented by the song and dance theatre of qingdao performing arts group is a delight to the senses and is perhaps a closer rendition to mo yan’s story as per his own admission
matsumoto’s gigantically funny “big man japan” ( 2007 ) hardly prepares one for his stylistic sadism here . so bleached of color that it’s nearly black - and - white , “r100” begins in full - on noir mode , with takafumi katayama ( nao ohmori ) taking a beating from a cig - smoking , trenchcoat - clad bondage queen , his bruised body tumbling down a flight of stairs in a scene that playfully recalls the s & m - inflected classic “kiss me deadly . ” the gag’s visual punchline is a series of cheesy cgi ripples emanating from the head of the victim , signifying his dumbfounded ecstasy .
rivers of spit and acres of shiny fetish wear glisten in the japanese fantasy “r100 , ” a gleeful gross - out in which a meek salaryman hires an army of dominatrixes to do their cruel worst . the s - & - m gear has been selected with conspicuous care , from the pointy heels ( the better to kick bad boys down the stairs ) to the suitcase of instruments that look modeled on those in david cronenberg’s gynecological horror show , “dead ringers . ” in that 1988 movie , the sinister tool kit was for “operating on mutant women” ; here , it’s hauled out to dig deeper under the viewer’s skin .
but then the viewer has to accommodate these laugh - out - loud moments with the sobering fact that takafumi’s beloved wife is in a coma and he has to look after his little boy arashi with only occasional help from grandpa . as the mix of straight drama with kinky madness gets wilder and wilder , the audience feels more and more uncomfortable about their guilty visual pleasures . it soon becomes apparent why matsumoto felt the need to preface the film with a warning that it’s fictional and none of god’s creatures were hurt in the making .
the film opens with an irresistible take - off on the dark lady thrillers of yore . in a well - heeled restaurant , takafumi is meekly talking to a sultry vamp about beethoven’s ode to joy , when she kicks him in the face bruce lee style . he follows her out on the street , where she drops her trenchcoat , revealing a costume that would make victoria’s secret blush , and kicks him down a flight of marble stairs . strange comic - strip ripples radiate out from his puffed - up face as he gets off on the mistreatment .
in hitoshi matsumoto’s r100 , nao omori plays takafumi katayama , a mild - mannered , deeply depressed department - store clerk who’s been raising his grade - school - aged son almost on his own , while his wife lies in a coma at a nearby hospital . seeking a little escape , takafumi contracts with an unusual dominatrix service , which sends out leather - clad women to beat and humiliate him in public . but the thrills begin to cut a little close to home when the mistresses start interfering with his work , messing up his parenting , and showing up in his wife’s room during visiting hours . and then takafumi discovers , to his dismay—or perhaps delight—that he can’t cancel his subscription .
takafumi is pathetic because he achieves sublime transcendence every time leather - clad dominatrices beat him up . takafumi ' s masochism is , in that sense , not treated seriously—sorry ,
fifty shades of grey
fans ! —because it ' s just the catalyst for a series of abidingly strange episodes that are all about one thing : escaping the hell that is yourself . matsumoto ' s style of comedy is , in that sense , a far - flung descendant of jerry lewis ' slapstick - y , self - loathing schtick .
r100
is , consequently , a comedy that tries to alienate you by suggesting that escapism is futile , all things inevitably devolve , and nothing inherently means anything .
the climactic showdown , a crazed action set piece involving ninjas , grenades and an unexpectedly upbeat musical finish , gets at the essence of matsumoto’s ingenuity : by pitting inexplicable weirdness against a somber quality , he makes bold grasps for the meaning of life and concludes his search with a shrug that serves the agenda at play : how does a ratings board apply logic to something in such gleeful defiance of it ? flaunting its extremes , “r100” gets away with the naughty sensibility . “you must always be submissive , ” takafumi is told by his captor , though the statement extends to the experience of the movie . there’s no way to handle matsumoto’s nutty storytelling unless you’re willing to just sit back and take it .
where was i ? oh , right , the plot . so , takafumi gets kicked in the face , and thrown down a flight of stairs by a very sexy , terribly bored woman , which makes takafumi realize how much he likes being dominated—not necessarily in a sexual way , mind you , though yes , there is a lot of that in
r100 .
takafumi desperately wants to escape his dreary home - life , which consists of taking care of son arashi ( haruki nishimoto ) while wife setsuko lies comatose in a nearby hospital . so takafumi joins a mysterious gentlemen ' s club whose services eventually escalate in perversity , from being dominated in a sushi restaurant to being flogged and spat on at home , right next door to arashi ' s bedroom .
aside from a cheeky running gag about earthquakes , matsumoto says that he isn’t trying to make a larger social point here . but he does approach the subject of masochism from an interesting viewpoint . not only does r100 refrain from lampooning katayama’s desire to get the crap beat out of him , it’s sympathetic to it . take the scene where we see the character leaving the hospital where his wife is lying in a coma . the sky is gray , the music is melancholy , and it’s all very sad . katayama walks with his shoulders slumped and his head down . then , out of nowhere , a woman clad in leather and high heels comes running towards him , knocks him to the ground , and starts kicking him violently . his face begins to contort in blissful ripples—an effect rather like the lusty nosebleeds common in anime—and one can feel katayama’s release , the relief of feeling any sensation , even a painful one , after the numbness of grief .
you might not like this movie and as the movie itself states several times , that might be because you ' re too young for it . . . obviously that is meant to be a joke . and if you don ' t like the nature of the joke wait til you see the rest of it . it only gets weirder and is difficult to explain in a nutshell . a man is responsible for things going crazy for him , because he hires someone for that exact purpose . you have to really get into the mood of the film to like it and to enjoy it . something that cannot be said about the main character . on the other hand . . . who knows what is really going on with him ? you also get
breaks
from the movie , with some weird analysis that kind of stops the flow . . . but on the other hand is a perfect fit , if you think about it . if you like weird and not really predictable , you will love this . otherwise stay clear
currently in post - production , the sex comedy is being made with one eye on the international market .
it was matsumoto’s appearance at cannes in 2007 that inspired hiroshi osaki , the ceo of his agency , yoshimoto kogyo , to launch the okinawa international movie festival in 2009 on japan’s southern tropical island .
a very ordinary man ( nao omori ) who takes care of his son while his wife lies in a coma , enters a very ordinary building . following a seductive ride on a merry - go - round , he signs up with an exclusive club . membership is one year only and cannot be cancelled under any circumstances . happily he endures dominatrix intrusions in his daily life , until they get a little too close to his unsuspecting family . with a courage not displayed in his professional life as a bed salesman , he tries to cancel his membership , evoking the wrath of the american ceo , who descends upon tokyo to teach him a lesson…
eric kohn and anne thompson discuss their favorite films of the year so far . they also debate several new releases and share some streaming recommendations .
in an episode dedicated to the show within the show , “glow” illustrates its grand capacity for storytelling , and the very good tv podcast breaks down how .
rules weren’t meant to be broken when it comes to tv episode lengths , but these 10 examples — introduced on the very good tv podcast — are clear exceptions .
after studying under cinematographer ed lachman , shevaun mizrahi forged her own unique filmmaking path with its own set of rules .
the actress and director both love the genre , but as they told indiewire , they also knew it needed to be retrofitted to tell the true story of catherine weldon and sitting bull .
lane and schoenbrun discuss how her interest in morgellons disease patients ( “the pain of others” ) and his exploration of the slenderman myth ( “a self - induced hallucination” ) led them to make archival films from youtubes .
, with his partner masatoshi hamada . in 1989 , downtown launched a popular variety show ,
ran from 1991 to 1997 and popularized downtown ' s sketches or
kontos .
* in 2010 , matsumoto started another sketch show ,
. but as his own comedic sensibility changed and became more surreal , he began making films . as he told
( 2009 ) , premiered at midnight madness . and matsumoto will always be enshrined in my heart as the man who got mm programmer colin geddes to wear
( 2011 ) . as the announcer states with great gravity ,
what the camera captures behind the stage is the solitary fight of a man who sold his soul for comedy .
watch it , subtitled ,
the strange colour of your body ' s tears : another l . . .
more wacky than provocative in the end , hitoshi matsumoto ' s s & m - themed item could become a cult fetish on vod .
nao ohmori , mao daichi , shinobu terajima , hairi katagiri , ai tominaga , eriko sato , naomi watanabe , gin maeda , you , haruki nishimoto , suzuki matsuo , atsuro watabe , lindsay hayward . ( japanese , english dialogue )
soon signing on for a year of such blissful degradation , takafumi is told he’ll never know when one of the wicked dominatrices of the bondage gentlemen’s club will bring the pain . thus the viewer is kept on edge during languorous interludes that would appear benign if not for the threat — or promise — of sudden attack . one hilarious early scene , a showcase for matsumoto’s razor - sharp comic timing , has takafumi suffering the humiliation of having his sushi rolls repeatedly squished by a femme’s fist .
shifting from gentle piano music to jazzy pop and ’70s - style disco , the score by shuichi sakamoto and shuichiro toki mirrors the gamut - running pic itself . sound work periodically breaks total silence with david lynchian blasts of noise . other tech credits are tops .
( japan ) a drafthouse films ( in north america ) release of a yoshimoto kogyo co . production , in association with yoshimoto creative agency , phantom films . produced by akihiko okamoto . executive producers , hisaya shiraiwa , hiroshi osaki .
directed , written by hitoshi matsumoto . camera ( color ) , kazunari tanaka ; editor , yoshitaka honda ; music , shuichi sakamoto , shuichiro toki ; production designer , etsuko aiko ; costume designers , rie araki , daisuke iga ; sound , yoshitaka honda ; visual effects supervisor , kentaro nishio ; associate producers , natsue takemoto , keisuke konishi ; assistant director , tomohide sano ; casting , masunobu motokawa , yumi takada .
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family dog rescued after 25 - foot fall over falls in southwestern minn . park
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july , 2016 : garrison keillor reflects on the art of the performance as
prairie home
celebrated 40 years with a live show at macalester college in st . paul .
thousands of sheet - draped , dirt - streaked and blood - soake , limping party animals took to the streets of downtown minneapolis for the 2015 zombie pub crawl .
national portrait gallery is one of washington , d . c . ' s best .
movies and tv shows are certified fresh with a steady tomatometer of 75 % or higher after a set amount of reviews ( 80 for wide - release movies , 40 for limited - release movies , 20 for tv shows ) , including 5 reviews from top critics .
matsumoto works overtime to keep this vital once the basic premise has been established , but the cultural subtext is so potent that he really can ' t go wrong .
a little punishment goes a long way , especially for the rest of us , yet on it drags , torturously , slap , kick , slap , kick .
the self - reflexivity , the bone - dry salaryman foibles , the sudden appearance of office - style interviews among the assorted dominatrices - are attenuated by a hopelessly tedious a - plot .
matsumoto stamps his lurid creation as inappropriate for all audiences under the age of 100 - which some will consider sound advice .
heady stuff , indeed , but perfect midnight - date movie fare if you ' re , uh , in the mood .
suggesting “fight club” as directed by luis buñuel , the plight of takafumi continues along its cartoonishly reckless trajectory , with the beleaguered man facing down a series of combative dominatrixes under the orwellian gaze of their employer and worrying about the fate of his family . setting aside what it all means , the sheer lunacy is increasingly hilarious , particularly as it enters “big man japan” territory with its superhuman creations : dominatrixes with inventive personas like the queen of impressions and the queen of saliva stalk takafumi from every direction to keep him from asserting control of his life . and that , in turn , arouses him .
the deal was negotiated by tim league and james emanuel shapiro on behalf of drafthouse films and miyuki takamatsu of free stone productions on behalf of the producers .