- This weekend’s big release over in Japan is the manga adaptation Dororo. Long considered as the first major blockbuster of 2007, it’s adapted from legendary artist Osamu Tezuka, stars rumored romantic couple Shibasaki Kou and Satoshi Tsumabuki, and features the talent of Hero choreographer Ching Siu-Tung. A review (link thanks to Ryuganji) by the Daily Yomiuri is out and it’s here.

- Saw Blood and Bones last night (review by Twitch here), and it’s all true - Takeshi Kitano does play a bastard with almost no redeeming quality and there’s no Hollywood comeuppance here, he’s pretty much like that all the way up to the end. It’s an unflinching portrait of a monster who rules his Korean-Japanese neighborhood with an iron fist, and yet it’s compelling enough to hold my attention for all of its 144 minutes, but it’s compelling because it’s so unflinching. There’s no doubt that it’s not an easy movie to watch - “Beat” Takeshi literally spends his first scene raping his wife in front of their young daughter - but it’s a tragic journey worth watching. Considered yourself warned - it earns its category-III rating pretty early on.

- In the Japanese box office this past weekend, the biggest Japanese film opening was “Shall We Dance” director Masayuki Suo’s first film in 11 years “Soredemo Boku wa yattenai” (Even then, I Still Didn’t Do It). It’s gotten some strong reviews , but it garnered only a 116 million yen opening on 203 screens for a 5th place opening. However, Hoga Central reports that it’s expected to hit that ever-important billion yen mark. We’ll see if the power of word of mouth will work as well as it has for Yoji Yamada’s “Bushi no Ichibun”

source: Box Office Mojo, Hoga Central.

- Meanwhile, Johnnie To’s Election is being released is one theatre in Japan, and Japan Times has a very positive review for it.

source: Japan Times.

- Thursday numbers are out for Hong Kong. Look for Blood Diamond and Happy Birthday to lead the pack again. The biggest performer of this week’s opening, and the widest release, is Tom Tykwer’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, which did HK$160,000 on 21 screens (with a 7619 per-screen average) for third place. The Japanese film “Taiyo no Uta” (or called Midnight Sun in Hong Kong) opened with only $90,000 on 16 screens, despite advertising around the city and radio play for the theme song. Taiwanese film “Eternal Summer” (nicknamed as the male version of “Blue Gate Crossing”) opened with a decent HK$70,000 on 8 screens (a decent 8750 per-screen), bringing its total to $HK100,000 (including the advance screenings this past weekend). It’ll do strong but limited numbers for the weekend, thanks to the category-III rating and the limited amount of theatres.

source: mov3.com

So the winner of the Hong Kong box office holiday battle is actually Casino Royale. However, this is only winner in dollar amount because it seems that any films longer than 140 minutes would mean an increase of HK$10 in admissions (Casino Royale runs a hefty 146 minutes, and Babel gets the same treatment since its running time is 142 minutes). If an average ticket price in Hong Kong is HK$50, this would mean the final gross have been inflated as much as 20%. If the actual attendance number is counted a la Korean box office figures, Curse of the Golden Flower may’ve won the final battle. We’ll never know.

First of all, happy new year to everyone out there. I’m currently in Japan, and since I’m staying with my girlfriend’s family, and it’s new years in Japan, I don’t have much chance to write entries. Which is also why I won’t be elborating on much of the news today:

-Hong Kong holiday box office is dying down a little bit, and after the lead by Curse of the Golden Flowers, Confession of Pain is making a bit of a comeback. As of Tuesday’s numbers, Confession of Pain is leading with HK$560,000 on 41 screens versus CURSE’s HK$450,000 on 44 screens. The total, however, is still led by CURSE’s 17.25 million vs. CONFESSION 16.26 million. The overall winner of the holiday box office race is so far Casino Royale, still going strong on Tuesday with HK$530,000 on 34 screens and a HK$18.16 million total.

Of course, all of could, but not likely, change with the release of The Holiday, Deja Vu, and Nana 2. The two American films may impact the Casino Royale business, and since the first NANA only did moderate numbers when it opened in Hong Kong, it should simply place a small wedge between the current leaders.

-Went to a half-full English-subtitled showing of Clint Eastwood’s Letters From Iwo Jima. While it needed some editing towards the end, and a bit more historical context (maybe the American print would have this?), I thought it was a very powerful exploration into the futility of both war and the glorification of it. It asks question of what is honor at the time of war, and it is fairly diplomatic by not asking which side is more evil. Overall a good film with very strong acting, very strong directing, but albeit a slightly detaching film as well. I’m glad it’s doing well in Japan, but a little disappointed the numbers aren’t better in America. This deserves to be seen in a big screen and loud speakers. I will also try and catch Flags of Our Fathers in Hong Kong.

In conclusion, it’s not better than Babel, but it’s still one of the best films of the year.