A Kazuki Omori Double Feature in Ikebukuro!

A great double feature in Ikebukuro! Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I attended a screening of Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) at the Shin Bungeiza theater in Ikebukuro. The screenings were part of the theater's tribute to the late writer-director Kazuki Omori, who passed away last year.

Both screenings were of 35mm prints, which looked wonderful. There were a couple of jumps and the usual scratches and splotches I've come to expect from such film prints, but overall they were in very good condition. Despite those blemishes, it sure beats watching a homemade DVD of Biollante that freezes halfway through the screening! (Yes, such a thing did happen once at some event in the U.S., as embarrassing as it was to the organizers.) But there was none of that kind of amateurishness at this event, thankfully. 

 

This was not my first time to see either film in 35mm, but I try not to pass up such opportunities when they come up. Besides, it was a great way to remember Kazuki Omori, who was always extremely friendly the many times I've met him over the years.

The stars of Biollante and King Ghidorah keep watch over the theater's soda machine. Photo by Brett Homenick.

All in all, it was a great afternoon of movies. I remember mentioning in a blog post last December that there would be a lot of film screenings this month, but I had no idea there would be so many! I've been kept way busier this month than I expected, which is not a bad thing at all.

Heisei Godzilla Series Director Kazuki Omori Passes Away at Age 70

Kazuki Omori in July 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The Japan News has just reported the shocking news that film director Kazuki Omori has passed away:

Film director Kazuki Omori, who worked on several Godzilla movies, died of acute myeloid leukemia at a hospital in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Saturday at age 70.

Mr. Omori was scheduled to appear at a special event in the Tokyo area on Sunday, November 27, making the news of his passing all the more surprising. 

Kazuki Omori poses for a photo with SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano in October 2017. We lost both directors within months of each other. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I was privileged to have met Mr. Omori on several occasions, including being able to interview him on two occasions. He was always approachable and open-minded when it came to such things, which I couldn't always say about others in his profession.

Kazuki Omori with actress Megumi Odaka, who played Miki Saegusa in six Godzilla films, in October 2020. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Mr. Omori, of course, became a part of the Godzilla series when he wrote and directed Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989), which he followed up by performing the same duties on Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). He also turned in the screenplays for Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). The Heisei Godzilla series was largely written in his voice, and it's no exaggeration to say that the Heisei series was largely driven by Mr. Omori's creative decisions.

Rest in peace, Omori-san. Thank you very much for your kindness.

Japanese Film Producer Shiro Sasaki Passes Away at Age 83

Shiro Sasaki in January 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Japanese film producer Shiro Sasaki, who produced films for directors Kazuki Omori, Nobuhiko Obayashi, and Nobuo Nakagawa, passed away on April 18 of lung cancer. He was 83. A private funeral has already been held.

Mr. Sasaki was born on January 22, 1939, in Dalian, China, as Masamichi Sasaki. After working extensively in television during the 1960s and '70s (mostly for TBS), Mr. Sasaki entered the film industry as a producer in 1978.

Taking the helm in 1979, he served as the second president of Art Theatre Guild (ATG), the production company responsible for arthouse films directed by the likes of Akio Jissoji, Nagisa Oshima, and Shohei Imamura. During his tenure as president of ATG, he focused on recruiting younger, lesser-known directors to make films that would appeal to a wider audience.

Shiro Sasaki (left) and Kazuki Omori. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Mr. Sasaki produced the Kazuki Omori films Disciples of Hippocrates (1980), Hear the Wind Sing (1981), Sukanpin Walk (1984), You Gotta Chance (1985), and The Reason Why I Became Ill (1990). For genre fans, his biggest credit is producing the final film of director Nobuo Nakagawa, a ghost story called The Living Koheji (1982).

His other notable credits include Kihachi Okamoto's At This Late Date, the Charleston (1981), Nobuhiko Obayashi's all-star fantasy I Are You, You Am Me (1982), and the critically praised comedy-drama The Family Game (1983). In 2004, he received a Japan Academy Prize Association Special Award.

Shiro Sasaki with his daughter Sonoko Mikami. Photo by Brett Homenick.

His daughter Sonoko Mikami (pictured above) is a poet and dancer.

With Shiro Sasaki.

I met Mr. Sasaki in January 2019 at a screening of Sukanpin Walk, which was also attended by Kazuki Omori. While I wasn't very familiar with Mr. Sasaki's work, it was still great to meet him. I also became acquainted with Mr. Sasaki's daughter at the event, whose dance performance I attended later that year.

In between Shiro Sasaki and Kazuki Omori.

I didn't realize the extent of his involvement in the film industry, or the impact he'd had on it, when I met him. I wish I had, but I'll certainly remember my brief encounter with him very fondly.

RIP, Mr. Sasaki.

A Heisei-Style Evening!

Kazuki Omori. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday evening, I was privileged to see director Kazuki Omori again. Given the pandemic, it'd been quite a while since I last met him, but that statement can apply to a lot of people! 

It was a fun evening, and it was also great to see Omori-san's friend Go Ueda again. He is also very nice and fun to talk to.

More Content at Vantage Point Interviews!

With Kazuki Omori in January 2017.

Plenty of new content is available at Vantage Point Interviews. First up, my 2006 interview with Heisei-era Godzilla series director Kazuki Omori has just been updated with revised and improved translations that reveal new details missing from the original version. The new version also includes Mr. Omori's responses to questions from the audience, which wasn't even a part of the original version at all. So there's some intriguing new content in this old interview.

Also available is my Q&A with animator Marv Newland, who created the classic animated short Bambi Meets Godzilla. 

Scriptwriter Martha Humphreys discusses her work on the Hanna-Barbera Godzilla cartoon 

Last but not least, Hong Kong voice actor Craig Allen recalls his work for Omni Productions in the '90s, dubbing Heisei-era Godzilla films. 

It's all there on Vantage Point Interviews, proving once again that content is king!

Shogo Tomiyama Q&As Now on Vantage Point Interviews!

With Shogo Tomiyama on March 31, 2021.

Two interviews with former Toho Pictures President Shogo Tomiyama have been posted on Vantage Point Interviews (here and here). Naturally, he shares his memories of producing the Heisei- and Millennium-era Godzilla series. Suffice it to say, these interviews are well worth checking out!

Seeing Godzilla vs. Biollante!

Kazuki Omori and Megumi Odaka. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I attended a screening of the Heisei Godzilla series classic Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) in 35mm, which is usually considered one of the best entries in the entire series. I was privileged to attend another screening of the film a while back, but I'm glad I got to see this one, too. Naturally, I enjoyed the film immensely, and I agree that it is certainly one of the very best after the Showa era.

But that wasn't all! Also in attendance for the event were writer-director Kazuki Omori and Miki Saegusa actress Megumi Odaka. Their presence at the event certainly added a great deal to what made it special.

Kazuki Omori. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Omori-san talked about watching tokusatsu as a youngster, including every episode of Ultra Q (1966) at the time it aired. A bit later, I enjoyed asking him about working with the Western cast members in both Biollante and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.

All in all, it was a great day seeing a great movie in the company of some great folks. October has already proven to be the busiest month in a long time, but it's not over yet! More to come.

An Evening with Mr. Director!

After work on Saturday, October 17, I attended a small event with director Kazuki Omori, who of course wrote and directed several entries in the Heisei Godzilla series. I arrived while the proceedings were already in progress, so I missed a good portion of it. It was a nice time, but it was really the next day that was the standout event. More on that in the next post. 

Riding the Orange Road Express!

In between actor Ichiro Ogura (left) and director Kazuki Omori.

Today, I attended a screening of director Kazuki Omori's first studio film, Orange Road Express (1978), produced by Shochiku. Going into the screening, I knew very little about the film, so I had no idea what to expect.

Kazuki Omori. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The film was quite amusing. It's a comedic (and highly stylized) road picture that centers on an elderly couple that steals cars from random people who try to be Good Samaritans. I didn't know until after the screening that Omori-san drew upon the social upheavals happening in Japan in the late 1960s and early '70s for this movie. Even though the content seems rather tame by contemporary standards, it seems that Orange Road Express was quite revolutionary in its day.

I also found out for the first time that Omori-san directed a commercial for the Lawson chain of convenience stores sometime in the 1990s. I wonder if the commercial dealt with time travel and/or bioengineering.

Ichiro Ogura. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Another guest at the event was actor Ichiro Ogura. Born on October 29, 1951, Ogura-san began his acting career in 1964 as a child actor. His film credits include: Nikkatsu's The Black Sheep (1967) as Takeshi Egawa, Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey (2000) as Dr. Yao Naban, and Kamen Rider Hibiki & the Seven Senki (2005) as Suzu's father.

On the small screen, Ogura-san appears in episode 14 of Captain Ultra (1967) as Susumu, and episode 22 of Submersion of Japan (1974-75) as Junichi Ishiguro, among other tokusatsu credits.

It was great to meet Ogura-san for the first time, and I hope to have a chance to do so again in the future.

New Kazuki Omori Interview on Vantage Point Interviews

Kazuki Omori in May 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

When I visited Osaka at the end of May, I had the privilege of interviewing Heisei Godzilla series director Kazuki Omori for the second time. Unfortunately, there was only enough time to cover Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), but there's plenty of great information.

The interview can be found here. Enjoy!

Movie Night, Japanese-Style!

Yoshinobu Kaneko. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday, July 6, I attended a special event with guests Kazuki Omori and Yoshinobu Kaneko.

Kaneko-san would be best known in the U.S. as the young boy in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) who begs his mother to go see Godzilla, only to be told that they're not going to the zoo. He stars in the title role of the Toei fantasy/action film Watari, Ninja Boy (1966) and co-stars as Blue Shadow in the Toei TV series Red Shadow (1967-68) and the movie spin-off Ninja Scope (1969). He also can be seen in episode 15 of Ultraman (1966-67), among numerous other TV and film appearances.

I had a fun time talking about King Kong vs. Godzilla with Kaneko, especially about the differences between the his mother's line in the U.S. and Japanese versions. He was interested to learn that his mother says "zoo" in the American version. Of course, given that he was a young boy at the time, he has few memories of the shoot. But it was fun chatting with him about his acting career when he was a child.

Kazuki Omori. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The other guest on hand was none other than Heisei Godzilla series screenwriter and director Kazuki Omori. Most folks around Omori-san seemed more interested in discussing various American films instead of Godzilla movies. The discussion of The Godfather Part III was especially amusing, given Omori-san's reactions to Al Pacino's scenery-chewing in the film. 

Overall, it was a very fun night with friendly people. I didn't expect to stay around as long as I did, but it was so much fun that I was in no hurry to leave. Let's do it again soon!

SUKAPIN WALK, DON'T RUN! Director Omori Discusses His Mid-'80s Opus!

Producer Shiro Sasaki (left) and director Kazuki Omori. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I attended a screening of one of director Kazuki Omori's pre-Godzilla films. The film was Sukanpin Walk (1984), a sort of Japanese A Star Is Born, headlined by Koji Kikkawa. The movie was enjoyable, though I prefer You Gotta Chance (1985), which is a much more fun and energetic movie, with the same director and star.

Kazuki Omori. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On hand for the event was director Kazuki Omori, best known in the West for his directing Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). Naturally, I'm quite familiar with his Heisei Godzilla films, but I've long been interested in his other works. So today was an opportunity I was eager to seize.

With producer Shiro Sasaki.

The other guest of honor was producer Shiro Sasaki. He not only produced today's film but You Gotta Chance, as well. For genre fans, his biggest credit is producing the final film of director Nobuo Nakagawa, The Living Koheji (1982). 

All in all, it was another enjoyable evening. I spent a great deal of the time speaking with Sasaki-san's daughter, who assisted him at the event. Otherwise, it was great to see so many other familiar faces. Can't wait to do it all over again!

Tokusatsu DNA!

The Tokusatsu DNA exhibit opened in Kamata, Tokyo, today, and I paid a visit. Honestly, I've never had more fun at any other exhibit. The sheer number of original, screen-used props on display was incredible, many of which I'd never seen before at similar exhibits. There was a Q&A event featuring Kazuki Omori, Megumi Odaka, and Kenpachiro Satsuma, which I attended. Suitmaker Fuyuki Shinada was also on hand for the festivities (having participated in a separate interview session earlier in the day). Pictures are truly worth a thousand words, so here are just a few.

Idol Business!

Kazuki Omori. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I saw the movie Shoot! (1994) for the first time, and what better way to see it than in 35mm? The film is an idol drama that focuses on the trials and tribulations of a high school soccer team. It wasn't bad, but I'm afraid this type of movie isn't really my bag. Still, it was interesting to see the film in a screening room full of idol worshipers who cheered at everything their idols did.

The main reason for me to attend was to see the film's director, Kazuki Omori, again. He had quite a few interesting things to say about the film, but lacking a frame of reference for these idols, I wasn't interested enough to keep up. Still, I enjoyed seeing Omori-san again.