As I have mentioned a number of times recently, the definition of what is a documentary has been completely deconstructed lately, with the mockumentaries and the docs about docs being the main “culprit”. Jeff Mizushima goes a step further, by directing a film which starts as a documentary, before it becomes a documentary about another documentary, supposedly unbeknownst to the person shooting the former. If this seems confusing, wait until you see the actual “Who is Lun*na Menoh?”
“Who is Lun*na Menoh?” is Screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival
Lun*na Menoh is a Japanese-born visual artist, fashion designer and musician who lives in Los Angeles. In the early 2000s Lun*na partnered with Sukho Lee for the band Seksu Roba, created the musical entity Jean Paul Yamamoto and currently performs with Saori Mitome as Les Sewing Sisters. In 2019 Les Sewing Sisters held a musical tour through...
“Who is Lun*na Menoh?” is Screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival
Lun*na Menoh is a Japanese-born visual artist, fashion designer and musician who lives in Los Angeles. In the early 2000s Lun*na partnered with Sukho Lee for the band Seksu Roba, created the musical entity Jean Paul Yamamoto and currently performs with Saori Mitome as Les Sewing Sisters. In 2019 Les Sewing Sisters held a musical tour through...
- 11/9/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Sake Bomb is the name of a drinking game, where you place a cup of sake on two chopsticks, over a big glass of beer and then you pull the chopsticks, the sake drops into the beer and you drink it as fast as you can. It even featured at The Brewing Art as the most intriguing combination of drinks in Western countries in the early 2010s. Inspired by this mixture of American and Japanese drink, Junya Sakino directs a comedy concerning the mixture of Asians and Americans within the USA and the tragicomical situations that arise from the coexistence of two very different cultures. Let’s take a closer look though.
Naoto is a shy and somewhat naive young man who works at a sake distillery in Japan. At some point, he inherits the business and at the same time gets a week of vacation before he takes over.
Naoto is a shy and somewhat naive young man who works at a sake distillery in Japan. At some point, he inherits the business and at the same time gets a week of vacation before he takes over.
- 7/30/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The Center for Asian American Media (Caam) wrapped up this year’s festival, CAAMFest 2021, with 11 days featuring drive-in, live online screenings, and on-demand programs. CAAMFest 2021 presented a diverse slate of over 50 events, complete with an opening weekend of drive-ins at Fort Mason Flix, high energy filmmaker summits, and virtual programs. With over 10,000 attendees, the festival gave an expansive look into the multitude of Asian and Asian American experiences.
Surprisingly, no one film won multiple accolades. SXSW premieres featured prominently in this year’s selection. Debbie Lum‘s “Try Harder!” — a documentary featuring Sf’s most prestigious high school, Lowell High — opened this year’s CAAMFest. “Inbetween Girl” by Mei Makino and “See You Then” by Mari Walker also returned from Texas to sweep the narrative awards in San Francisco. Festival-appointed highlights did not go unnoticed either. Centerpiece presentation documentary “Manzanar Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust” took home the Jury Mention...
Surprisingly, no one film won multiple accolades. SXSW premieres featured prominently in this year’s selection. Debbie Lum‘s “Try Harder!” — a documentary featuring Sf’s most prestigious high school, Lowell High — opened this year’s CAAMFest. “Inbetween Girl” by Mei Makino and “See You Then” by Mari Walker also returned from Texas to sweep the narrative awards in San Francisco. Festival-appointed highlights did not go unnoticed either. Centerpiece presentation documentary “Manzanar Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust” took home the Jury Mention...
- 6/7/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Sake-Bomb
Directed by Junya Sakino
Written by Jeff Mizushima (screenplay)
Us/Japan, 2013
Sake-Bomb follows the odd couple pairing of Sebastian (Eugene Kim), an aimless and sardonic Asian-American, and his inexperienced Japanese cousin Naoto (Gaku Hamada) as they search California for the latter’s ex flame. Before Naoto inherits his own sake company, he sets off to America in order to find the girl that got away. Sebastian is a twenty-something, second generation Asian -American with no job and dreams to be the next viral video star, making videos that belligerently debunk Asian stereotypes. Together, they follow the typical road trip movie tropes that take them to unexpected places, interesting people, and a few life lessons along the way.
When it comes to the self discovery road genre of films, Sake-Bomb satisfies with laughs, emotion, and broad ethnic themes but does not do much in the way of revolutionizing the wheel.
Directed by Junya Sakino
Written by Jeff Mizushima (screenplay)
Us/Japan, 2013
Sake-Bomb follows the odd couple pairing of Sebastian (Eugene Kim), an aimless and sardonic Asian-American, and his inexperienced Japanese cousin Naoto (Gaku Hamada) as they search California for the latter’s ex flame. Before Naoto inherits his own sake company, he sets off to America in order to find the girl that got away. Sebastian is a twenty-something, second generation Asian -American with no job and dreams to be the next viral video star, making videos that belligerently debunk Asian stereotypes. Together, they follow the typical road trip movie tropes that take them to unexpected places, interesting people, and a few life lessons along the way.
When it comes to the self discovery road genre of films, Sake-Bomb satisfies with laughs, emotion, and broad ethnic themes but does not do much in the way of revolutionizing the wheel.
- 3/13/2013
- by David Tran
- SoundOnSight
There's really nothing as funny as some good ironically racist humor, which is exactly what looks to be on full display in this Twitch exclusive trailer debut for Junya Sakino SXSW Premiering debut feature Sake-Bomb. Billed as a sexed-up road comedy, the film is written by Jeff Mizushima and stars Gaku Hamada, Eugene Kim, Marlane Barnes, and Josh Brodis. Here is the description from the press notes, followed by the trailer: Sebastian is a bitter, self-hating wannabe Internet star from Los Angeles who has recently been dumped by his girlfriend and is looking for someone new. When his cousin Naoto, a quiet sake maker from Japan, shows up to find his own ex-girlfriend, Sebastian reluctantly takes him to northern California to find her. The...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 2/26/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Some of the best films of the 2012/2013 calender year from Richard Linklater, Harmony Korine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Andrew Bujalski, Jeff Nichols, David Gordon Green, Shane Carruth and Joshua Oppenheimer are among the headliner names for the 2013 edition of the South by Southwest Film Festival. With a little over 100 plus film line-up (a whopping 2000+ titles were submitted), almost 70 are world premieres: there is the highly anticipated sophomore film (that has been on our radar since it first went into production) with M. Blash’s (The Wait), Joe Swanberg who makes SXSW his second home will premiere Drinking Buddies, veteran indie filmmaker John Sayles saddles in with Go For Sisters, and rounding out the Narrative Spotlight section we’ve got The Bounceback from Bryan Poyser, Loves Her Gun from Geoff Marslett along with titles we thought might break into Park City, but found an Austin home instead with Jacob Vaughan’s Milo and...
- 2/1/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
I loved Jeff Mizushima’s delicate, entirely charming, and vaguely emo-ish Etienne! when I saw it last year after its CineVegas premiere. I wound up putting Jeff in our “25 New Faces” simply because the film’s sensibility seemed so different to me. I also loved its formally-bold second-half narrative shift and director Caveh Zahedi’s last-reel appearance in a scene that could have been taken from a Peter Handke novel. The film receives its East Coast premiere at the Brooklyn gastropub theater reRun beginning tomorrow for a one-week run. You can reserve tickets here. Here’s what I wrote last year: Writer-director Jeff Mizushima won the Filmmaker To Watch Award at CineVegas this year for Etienne!, an...
- 9/2/2010
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
- The current issue of Filmmaker Magazine has hit kiosks and the only reason why I'd be pointing this out is because it includes its annual "25 New Faces" feature (available here) which is basically: a sampling of the future voices, filmmakers, editors, actors and cinematographers who in the opinion of the magazine's editors represent the future of independent filmmaking and who, I admittedly know only two of the twenty-five. Sebastián Silva helmed The Maid, got rave reviews at Sundance and got picked up by Elephant Eye (read here), and Derek Cianfrance, who finally commenced filming Blue Valentine with thesps Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams on board - 2 bucks says that this preems in Park City. Here are the names of those who made the cut: docu-filmmaker Ian Olds (Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi), filmmaking duo Eleanor Burke & Ron Eyal (Stranger Things), editor Nat Sanders (The Freebie), filmmaker Jessica Oreck
- 7/16/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
Head over to Festival Ambassador to see Mike Jones's coverage of the festival (part 1, part 2 & part 3), which wrapped over the weekend with Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s Easier With Practice winning the Grand Prize of $10,000. Other winners include: Best Documentary: Douglas Tirola’s All In: The Poker Movie Best Short: Destin Daniel’s Short Term 12 Special Grand Jury Prize for Directing: Justin Nowell’s Acting for the Camera Special Documentary Jury Prize for Artistic Vision: Jessica Oreck's Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo Robert Saitzyk (director) and Cory Knauf and Joseph McKelheer (screenwriters) Exceptional Artistic Achievement Award for Godspeed Filmmaker to Watch Award: Jeff Mizushima's Etienne!
- 6/15/2009
- by Jason Guerrasio
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
More CineVegas coverage at Risky Biz blog
Las Vegas -- CineVegas, the annual gathering of indie film powerbrokers amid the slot machines and black-jack tables, wound down Sunday after providing several breakouts -- and more than a few surreal spectacles.
Among the world premieres to make a splash were Jeff Mizushima's "Etienne!," Frankie Latina's "Modus Operandi" and Kyle Patrick Alvarez's "Easier With Practice."
Mizushima's "Etienne!" was a conversation piece for many over the weekend. The film, a spiritual cousin to "Lars and the Real Girl," centers on a pudgy loner who has only one friend -- the titular dwarf hamster -- whom he decides to take on a bike trip up the California coast after the critter is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
"Operandi," meanwhile, was the talk of the festival among media and execs after its premiere Saturday night. Nominally a thriller involving a revenge-bent CIA agent,...
Las Vegas -- CineVegas, the annual gathering of indie film powerbrokers amid the slot machines and black-jack tables, wound down Sunday after providing several breakouts -- and more than a few surreal spectacles.
Among the world premieres to make a splash were Jeff Mizushima's "Etienne!," Frankie Latina's "Modus Operandi" and Kyle Patrick Alvarez's "Easier With Practice."
Mizushima's "Etienne!" was a conversation piece for many over the weekend. The film, a spiritual cousin to "Lars and the Real Girl," centers on a pudgy loner who has only one friend -- the titular dwarf hamster -- whom he decides to take on a bike trip up the California coast after the critter is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
"Operandi," meanwhile, was the talk of the festival among media and execs after its premiere Saturday night. Nominally a thriller involving a revenge-bent CIA agent,...
- 6/14/2009
- by By Steven Zeitchik
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Year: 2009
Directors: Jeff Mizushima
Writers: Jeff Mizushima
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: quietearth
Rating: 5 out of 10
Did 3 different people write this film because I'd split it into 3 parts. The first, an attempt at comedy that made me want to laugh, but somehow found myself incapable. The second, a strong, poetic drama complete with overtones of amore. And the last, well I won't give it away but it completed the indecisive nature of the film, that it wasn't sure exactly what it wanted to be. Yeah, I've read the same line in reviews before, but it's appropriate here. Admittedly, there was a couple of zingers in there, but mostly the first third pondered the most subtle of humour, itself unsure of whether it was funny.
Richard, an ineffectual and quiet man has only one friend, a hamster dwarf. The first scene is Richard finding out Etienne (his hamsters name which...
Directors: Jeff Mizushima
Writers: Jeff Mizushima
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: quietearth
Rating: 5 out of 10
Did 3 different people write this film because I'd split it into 3 parts. The first, an attempt at comedy that made me want to laugh, but somehow found myself incapable. The second, a strong, poetic drama complete with overtones of amore. And the last, well I won't give it away but it completed the indecisive nature of the film, that it wasn't sure exactly what it wanted to be. Yeah, I've read the same line in reviews before, but it's appropriate here. Admittedly, there was a couple of zingers in there, but mostly the first third pondered the most subtle of humour, itself unsure of whether it was funny.
Richard, an ineffectual and quiet man has only one friend, a hamster dwarf. The first scene is Richard finding out Etienne (his hamsters name which...
- 6/12/2009
- QuietEarth.us
Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of interviews with directors whose films are screening at the 2009 CineVegas Film Festival. “Etienne!” (USA, 2009) Director: Jeff Mizushima Cast: Richard Vallejos, Megan Harvey, Caveh Zahedi, Rachel Stolte, Solon Bixler After Richard’s best and only friend, a dwarf hamster named Etienne, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decides to take his pocket pet on a bicycle road trip up the California coast …...
- 6/9/2009
- indieWIRE - People
Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of interviews with directors whose films are screening at the 2009 CineVegas Film Festival. “Etienne!” (USA, 2009) Director: Jeff Mizushima Cast: Richard Vallejos, Megan Harvey, Caveh Zahedi, Rachel Stolte, Solon Bixler After Richard’s best and only friend, a dwarf hamster named Etienne, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decides to take his pocket pet on a bicycle road trip up the California coast …...
- 6/9/2009
- indieWIRE - People
Hue Rhodes' "Saint John of Las Vegas" will have its world premiere as the opening-night film at the 11th annual CineVegas Film Festival, which will be held June 10-15 at the Palms Casino Resort and Brenden Theatres in Las Vegas. The film stars Steve Buscemi as an ex-gambler-turned-fraud investigator who returns to Vegas to investigate an insurance claim.
"Saint John" also stars Sarah Silverman, Romany Malco, Peter Dinklage, Tim Blake Nelson, John Cho and Emmanuelle Chriqui.
Eight other films will have their world premieres at the fest, overseen by artistic director Trevor Groth.
Slated in the narrative competition, they are Rania Ajami's "Asylum Seekers," a story of six people trying to escape modern life; David Barker's "Daylight," about a pregnant woman caught in a life-or-death situation; Kyle Patrick Alvarez's "Easier With Practice," based on the true story of a writer's long-distance relationship with a mysterious woman; Jeff Mizushima's "Etienne!
"Saint John" also stars Sarah Silverman, Romany Malco, Peter Dinklage, Tim Blake Nelson, John Cho and Emmanuelle Chriqui.
Eight other films will have their world premieres at the fest, overseen by artistic director Trevor Groth.
Slated in the narrative competition, they are Rania Ajami's "Asylum Seekers," a story of six people trying to escape modern life; David Barker's "Daylight," about a pregnant woman caught in a life-or-death situation; Kyle Patrick Alvarez's "Easier With Practice," based on the true story of a writer's long-distance relationship with a mysterious woman; Jeff Mizushima's "Etienne!
- 3/24/2009
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
His hamster gets cancer so he decides to take him on a bicycle road trip to show him the world. Awww, ain't that cute? And funny too, specially his mustache. This will be director Jeff Mizushima's first feature length film and it stars Richard Vallejos as the hamster lover.
After Richard finds out that his best and only friend, a dwarf hamster named Etienne, has terminal cancer, he decides to take his pocket pet on a bicycle road trip to show him the world before he has to put him to sleep.
Trailer after the break.
Official website...
After Richard finds out that his best and only friend, a dwarf hamster named Etienne, has terminal cancer, he decides to take his pocket pet on a bicycle road trip to show him the world before he has to put him to sleep.
Trailer after the break.
Official website...
- 3/24/2009
- QuietEarth.us
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