by Steven Okazaki
I was eleven or twelve when I saw my first Toshiro Mifune movie at the Japanese Community Center in Venice, California. They had a noisy Bell & Howell running a 16mm print of Seven Samurai and turned the lights on for every reel change. It was projected onto a king-size bed sheet and every time someone opened the door, the screen would flutter and fly up and we’d grumble, “Shut the door!”
Mifune: The Last Samurai, a new film by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki, explores the accidental movie career of Toshiro Mifune, one of the true giants of world cinema. Mifune made 16 remarkable films with director Akira Kurosawa during the Golden Age of Japanese Cinema, including Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo.
Together they thrilled audiences and influenced filmmaking around the world, providing direct inspiration for not only The Magnificent Seven and Sergio Leone’ A Fistful of Dollars starring Clint Eastwood, but also George Lucas’ Star Wars.
Continue reading
By Gary Meyer
A dangerous rogue arrives in a village dominated by two warring criminal families and he quietly works for both.
Another more dashing rogue tries to protect a princess whose kingdom has been destroyed with the help of a pair squabbling sidekicks, one tall and one short.
Seven desperate renegades come to the defense of an equally desperate farming village to fight off a group of ruthless bandits.
We are not talking about movies starring Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson and Eli Wallach.
Toshiro Mifune and Akira Kurosawa on the set of Yojimbo
by Gary Meyer
Almost every week there are great film selections to be found around the San Francisco Bay Area but sometimes it is just too much to comprehend much less attend. The first weekend of December, 2016 brings just such a problem.
“We presented your picture entitled The Rink, featuring Charles Chaplin last night. Persistent laughter and shouting on the part of the audience brought down most of the house… We have been showing pictures many years without loss of life or damage to property. The Rink has proved a menace to real estate improvement, and the result of one day’s run has cost us considerable outlay in repairs. We enclose plasterer’s and carpenter’s bills. We would appreciate a check by return.'” Letter from the manager of the Princess Theatre in OhioRecipes by Ivan Orkin
Two recipes from the end-all-be-all guide to ramen from Ivan Orkin, the iconoclastic New York-born owner of Tokyo’s top ramen shop.
by Amy Kimoto-Kahn
Whether you are cooking for one or twelve, Simply Ramen brings homemade ramen to your table with a delicious fusion of seventy recipes, including soup bases, noodles, toppings, and sides.
New poster design by Ping Zhu, 2016
JUZO ITAMI’S RAPTUROUS “RAMEN WESTERN” returns to U.S. screens for the first time in decades, in a new 4K restoration. The tale of an enigmatic band of ramen ronin who guide the widow of a noodle shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe, Tampopo serves up a savory broth of culinary adventure seasoned with off beat comedy sketches and the erotic exploits of a gastronome gangster. Sweet, sexy, surreal, and mouthwatering, Tampopo remains one of the most delectable examples of food on film.
Continue reading
Cooking and Eating Ramen with Tampopo and Ivan Orkin
We have collected several great scenes from the movie Tampopo reviewed in EatDrinkFilms and short documentaries about Ramen, often featuring Ivan Orkin, author of the book Ivan Ramen. Check out a few recipes here.
Ken Wantanabe learns how to Eat Ramen from a Ramen Master in Tampopo
It would be a massive understatement to say that Elizabeth Taylor loved her food. Some might say she was greedy, but I say that she was a gastronome. She absolutely adored chowing down.
Elizabeth Taylor on location with James Dean for Giant (1955)
The 18th Annual Collection Defines the State-of-The Art from Around the World
Opening exclusively in theaters across America- details below
“Let’s face it. Professional animation and storytelling is hard work. It requires trained and talented human beings,” explain Joshua Gunn, Trevor Piecham, and John McGowan in Exploozy, their hilarious parody of “explainer videos.” In it they hype their revolutionary new animation app that they claim is “like a team of gifted writers and artists in the palm of your hand, working for free.”
