Midnight Madness Alumni Throwdown: Hitoshi Matsumoto vs. Gackt

 In a televised competition, two legendary Midnight Madness Alumni Hitoshi Matsumoto (Dainipponjin aka, Big Man Japan; Symbol; and R100)and singing superstar Gackt (Bunraku) throw down on Japanese television.

Hello, Dears!

It is a tremendous battle that shakes the very foundations of 25 years of Midnight Madness History. Steel yourselves for "The Don't Laugh Contest!"




They try not to laugh some more.


And the winner goes to "heaven" and the loser goes to "hell":



Matchan and Gackt have had other contests, including a televised game of billiards. This is the only footage I could find of it, but it is excellent footage.



No matter who you root for in these competitions, put enmity aside and enjoy R100 on Thursday night. Maybe even stop for a moment and gaze at the very red carpet that Gackt once walked.
 

R100Screening Times:

Thursday, Sept 12th, 11:59 PM RYERSON

Friday, Sept 13th, 11:30 AM SCOTIABANK 9

Saturday, Sept 14th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 10

On the Red Carpet for BUNRAKU! Now with 20% More GACKT!

Ian Goring was kicking ass (photographically) at the premiere of BUNRAKU on Saturday, so come in close for some dirty boxing and check out the action! Also check out that dope kimono on GACKT! Did you know he designed it himself? Is there anything that dude can't do?? He is the Slap Chop of Japan, on so many levels.

Woody Harrelson ("The Bartender") is freakin' awesome

Kevin McKidd ("Killer #2") is a good lookin' dude

Josh Hartnett ("The Drifter") and GACKT ("Yoshi") hug it out

Fans go crazy for GACKT!

Director Guy Moshe strikes a pose

The throngs of people waiting to get some GACKTion!

The Midnight Madness Blog's own Robert Mitchell gets a few words with GACKT!

Josh Hartnett is interviewed by someone who is not Leonardo DiCaprio (we asked)

There is literally nothing on earth more badass than Ron Perlman ("Nicola") in this shot.

GACKT looks pensive and shows off the kimono that he designed!

BUNRAKU (still) screens:
Tuesday, Sept. 14th at 10:15pm at Scotiabank Theatre #2
Friday, Sept. 17th at 5:00pm at Scotiabank Theatre #2

You can buy tickets from the official TIFF website

BUNRAKU: Red Carpet Coverage

For the premiere of Bunraku, GACKT arrived dressed in a beautiful kimono he designed himself, Ron Perlman talks about the privilege of working with him, Kevin McKidd talks about what drew him to doing this film, director Guy Moshe discusses the production design and Josh Hartnett discusses what was involved in the fight sequences.

BUNRAKU (still) screens:
Tuesday, Sept. 14th at 10:15pm at Scotiabank Theatre #2
Friday, Sept. 17th at 5:00pm at Scotiabank Theatre #2

@thesubstream ♥'s Midnight Madness #3 - BUNRAKU

It was a wet one last night but the Midnight Madness crowd was out in full force. Man, people sure go crazy for that Gackt dude. Let the good times roll....

GACKT at the Premiere of Bunraku

No witty intro just straight to the goods. Here is video of GACKT at the World premiere of Bunraku. He talked about what drew him to the role & what it was like working with American actors.



As requested here is a transcript Thanks to Youtube user DocObsidian:

Q – What attracted you to the role? GACKT?

(crowd laughter)

A – Two years ago… three years ago… (This film crew) showed up (laughs) and er, we talked about this movie for over ten hours. It was a small role (?) (laughs) I, er (crowd laughs), yes, (laughs) and then I very happy and lucky. This was three years ago. He is a genius (applause and cheering).

And er, I want to thank the actors for they are great people. (crowd awww and applaud)

Q – (audience member) This is a question for GACKT. I just wanna know, basically, what’s it like working with an American cast as opposed to a Japanese cast like in Moonchild? And do you ever plan on touring here? (laughter)

A – I feel, er, that our schedule, our schedule was very hard. When I was scheduled I was waking up at 5 and I slept at 3. For two hours! But, you know, they’re, they’re always smiling. I didn’t… I couldn’t (laughter)

Why they could smile every time, you know, they’re… You know… I can feel that they’re, they’re always enjoying their life. It is, it is different for them to, er, succeed and I don’t know… It is kind of difficult to explain but, er, they’re always pushing me and er, it was very good and it was very good learning experi, experience for me.

And I could feel their powerfulness?. Japanese actors more strict and they are always, they are of course acting with the, with no smile. (laughter). I love this smile.

Bunraku screening times:
Tuesday, Sept. 14. 10:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
Friday, Sept. 17. 5:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 2

Tickets can be purchased at the official TIFF site.

This Is Not Your Classical Bunraku

Attention fans of high culture and refined entertainments--tonight's screening of Bunraku is not a presentation of Japan's refined traditional puppet theatre.

A theatre that has given the world many fine stories presented on film such as The 47 Ronin (Genroku Chushingura)

and Double Suicide (Shinju: Ten no Amijima)

as well as influenced Jim Henson.

No, tonight, there will be no puppet-y asskicking, though that is wonderful to behold. What this Bunraku will give us is people--Gackt and Josh Hartnett--beating the hell out of each other in a lovely environment.

But, seriously, how awesome is this...

Bunraku screening times:
Saturday, Sept. 11. 11:59pm Ryerson
Tuesday, Sept. 14. 10:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
Friday, Sept. 17. 5:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 2

Tickets can be purchased at the official TIFF site.

Bunraku World Premiere Tonight!

What do GACKT, Woody Harrelson being back behind a bar, and genre fav Ron F'in' Perlman have in common? They all appear in Bunraku which premieres tonight at the Ryerson. Check out this post for ways to get tickets. Fight choreographer Larnell Stovall said it was described to him as "'Moulin Rouge' with fighting.'" and Colin has described it as "... a cross between MMA and Cirque du Soleil!”

This flick is so hot that Entertainment Weekly has a write-up based on just a batch of 4 stills. Join us and the rest of the Dears (you know who you are!) tonight.

Bunraku screens:
Saturday September 11th 11:59PM Ryerson
Tuesday September 14th 10:15PM Scotiabank Theater 2
Friday September 17th 5:00PM Scotiabank Theater 2

You can buy tickets from the official TIFF website

GACKT Responds!

Through the miracles of the internet, fortunate translations by my wife and GACKT, and I was able to pose the international superstar a few questions about his acting experiences in Bunraku, and he’s gotten back to us just in time for his big North American premiere:

Hello GACKT! Thanks very much for taking the time to answer these questions.

How did you prepare for your role, and what were your unique inspirations in bringing the character of Yoshi to the screen?

I wanted do all the stunts myself so I trained 6 hours everyday before principle of photography. I mainly trained doing acrobatics, martial arts and weight training.

Since Yoshi was a character from Kyoto, I proposed the Japanese casts to speak in Kyoto dialect and advised to change the dialogue.

In doing this blog I discovered just how strong your international fans are. They are extremely excited that you are coming. What do you think of your worldwide fan base out of Japan, and do you have anything to say to them?

I am blessed to have fans outside of Japan, and wish to show my appreciation someday by doing more shows overseas.

As for my recent tour in Europe, I was informed the tickets sold out within 10 minutes. As much as I am honored, I feel bad there were many fans who couldn’t come see me.

But I hope to perform in the US, South America and Canada next year. I am really happy this movie is coming out since it will help me make the tour happen.

Clayton Barber (stunt coordinator) said the cast of Bunraku did 95% of their own stunts, did you have fun doing these stunts, and if so, what was your favorite memory?

I was astonished by the high level performances of the stunt actors who I had the opportunity to work with.

But I didn’t want to ask another actor to perform the action scenes on my behalf so I insisted from the very beginning to do all the actions myself.

The training was quite hard, but everyday was exciting and inspiring. Everything that happened during the shoot is all great memories.

When Josh and I did a fighting scene together, he hurled me to the ground and I landed on my head. I had fainted and was taken to the hospital by an ambulance. I can’t forget Josh’s smile when we reunited afterwards.

During the shoot, Josh happened to really punch me 3 times. I was counting how many times I was going to get beaten by the man until the movie wrapped, but this didn’t bother me at all since we were working very hard and wanted to make the best out of performance.

As an accomplished Writer, Singer, Musician, Actor - how do you decide which form of artistic expression you are going to pursue at a given time?

As you mention, I like to express myself in any artistic form possible. I started my career as an musician, but now I aim to pursue expressing myself as an actor. BUNRAKU inspired me to want to act more and is my focus right now.

What attracted you to this role, and what other types of characters are you interested in playing?

I wish to play roles that allow me to represent not only Japan, but Asia as well. I am grateful to connect with fans all over the world by starring in movies and would love to continue doing so.

It was great pleasure meeting new people in a place I have never been before. I love meeting new people since it inspires me and opens up new possibilities in life.

I hope this movie allows people to sense what Japanese culture and samurai spirit is. I believe the spirit of samurai is an important element being Japanese. It is losing value in today’s world, but I feel it's a big part our identity and should not be forgotten. I tried to do my best and show that spirit in the movie.

I am thankful for the opportunity to work with such wonderful cast and crew. Thank you and please look forward to the movie!

Bunraku Screening times:

Saturday, Sept. 11. 11:59pm Ryerson

Tuesday, Sept 14. 10:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 2

Friday, Sept 17. 5:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 2

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

Midnight Producers Part 3: Keith Calder - BUNRAKU

This is the third installment in the ongoing series Meet the Producers of Midnight Madness 2010.

Let me introduce you to Keith Calder. Mr. Calder arrived on the film scene as an executive producer for the Midnight Madness film All The Boys Love Mandy Lane. In subsequent years he has also produced such films as "Battle For Terra" and "The Wackness" and is executive producing Walter Hill's next film St. Vincent. Bunraku marks Mr. Calder's return to the Midnight Madness programme.

1) It has been five years since you produced All The Boys Loved Mandy Lane. What changes have you seen in the business side of the film industry in those five years?

In all honesty, it's hard for me to separate my own personal experience from the overall business. When we shot ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE, I was a year out of film school. I thought I knew how to make movies, and I thought I knew how the film business worked. Here I am five years later, and I realize that I'm only just starting to learn how to make movies and how the film business works. It's hard for me to tell how much the film business has changed, and how much of the perceived "change" is just me understanding the film business better. But with my current understanding of the film business, I'll try to answer as best I can. The biggest change I've seen in the film business over the last five years is that it's now easier to get talented people to want to work on your independent film, but it's harder to sell your finished film.

2) Bunraku was financed outside the studio system yet attracted top name talent,. How did so many name actors sign onto the project?

We had a pretty hefty package of material that we presented to actors when we approached them to be in BUNRAKU. We had the screenplay, and a DVD of concept art, previz, and style clips. On top of that, Guy Moshe is obviously a talented and compelling director and the actors were drawn to the idea of working with him on the film. I think that a lot of the actors were taking a big risk coming a board an independent film like this, but their doubts were answered after a couple days working with Guy, the rest of the cast, and our incredible crew.

3) There is always pressure for a film to perform well in the BO and I'm sure this pressure has increased ten-fold in recent years. Does this pressure ever affect the vision of a film? Is there ever a temptation to make a film more mainstream and more accessible?

The short answer is easy: Yes, there is always a temptation to make a film more mainstream and more accessible.

The long answer is more complicated. With every film I produce, I try to make a classic of the genre. It may sound egotistical to say that, but I think there's no other way to be successful in this business. You aim for greatness, so if you fall short you still have a good film. If you aim for "good-enough", you'll end up landing at "piece-of-crap". So with a big independent film like BUNRAKU we took on a huge risk, but we only did so because we believed it had the potential to be a classic of the genre. It's too soon to say if we landed close to our mark, but when your goals are that lofty you start to worry less about "accessible" and "mainstream". "Accessible" and "mainstream" are really sub-goals of "awesome" and "great". If it's great enough, then it becomes accessible. If it's awesome enough, then it becomes mainstream. So yes, I always try to make my films mainstream and accessible, just not by dumbing them down or sacrificing the craft.

Bunraku screens:

Saturday September 11th 11:59PM Ryerson

Tuesday September 14th 10:15PM Scotiabank Theater 2

Friday September 17th 5:00PM Scotiabank Theater 2



You can buy tickets from the official TIFF website