The Japanese Version (1991)
Genre : Documentary
Runtime : 58M
Director : Louis Alvarez, Andy Kolker
Synopsis
How the Japanese process American pop culture and make it their own -- a mind-bending odyssey through cultural mixing.
Denise Crosby takes another look at the huge fans of "Star Trek" and how the series from around the world has affected and shaped their lives.
A behind-the-scenes look at San Diego Comic-Con, the world's largest comic book convention, and the fans who attend every year.
A film profiling the unusual cross-demographic fandom of the ostensibly girl oriented television series "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic"
A hilarious look at the universe's most fervent fans.
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
In 1999, Star Wars fanatics take a cross-country trip to George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch so their dying friend can see a screening of The Phantom Menace before its release.
Afro Samurai avenged his father and found a life of peace. But the legendary master is forced back into the game by a beautiful and deadly woman from his past. The sparks of violence dropped along Afro’s bloody path now burn out of control – and nowhere are the flames of hatred more intense than in the eyes of Sio.
Kubo mesmerizes the people in his village with his magical gift for spinning wild tales with origami. When he accidentally summons an evil spirit seeking vengeance, Kubo is forced to go on a quest to solve the mystery of his fallen samurai father and his mystical weaponry, as well as discover his own magical powers.
Kai—an outcast—joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honour to their homeland, the warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.
In 1868, after the Bakumatsu war ends, the ex-assassin Kenshin Himura traverses Japan with an inverted sword, to defend the needy without killing.
Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.
Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.
The passion the original Star Wars trilogy inspires in its fans is unparalleled; but when it comes to George Lucas himself, many have found their ardor has cooled into a complicated love-hate relationship. This hilarious, heartfelt documentary delves deep into Lucas’s cultural legacy, asking all the tough questions. Has Lucas betrayed his masterwork? Should he just have left the original trilogy alone? Is The Phantom Menace so bad it should carry a health warning? Utilizing interviews taken from over 600 hours of footage, and peppered with extraordinary Star Wars and Indiana Jones recreations lovingly immortalized in song, needlepoint, Lego, claymation, puppets and paper-mâché, above all this film asks the question: who truly owns that galaxy far, far away—the man who created it, or the fans who worship it?
A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.
Revered sushi chef Jiro Ono strives for perfection in his work, while his eldest son, Yoshikazu, has trouble living up to his father's legacy.
Trek Nation is a documentary film directed by Scott Colthorp examining the positive impact that Star Trek and creator Gene Roddenberry may have had on people's lives as seen through the eyes of his son, Eugene Roddenberry, Jr. ("Rod"). It includes interviews with castmembers and crew from all five Star Trek shows, as well as various fans and celebrities who were markedly influenced by the show while growing up. Rod Roddenberry also visits Skywalker Ranch to interview George Lucas on the influence that Star Trek had on him. Lucas shares how he had gone to Star Trek conventions prior to creating Star Wars.
Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.
Rio is a high school student in Tokyo. Her mother tells her she will spend the summer in the countryside. There, she meets Ginzo. He is a high school student and handsome. They fall in love.
Student Yuki has never seen one of the giant monsters she always hears about on the news and that threaten her city. But when she meets the lethargic Tetsu one day, things change suddenly. Because Tetsu moves around the houses with a creature called Cencoroll, which he can control with mind control and which can transform into a wide variety of objects. But not only Yuki is fascinated by Cencoroll: the boy Shu tries to take Cencoroll from Tetsu with the help of his own telepathy monster, whereupon the four engage in a bitter fight, in which Yuki also intervenes and the entire city is converted into a battle arena.
All Might and Deku accept an invitation to go abroad to a floating and mobile manmade city, called 'I-Island', where they research quirks as well as hero supplemental items at the special 'I-Expo' convention that is currently being held on the island. During that time, suddenly, despite an iron wall of security surrounding the island, the system is breached by a villain, and the only ones able to stop him are the students of Class 1-A.
A documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.
Wreck-It Ralph is the 9-foot-tall, 643-pound villain of an arcade video game named Fix-It Felix Jr., in which the game's titular hero fixes buildings that Ralph destroys. Wanting to prove he can be a good guy and not just a villain, Ralph escapes his game and lands in Hero's Duty, a first-person shooter where he helps the game's hero battle against alien invaders. He later enters Sugar Rush, a kart racing game set on tracks made of candies, cookies and other sweets. There, Ralph meets Vanellope von Schweetz who has learned that her game is faced with a dire threat that could affect the entire arcade, and one that Ralph may have inadvertently started.
John Nash is a brilliant but asocial mathematician fighting schizophrenia. After he accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn for the nightmarish.
Grain Media and Burn Energy Drink tell the story of snowboarding through the eyes of the people who made it happen. From its origins in the culturally shifting 1960s, to its boom in the 90s, to its acceptance as a mainstream sport, snowboarding has had a roller coaster history. A fully immersive archive film narrated by Jason Lee and a cast of dozens of snowboarders, We Ride: The Story of Snowboarding is the first feature film to tell the story of how this outsiders' sport became huge.