The Third Window Films Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

This time Ben shares his experience with the alphabet film challenege for January before the boys dive into Junta Yamaguchi's latest two minute time loop masterpiece 'RIVER'.

River is available to own now from  Terracotta Distribution here 

The links Ben's January and February alphabet challenge lists are below. Stay tuned for the Third Window alphabet list next episode! 

https://letterboxd.com/benjybox/list/alphabet-challenge-2024-january/

https://letterboxd.com/benjybox/list/alphabet-challenge-2024-february/

If you are a fan of the podcast then please take a couple of minutes to rate or review us wherever you listen, and follow Adam and Ben to keep up with all the latest news and reviews from Third Window Films.

The Third Window Films Podcast is back after an unexpected hiatus, but we are starting off 2024 with a bang!

This episode Adam and Ben kick things off by sharing their favourite East Asian films from last year. They also do a deep dive on the wildly entertaining and utterly bonkers action comedy, 'MAD CATS', which is making its Blu-ray debut this month! And the cherry on top? Ben had the incredible opportunity to talk with the director Reiki Tsuno himself! Reiki shares his experiences and challenges during the production, providing fascinating insights into the making of this unconventional cinematic gem.

Mad Cats is available to own now from Terracotta Distribution here 

The links to the videos Adam mentions of Ruice Mori and her mother recreating classic Bruce Lee scenes are below:

https://x.com/run_kiti/status/1651925225880305672

https://x.com/run_kiti/status/1631988755052769283 

https://x.com/run_kiti/status/1667143107975217153

If you are a fan of the podcast then please take a couple of minutes to rate or review us wherever you listen, and follow Adam and Ben to keep up with all the latest news and reviews from Third Window Films.

 

The episode Adam and Ben celebrate one year of THE THIRD WINDOW FILMS PODCAST by inviting the badass 80s synthpop legend Cyborg Joe from The Lethal Weapons.

The boys talk about living in Japan as westerners, and how their first love is film but their really friendship developed through a mutual love of music.

You can follow Cyborg Joe on Twitter and Instagram

Links to all of The Lethal Weapons songs and videos are on their YouTube channel

Some personal favourites include:

Shoryuken Doesn't Come Out 

80s Action Star

You Are Motherfucker

Thank you so much to all of you that have been listneing in over the last year. We appreciate you like crazy! As good as this last year has been for the show, we have some truly incredible stuff planned for year two! Keep an eye on our social media for more news, and be sure to subscribe and give us a 5 star rating and review wherever you can to help us reach even more Japanese film fans.

https://thirdwindowfilms.com/

https://twitter.com/BenjyBox

https://twitter.com/thirdwindow

https://www.instagram.com/thirdwindowfilms/

https://www.youtube.com/c/thirdwindowfilms

https://www.facebook.com/thirdwindowfilms

We are living in unprecedented times and today Adam and Ben are joined by the mighty Tom Mes for an unprecedented third appearance!   After initially joining us to discuss Shinya Tsukamoto and then returning to cover the work of Sogo Ishii, Tom is now back on the pod to talk all about Nobuhiko Obayashi, his 80s Kadokawa years, and specially his audio commentary on the upcoming release of His Motorbike, Her Island.   His Motorbike, Her Island stars Riki Takeuchi and Kiwako Harada and is a tale of young lovers and their fun filled days of freedom on their motorbikes.   Switching between black and white and colour, Obayashi paints a picture of  an eternal summer from which they have no desire to escape.   You can pre-order His Motorbike, Her Island as part of the upcoming NOBUHIKO OBAYASHI’S 80S KADOKAWA YEARS boxset here - https://shop.terracottadistribution.com/collections/pre-order-before-release/products/nobuhiko-obayashi-s-80s-kadokawa-years-bluray-4-discs   Episode 13 could be unlucky for some, and it fact it was for us! A few technical issues and crossed wires hindered the flow a little but fear not, for the next podcast is our big 1st birthday episode and will be a podcast party like no other! We have an incredibly exiting guest lined up and it's going to be an absolute blast!     

This episode Adam and Ben are joined by a real life doctor... of film.

Dr. Jonathan Wroot is the senior lecturer and program leader for film studies at the University of Greenwich, London. He has published several journal articles and book chapters on Asian cinema distribution and specifically on home video formats.

Jonathan has most recently published his first monograph entitled "The Paths of Zatoichi - The Global Influence of the Blind Swordsman" and he talks in great depth on the influence that character of Zatoichi had on Japanese cinema, but especially on the Jidaigeki films, or chambara films, or samurai films, or edo-era films, or whatever you want to call them.

The boys discuss such Third Window Films releases as TOP KNOT DETECTIVE, UZUMASA LIMELIGHT, THE SUFFERING OF NINKO and Shin'ya Tsukamoto's masterpiece KILLING amongs many other things.

The link to pick up any of the films discussed on this episode is https://shop.terracottadistribution.com/collections/third-window-films/   If you would like to check out any of Jonathan Wroot's books you can do so via the following links:   New Blood: Framing 21st Century Horror - https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Blood-Critical-Approaches-Contemporary-ebook/dp/B08X1M6N75   Cult Media: Repackaged, Re-released and Restored - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cult-Media-Re-packaged-Re-released-Restored/dp/3319636782   DVD, Blu-ray and Beyond: Navigating Formats and Platforms within Media Consumption - https://www.amazon.co.uk/DVD-Blu-ray-Beyond-Navigating-Consumption/dp/3319873865   As always, thanks for listening :)  

This episode Adam and Ben are joined by none other than the founder and managing director of Terracotta Disitribution himself, Joey Leung! 

Joey has been one of the UK's premier film distributors of East Asian cinema for two decades now, and he has experienced more than his fair share of highs and lows in that time. The boys tell the explosive story of how Joey and Adam first made contact, the crazy days of film sales in the early 2000s, and how trying to recreate Cannes in Brighton might not have been the greatest of ideas.

Check out Joey's streaming service and physical media store at https://www.terracottadistribution.com/ and follow his antics on Twitter and Instagram

If you regularly listen to our show and like what we do then please tell you friends, share our episodes and rate or review us wherever you can.

Also, if you have any questions for either Adam or Ben then get in touch via Ben's twitter @BenjyBox and they will answer them on the next episode.

This episode Adam and Ben celebrate the release of Katsuyuki Motohiro's 2005 Japanese cult hit SUMMER TIME MACHINE BLUES with a hot conversation about Summer and time travel and how the two pair together perfectly.

The film is written by Makoto Ueda, the genius behind recent hit BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES, and stars a plethora of young talent with all the madcap energy you'd hope for from a production like this.

The film is available to own from July 4th 2022 and you can pre-order it now at a special reduced price via Terracotta Distribution here - https://shop.terracottadistribution.com/products/summer-time-machine-blues-blu-ray

If you regularly listen to our show and like what we do then please tell you friends, share our episodes and rate or review us wherever you can. Also, if you have any questions for Adam or Ben then get in touch via Ben's twitter @BenjyBox and they will read out your questions on the next episode.

On May 21st 2022 it was 15 years to the day since Adam released his first dvd through Third Window Films!

This episode Ben and Adam celebrate the history of Third Window Films from its humble beginnings to its place now as one of the top distributors of East Asian cinema in the UK. 

In honour of the milestone Adam is giving away 15 Blu-Rays across his social networks to 15 lucky listeners. Links to enter the competitions are below:

https://www.facebook.com/thirdwindowfilms/

https://www.instagram.com/thirdwindowfilms/

https://twitter.com/thirdwindow

If you like our show then please tell you friends, share our posts and rate or review us wherever you can. Every little helps. Also, if you have any questions for Adam or Ben then get in touch via Ben's twitter @BenjyBox and they will read out your questions on the next episode.

This episode Adam and Ben share their experiences with the latest idiosyncratic release from Third Window Films "Zokki".

Three of Japan's most talented and prolific actor-directors have joined forces to adapt Hiroyuki Ohashi's cult manga series about characters in "an obscure corner" of the world. The film's five loosely connected storylines concern the secrets and lies, fears and tears, and puerile potty jokes that punctuate their daily (and in one eerie case, nightly) encounters.     Adam also explains the difference between bringing a brand new film like this to the western audience was why he got started in film distribution in the first place, and how releasing legacy films just became part of the game thanks to an ever-changing market.     They also discuss how #metoo has finally arrived in Japan thanks to a Japanese-American actor who began to talk about what he saw during one of these director workshops.     Zokki is out on April 25th and available to buy now at an introductory offer price from Terracotta Distribution via this link - https://shop.terracottadistribution.com/products/zokki-bluray     If you like our show then please tell you friends, share our posts and rate or review us wherever you can. Every little helps. Also, if you have any questions for Adam or Ben then get in touch via twitter @thirdwindow and @BenjyBox and they will read out your questions on the next episode.

This epsiode Adam and Ben are joined by Arthur Harari to talk about his brand new film "Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle".

After the film opened the Un Certain Regard section of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and went on to win multiple awards across the festival circuit it will be released in cinemas in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Third Window Films on 15 April 2022.

Arthur talks about how this Japanese story ended up being told by a foreigner, the unique funding for the film, and the joy of the  production on location.

We hope you enjoy this longform and very candid interview, and if you like what we do then please subscribe, rate and review us wherever you can. We will be back with another episode very soon to discuss Adam's next release Zokki!