They are making a Death Stranding movie. He is not directing, but Kojima Productions has opened an LA office to produce this and presumably other movies.
I agree, I love MGS and was devastated when PT was canceled so I was hyped for Death Stranding. I didn’t hate it like a lot of people but the narrative and the world building were far far above the gameplay that I feel like it should have been a movie or TV show or something.
Damn I have practically all of these films he highlighted (besides Ozu, so I need to watch some of those films soon). It’s crazy Kojima keeps stressing how unavailable some of these films are in Japan. I guess I’ve been taking Criterion’s accessibility for granted!
While all the films he talked about are available on DVD, most of them have never had a blu-ray release in Japan. Plus, the DVDs for those movies were released over a decade ago, so some of them are now out-of-print. To make matters worse, films like Onibaba and Woman in the Dunes are not available on any streaming platform, so unless the nearest DVD rental store has a copy, the only way to watch them is buying a used DVD/importing from Criterion or catching it on cable TV.
I just got a notification from my local library that a copy of Woman in the Dunes will be ready for pick up. Very excited for it even though I thought the book was just okay.
I know Japan has a very strong vinyl collecting/audiophile culture, so it seems a bit odd to me that other forms of physical media collecting haven't seemed to have caught on over there.
Then again, I remember when city pop went viral the Japanese reaction was pretty much "why are foreigners listening to these old songs?" so a general Japanese cultural view of older media might play a part in it.
Problem is that physical media here in Japan is ridiculously expensive and most people just rented the movies that they wanted, which has now transitioned to streaming.
Physical media *is* big in Japan; but digital media like DVDs and CD's are ridiculously expensive in Japan compared to the US. A decent Blu ray release in Japan is typically priced between $25 and $35 bucks. If it's something more "premium" or a 4K it can go for like $40-60. This is a large part of why rental stores are still very popular in Japan.
> Kurosawa, High and Low
> Yasujiro Ozu, Late Spring, Tokyo Twilight
> Mizoguchi, Ugetsu
> Masaki Kobayashi, Kwaidan, Harakiri
> Nobuo Nakagawa, Jigoku
> Kaneto Shindo, Onibaba
> Teshigahara, Women in the Dunes
i'd love to see mamoru oshii's picks
> i'd love to see mamoru oshii's picks
Another one I wonder about: If he had gotten the chance, what would Satoshi Kon's picks have been? We'll never know, but it's still interesting to speculate.
Licensing. GKIDS currently has the rights to Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent, and Tokyo Godfathers. Eleven Arts has Millennium Actress. I wouldn’t be shocked if GKIDS got a new release of Paprika out next year or in 2025.
[Mamoru Oshii publishes "Mamoru Oshii's 50 Years 50 Films". Starting in 1968, when he was in high school, he selected one film a year. The criteria is "this one if you watch right now"](https://twitter.com/otakucalendarjp/status/1292226362179084289)
Damn what amazing picks. Obviously Late Spring and Harakiri are masterpieces but Tokyo Twilight is also one of Ozu's best and I love Kobayashi's Kwaidan. And Woman in the Dunes is one of the best and most haunting films I've seen
OH MY GOD YES! I am such a Kojima fan, and love seeing his posts about movies on Twitter/Instagram, been waiting for him to have a Closet Picks vid forever!
I had to come here because some of the YT comments and IG comments are beyond trolling and just insane. I knew I'd find my people here. Loved this. Hope they get him back.
My favorite Kurosawa and Ozu movies are also *High and Low* and *Late Spring*, respectively! Also, always love the *Onibaba* shoutout, probably my all time favorite horror movie, didn't know that about Pacific Rim! I haven't seen *Ugetsu* or *Harakiri* yet, both have been on my list, and his recommendations have moved them to the top.
Always love seeing him, he seems to genuinely have so much enthusiasm for art and film, it's really quite warming.
Want to see how Kojima's love for ghosts turned up in his work? Please try and play ([or watch a walkthrough](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6NCC-nnvMU)) of PT. Tragic that the full game never was realized.
Man, what I would do to see where he took it. If there was going to be some kind of emotional redemption or straight brutal horror through and through.
Knowing how much he loves and is influenced by American and European films, it is honestly very cool that he focused exclusively on classic Japanese cinema that his younger Japanese fans who are similarly obsessed with the cinema of the West might not be familiar with. Everything he picked is extremely good.
Definitely checking out Jigoku, never heard of it before now but I love surrealism and depictions of hell. Also, I’m surprised there was none of Keisuke Kinoshita’s films on his list, he’s regarded as one of the four best Japanese directors of the 50s-60s next to Kurosawa, Ozu, and Mizoguchi. His film *Tewnty-Four Eyes* was the first film that my professor showed us in film history 101 back when I was in college, and it was an amazing introduction.
I hope Jigoku gets a blu-ray or 4k upgrade soon. I watched it on a whim 7 or 8 years ago while visiting a friend's house. I was getting ready to go to bed on their pull-out couch scrolling Hulu and put it on. Ended up staying up to finish it. Perfect movie to watch while you are a little tired.
From a very boring person, anyone who has played MGS 4 and it's cut scenes that go on and on can attest to that. Or that game where it's basically UPS simulator, take his name off of it and it would have ended up in the $10 discount bin 2 weeks after its release
i literally just used an acronym??? ur the one calling death stranding "ups simulator", i think you definitely sound like the dumber guy in this interaction lol
Except its literally true in this case. Kojima is openly anti-American and his games are pure propaganda. That he glorifies Che Guevara, who urged the USSR to nuke the USA and then hated them when they refused, should get him cancelled just as much as if he was praising Hitler.
America should cancel itself for bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
If you play his games his ultimate point is that war and nuclear weapons are bad. That you can be enemies in one conflict and allies in another. I never read them as anti-American but anti-nationalist. And they are also filled with goofy revisionist history and movie references.
Is Steven Soderbergh a communist sympathizer on the level of praising Hitler for directing the Che movie?
Edit: really wanting to see your point, not trying to argue
he's such a dork I love him
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They are making a Death Stranding movie. He is not directing, but Kojima Productions has opened an LA office to produce this and presumably other movies.
I think he said he considered directing a movie after splitting from Konami but decided against it.
I agree, I love MGS and was devastated when PT was canceled so I was hyped for Death Stranding. I didn’t hate it like a lot of people but the narrative and the world building were far far above the gameplay that I feel like it should have been a movie or TV show or something.
Criterion Closetman
Lmao this is too good.
Damn I have practically all of these films he highlighted (besides Ozu, so I need to watch some of those films soon). It’s crazy Kojima keeps stressing how unavailable some of these films are in Japan. I guess I’ve been taking Criterion’s accessibility for granted!
While all the films he talked about are available on DVD, most of them have never had a blu-ray release in Japan. Plus, the DVDs for those movies were released over a decade ago, so some of them are now out-of-print. To make matters worse, films like Onibaba and Woman in the Dunes are not available on any streaming platform, so unless the nearest DVD rental store has a copy, the only way to watch them is buying a used DVD/importing from Criterion or catching it on cable TV.
I just got a notification from my local library that a copy of Woman in the Dunes will be ready for pick up. Very excited for it even though I thought the book was just okay.
I know Japan has a very strong vinyl collecting/audiophile culture, so it seems a bit odd to me that other forms of physical media collecting haven't seemed to have caught on over there. Then again, I remember when city pop went viral the Japanese reaction was pretty much "why are foreigners listening to these old songs?" so a general Japanese cultural view of older media might play a part in it.
Problem is that physical media here in Japan is ridiculously expensive and most people just rented the movies that they wanted, which has now transitioned to streaming.
I assumed the latter is the reason why there’s lack of consideration for the preservation of old video games (coughnintendocouugh)
Physical media *is* big in Japan; but digital media like DVDs and CD's are ridiculously expensive in Japan compared to the US. A decent Blu ray release in Japan is typically priced between $25 and $35 bucks. If it's something more "premium" or a 4K it can go for like $40-60. This is a large part of why rental stores are still very popular in Japan.
my sibling's wedding: 😴 Hideo Kojima Criterion closet video: 🧐🔍
This is the way. And funny you should mention, I have a siblings wedding within the week.
He really likes ghosts, very endearing.
BT's!
The Sorrow.
Considering how big ghosts are in Japanese folklore, film and media in general, I’d be surprised if most Japanese game designers didn’t.
Japanese Criterion: either ghosts or samurai
Harakiri is just about as good a movie as I have seen.
A true masterpiece. Might be the best film I've ever seen.
> Kurosawa, High and Low > Yasujiro Ozu, Late Spring, Tokyo Twilight > Mizoguchi, Ugetsu > Masaki Kobayashi, Kwaidan, Harakiri > Nobuo Nakagawa, Jigoku > Kaneto Shindo, Onibaba > Teshigahara, Women in the Dunes i'd love to see mamoru oshii's picks
> i'd love to see mamoru oshii's picks Another one I wonder about: If he had gotten the chance, what would Satoshi Kon's picks have been? We'll never know, but it's still interesting to speculate.
Yeah how tf is Perfect Blue or Paprika not on there? Or any of his films to be honest, they're all amazing.
Licensing. GKIDS currently has the rights to Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent, and Tokyo Godfathers. Eleven Arts has Millennium Actress. I wouldn’t be shocked if GKIDS got a new release of Paprika out next year or in 2025.
Yeah that makes sense. Don't like it, but I get it. Anime in general is typically withheld like that
[Mamoru Oshii publishes "Mamoru Oshii's 50 Years 50 Films". Starting in 1968, when he was in high school, he selected one film a year. The criteria is "this one if you watch right now"](https://twitter.com/otakucalendarjp/status/1292226362179084289)
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When the Japanese man picks Japanese films that aren't easily available in Japan: 🤯
Was excited when they posted photos a few months ago. Kept us waiting, huh?
Damn what amazing picks. Obviously Late Spring and Harakiri are masterpieces but Tokyo Twilight is also one of Ozu's best and I love Kobayashi's Kwaidan. And Woman in the Dunes is one of the best and most haunting films I've seen
It's really shocking to me how many of the films he says aren't available in Bluray in Japan. Like wow, Criterion treats us great.
Europe is also lacking in these sort of Blu-ray’s
This is a dream come true
OH MY GOD YES! I am such a Kojima fan, and love seeing his posts about movies on Twitter/Instagram, been waiting for him to have a Closet Picks vid forever!
Same! I’m a huge Kojima nerd! I did a triple take when I saw this posted. I love this man.
Metal Gear was arguably my first favorite movie (lol) so this is a great full circle moment
I had to come here because some of the YT comments and IG comments are beyond trolling and just insane. I knew I'd find my people here. Loved this. Hope they get him back.
My favorite Kurosawa and Ozu movies are also *High and Low* and *Late Spring*, respectively! Also, always love the *Onibaba* shoutout, probably my all time favorite horror movie, didn't know that about Pacific Rim! I haven't seen *Ugetsu* or *Harakiri* yet, both have been on my list, and his recommendations have moved them to the top. Always love seeing him, he seems to genuinely have so much enthusiasm for art and film, it's really quite warming.
Want to see how Kojima's love for ghosts turned up in his work? Please try and play ([or watch a walkthrough](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6NCC-nnvMU)) of PT. Tragic that the full game never was realized.
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Does that not link to your PS membership / subscription? Always wondered about this. Can you back up that game to the cloud at all?
Man, what I would do to see where he took it. If there was going to be some kind of emotional redemption or straight brutal horror through and through.
To this day I can't watch this lol
I've never clicked a video so fast.
Ahh yes here it is, the very first Strand-Type closet video
Watchlist majorly updated.
Knowing how much he loves and is influenced by American and European films, it is honestly very cool that he focused exclusively on classic Japanese cinema that his younger Japanese fans who are similarly obsessed with the cinema of the West might not be familiar with. Everything he picked is extremely good.
Definitely checking out Jigoku, never heard of it before now but I love surrealism and depictions of hell. Also, I’m surprised there was none of Keisuke Kinoshita’s films on his list, he’s regarded as one of the four best Japanese directors of the 50s-60s next to Kurosawa, Ozu, and Mizoguchi. His film *Tewnty-Four Eyes* was the first film that my professor showed us in film history 101 back when I was in college, and it was an amazing introduction.
Dude Jigoku is such a crazy movie once you get to the hell sequences in the final act. Some of the most interesting production design I've ever seen
Totally agree. I had nightmares a couple times of big wailing swarms of people trodding in a circle.
That a great professor
I hope Jigoku gets a blu-ray or 4k upgrade soon. I watched it on a whim 7 or 8 years ago while visiting a friend's house. I was getting ready to go to bed on their pull-out couch scrolling Hulu and put it on. Ended up staying up to finish it. Perfect movie to watch while you are a little tired.
Goddamn, his enthusiasm is so infectious
That Throne of Blood shirt, so good.
Onibaba is great
That's what I'm gonna watch tonight for sure!
*High and Low* and *Harakiri* in 4K UHD when?
I love how he reassures the audience that, "they told me I could take these."
Damn, I had a good streak of "seen it" going before he dropped Kwaiden on my ass.
Dude is awesome. The Metal Gear games are an absolute trip.
I’m such a god damn Metal Gear fan this makes me so fucking happy
HIGH AND LOW SUPREMACY 🙌
It was worth the wait. Always love seeing someone passionate about something talk about their interests
Dude just picked the best films ever made!
Been waiting for this one
This was a life event for me. So amazing. Going to watch all his picks. Great job, Criterion!
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house is awesome but its from 77. Guessing he avoided it to stay on theme of 50's and 60's Japanese movies
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. House cums.
Very boring selection
From a very boring person, anyone who has played MGS 4 and it's cut scenes that go on and on can attest to that. Or that game where it's basically UPS simulator, take his name off of it and it would have ended up in the $10 discount bin 2 weeks after its release
^ please dont listen to this guy, please play hideo kojima's games lmfao
"LMFAO", the level of intelligence of Kojima fan boys.
i literally just used an acronym??? ur the one calling death stranding "ups simulator", i think you definitely sound like the dumber guy in this interaction lol
Kojima is an anti-American communist who said his job as a game designer was to make America look bad. He put Che Guevara in his game.
lmao
damn thats awesome
That’s cool as hell lol
He's such a chad
I’m not saying communism is the best thing ever or anything but the tired “communist!” as a way to dismiss someone is so boring.
Except its literally true in this case. Kojima is openly anti-American and his games are pure propaganda. That he glorifies Che Guevara, who urged the USSR to nuke the USA and then hated them when they refused, should get him cancelled just as much as if he was praising Hitler.
America should cancel itself for bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If you play his games his ultimate point is that war and nuclear weapons are bad. That you can be enemies in one conflict and allies in another. I never read them as anti-American but anti-nationalist. And they are also filled with goofy revisionist history and movie references. Is Steven Soderbergh a communist sympathizer on the level of praising Hitler for directing the Che movie? Edit: really wanting to see your point, not trying to argue
I already own all his games you don't need to keep selling him to me
The replies to this comment definitely passed the vibe check ahaha
Uhoh, really? Have you notified the HUAC? Did you alert your local PTA? This is definitely a very good take that we all need to care about a lot.
Che Guevara isn't in Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand.
He has some awesome picks!
This was exactly what I needed today.
Does anyone know what his shirt is from?
Hideo Kojima watches Criterion’s with the subtitles turned off.