Welcome to KIWIreviews - product reviews
•  click here to return to the homepage  •
Welcome visitor.Join us or log in

Product reviews on kiwireviews.nz : Saturday 30th March 2024 - 02:03:00

QuickSearch for:    What is QuickSearch?
QuickJump to:    What is QuickJump?
logon name: p/w:  

I want to:

You Are Here...

Home > Categories > Movies > Documentaries > Big in Japan review

« Genesis 2.0 reviewGenesis 2.0Anote's Ark reviewAnote's Ark »

Score: 9.3/10  [1 review]
4 out of 5
ProdID: 7922 - Big in Japan
Topic: Arts & Culture

Big in Japan
Price:
TBC
Available:
See website for session details

Big in Japan product reviews

What is fame? Why do we want it? And what does it take for an ordinary person to get it?

After hearing about the huge demand for foreign talents in Japan, three Aussie filmmakers ship their lives to Tokyo on an outrageous DIY mission to make 'ordinary' Dave famous. Along the way, they meet an eclectic ensemble of gaijin tarento (foreign talents) at various stages of the celebrity journey: a feisty Aussie cross-dresser, a starry-eyed Canadian J-pop wannabe and veteran TV sweetheart, Bob 'The Beast' Sapp. But just how far must they go to reach the masses that real celebrity requires?

A decidedly anti-Hollywood fame documentary.

Part of the 2018 DocEdge Cinematic Festival - see http://docedge.nz/ for more details.



Tags:
big in japan   bob sapp   david elliotjone   lachlan mcleod   ladybeard   louis dai   the beast
Other listings you may be interested in:
Star Wars : Revelations (Fan Film)Star Wars : Revelations (Fan Film)
Rating: 9.0
The Day the Earth Stood Still - 1951The Day the Earth Stood Still - 1951
Rating: 9.3
Cirque du Soleil : AlegriaCirque du Soleil : Alegria
Rating: 9.5
Meet The RobinsonsMeet The Robinsons
Rating: 10.0
HairsprayHairspray
Rating: 9.6
Star Trek - Into DarknessStar Trek - Into Darkness
Rating: 9.3
Bend it Like BeckhamBend it Like Beckham
Rating: 7.3
ParadiseParadise
Rating: 7.5
Ghostbusters 2Ghostbusters 2
Rating: 8.3
Poltergeist (2015)Poltergeist (2015)
Rating: 6.3
The 5th WaveThe 5th Wave
Rating: 8.5
JackieJackie
Rating: 4.0
Crazy Rich AsiansCrazy Rich Asians
Rating: 9.3

Product reviews...

Everyone is welcome to post a review. You will need to Join up or log in to post yours.

Click here to read the profile of alexmoulton

Review by: alexmoulton (Alex)
Dated: 23rd of April, 2018

Link to this review Report this review

 

This Review: 9.3/10
Accuracy:
Score 10 out of 10
Visual Presentation:
Score 9 out of 10
Extra Features:
Score 10 out of 10
Personal Choice:
Score 8 out of 10

In the decade or so since YouTube became popular, the way in which fame is handed out has been forever disrupted. Getting your 15 minutes of fame no longer required being talented and discovered by someone in the industry. You could get famous overnight by uploading a short video online and "going viral". The quality standards changed completely as people realised that you could get famous by not only being talented, but by being attractive, being stupid, or even purposefully causing harm to yourself and others. The entertainment game changed. This documentary follows ordinary Dave, a man that has no talents or skills, and is not what society deems conventionally beautiful, as he moves to Japan in an attempt to become famous.

While an interesting piece to watch about what different cultures value in entertainment, you can't help but feel that this documentary is nothing but a prank on poor Dave. To have his best friends consistently mock his lack of skills and talents, and putting him into humiliating and demoralising situations for the sake of "getting famous", it really becomes a struggle to see this as something that Dave truly wanted to have happen to him. Watch as Dave tries to do research into how others have become famous, and have his friends keep pushing him into embarrassing himself. The worst part really comes at the end, where he actually reaches his first goal and starts to get somewhere and his friends pull the plug because their girlfriends went back to Australia .

Big In Japan is still an eye-opener into Japanese culture and the foreigners that try to make a name in it. Whether it be a retired boxer that is doing anything to keep his name and persona in the media, the J-Pop hopeful that has signed her life away to the industry, or the cross-dresser who had gone to Japan to get the love he never received growing up in Australia. Hearing from these Japanese culture icons was really the selling point of the documentary. To hear the physical and emotional struggles and costs involved in doing what they do, and their justifications for it.

The highlight of the documentary for myself was the pieces on Australian heavy metal cross-dresser Ladybeard, as he was the only one that I was aware of beforehand, so it was truly interesting to see why he did what he did, how he reached the fame that he has come to have, and what has happened since the documentary was filmed. An engaging piece, even if it felt more like a dark prank than an actual documentary.

Random listing from 'Movies'...

Score: 9.3
Product reviews for listing 8515: Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw -  Directed by David Leitch

Product image for Fast & Furious: Hobbs & ShawDwayne Johnson and Jason Statham return to their unforgettable roles as Hobbs and Shaw in this action-packed feature from the blockbuster Fast and Furious franchise. For years, hulking lawman Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and lawless outcast Deckard Shaw (Statham) have traded smack talk and body blows. But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton (Idris Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever, Hobbs and Shaw must partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves!

Go to the listing

General Disclaimer...

Protected by Copyscape Plagiarism Checker - Do not copy content from this page. Creative Commons Licence All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.

"Education is what you get when you read the fine-print. Experience is what you get when you don't."
anonymous