NYAFF Giveaway Contest WINNER!

Last week we gave our readers a chance to win a free double pass to see Eiji Uchida's "teenage nihilist’s pop-psychological mixtape" black comedy "The Last Days of the World" at this year's New York Asian Film Festival. All folks had to do was tell us how they would like to spend their last day in the world... and we had one person who is someone after our own hearts. That'd be Albert Yu who said his perfect last day would involve "renting out an auditorium and screening back-to-back Asian film classics! I'd want Johnnie To, Miike, Kitano, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li flicks, just to name a few...just having all of my favorites running so I get to enjoy them one last time." Amen, Brother... and enjoy your free double pass to see "The Last Days of the World".

NYAFF Giveaway Contest! Win free double passes to "The Last Days of the World"

Every year we wish that we could join the fun down in The Big Apple or the New York Asian Film Festival. Sadly, we are but a group of impoverished film bloggers. Still, that doesn't mean we can't help some of you out there see a great film at the fest, right?

This year Grady Hendrix, the folks at NYAFF and Variance Films have gifted us with two double passes to see Eiji Uchida's "teenage nihilist’s pop-psychological mixtape" black comedy "The Last Days of the World"! The film will be screening twice during NYAFF'11 -- first on Monday, July 4th at 9:00PM and then on Friday July 8th at 1:15PM, both times at The Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater.

To win one of these two double passes all you have to do is tell us what you would do for your last day on earth? (but keep it clean... we'll share the winners stories here on the blog!) Just email what your ideal last day of the world would entail and email it to us here at the Pow-Wow at jfilmpowwow@yahoo.ca before Monday, June 27th at noon. We'll pick the two best and post our winners next week! Good luck!

CONTEST: Win one of two free "Gantz" ticket/ poster prize packs for New York Premiere

It was a few weeks back that we asked folks on our Facebook page which films they were really looking forward to in 2011. One film came up again and again - Shinsuke Sato's live-action adaptation of Hiroya Oku's sci-fi/ fantasy manga "Gantz". As we reported the first of Sato's two "Gantz" films will be making their World Premiere on January 20th at a number of theatres across the U.S. thanks to the folks at Viz Pictures/ NEW PEOPLE and NCM Fathom.

There's one more thing we can thank NEW PEOPLE and NCM Fathom for though... They are joining up with the J-Film Pow-Wow to give two lucky people a chance to win a free ticket to the New York Premiere of "Gantz" (screening at the Union Square Stadium 14 on January 20th) as well as get their hands on a collectible movie poster! What do you have to do to enter the contest? It's easy....

Go to our Facebook page and "Like" us. From there write the answer to this trivia question on the wall: "Gantz" star Ken'ichi Matsuyama is no newcomer to manga adaptations. Which recent manga adaptation about gambling did Matsuyama star in?

Name that film on the wall of our Facebook page before January 13th at noon and you get a chance at one of two free ticket and poster prize packs courtesy of Viz Pictures/ NEW PEOPLE and NCM Fathom! Good luck!

CONTEST: Win a FREE double pass to see "Golden Slumber" at Reel Asian!

We are a mere ten days away from the 14th annual Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. We at the Pow-Wow are especially excited about this year's line-up as we are acting as a community co-sponsor for Reel Asian's screening of Yoshihiro Nakamura's dramatic thriller "Golden Slumber". Adapted from a novel by bestselling author Kotaro Isaka "Golden Slumber" tells the story of Aoyagi (Masato Sakai), a deliveryman who finds himself running for his life after being framed for the assassination of the Japanese prime minister.

We believe that "Golden Slumber" is one of the most entertaining films of the year (read Chris MaGee's review of the film here, so we're thrilled that Toronto audiences will be getting a chance to catch the film on November 12th at 10:00PM at The Royal Cinema (608 College Street). To celebrate this screening at Reel Asian we want to give away a free double pass to the November 12th screening. All you have to do to enter the contest is this:

Head to the J-Film Pow-Wow's Facebook group and post the answer to this skill-testing question on its wall before noon on November 2nd - What Beatles album did the song "Golden Slumbers" appear on?

That's it! One lucky winner will get a free double pass to see "Golden Slumber" at Reel Asian. Good luck to you all! Check out more of the great line-up for the 14th annual Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival here.

CONTEST WINNERS! "RoboGeisha" and "Alien vs. Ninja" at Toronto After Dark

We had one of the biggest responses to our Toronto After Dark givbeaway contest to see both Noboru Iguchi's "RoboGeisha" and Seiji Chiba's "Alien vs. Ninja" (above) at The Bloor Cinema. There was much debating as to who would win in a fight between a RoboGeisha and an Aien Ninja, but in the end there could only be four winners and here they are! Congrats go out to Venus Silva and and Jason Roy for winning free double passes to "Alien vs. Ninja" and Maya Carroll and Melissa Rak for winning free double passes to "RoboGeisha"! For all the rest of you out there get over to Toronto After Dark's official website, get your tickets and get yourself down to The Bloor this week for some great films!

CONTEST: Win FREE passes to see "RoboGeisha" and "Alien vs. Ninja" at Toronto After Dark!

We are only a few days away from the 5th annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival here in the city, and that means there are more than a few Japanese film fans who are getting very, very excited. As we reported earlier the reason for this is that After Dark is premiering not one but two of the biggest buzz Japanese genre films of the past year here in Toronto - Noboru Iguchi's "RoboGeisha" and Seiji Chiba's "Alien vs. Ninja". Now Toronto After Dark and the J-Film Pow-Wow want to give you a chance to see both of these films during the fest which runs from August 13th to August 20th.

We have two free double passes for "RoboGeisah"screening on Sunday, August 15th at 7:00PM at The Bloor Cinema, and two free double passes for "Alien vs. Ninja" screening on Monday, August 16th at 9:45PM also at The Bloor, and we're asking a ridculously easy question for folks to enter. All you have to do to win one of these free double passes is to head to our Facebook group and write the answer to this quetion on the wall of the group...

Who do you think would win a fight between a RoboGeisha and an Alien Ninja? (**Please give a one sentence reason backing up your choice!)

And that's it! You have until Thursday, August 12th at 6:00PM to post your answer on the wall of the Facebook group, your name gets put in a hat and winners will be announced this Friday! Good luck and we'll see you at Toronto After Dark!

CONTEST: Win one of two free double passes to "Doman Seman" at NYAFF'10

In the past two years we've been very lucky to work with the folks at the New York Asian Film Festival by helping them spread the word (and the love) for Asian films to our readers. An d what better way to spread love for Asian film than by giving away free tickets?! That's right, if you are going to be in New York City between June 25th and July 8th then you can win one of two free double passes to see Go Shibata's latest film "Doman Seman". Shibata, the man who brought us the handicapped serial killer film "Late Bloomer" has returned with a supernatural thriller set in the narrow wooden streets of Kyoto. "Doman Seman" will be screening at NYAFF on the Monday July 5th and Wednesday July 7th at the Walter Reade Theater and to win a chance to see it all you have to do is this....

Head over to the J-Film Pow-Wow's Facebook group and write the answer to this question on its wall: What was the title of Go Shibata's 1999 debut feature film?

That's it! Easy! You have until Friday, June 18th at midnight to post your answer and then two winners will be randomly selected from the final group of entrants. And to motivate you to take part in this contest here is the teaser trailer for Go Shibata's "Doman Seman" Good luck, Everyone!

CONTEST: Win 1 of 2 free double passes to see "School Days with a Pig" at Sprockets!

Regular readers of the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow blog will know that the 13th annual Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children is presenting the Canadian premiere of Tetsu Maeda's 2008 film "School Days with a Pig". To mark this occasion we'd like to give you the chance to win one of two free double passes to see this great family film. Here's what you need to do to be eligible to win:

As the premise of "School Days with a Pig" is a 6th grade class who raises a pig, we want to hear your craziest pet stories from when you were a child. Did your dog ever really eat your homework? Could your cat play fetch? Was your goldfish an Olympic-style synchronized swimmer? In order to win a double pass for either the Saturday, April 17th, 2:20pm screening or the Sunday, April 18th, 11:15am all you need to do is head to our Facebook group and in 50 words or less tell us your strangest pet story. You have until April 13th at 11:00pm to enter and the authors of the two strangest tales will be announced on April 14th! Good luck!

Tickets for "School Days with a Pig" were made possible courtesy of Bell.

To find out more about this year's Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children, running from April 17th to the 23rd here in the city, visit its official website here.

CONTEST: Viz Pictures brings you "20th Century Boys"

It was back in July that we reported that San Francisco-based distributor Viz Pictures picked up the rights for Yukihiko Tsutsumi's "20th Century Boys" trilogy. It's been a long wait but this coming Tuesday Viz if finally bringing the first installment of this near future conspiracy theory epic to Region 1 DVD and just in time for Christmas they (and us) are giving you a chance to win one of three "20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End" prize packs. What's included in these? One DVD of "20th Century Boys", a theatrical poster, and a collectible lapel pin. Not too bad, and it's easy to win one. Just head you the J-Film Pow-Wow Facebook group and post the answer to this skill testing question on the wall:

Name the ultra-violent 2003 cat fight film by "20th Century Boys" director Yukihiko Tsutsumi.

Easy right? And you want one of those prize packs, right? Then get busy posting the answer! You have until Monday, December 14th at 11:00 PM. Good luck!

* Please note: This contest is only open to entrants in North America. If you have won a prize from the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow in the past month you are not eligible to win.

CONTEST: Winners of the After Dark "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl" Giveaway

Last week we were proud to announce that the J-Film Pow-Wow was once again teaming up with Adam Lopez and the Toronto After Dark Film Festival to present a premiere of yet another genre bending film. This year? Yoshihiro Nishimura's "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl". To honour the occasion we gave members of our Facebook Group a chance to win one of three free double passes to the screening of Nishimura's latest splatterfest. The catch was that they had to name the authors of "Dracula" and "Frankenstein. Of course nearly everyone got it right, Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley (duh!), but in the end there could be only three. Those three luck winners are:

Heather Lau - Toronto, Ontario

Hugh Gamble - Toronto, Ontario

William Brownridge - Toronto, Ontario

Hopefully Heather, Hugh and William, along with their guests, will get their fill of hacked off limbs and arterial spray next Monday, August 17th at The Bloor Cinema. Congratulations!

Win 1 of 3 FREE double passes to "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl" at Toronto After Dark

A lot of you in the Toronto area know about the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Director Adam Lopez has been bringing together the best in horror, sci-fi, and genre films since the fest began in 2006, and each year After Dark has been getting bigger and bigger. The biggest change this year is that the event is being moved up from its previous October run to August, August 14th to 21st to be precise. Thankfully one thing that hasn't changed over the years is that Adam and programmer Todd Brown always manage to include a Japanese film in the line-up, and following in the tradition of such previous films as "Tokyo Zombie", "Nightmare Detective" and "Tokyo Gore Police" this year is no different.

This year After Dark is proud to present the latest splatterfest from maniac special effects wizard and director Yoshihiro Nishimura, "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl", and we at the J-Film Pow-Wow are proud to be co-presenting it with them. To honour the occasion we are giving away 3 free double passes to the August 17th screening of the film at The Bloor Cinema here in Toronto. All you have to do to be one of the three lucky winners is the following - head to the J-Film Pow-Wow's Facebook group and write the answer to this skill testing question (it's super easy) on the wall:

Who were the authors of the novels "Dracula" and "Frankenstein"?

See? Easy! Three people who answered the question correctly will be picked at 11:00 PM this Friday, August 7th. Good luck, Everyone!

*Please note that this contest is only open to those living in the Greater Toronto Area. If you have won a prize from the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow in the past month you are not eligible to win.

CONTEST: Win one of 3 FREE double passes to see "Snakes and Earrings" at this year's NYAFF

We all know that the New York Asian Film Festival is coming up in just a week and a half, so as a way to get you folks down in the Big Apple off your couches and into the theatre to catch some amazing cinema from East Asia Grady Hendrix at NYAFF has graciously agreed to offer us 3 FREE double passes to see Yukio Ninagawa's "Snakes and Earrings" at the IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue at West Third Street) on Friday, June 26th at 1:15 p.m. OR Wednesday, July 2nd at 7:00 p.m.

To get a chance to see this cutting edge film about tattooing and body modification by one of Japan's most respected theatrical directors all you have to do is head to the J-Film Pow-Wow's Facebook group and write the answer to this skill testing question on its wall:

Yukio Ninagawa's daughter made her directorial debut with a 2006 film starring Anna Tsuchiya. What is Yukio Ninagawa's daughter's name and what was the name of the film?

That's it! Easy, huh? You have only until this Friday, June 12th at noon to submit your answers and we'll be announcing the 3 winners later that day. Good luck everyone!

*Please note: If you have won a prize in the last month from the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow you will not be eligible to win.

CONTEST: Winners of the "Adrift in Tokyo" Ticket Giveaway

We've been a bit tardy in posting the winners of the "Adrift in Tokyo" ticket giveaway that we ran last Friday in conjunction with Evokative films. The reason is that we wanted to post them the day of the film's release here in Toronto at the AMC Theatre, Yonge and Dundas. Kind of a reminder to get out and support Japanese cinema. So here we go with the winners:

Marko Balaban - Etobicoke, Ontario
Robert Harding - Toronto, Ontario
Boo Loo (if that's your real name...) - Waterloo, Ontario
Zoe Camino - Toronto, Ontario
Venus Silva - Mississauga, Ontario
Thomas Silver - Scarborough, Ontario

All correctly answered that Satoshi Miki's upcoming film was titled "Instant Numa". A lot of people had problems with that oddly. Anyway, have fun at the screening, Everyone! And for all the rest of you, get out there and buy a ticket! It's a great film!

CONTEST: Win one of 10 free passes to see "Adrift in Tokyo" in Toronto!

Free movie tickets are always good right? Of course! So when Evokative Films founder Stephanie Trepanier contacted us earlier today asking if we wanted to run a giveaway contest for 10 single passes for the theatrical run of Satoshi Miki's "Adrift in Tokyo" (opening at the AMC Yonge and Dundas, Toronto, on May 1st for a two week run) we had to say yes, mainly because it's a great film and deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. So with that in mind here's what you have to do to win one. Head on over to the Pow-Wow's Facebook group and write the answer to this skill testing question on the wall: What is the title of Satoshi Miki's upcoming film starring Kumiko Aso and Ryo Kase? Super easy question, no?

In order to have enough time to mail these babies out to you this is going to be a quick contest. You have until 11:00 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, April 25th, to enter. Winners will be announced Monday. Good luck to you all!

*Please note: If you have won any prizes from the J-Film Pow-Wow in the past month you will not be eligible to win.

Hideo Gosha's "The Geisha" DVD Giveaway Winners

We had a great response to our Hideo Gosha "The Geisha" DVD giveaway contest, but there could could only three lucky winners... and they are:

David Capper - Los Angeles, California
Jennfer Emily - Hamilton, Ontario
Scott Allis - Chicago, Illinois

All will be getting an advance DVD copy of "The Geisha" courtesy of AnimEigo and Koch Entertainment. The rest of us will have to wait until February 10th. Congrats, David, Jennifer and Scott and thanks to everyone who entered.

CONTEST: Hideo Gosha's "The Geisha" DVD Giveaway

Our good friends at AnimEigo and Koch Entertainment have come through again and have gifted the J-Film Pow-Wow with three advance copies of Hideo Gosha's 1983 historical drama "The Geisha (Yokiro)" starring Atsuko Asano and Ken Ogata. This disc isn't due in stores until February 10th, but we are giving you a chance to win your very own copy by answering the following skill testing question:

Hideo Gosha directed "Zatoichi" star Shintaro Katsu in a film about the life of real life samurai assassin Izo Okada (1832-1865), the very same samurai that inspired Takashi Miike's 2004 film "Izo". Name that Hideo Gosha film.

All you have to do is head over to the Pow-Wow's Facebook group and write the name of the film on the wall before Monday, January 26th at 11:00 p.m. to get your name in for the draw. The three winners will be announced on the morning of January 27th.

Good luck to everyone!

Please note: This contest is only open to contestants residing in North America. If you have won a prize from the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow in the last month you are not eligible to win.

CONTEST: "Death Note II: The Last Name" ticket giveaway winners

On Wednesday we ran a giveaway contest for five free double passes to see "Death Note II: The Last Name" on December 3rd at participating Cineplex and Empire Theatres across Canada. The skill testing question was ridiculously easy: "The "Death Note" spin-off film "L: Change the World" was helmed by which famed J-Horror director?" and all the entrants got it right, but there could be only five. Congratulations to those five who got their names pulled out of the hat (all from Toronto, strangely enough) :

Adam Swinbourne
Jennifer Porter
Christian Murdoch
Anne Megan Dunford
Camille Crawford

All will be catching the sequel to "Death Note" on December 3rd care of Viz Pictures and The Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow. Enjoy!

CONTEST: Win one of 5 free double passes to see "Death Note II: The Last Name"

We had a great response in September when we ran our contest to send 5 lucky winners to the one night Canadian theatrical release of "Death Note", so we at the J-Film Pow-Wow along with our friends at Viz Pictures wanted to do it again. This time around Viz has gifted us with 5 free double passes to see "Death Note II: The Last Note" when it screens December 3rd at participating Cineplex and Empire Theatres across Canada (except for Newfoundland, Prince Edwards, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick for some strange reason... Sorry Maritimers.) Click here for the full list of theatres involved.

How can you win one of these 5 free double passes? It's so easy it's insane! Here goes... Just head over to The Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow Facebook group and write the answer to this skill testing question on the wall: The "Death Note" spin-off film "L: Change the World" was helmed by which famed J-Horror director? Now that's an easy question!

5 winners will be picked on Friday, November 21st at 11:00 p.m. Good luck, Everyone!

Please note: Only entrants in Canada are eligible to win. If you have won a prize from the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow in the past month your are not eligible to win.

CONTEST: "Revenge of a Kabuki Actor" DVD Giveaway Winners

Well, our AnimEigo sponsored "Revenge of a Kabuki Actor" DVD Giveaway turned out to be one of our most well received contests to date with a record number of entrants posting one of the following answers to the skill testing question "What is the Japanese name used for a male Kabuki actor who only plays women's roles?": Onnagata, Wakashu or Oyama. The latter was the term used in the film, but all were correct (not a cut and dried answer for this contest), but there could be only 3 winners and here they are:

Sugato Banerjee of Toronto, Ontario

Jennifer Emily of Hamilton, Ontario

David Michael Green of Cape Cod, Massachussets

All will be receiving a free DVD copy of Kon Ichikawa's 1963 film "Revenge of a Kabuki Actor" courtesy of AnimEigo and Koch Entertainment, and of course thanks to all who entered!

CONTEST: Win a free copy of Kon Ichikawa's "Revenge of a Kabuki Actor" courtesy of AnimEigo

Kon Ichikawa's brilliant 1963 film "Revenge of a Kabuki Actor" is finally getting a Region 1 DVD release in stores today courtesy of the folks at AnimEigo; but before you rush out to pick one up check this out. AnimEigo and Koch Entertainment have been more than generous and have gifted the Pow-Wow with three copies of the brand new DVD and we want to give you the chance to win yourself one!

All you have to do is head over to our Facebook group before Thursday, October 16th at 11:00 p.m. and write the answer to this skill testing question on the wall: In the film Kazuo Hasegawa portrays Yukinojo, a kabuki actor who plays only female roles. What is the Japanese name used for this kind of actor?

The question's a little bit tougher this time around, but we want to make sure that this DVD lands in the hands of someone who's really into the subject matter.

So, good luck everyone!

*PLEASE NOTE: Only residents of North America are eligible to enter. Members of the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow who have won a prize in the past month are not eligible to win.