Manages the difficult feat of being simultaneously sordid and tedious at the same time and is ultimately surprisingly tame despite its unrated status.
Bounce Ko Gals(バウンス ko GALS)
Japan · 1997
1h 50m
Director Masato Harada
Starring Hitomi Satô, Yasue Sato, Yukiko Okamoto, Kōji Yakusho
Genre Drama
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Filmed somewhat in documentary style, it follows three girls over the span of one day and night in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. Jonko runs a group of high school girls involved in paid dating, Raku is a street dancer, and Togo was brought up in the US and back in Japan for one year wants to escape to New York. Their contact with the world of talent scouts and yakusa places them in danger.
We hate to say it, but we can't find anywhere to view this film.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The New York Times by Dave Kehr
Feels fabricated, studio-bound and claustrophobic, which doesn't add to the ripped-from-the-headlines authenticity this genre has always depended on.
The first half of the film is engaging enough to overshadow the missteps of the final act. It's a down and dirty look at the world of the ko gals, but it has class.
Rather than portraying these girls as one-dimensional victims, Harada offers a complex portrait of teenagers who've learned to make their exploitation work for them.
Village Voice by Michael Atkinson
Casting Tokyo as a neon wilderness thick with aged "perverts" and teenage pimps, the movie frames a critique of socially permissible pedophilia as indelible as Harada's eavesdropping mise-en-scène.
Bounce Ko Gals ultimately devolves into a litany of social ills, with not enough of a proper story, and Harada loses the thread of the film whenever he slips into slapstick comedy, or has his female leads play the role of giggly best friends.
Users who liked this film also liked
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Let the Magic Begin.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2001
- Director Chris Columbus
- Cast Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Harris, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman
- Genre Adventure, Fantasy
- Available on fuboTV, Peacock, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Avatar
When humans invade a distant planet, a man sent to study the indigenous aliens struggles to choose sides.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2009
- Director James Cameron
- Cast Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi
- Genre Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction
- Available on Disney Plus, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
Confessions
(告白)
Her pupils murdered her daughter. She will have her revenge.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2010
- Director Tetsuya Nakashima
- Cast Takako Matsu, Masaki Okada, Yoshino Kimura, Yukito Nishii, Kaoru Fujiwara, Ai Hashimoto
- Genre Drama, Thriller, Mystery
- Available on No streaming locations found.
How to Become Myself
(あしたの私のつくり方)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2007
- Director Jun Ichikawa
- Cast Riko Narumi, Atsuko Maeda, Mariko Ishihara, Yoshizumi Ishihara, Yoshimasa Kondo, Kaoru Okunuki
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Blade Runner 2049
Thirty years later, there's a new blade runner in town.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, United Kingdom, Hungary • 2017
- Director Denis Villeneuve
- Cast Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Harrison Ford
- Genre Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Apple TV Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
The Favourite
Two cousins compete viciously for the favor of their Queen.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, United Kingdom, United States • 2019
- Director Yorgos Lanthimos
- Cast Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn, Mark Gatiss
- Genre Drama, History, Comedy
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
Bohemian Rhapsody
Fearless lives forever
- ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2018
- Director Bryan Singer
- Cast Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzello, Lucy Boynton, Aidan Gillen
- Genre Drama, Music
- Available on FXNow, fuboTV, Apple TV Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand
Joker
A failed stand-up comedian is driven insane, turning to a life of crime in chaos in Gotham City.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada, United States • 2019
- Director Todd Phillips
- Cast Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Shea Whigham
- Genre Crime, Thriller, Drama
- Available on TNT, TBS, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Parasite
(기생충)
A poor family lies and schemes their way into the employ of a wealthy household — successfully, but with great consequences.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2019
- Director Bong Joon-ho
- Cast Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Chang Hyae-jin
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Eternals
In the beginning...
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States • 2021
- Director Chloé Zhao
- Cast Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Barry Keoghan, Lauren Ridloff
- Genre Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
- Available on Disney Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Midsommar
Let the festivities begin.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, Sweden • 2019
- Director Ari Aster
- Cast Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, Vilhelm Blomgren, Isabelle Grill
- Genre Horror, Drama, Mystery
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy