Eat your heart out, Los Angeles!

This dinky little hole of a town that I call home made movie news today. Looks like they are shooting a few miles from my house.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-02-26-the-box-main_N.htm

Otakus in Love

I need to get back to my earlier habit of posting about obscure but wonderful contemporary Asian films. In said tradition, I recommend the odd little 2004 romantic comedy Koi No Mon, also known as Otakus in Love. For those not familiar with the term "otaku", the word is a Japanese name for people who are obsessively geeky about something, generally a pastime or hobby. More often than not, the term is used to describe anime and manga nerds, and that's what this film focuses on. Directed by Suzuki Matsuo, Koi No Mon tells the tale of the down-and-out manga artist Mon Aoki (Ryuhei Matsuda) who is an outsider even by otaku standards. Rather than drawing manga (Japanese comics), he creates them out of rocks. They are like sculptures rather than drawings. Mon is desperately poor, and while searching for a job he meets the beautiful Koino (Wakana Sakai). Koino has achieved some popularity as a freelance manga artist, but she also obsesses about cosplay, or the hobby of creating costumes like manga and anime characters and playing dress-up. Much wackiness and hilarity ensues as Mon and Koino awkwardly pursue a relationship. Mon is often too strange for Koino (she screams aloud when she first sees the rock manga) and Koino is too cutesy for Mon (he pukes when he sees her photobook of her favorite singer).

It's a silly but delightful movie. Filled with colorful characters and some odd cameos (even subversive director Takashi Miike shows up), Koi No Mon is certainly unlike any Hollywood romantic comedy you will ever see. When I purchased my region free DVD player, this was the first Japanese DVD that I ordered. I chose this based solely on some still photos and a review on Midnight Eye. Thankfully I was not disappointed by the movie. Suzuki Matsuo's candy-colored world sweetly depicts the otaku subculture with the right mix of comedy, silliness, weirdness and love.

bad/good news

The bad (but not surprising) news is that the latest Drago film, Revamped is awful. Just pathetic and awful. Drago has only about 3 scenes and he doesn't even appear until about 50 minutes into the 1hr 25 min long movie. Blech! It's a waste of time and a waste of Drago's talents. It started out being one of those "so bad it's good" movies, but really it's just painful and dreadful and bad.
The good news is that The King of Kong plays just as well upon repeat viewings. It's so great, I encourage everyone again to see it.

Fever for the flavor

Last night I finally watched the latest Wes Anderson film, The Darjeeling Limited. I never got around to going to the theatre for it, and I could kick myself for being so lazy. It's a gorgeous film that looked impressive on our big 50" tv, but it would have really been a spectacle in a theatre. Wes Anderson's last film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, was a bit of a disappointment (bloated and over-reaching, but interesting nonetheless). The Darjeeling Limited is a return to form, a silly and sad tale of three brothers trying to reconnect while on a "spiritual" journey through India. Wes Anderson's careful attention to detail and subtle sense of humor are on full display even though this is not as much of a comedy as Rushmore. Anderson has a polarizing effect on people, fans revere him and detractors revile him for his pretentiousness and snobbery. I'm afraid that The Darjeeling Limited may not win Anderson new fans, but it will be a delight for those who have enjoyed his previous work.

The sets and scenery of the film are rich and sumptuous. The scenes in the dining car of the train will leave your mouth watering for the taste of Indian cuisine. In fact, I'm headed to the only Indian restaurant in my area tonight so that I can close my eyes and pretend. Yum!

Oh, and make sure to watch the short film Hotel Chevalier if you get the DVD. It's fantastic in its own right.

Victory Regina

I think I need to quit going to so many live concerts. I'm too damn old for this.

Regina Spektor was lovely, but the Norva was a terrible venue for her talents. Regina had no backing band, just a Steinway. For a woman and a piano, a venue with seats would be preferable to help assure that the audience gives the artist the proper attention. Not so much at the Norva! I think some of my fellow attendees were a bit confused and thought perhaps they were at a Def Leppard concert or something similar. People talked and shouted at one another throughout while drunkenly text messaging on their cell phones. The audience was appreciative of her talents to a degree, but too many people treated it like a regular rock show.

Still, despite the distractions and irritations caused by inconsiderate human beings, Regina Spektor can sure tickle the ivorys and belt out a tune.

Stealing

I'm not creative. I'm stealing my friend Sam's blog feature. From henceforth you will see a sidebar that lists my current favorite albums.
Tonight I go see Regina Spektor. Though I don't really think of myself as a big fan, a friend hooked me up with tickets. I have been waffling between being very enthusiastic and very indifferent to attending this concert. I guess I had better start getting excited, cause it's only a few hours away now. I honestly would be content to sit at home at watch The King of Kong again, but it looks like that isn't an option.
Tomorrow 30 Days of Night is released on DVD. It's much better than I imagined it would be. In fact, it's a pretty badass little vampire flick. Danny Huston is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors, especially after The Proposition. Also out tomorrow is The Darjeeling Limited. I haven't seen that one yet but am anxious to do so.

Finally, Part 2

Another movie that doesn’t star Billy Drago was released on DVD this week. After a very limited theatrical release in 2006, the documentary Screamers finally hit the streets this week. I saw the film last year when I scored a copy off of Ebay that turned out to be a crummy screener copy that I ended up sending back and getting a refund (after watching it, of course!). Directed by Carla Garapedian, Screamers is a thought-provoking documentary that looks at the Armenian genocide that took place between about 1914-1918 which set the tone for the impending Holocaust. The Turkish people slaughtered the Armenians, then denied that a genocide had occurred. Subsequently, the United States government refused to acknowledge the genocide as such until very, very recently. The film documents the efforts of the Armenian-American band System of a Down to spread the message of the US government’s denial of the genocide across the world. The film contains a variety of enlightening, sometimes harrowing interviews with the activists of System of a Down as well as various historians, journalists (including the Turkish-Armenian Hrant Dink who was murdered early last year) and some of the last living survivors of the genocide.
I do not believe that one must be a fan of System of a Down to enjoy this film, though the heavy sounds of System may be off-putting to some. The music of the band and the politically charged stance they take is only one facet of the movie and its message (albeit a major facet). The film took forever to appear on DVD, but it looks like there are quite a few extras including more System music as well as a tribute to Hrant Dink. Screamers is a fascinating look at a culture affected by war and how our government just loves to forget about, or tries to erase entirely, the past in the most convenient ways possible.