Oscar Balls

I am not allowed to watch movies that do not appeal to my sons. Which means I have not seen any of the films up for this year's Oscars. So the only reason to watch the award show would be to see Cate Blanchett or Helen Mirren, who I believe are the same person. I missed the presentation for best supporting actress, which was okay because Cate lost out to David Bowie. I did get to witness Helen Mirren flow down the stage, however, and proceed to bust the entire male audience with her confidence.

Here Baby, There Mama

I haven't had a hair cut for nine months. Thus the Jesus resemblance. The impetus for growing my hair as long as God can grow it was the Seinfeld episode where Elaine, after seeing an old picture of the guy she's dating, convinces him to stop shaving his head. Upon doing so, they realize that after three years he is incapable of supporting the same luxurious cranium of hair. Knowing that his baldness was no longer a matter of choice, he loses all confidence and Elaine loses all interest. After watching this episode I figured that the next time I was in a situation that allowed me to significantly grow out my hair, instead of Jesus, I would probably look like that hunchback in the Rocky Horror Picture Show who sings the Time Warp.

Meta Groundhog

Every year my family does the same thing on Groundhog Day. We watch the movie "Groundhog Day". This is such an obvious tradition, I'm surprised I haven't heard of other families following a similar ritual. I was also surprised that a cable channel doesn't run the movie over and over again today. I suspect that in the early days of cable there were channels that ran "Groundhog Day" marathons on Groundhog Day but doing so now would be considered a sign of an unimaginative program director.

Wong Kar-What?

My first introduction to a non-Jackie Chan Hong Kong movie was "Fallen Angels" by Wong Kar-Wai. The release of this movie was very big in Japan. Part of the reason was Japanese/Taiwanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro who was already popular in Japan. This movie pushed him beyond heart-throb status and immediately after this movie came out he probably worked on more Japanese than Chinese projects.

I didn't see the movie in theaters and couldn't rent it until demand subsided several months after its video release. I must have watched it at least five times in a row the first day I finally got a copy. In contrast to Jackie Chan movies, Wong Kar-Wai's work is not easily understood, with or without comprehensible subtitles. There is a scene where after a kill the hitman, Leon Lai, gets on a bus and is recognized by an old high school acquaintance who proceeds to try to sell him a life insurance policy. This scene with its juxtoposition of exhilerating violence followed by the extremely mundane is often mentioned in reviews. However, I don't believe the realism and beauty of the images can be appreciated to the same extent as someone experiencing his daily environment unable to comprehend surrounding conversations. Trying to decipher the dialogue in this movie was the same experience I felt trying to make sense of that morning's subway ride to Tokyo Station.

Of the two trailers, I think the Japanese version gives the impression of a movie with more substance, something beyond a violent thrill ride. Is that just a choice of music or a better sequencing of images.

Japanese Trailer


Chinese/English Trailer

Incomprehensible Bliss

I started watching Hong Kong films in Japan shown with Japanese subtitles. Which is the best way to watch the movies. Unless you can read Japanese.

Jackie Chan movies, especially, are much more entertaining when the dialogue is in Chinese and you are not distracted by a comprehensible translation. The plot, even the jokes, are just as easy to follow. However, the script is not covered with the same patina of lameness that tends to tarnish Jackie Chan movies when shown in the U.S.

Batman Did Not Die

I thought I heard that Batman died today. It was information that I relayed to my sons and my wife who then spread the news to the rest of the world. Well, probably not my wife because she is a middle age Japanese woman who did not know who Batman was when I broke the bad news. I had to remind her of the awesome movie we took the kids to a couple of years ago. Which failed to move her until she remembered that was the movie in which the girl from Alias met her husband and how sad because they had a baby just last year.

But I was wrong. It wasn't Batman who died but the guy playing Jack Nicholson in the next Batman movie. So if you've been depressed today after hearing about the death of either Batman or Daredevil, you can cheer up. Unless you are a fan of gay cowboys, which is nothing to be ashamed of.