In honor of Top 10 Films’ 1st anniversary~~~
1. First Film: Enter the Dragon
I figured it must be one of my dad’s favorites, since he’s the one who got the tapes and did the recordings on the Betamax from tv broadcasts…
Archives For DVD/BR
I was watching my newly-purchased copy of Strait-Jacket with my father, having a blast — seriously, that movie is a hoot! Can’t really wait to take a look at the extras, and see Ms. Crawford with that ax.
But then, almost at the end of the film when Crawford is wrapping up, my dad goes on and says “Look, it’s Mario Vargas Llosa!” Freezing the image, we burst out laughing.
do you see it? I mean this photo of Crawford in the film isn’t really it. You must see her with her not-a-wig hair from where she is normal. It’s uncanny.
I was re-watching the DVD for Swallowtail Butterfly that I bought after watching the film on YouTube xD – and Because I’m cheap, I bought the Hong Kong version, when the Japanese version comes with English subtitles. I don’t think it’s the DVD per se, but the way it was shot. I don’t really know what it is, it’s scratchy, and it could certainly be because the film is kinda old. However, I would like to see a clean better release by Criterion… of all of Shunji Iwai written and directed films~
A lot of people were mad at the Dead Like Me straight-to-dvd movie, but to be honest~~~ the film wasn’t that bad, except for maybe replacing Daisy with someone other than Laura Harris.
There was this quality about Harris interpretation of Daisy Adair that made you just want to hug her… while strangling her. That quality was missing from the film.
I’m on my Roxy stage, though. I laugh at everything she says.
Did I tell you I finally got time to watch my Dead Like Me collection? I can finally say my Bryan Fuller collection is complete. I went through the first season over the weekend, and I’m going through the second one today. Makes me miss Vancouver.
I didn’t know Laura Harris was from Vancouver xD
My mother knows her as “that girl from 24” xD
It’s day 3 of the Wildgrounds Japanese Film Blogathon! And seriously, I am running out of okay topics to write about, but some of you guys are writing more than one post a day! You guys are non-stop!
First, with the sponsoring~~~
Toma-Uno joined the blogathon with their post on Satoshi Kon — sorry, only in Spanish atm. And since we’re discussing Satoshi Kon, the guys at V Cinema contributed with their podcast on him, plus! A look at Twenty-Four Eyes (aka. Nijuushi no Hitomi), as well as various film reviews… including One Million Yen Girl!
Which reminds me… I haven’t done any Yu Aoi Film Discussion posts in a very long while — just checked, it’s been nearly a year, and it’s been because I wanted to hold-off until I had seen any of her films released this year… or any non-sub film with new subtitles…
But moving on, today’s topic is~~~
Second day of Wildground’s Japanese Cinema blogathon!
First of all, let’s do a recap of the first day~~~ My favorite piece comes from Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow Blog and their post on the first movie theater in Japan. A very interesting read about the ole times xD Plus, Nihon Cine Art has a poll running asking What’s your Favorite Japanese Cinema Era, and What’s your Favorite Japanese Cinema Genre~~~
And a bit on art director/production designer Yoshiro Muraki~ by Nishikata Film Reviews~
I don’t exactly do singles and/or greatest hits albums… but I’m tempted of getting the greatest hits in Deluxe edition… keep the DVD, and give the greatest hits to someone else — after ripping Raise Your Glass new track. LOL
Ahh, Halloween — everyone’s doing lists about their fave scary movies… their fave scary moments, and the reviews of many scary movies. Now, horror isn’t exactly my favorite genre, so I’m not well-versed. xD This is why I’m just ranking the scary films that I own… based on scale of how scared I got. LOL
First bonus first!
The Others
Thought that it was scary, but IMDb is not marking it as horror. However, it is one of my favorite Kidman films/performances — and that old lady in the closet! BAM!
Ah, it’s been a busy weekend, but finally found the time to watch Hard Eight. Here goes to the Potluck! Why do I think about Chinese Hot Pot when I say Potluck? Makes me hungry~~~
First, I must admit that aside from There Will Be Blood and Punch-Drunk Love, I’m not familiar with Paul Thomas Anderson’s work. I mean, Magnolia and Boogie Nights do belong to my “to watch” list — the properly watch, not caught on TV when it was already on one — but it’s not like that list is getting any shorter.
Hard Eight beings with a very young John C. Reilly playing… Well, John being a bum outside one of those American diners, when Philip Baker Hall playing Sydney — which apparently was the original P.T. Anderson title… even though Hard Eight seems like a better title — picking him up, and offering a cigarette. Sydney asks John what’s up with him, and he says he’s broken even from the casino trying to get some money to bury his mom. Sydney asks him what he would do if he gave him $50. Simple John just tells him he’d buy a meal, but Sydney seems to have other plans… he’s going to teach him how to survive with just $50 and head over to Las Vegas for some trick gambling.
However, this is not a film about how John learns the craft, and lives happily ever after. First there’s a two-year jump, and we see John well-dressed, as Sydney plays Keno — isn’t that Bingo? Why the name-change? — They are living the life, but what were Sydney’s motivations for picking John up? It certainly wasn’t for cheap tricks, or taking advantage of him… as John responds “I will f*ck you up if you f*ck with me, ok? I know three kinds of Karate: Jujitsu, Aikido, and regular Karate.”
Oh, yeah~ Three kinds of Karate~
Thought Hard Eight is a bit “okay, I did not see that one coming” as much as it could be predictable, it’s pretty much worth it. I mean, not only because almost 15 years after — feeling old again — Gwyneth is being addressed as Gwyneth (and won an Oscar), and Philip Seymour Hoffman is an Oscar winner, and John C. Reilly is an Oscar nominee while P.T. Anderson is like a what – five-time Oscar nominee?
Hard Eight is the movie for Sydney, you want to know about him, why he does what he does, and in the end – you know, it’s worth it. The acting is convincing, but it just made me realize John C. Reilly pretty much plays that same role over and over again. And… must all actresses play a version of a hooker before they turn to serious acting? It’s Gwyneth… with, it must be some kind of neurosis! She just loved to get in trouble. That incident with the motel and the handcuffs… you must admit it came out of nowhere. LOL
I guess this might be the perfect time to get Magnolia and Boogie Nights~~~
3.5/5
I need someone to discuss this. LOL That ending, I did not expect THAT ending. But I like what I’ve been reading around. I like it a lot, without revealing too much – I like the concept of duality. Even more so considering how it ties with Tokyo Jihen’s theme, which let me tell you – could blow your mind.
[iframe src=”https://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XMzgxMzIxNTky/v.swf” width=”480″ height=”400″ /]
— EDIT —
All the YouTube uploads are going missing (THANK YOU, SONY >,<), so I’m just going to embed this Youku no-so-sync version because it’s the only one I’ve been able to find. In any case, here’s a Portuguese subtitled version on YT.
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Please, let the explanation of the # mean that there will be a second season~~~
Also, Japan! WHY NO OFFICIAL SUBTITLES? The 8eps DVD collection is priced at over $150USD – considering the Yen’s so high compared to dollars now – and no subs? Oh, really?
Sponsor of Heiwa Fansubs will have to do – google “atami no sousakan” and watch the show – they did a great job at subtitling this… in a time when I was uncertain this show would get picked up by any group, they were our saviors! Thank you Heiwa Fansubs~ Please, don’t stream the groups’ subtitles.
