Gran Day Out!

I had a pretty good day at work with a lighter schedule than usual and only one surprise lesson that wasn't on my timetable (or I forgot to pencil it in.)

After work, I headed over to Movix to see a ファーストデイ flick (the first day of the month is only 1000￥ all day) but since there wasn't too much to see, I saw the newly released movie,
グラン・トリノ グラン・トリノ (Gran Torino) with Clint as Walt Dirty Harry Kowalski (new release...HA! It's released on DVD next month!) Great movie with a star performance by Ahney Her though her little brother wasn't quite up to snuff. Very few dry eyes at the end of it (self included, truth be told.)



I hadn't eaten dinner, so I walked into the Mall supermarket for a bite to snack on and lo and behold: THREE NEW KITKAT FLAVOURS at only 258￥ a pop!

First up カスタートプリン (Custard Pudding) that is not new at all as that link will attest, but the package is horizontal as opposed to vertical. Tricky little devils!







Next up is 抹茶 (Green Tea) which has also been recycled. Only this time, they rook you into buying an Assortment Pack which includes only 4/13 minis with the other 9 as regular Chocolate. It tastes better than I'd remembered though!




Finally, there is チョコ & ローズ (Choco and Rose) which is completely original yet again an assortment of 4 Rose and 10 Choco. It has a slightly acerbic taste, not unpleasant but not overly rosy either. Oh well, at least I got 4 mini wafers for my 768￥! Definitely good news for my Bridge Club who will have a surprising donation of 19 Choco-KitKats at the snack table...


Just so I could munch on my din-din without creating too much din, I also picked up a Rookies Popcorn set. From the poster, it looked like a box of popcorn and a drink with the Rookies label, so I was hoping for a collectible cup I could take home. Alas, they were naught but paper, though to make up for it, I received 3 postcards. Too bad I've never come across a Denny's in Sendai, or else I could get one of these!

Before hopping on my bike, I popped into a UFO Catch facility (Friday is half price, don't ya know) to see what's new and I grabbed one of these with my first try!

On The Cinematic Front...

I rarely finish early on a Thursday so tomorrow I hope to go see a movie on メンズデイ (Men's Day) for the bargain price of 1000￥ (about 10 bucks.) Let's see what choices I have, shall we...

First up is おっぱいバレー (Oppai-bolley which translates as Boobs-Volleyball) I don't know what it's about but based on the website, there's only 2 women in it. Who's boobies exactly are being volleyed about? Don't want to chance it.



There's a new
名探偵コナン or Conan the Detective, but it stars the anime character, not Arnold, so I don't think I'll go see it. I am collecting the Mac's Happi Settos though!


I've never been a big fan of
クレヨンしんちゃん (Crayon Shinchan) so that's out too.



Not sure what 鴨川ホルモー (Kamogawa Horumo) is about, it looks like Kung Fu Nurses or something...not appealing.



ある公爵夫人の生涯 or The Duchess is ending this weekend so it's my last chance. Or maybe I'll wait till it's on video.



クローズZERO II (Crows Zero II) appears to be more Kung Fu-lary with a bunch of punks, no thanks.



レッドクリフ Part II (Chi bi xia in Mandarin or Red Cliff) looks rather exciting, but there will be no English and only Japanese subtitles to help me understand it. But it's a John Woo flick, so how much comprehension is necessary? Gotta see Part I first though.


The only other choices are a couple of American flicks, The Bank (The International-yawn) & Twilight. Twilight is a possibility, but I'm no teenager and she's no Buffy!

Thus I suppose I'll wait until next week to see:

天元突破グレンラガン (Gurren-Lagann), no idea what it's about but that poster looks awesome.



Rein-foru, ame no kiba or Rain-Fall starring an all-Japanese cast and Gary Oldman as a CIA guy.



Though I suppose my best bet isグラン・トリノ (Gran Torino), that is if I'm off early next Thursday. Can't go wrong with a retired Dirty Harry!

I Wish I Were an OSCAR Meyer Winner.

Now that the frenzy of National Gorilla Suit Day has died down and since we're in the middle of Admissions testing AND I have all my work done, it's time for a little post I'd like to call:

MY OSCAR PICKS & PREDICTIONS (including any Japanese or Canadian connections.)












First up, the Host: Ellen Degenerate (ooh, you know this will be snide when someone calls her that!) Don't really like her. Saw her backstage at some awards show a few years ago and found her to be extremely un-funny. But she does have a popular Day-time talk show and others seem to find her amusing, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Prediction: several lame jokes about the Trump-Rosie feud. Oh, and maybe (just maybe) there'll be a joke about speeches going on too long!

Best Motion Picture of the Year

First we have Babel. Haven't seen it and don’t know much about it. But it has goats, many different settings and, from what I’ve heard, a startling performance by Rinko Kikuchi. It’s up for 7 nominations, so I’m sure it’ll win something...I’m hoping it's Rinko for Supporting Actress. It won the Golden Globe (GGs) for Best Drama and it gets an extra point on my likeability meter for having a character named “Mike Jones” in it.

Next up is The Departed. Scorcese's latest gangsta flick is a remake of the HK flick, Infernal Affairs (which is a great title...the “Departed” refers to Catholics who spend time in Purgatory, sort of lost on all us Protestant boys & girls.) Nice cast, Leo, Matt, Jack & Mark plus several Sopranos rejects. I hope to see it tonight and maybe my enthusiasm will be increased threefold for it, but Best Picture...nah. But they'd better emulate the GGs and give the Director nod to Marty before he starts doing Family films.

Letters from Iwo Jima is my personal pick for best pic. I’ve commented on it before, and suffice to say, I loved it. Good acting, cinematography, sound, FX, etc., not a snoozing moment throughout. Could have used a few more wacky Japanese jokes. The best running gag is about the Sergeant who couldn't blow himself up.


I saw Little Miss Sunshine on the plane and it had shocked the heck out of me that I'd enjoy it so much. I don't think it ever came to theaters over here and if it did, it disappeared quickly. I suspect the Japanese title will be renamed “Little Miss Fattie”. I liked Arkin and the dad, Kinnear, but the daughter was outstanding. She's nominated for Best Supporting but should be up for Best Actress.




And finally, The Queen. I thought it might be a biopic for Scott Thompson, but it appears to be about some Majesty they have over in England. I like Frears as a director and Helen Mirren and James Cromwell are swell actors, but I think this one has too much competition to win. If it does scrape out a win, it'll probably be released here, otherwise it'll be Arthouse fare in a tiny Shibuya theater. (Remind me to give you a Princess Di anecdote sometime.)

つづく (to be continued...)

Pika-Pika,ne! ぴかぴか、ね！

Ahhh the shiny, glittery lights of Tokyo in all her glory. I just took this picture from the top of the Roppongi Mori building in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo. (Actually I just stole this pic off the Net from a guy who took this picture from the top of the Roppongi Mori building in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo.)






This is a cool sculpture of a spider outside that building in the park. Creepy!








But I was in Roppongi Hills last week to eat with DJ Mark Saito and Yuko. We ate at an Okinawan restaurant and we indulged in a few tasty morsels. (This pic is of a 獅子 Shi-sa-, an Okinawan good luck charm to ward off demons.)









One of the fishies we ate had its crispy little head still attached and here I am crunching away at it.




Later that night, Mark played a jamming set of Reggae tunes at one of his local bars. He was grossly overshadowed by the other more experienced Reggae aficionados, but he cranked out a ripping set regardless.

In between dinner and jamming, I remained behind and saw a movie. I got to see "Letters from Iwo Jima" with English subtitles. Roppongi Hills carries the only subtitled version in Japan and there is only one show per day. (It still wasn't packed but was comfortably full.)

I see that Letters won the Golden Globe for best picture and it certainly deserves this honour. Clint captured the angst and spirit of the Japanese soldiers gloriously and it's hard to believe that he also directed the saccharine "Flags of Our Fathers".














If the Japanese decide to retain the kanji for their movie, (硫黄島からの手紙) they had better change it for their Chinese neighbours. The kanji for Iwo Jima is "Sulphur Island" and for 手紙 (te-gami) is "Toilet Paper". So the movie title in China would be "Toilet Paper from Sulphur Island". Come to think of it that title stinks on many levels!

You can see a trailer in Japanese here: Iwo Jima

Tomorrow World.

Last Thursday on Men's Day, I went to see Flags of our Fathers. A nice looking picture, pretty good action scenes but ultimately it was dull, dull, dull. You know that the movie you're watching is uninteresting when you notice, "Wow, the costumes in this movie are great. They're sure to be nominated for an Oscar." I plan to see the "sequel" next week, "Letters from Iwo Jima." I hope the Japanese characters will be more interesting than the American ones, even if all the dialogue is incomprehensible to me.










But the evening was not a total loss, for I had a few hours to kill before the flick, so I watched another movie. I love メンズデー because movies are only 1000 yen. I saw とゥモローワールド, the Japanese title for "Children of Men" based on the PD James novel about a dystopian future set in 2027, where no child has been born for 18 years. This was the most depressing movie I've seen in years and I loved every minute of it. The future of a devastated world where terrorism reigns and England is the only sovereign state still in existence was truly bleak and there wasn't a single redeeming character in the movie.

Guernica by Picasso is one of the few works still in existence in an art gallery for the rich.







Michael Caine portrayed a retired Political Cartoonist who grows his own ganja and he was the only one with an ounce of humour about him. Word of advice...Don't pull his finger!

Iwo Jima: From Both Sides.

A few weeks ago, Flags of Our Fathers was released over here and it ends next week. On Saturday, a follow-up picture, Letters from Iwo Jima premieres here. Clint Eastwood has done an admirable job of telling the story of the flag raising from both sides of the picture. I've got to go see Flags and Letters before they disappear from our shores. (In an unrelated aside, I'm watching Kelly's Heroes starring Clint as a gung-ho commander who robs a bank of 1.6 million in gold bullion behind enemy lines. Unofficially remade as We Three Kings in my opinion.)

But good old Clint is in the minority of directors who portray the Japanese in a positive light. He approached Councilor Shindo Yoshitaka in 2005 with the intention of telling the story of the flag-raisers. Mr. Yoshitaka (who has a personal stake in the project: his grandfather General Kuribayashi Tadamichi, was handpicked by Emperor Hirohito to lead the defense of Iwo Jima) had grave concerns about the Republican Dirty Harry making this picture. Will it be another rehash of Sands of Iwo Jima starring another Hollywood tough guy, John Wayne (who never served a minute in the military) or something different for a change?

Reviews have been positive, so I'm looking forward to making a judgement for myself. Stay tuned...

But forget all that for now. Let's sit back and reminisce about simpler times. When the Japanese were portrayed as buck-toothed, begoggled savages and the Americans as the heroes come to save the day...Yup, it's time for some more Propaganda Posters from WWII. (I mean, tomorrow is Dec 7th and we all know how that ended up for the Yanks don't we?)