It'll never make anybody forget "Casablanca" but it was interesting in a couple ways. One, the exteriors were shot in Japan probably around 1948 so you get a pretty good idea of what Japan was like right after the war. Two, they use Japanese actors, primarily Sessue Hayakawa and Teru Shimada, and people speak Japanese. Kind of neat hearing Humphrey Bogart say, "Doku ikkimashou ka?"
Also, Hugh Beaumont, aka Ward Cleaver, has an early scene as an Army officer giving Humphrey Bogart a hard time for coming back to Tokyo.
It'll never make anybody forget "Casablanca" but it was interesting in a couple ways. One, the exteriors were shot in Tokyo probably around 1948 so you get a real good idea of what it was like there right after the war. Two, they use Japanese actors, primarily Sessue Hayakawa and Teru Shimada and in scenes with Japanese everybody speaks Japanese. Kind of neat hearing Humphrey Bogart say, "Doko ikkimashou ka?"
Also, Hugh Beaumont, aka Ward Cleaver, has an early scene as an Army officer giving Humphrey Bogart a hard time for coming back to Tokyo.
The Force Awakens,Spoiler — click to reveal so did I when I realised Mark Hamill was just a non-speaking extra and Alec Guinness aged better when he was at that age playing a Jedi.
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
Nonetheless I am looking forward to Episode 8 and 9. Kylo Ren's character has more depth than Anakin Skywalker's. Can someone revive Darth Maul, by the way? :fingerscrossed:
Eyeyore wrote:The Force Awakens,Spoiler — click to reveal so did I when I realised Mark Hamill was just a non-speaking extra and Alec Guinness aged better when he was at that age playing a Jedi.
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
He'll have more lines in Episode 8, I'm sure. Almost couldn't recognise him when he appeared.
Eyeyore wrote:Nonetheless I am looking forward to Episode 8 and 9. Kylo Ren's character has more depth than Anakin Skywalker's. Can someone revive Darth Maul, by the way? :fingerscrossed:
Anakin could have been such a glorious character, sigh.
As for Kylo Ren... ehhh... Spoiler — click to revealhe came across like a bit of a thwarted child throwing a hissy fit. Maybe part of it was the writing but I didn't think much of the actor either. I know Ren hasn't finished his training, so hopefully Episodes 8-9 will make him a more interesting, darker character.
Anakin could have been such a glorious character, sigh.
As for Kylo Ren... ehhh... Spoiler — click to revealhe came across like a bit of a thwarted child throwing a hissy fit. Maybe part of it was the writing but I didn't think much of the actor either. I know Ren hasn't finished his training, so hopefully Episodes 8-9 will make him a more interesting, darker character.
Still, The Force Awakens is a fun romp.
Spoiler — click to revealI thought Kylo Ren's scenes were deliberately disappointing because the audiences' benchmark of evilness is Darth Vader's standard. At least his character invoked our disappointment. When i look at Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley, I thought they could have been better as Anakin and Amidala respectively.
Yeah, Luke Skywalker in Episode 8.......he must lose more weight. No Jedi knight should look like Santa.
Eyeyore wrote:When i look at Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley, I thought they could have been better as Anakin and Amidala respectively.
Yeah, Luke Skywalker in Episode 8.......he must lose more weight. No Jedi knight should look like Santa.
Speaking of losing weight, Carrie Fisher's Leia looked plump and old... REALLY old. :bleh:
She looked more like Han Solo's mother instead of his wife...
Daisy Ridley (:muack:) and John Boyega really propelled this episode, even though some of the plot looked somewhat similar to the original Star Wars.
I've seen it twice already and might go for the trifecta. :mrgreen:
Finally watched The Force Awakens last night. There was not enough build-up in the relationship between Rey and Finn. I only realized what the script writers were going for after I saw how they reacted when they were about to part. And there was hardly any time about the force, they are really relying on the magic of the original movies. It's hard to be immersed in the Star Wars universe based on this movie alone.
Saw an interesting movie the other night entitled East Side Sushi. The story takes place in Oakland; the main character is a culinary-talented chicana who is hired at a Japanese restaurant, first as a dishwasher and then when her skills are revealed, as a cook in the kitchen. However, she wants to become a sushi chef but despite the mentoring and encouragement of one of the sushi chefs the Japanese owner refuses to allow her the opportunity. She's not male, and she's not yellow. Authenticity and tradition are what he constantly preaches.
These issues of authenticity and tradition re: sushi are squarely addressed in the movie. They are also topics which I'm sure sushi lovers at some point mull about.
In one scene from the movie the protagonist accuses the owner of selling a false impression to his clientele. There are three sushi chefs working the sushi bar, but only one is Japanese; the other two are Korean and Chinese. The implication is as long as customers see a male Asian face, they are assuming they are getting "authentic" sushi. Having a Latina working the counter shatters that image. That is illustrated in another scene where a customer tells the owner he patronizes this restaurant because it is authentic, and he hopes it remains so--the customer says this when he spots the protagonist surreptitiously preparing a plate of sushi.
The movie does reinforce one valid point: sushi is constantly evolving, not in terms of improving but in terms of expanding its traditional menu. And that is not something sushi traditionalists should fear; maguro, hamachi, inarizushi, and tekka maki are not going away anytime soon.
Flipping thru the channels this morning and they were showing "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia".
I remember seeing this when it first came out and thought it was one of the worst movies ever.
So I did some checking on Wikipedia and found it is now considered a "cult classic". I guess if something gets old eventually it will be called a "classic" no matter how big a piece of crap it was. :crazy:
Watched a documentary, Mifune: The Last Samurai (2016).
While the subject is of course Japanese and most of the people interviewed are Japanese, this is not a Japanese film. It was directed by Japanese-American Steven Okazaki, who co-wrote it with Stuart Galbraith IV. The narrator is Keanu Reeves.
It's a good introduction to Toshiro Mifune, but its focus is fairly narrow. The only films discussed are jidaigeki ones, and all but one were directed by Akira Kurosawa.
Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese are the only two non-Japanese interviewed.