A sequel to my dearly departed 8-year-old blog, Ä Canuck in Emperor Akihito's Court"(http://haruhiko.blogspot.com). Back home in Canada but still have those ties to Japan after 17 years' residency there.
Found out from the exiled Anime Chamberlain this past weekend that an anime series that I had watched last summer, "Madoka Magica", has its movie version scheduled for showing right here in Toronto at the Cineplex at Fairview Mall next week. May explain the strange increase in pageviews for my posting on it.
I'd be interested in not only watching it for the bizarre clash of animation styles and just to be able to understand it via the miracle of subtitles (saw the series that The King had lent me via USB without any, and my Japanese isn't too good on the esoteric stuff), but also to see who comes on out to watch this anime.
I will reiterate..."Madoka Magica" ain't your Precure franchise, despite the cute girls.
Well, I saw my 2nd Oscars in as many years last night. And well, Seth MacFarlane....I'll cut to the chase here. He wasn't great, but he wasn't the worst host either. And he was better than Billy Crystal was last year. I think we had been all forewarned about MacFarlane's frat boy humour, and he definitely proved it with the now-and-forever infamous "Saw Your Boobs" song-and-dance. To be honest, I had no particular problems with the humour....at least, the jokes that didn't land with a thud. But there was a bit of a desperation with Seth as the night wore on, especially when the show went beyond its mandated 3 hours. Apparently, the ratings were quite a ways up when all was said and done, so there is a pretty fair chance that he may be asked back, and while I was watching it, I was actually tensing up whenever he showed up just to see and hear what other terrifying thing might emanate from his mouth. But then again, I wouldn't be surprised if the producers decided to keep on searching. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey hit a grand slam apparently at The Golden Globes, something that Seth pointedly did not do.
Still, it was nice to see Shatner ham it up, MacFarlane bring back some of that ol' time big band glitz that he loves so much, and even some of the stars get into the act like Charlize Theron and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.Christopher Plummer was class personified, and Barbra/Shirley/Adele brought the house down, especially Dame Bassey with "Goldfinger". She's older than my Dad but she just slammed that song out of the park. It's too bad that the so-called Oscar tribute to James Bond was just quick cuts of the movies and a couple of songs by the orchestra. But Sir Sean is too frail and Pierce is probably too embittered. The Les Miserables cast performance was fine until Russell Crowe burst in when it truly became the miserable. And I was getting desperate when I was witnessing Paul Rudd and that lady from "Identity Thief" bombing as they were trying to present an award. But I guess that's what audiences also wanted to see.....who will soar and who will die.
I think the Oscars reflects not only what the fashion is like for the year but basically what pop culture is like. In our current time of reality show programming and lowbrow humour, getting a lot of nasty jokes and "WOW! He actually said THAT?!" moments on the biggest show of the Hollywood year is part and parcel. It's probably what we deserve although I have never and never will watch a (sur)reality show. But when I see a terrified Ben Affleck throw an irritated verbal missile at Seth (who is probably the first host in a while since David Letterman to have already had a built-in list of celeb haters, thanks to "Family Guy" ) and Salma Hayek come out to present with a plastic smile after Seth had made a pretty insulting introduction about her linguistic abilities, I kinda wonder if it's time for the next host to not only bring back old time music but to bring back some form of old time class to the proceedings.
Well, it's been about a couple of days since the big snow hit the Kanto Region. And the consequences are starting to befall commuters. Yup, the traffic on the major highways has been snarled up....kinda like looks like the Gardiner Expressway here on a bad day...which is usually everyday. But the NHK report also told of over 1,500 incidents of people falling over on the sidewalks or floors since Sunday. Looks like it's not just cars that need the chains....and yep, tires in Japan often get the chains for snow driving. I haven't seen chains here on car tires since the 1960s....and that was through ancient Canadian Tire catalogs. Anyways, I'm not laughing....we may be getting some of the white stuff as well in a few days. It would be appropriate, though....NHL season is coming back on Saturday.
As soon as I entered the living room this morning, I caught the news on NHK that director Nagisa Oshima had passed away from pneumonia at the age of 80. His name is not particularly a household one on this side of the Pacific. But for some of the veteran cineasts out there, he was the auteur who had directed the controversial "In the Realm of the Senses" back in the 1970s and "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" with David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto in 1983. Never saw the latter one, but I remember it making news for the fact that Bowie was in it, and at the time, he was hitting another peak in his career in his incarnation as MTV-friendly pop star. Sakamoto was also cruising fine as one-third of the Yellow Magic Orchestra back in Japan. Actually for me, the theme song, also created and performed by Sakamoto, is the most well-known part of the movie for me.
Not sure how long this video will stay up on YouTube, but here is a series of commercials that the director actually appeared in. Some of them match the image of zaniness that Japanese commercials have cultivated. But that was the thing about Oshima. As one of his friends pointed out today on the news, Oshima had no taboos about anything. He showed that in his movies, his interviews (his friend also remarked that Oshima would fight with anybody anywhere anytime), and even the commercials. He may have been an intimidating high-level director but his ego wasn't so big that he would pooh-pooh the idea of appearing in a TV ad.
I used to see him in my early years in Japan on TV shows regularly. At the time, I hadn't even known it was Nagisa Oshima. I saw this cheerful, talkative old guy as a panelist on a number of game shows, not realizing that this was THE Nagisa Oshima. Still, when I finally did see him at work in some documentary footage, he was the scariest sumbitch. He probably had the power to reduce yakuza to tears if they didn't act like he ordered. People did not cross this man intentionally.
There was a Saturday night program called "Hammer Price" which was hosted by the comedy duo, Tunnels (one of whom is Takaaki Ishibashi, who had his brief 15 minutes of Hollywood by playing the insane baseball import in the last few movies of the "Major League"franchise). It was an auction comedy game show of sorts where the studio audience could bid on some crazed piece of pop culture whether it be a sample of bathwater that a buxom actress had sat in or Robert DeNiro's attempt at calligraphy (both true). Well, one night, someone bid and won the opportunity for his child's graduation ceremony to be filmed by Oshima himself. And Oshima actually did it....with crane shots and all of the energy and anger that he brought to all of his other projects. It was quite the scene...no pun intended.
Anyways, I leave you with the theme from "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" which is one of the de rigueur Xmas tunes heard everywhere in Japan during the Holidays.
And this is "Ai no Corrida", the Quincy Jones disco tune from "The Dude". It's one of my favourite songs from that era of R&B, and the original version was written by Chaz Jankel and Kenny Young. "Ai no Corrida"was the original Japanese title from Oshima's "In The Realm of the Senses", and according to Jankel in his first album, he decided to adopt the title for the song.
Still catching those old movies on Turner Movie Classics from time to time. Saw one movie from the Torchy Blane series....apparently, the sassy reporter character was the inspiration for one Lois Lane later on. "Fly Away, Baby" was barely 75 minutes and even for a movie from those days, it was done on a shoe-aglet budget. But what was interesting about this one was the last third of the movie was about this worldwide race between two very rich fellows of which one leg was by zeppelin. Considering that this flick was released in 1937, I guess the production must've happened before the Hindenburg disaster. Also, one of the stops was Frankfurt, Germany and one scene showed one zepp with the Nazi emblem on the tail. Otherwise, the movie was a pretty fluffy amuser with the characters just hamming it up with no care about an Oscar...basically what anyone would imagine a 1930s comedy-adventure movie would sound like.
Then, just today I found out from Wikipedia that a lot of the original radio broadcasts and perhaps even the original TV broadcasts of "Dragnet"in the 1950s were out in the public domain, so people can download them to their hearts' content. I didn't bother doing so but I did watch the very first episode of the first season of the Jack Webb police classic, complete with the legendary theme song, right from YouTube.
He's Joe Friday...he's a cop....partner's Ben Romero...he's a sergeant....as Joe is....Chief of Detectives is Thad Brown (played by Raymond Burr!)....and this is the pilot!
The pilot is indeed interesting....just for the fact that the episode takes place within only two rooms, and the guys get their hands very dirty.
The one sure thing about the Holidays, other than gaining weight, is the intense ritual of meeting up with friends and family. Did the Kinton thing on the 26th, and today I met up with Shard for lunch at the Madison Avenue Pub. Especially on a cloudy and cold day like today with all that snow on the ground, the Mad is a great place to meet for talk, beer and lunch. As usual, the two of us talked at length about movies and the writing process.
Shard brought up something that author Stephen King had written in his book about writing. Apparently, King has no love for the adverb. As an English teacher who would defend the sanctity of the Past Perfect Tense, for even an author like King to pooh-pooh a major grammatical ingredient irked me. However, I don't think it's that King wants the adverb to be banned. He just feels that the adverb is too much of a crutch for bad watered-down writing.
Case in point: The old man with a cane walked haltingly down the street.
The old man with a cane shuffled down the street.
Now, if I ever do get around to writing that great Japanese-Canadian novel, I will use the adverb...but sparingly. There are plenty of amazing verbs out there, too.
The menu rather led me astray, though. I ordered my usual wings....the menu has been updated and re-worded. I saw the options for the chicken wings as "1 lb" and "2 lbs with fries". Well, I used my mental conversion meter of fajitas and thought that the one pound would be enough and order fries as the side item. My waitress seemed a bit nonplussed by my order since she thought I was making my decision based on the cost....which wasn't the case at all. As it turned out, my 1 lb of wings was smaller than what I'd ordered in the past. The 2 lbs was my normal order. Lesson learned. I may head back there next week for penance. But I did tell Shard that I would take him to Kinton next time since he has yet to try the ramen there.
And despite having taken my cold medicine before leaving the apartment this morning, regrettably, my nose was still running like a broken faucet all throughout our lunch. Luckily, Shard and I have known each other far too long to care really. Still, it was uncomfortable to have to reach for ragged Kleenex every thirty seconds for a nose that felt swollen inside.
Tomorrow will be a mega-outing. I'll be meeting my old friend from my Japan days, The Satyr, for lunch down at a Chinatown institution, Kom Jug Yuen. He's been back for the Holidays for about a week but his family lives quite a ways north of Toronto. And then later on, I'll be meeting up with Automan and his group for dinner. Apparently, earlier in the day, the group will be splitting into two with one team catching "The Hobbit" and the other team seeing "Les Miserables" at Silver City. I've already seen one and I have no interest in seeing the other, so I will be catching them after their viewings. As for "The Hobbit", the word on the street about this 48 FPS gimmick seems to be rather negative. I was OK with it but I won't be crying in my beer if it did get the hook.
Friday December 28, 7:46 p.m. (All photos from Flickr)
Since Jack Klugman's passing, there have been a few more departures from this mortal coil. The King of Character Actors (what the press releases have been describing him as), Charles Durning, passed away. Usually with the prolific and respected character actors, viewers will point, snap fingers and exclaim "OH! Where did I see him? What was his name again?" But with Charles Durning, a lot of times people would known him by face and name. He's played many, many roles but I will always see him as the burly cop....both bad and good.
courtesy of
jpequal1
I knew General H. Norman Schwarzkopf from Desert Storm, of course. And of course, the media were more than happy to give out tons of details about him. Had no idea that the man had been sick, but it's been years since I had heard anything about him. Obviously, CNN, BBC, CBC will be talking about his military achievements and how he earned his stars. But for me, I remember a story about the time he proposed to his then-girlfriend by stating plainly that she would probably never get rich marrying him but that he promised he would keep a steady roof over their heads.
courtesy of billh
And then I was surprised to hear about the reluctant father of Supermarionation, Gerry Anderson, passing away. I was never a fan of "Thunderbirds" or the other examples of marionettes playing military heroes, and supposedly he wasn't too thrilled, either. But the theme song and "Thunderbirds are GO!" are etched into my memory. "Thunderbirds" is practically a legend in Japan.
But there were also his live-action series such as "UFO" and "Space: 1999" which were also part of my childhood growing up. The former often scared the bejeebers out of me and the latter thrilled me in the pre-"Star Wars" era. And being somewhat attuned to theme songs, both of those programs' songs are still pretty fresh in my minds.
I mean, especially with the theme for "Space: 1999", there must've been some serious ganja being passed around in the scoring room to come up with that theme....even in the era of progressive rock. Brilliant! Too bad the show hasn't dated all that well.
And since it is a Friday....and in the middle of The Holidays, for that matter....why not a disco mix?
I was about to sign off for the night when I came across the headline that Jack Klugman had passed away. I knew that the man was well on in years, but it still kinda hit me about his death, especially so close to Christmas....as corny as that does sound.
Jack will always be Oscar Madison to me. I knew he'd had a career on TV, movies and stage long before the TV version of "The Odd Couple"came out and became the long-running hit on ABC. But that Noo Yawker face and voice which could show hilarious anger and a goofily adorable smile at the prissy Felix Unger (the 70s Sheldon Cooper) was a vital ingredient to that sitcom's success. I remember certain scenes with pristine clarity: when Oscar went on a sleepwalking rampage because he was trying to suppress his usual frustration at Felix, when he was trying to play the drums, when he had to deal with another frustration in the form of his slouchy secretary, Myrna Turner.
I also watched and enjoyed most, if not all, of his episodes as the famed TV medical examiner on "Quincy". Though humour did pop up in the show, sometimes his character's fiery earnestness kinda made me wish to take another viewing of his old sitcom. Certainly, SCTV's Joe Flaherty often liked to take a poke at Quincy because of that.
Having talked about "The Odd Couple", there is a "Twilight Zone" episode, "In Praise of Pip" that will always come across as one of the most poignant, throat-lumping ones in the history of that legendary series. Klugman had done a number of episodes for Rod Serling, but this one had him as a low-rent wheeler-dealer who gets in too deep to survive AND finds out that his son has been seriously injured in Vietnam. The ending is a killer. Not too many episodes of any show can get me to start the lachrymal fluid flowing, but this would be one of them.
It was good to have known ol' Jack. Hope he and Tony get together for an eternal blast.
Turner Classic Movies have done it again. The channel pulled out another movie that hadn't seen the light of day publicly in almost half a century, and has aired it twice: last Saturday and today. I was just lucky that I put it on just 10 minutes into the coverage.
"A Carol for Another Christmas" is Rod Serling's 1964 modern take on "A Christmas Carol" via a television movie. Basically, it comes out as an extended episode of "The Twilight Zone", Serling's masterpiece. Even at the time, it was boasted as an all-star production about how one embittered Daniel Grudge rails for American non-interventionalism years after his son is killed in battle. And that's when the Ghosts of Christmases come in. Basically, it's a promo for the United Nations and the striving for world peace.
Considering the UN's reputation nowadays, my eyes rolled a few loops but it was interesting to see for the star power. I did mention that even at the time it was star-studded, but that didn't include some of the supporting cast who have gone on to become very familiar faces or even screen legends. There was Sterling Hayden, who I remembered as the crazed general in "Dr. Strangelove", and the shocking appearance of singer Steve Lawrence as the tell-it-like-it-is soldier Ghost of Xmas Past. And the stars just kept on rolling in: Eva Marie Saint, James Shigeta, Pat Hingle, Robert Shaw from "To Russia With Love" and "Jaws" as an almost unrecognizable Ghost of Christmas Future, Ben Gazzara, Percy Rodrigues, and the stunner....Peter Sellers as a loony leader with an American accent in a post-apocalyptic civilization. All on TV, shown just once. It was basically done as a stageplay with large sets and stage as it was done way back in the early days of television, and the sermonizing was laid on pretty thick, especially by a considerably slimmer Hingle as the gluttonous Present. And Steve Lawrence seemed to have been channeling Captain Kirk's cadence, a full 2 years before that character actually made it to screen.
Definitely an interesting take on the Scrooge tale. And it's notable that there hasn't been any videos of it on YouTube, except for the Henry Mancini theme.
Been a while. I've always wanted to take a look down here, so last Friday I took the Parliament 65 bus past my old neighbourhood of nearly 40 years ago, St. James Town, and Cabbagetown. Finally, I got off at the Distillery, an area that I've heard so often about over the year I've been back in Toronto but had never visited. Much like Cherry Beach, my old images of the area consisted of deserted fields and old sugar mills. Obviously, not anymore.
The weather was frankly un-Xmas-like. Balmy for December and so of course, not a flake of snow to be seen or felt. But with the Market finishing up on the 16th, I couldn't wait for the weather to make things appropriate. And of course, being the morning, the atmosphere was that much more un-Xmas-like (Christmas markets are probably far more festive in the evening with the illumination on). Still, with a bunch of high school kids having fun, and scenes like this one to the left here, the Market did have its charm.
I also got a chance to partake in my first stollen. I'd seen a program back in Japan which featured the famous German dessert being sold at the Xmas markets over there. This one I bought was actually produced in Peterborough, but I wasn't complaining at all. I think for those folks who treat the annual fruitcake as a seasonal punchline would probably enjoy a stollen far better. The texture is between that of a cake and a bread, and it has a slight sweetness instead of the hazy booziness of a fruitcake. It'd be perfect for dunking in coffee.
I enjoyed my little stroll through the Market, but next year, I'll see if I can come during a meteorologically appropriate night, although some of the weather folks are saying that a snowless December is probably gonna be the norm in T.O.
Later in the evening, I met up with The Anime King and The Anime Bishop over at Empress Walk in North York to catch "The Hobbit". I was never all that much of a Tolkienite, but I did catch the entire trilogy of "Lord of the Rings" with MB in my Japan days and enjoyed it. But like those three movies, "The Hobbit"was one of those movies that I probably wouldn't have gone to see if I hadn't been invited. We definitely got the full effects with this movie. Peter Jackson had thrown in the 48 frames/second gimmick (not ready by any means to call it a revolution), and it was in 3D.
First off, I saw the 9-minute prelude for the next "Star Trek"movie. Yep, happily, it was much better than the similar presentation for "Tron: Legacy". Still, I'm not sure if it was a prelude or if it's something I'm gonna see as part of the main movie next May. J.J. Abrams is continuing to knock down sacred cows....hasn't killed off any other major characters yet but he's got the Enterprise going as the 23rd-century's most famous submarine. Looks like fun, although from the prelude, I wonder if this version of the franchise seems to be emulating a space-age version of "American Pie" with a less horny bunch.
As for the main feature, "The Hobbit"did its job. The 3 hours whizzed by quickly enough; never looked at my watch even once, although I think the first several minutes could've been easily cut. I guess Jackson still has that problem that he had with "King Kong"several years ago. Now, as for that 48 frames per second....well, it didn't make me nauseous at all, but it did feel like I was watching a giant video presentation of a BBC drama. And although the characters' faces didn't look exactly like moving representations of craggy topography, they took on a more detailed hue which may be potentially interesting if the gimmick is ever used in some of the legendary dramas such as the ones by Shakespeare. Still, I'd love to see Clint Eastwood or Tommy Lee Jones being filmed that way.
Still no snow out there and we're approaching the midway point of December. Would like at least a White Christmas or failing that a White Doomsday on the 22nd. The snowsweepers were probably having orgasms last Sunday when they got onto the roads to get rid of some sleet...that's how desperate it is.
Went out to the local walk-in clinic to get that free flu shot with Mom. Not a problem....just fill out a form (since it was our first time there), show the OHIP card and get the needle. We did our due diligence and waited 15 minutes just to make sure that neither of us were going to start convulsing; I felt a bit warm but nowhere near what the average mug of beer does to me. The Star was free today as well; nothing wrong with that....considering that I never got that with the far thinner "The Japan Times" back in Ichikawa.
I'll be out all day tomorrow....rather nice since I now have my work and personal life under the same roof. I'm going down to The Distillery district near Parliament and Front Sts to take a gander at this Christmas Market that's been there for the past few weeks. The event will be closing up shop on Sunday. I'd been hoping that there would be snow by now, but since that won't happen anytime in the next few days, I'm gonna head on down and take some pics. Maybe pick up a fruitcake or if I'm very lucky, a Baum Kuchen. Baum Kuchen is basically a giant iced roll cake that is far more well-known in Japan than in Canada...used to buy the convenience store version a fair bit on the way home from work.
There is a bakery right on the Ginza that I used to see during my strolls on the main street on a Sunday when it was closed off to vehicular traffic that made Baum Kuchen in the display window. Someone had the foresight and the equipment to film it above.
In any case....trailers. I'm off to see "The Hobbit" tomorrow with The Anime Court. But I've already seen a couple of trailers that will be preceding the main feature via the Net. Both movies I will be anticipating with some enthusiasm.
Of course, being a semi-retired Trekkie (i.e. I actually did get a life of sorts), I was keen on seeing what this "Star Trek: Into Darkness" was all about. The 2009 feature was a big success to the movie-viewing public at large, and more polarizing amongst the Trekkies....so I guess J.J. Abrams' take was the anti-"Star Trek V"...but I enjoyed it as being a far happier lark than the funereal final flight of "The Next Generation" crew a decade ago, even though the story of Jim Kirk's fasttrack promotion was hilarious at best. However, the trailer for the next entry with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto looks like it's veering truly into "Dark Knight" darkness. Not sure if Benedict Cumberbatch (any distant relation to Englebert Humperdink?) is playing a souped-up Khan Noonien Singh or Gary Mitchell with a Patrick Stewart fetish, but it appears Abrams will be doing some more sacred cow slaughtering. Considering that this cast is the first "Star Trek" crew that has never come up from television and that most likely they probably won't wanna do 6 films, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the beloved characters get phasered out (et tu, Pavel Andreivich?). There are swan-diving starships but didn't see any space scenes in this trailer. Maybe they've still yet to be fashioned out in post or Abrams is holding his cards close to his chest. Apparently, tomorrow before "The Hobbit", there will be a 9-minute prelude concerning this movie. Just hope that it's not like the thing that came out for "Tron: Legacy" a couple of years ago.
Then, there is "Man of Steel" under Chris Nolan's aegis. Several years back, I'd seen "Superman Returns" with Brandon Routh, and felt underwhelmed although a bit of that nervous rationalization crept in just like when it had when I finished seeing "The Phantom Menace" (that was....kinda good, wasn't it? Well....wasn't it?). It looks like Nolan and Zack Snyder may be taking a few pages out of "The Dark Knight" playbook here as well. Certainly, having Kevin Costner's Jonathan Kent answer of "Maybe" to young Clark's"Should I have let them die?" has got me intrigued. And then there is the poster of Superman being led away in handcuffs with a military squad surrounding him. The marketing folks are working this, people. I also read that the John Williams' theme will not be back, but then again, I think the producers are going for a completely clean break from their predecessors.
Not a huge Tolkien fan, although I did see all of the original trilogy for "Lord of the Rings". Case in point, the only thing that got my blood even remotely racing was reading that Sylvester McCoy (the 7th Doctor Who) was in "The Hobbit".
Yup, the Xmas season is once again upon us. The weather is cold outside but very little snow....just some white embedded in the sidewalk cracks, and that'll be disappearing by tomorrow due to a jump in the temperatures. (Up to 11 C?! Good Grief!) However, just about every shopping mall has got its Santa taking care of terrified moppets, and the annual Christmas Market has started up again down at The Distillery.
It also means for me that urge to watch the old black-and-white films on TCM; it's kinda like the urge for adult salmon to swim upstream again to breed. Whenever the Yuletide is nigh, I gotta watch Bogie, Bette and Cary again. Not sure what it is...perhaps it's that psychic connection amongst old movies, Xmas and jazz that gets me.
I got started a day ahead of schedule with a 1949 flick that wasn't quite a Film Noir....more of a Film Grise. Titled "Red Light", it starred George Raft and Virginia Mayo. However, I was quite surprised to also see a young weasley Colonel Sherman Potter and burly psychopathic Perry Mason up to no good. Yup, Harry Morgan and Raymond Burr had supporting roles in villainous roles before they became good guys on television. As I said, it wasn't quite the Film Noir that it had hoped to be. For one thing, not all of the roles were irredeemable, and there was a definite good end. Not a particularly great film, but it does its part on a cloudy day.
Then, this morning I caught "The Judge Steps Out" with Canadian actor Alexander Knox as a burnt-out Boston judge who just ups and leaves his high-class family and finds bliss as a short-order cook in desert California. I had thought it would be another one of those romantic comedies with the improbably happy ending, but it actually did so on a very bittersweet note....stress on the bitter. As one commenter put it, it was ahead of its time.
And I caught another one in the RKO movie series of "The Saint" by Leslie Charteris. Decades before Roger Moore ever put on the halo, George Sanders played the suave antihero. I never caught his Oscar-winning performance in "All About Eve"; I remember him from his guest roles on TV playing Mister Freeze on "Batman" and another nemesis for Jim Phelps to put down in "Mission: Impossible".
Give it another few days. I'll probably be catching "Holiday Inn" and "Miracle on 34th Street" in no time. Ah, there are also the various episodes of Xmas for "SCTV".
Well, after all that talk on religion vs. science on Sunday, I had lunch with my brother's family and then it was off to see some of The Anime Court at the Cineplex near Eglinton and Pharmacy, near old Magder Studios where they had filmed part of the legendary comedy series, "SCTV" in the early 80s.
I ended up watching "Skyfall" again....it's pretty rare that I watch any first-run movie twice, but I think the latest 007 caper is worth a repeat look. It's definitely a few levels higher in quality than "Quantum of Solace", which I'm slowly warming up to, but the fact is that compared to this one and "Casino Royale", the second Daniel Craig movie will always come out as a bit of a slump. One critic said that the middle movie was the producers' failed attempt to fast-track Craig's 007 from rough-around-the-edges blunt end of the stick to suave-and-sophisticated killer elite. "Skyfall" was more successful from that angle. I mentioned to the bunch at dinner afterwards that Sean Connery had been approached to play the role of Kincade that Albert Finney eventually got. They were quite surprised but came to the conclusion that Sir Sean's inclusion would've been too distracting. Perhaps, but I would've been personally thrilled to see the very first....and still best....James Bond coming in on the 50th anniversary of "Dr. No". A few of the lines from Finney sounded as if they had been made specifically for Connery. However, I have the feeling that Connery is probably no longer quite well enough to do a cameo now.
After the movie, the six of us all headed out for that Korean/Japanese BBQ place Chako out in Agincourt. It cost each of us $27 but since it was all-you-can-eat which included a lot of variety in beef, chicken, pork and lamb, plus sushi and dessert, I'd say the cost/satsifaction ratio was very fair. And unlike Bulgogi Brothers, the large table has two, instead of one, burners, although arguably the latter place had a better quality of meat. However, with a bunch of friends, it's always more fun to go with the all-you-can-eat option. Apparently, Xmas has started over there since the seasonal music was playing on the speakers.
Had that dinner with Sam and Ed last night. But I decided to hitch a ride with Dad a few hours earlier, so he kindly dropped me off at St. Clair Station. However, although that November gloom was out there, since it was not raining, I decided to take that long walk down Yonge St. instead all the way to Dundas. Yonge St. is never boring as one passes through the patrician uptown area and then into the still-slightly grotty downtown between Bloor and Dundas. Took a look inside the new Silver Snail....definitely a lot smaller and much more centered around the comics more than anything else. After that, it was a long browse in the neighbourhing HMV.
Met up with Sam and Ed at about 5 last night. The sun had already gone below the horizon by that point. Ed brought up the idea of catching "Skyfall", the latest James Bond outing. I'd expected that I would watch it sometime in the next week, but heck since he was offering. Beforehand, the three of us grabbed dinner at a burrito joint on Queen West on the way to the Scotiabank Theatre. Good burrito and Dr. Pepper for $10.93....despite the rapid-fire requests from the cooks, I could give my order without stumbling. We also passed by CP24 HQ where I caught intrepid reporter George Lagogianes talking into his cellphone. He always reminds me of FBI agent Booth on "Bones".
"Skyfall" had its premiere here in Toronto yesterday. Considering that Ed got tickets for general non-reserved seating, I thought that it was gonna be a mad rush for seats, but strangely enough, we could get some decent chairs not too far away from the screen. As for the movie itself, it was a solid 3rd outing for Daniel Craig. I think just like his 007, "Skyfall" was great, different, a bit flawed and complete by the end. I'm not gonna give anything away especially since it has just started its first run, but I'm still wondering if it's as good as "Casino Royale". And I think Javier Bardem's Raoul Silva could've made a better henchman than the chief villain. Although I believe that Craig is signed on for a total of five movies, I think this movie seals up a trilogy that one could say showed how the initially very rough-hewn blunt end of the stick became the world's most famous movie spy. Everything's now in place for the next two outings. And if I may say, it's nice to see Ralph Fiennes in the role that he was given. Very different from his time in the "Harry Potter" series...obviously.
Getting home wasn't too bad for a Friday night on the TTC. I'd been expecting a packed subway with a bunch of drunken rowdies and a long wait for the bus. Instead, it was surprisingly very empty on the subway, especially from Bloor northwards, and I got my bus within 5 minutes of getting to the station. Mind you, someone did end up showing us his dinner, mid-chyme state. It was obvious that much alcohol was involved according to the slightly sweet smell of his stuff.
Tried to think of a witty and punny heading for this entry, but couldn't, so I settled for just the direct if boring title.
Yup, I heard about what happened. Mickey Mousebought out that whole galaxy far far away with its droids, Jedi and Sith. In all likelihood, the gang on "The Big Bang Theory"is probably having a very heated discussion over their Chinese takeout. And geeks are either dancing in their basements with their plastic lightsabers or they're walking the streets in horrified Munch-like zombie states.
Like Harrison Ford right now, I'm cautiously optimistic about the possibilities of a new "Star Wars"trilogy starting from 2015, although I am wondering if that funny postcard above is more truth than fantasy (you can see a much better image at Flickr...just type in "Disney Lucasfilm". For one thing, George Lucas will no longer get anywhere near the set lest he wants to face the wrath of Donald Duck. For another, after suffering through the prequel trilogy last decade, it couldn't get any worse. I just remember coming out of the Shinjuku theatre after catching the first midnight showing of "The Phantom Menace"in July 1999, and anxiously checking with my comrades, "That was good, right? I could enjoy it....yes....really...really?" I took the weekend off for a round of deep rationalization, only to be assaulted by "Attack of the Clones"when I finally admitted that the franchise was in big trouble.
Not sure what a future trilogy will be like. Will it follow the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn or will it go into a completely new direction? No idea....but all I hope for is a good story and script. No more Ewoks, no more Jar Jar Binks, and no more "Yippee"-yelling future Dark Lords. Perhaps if the Mouse House can actually salvage "Star Wars", maybe they can start on "The Old Republic"or even re-boot the ridiculous prequels.
Well, completed an all-day translation stint assigned by the boss yesterday. Was glad to get that done. Trados is still a bit of a monster to contend with at times. I haven't heard anything from him since I handed it in late last night, but he told me that there may be some pretty big projects coming in soon. But in the meantime, I will enjoy my possibly brief respite.
I've been hearing some good buzz about the latest 007 movie, "Skyfall". It's coming out on Friday; considering whether to catch it in the morning since I'll be seeing Sam and Ed for dinner later that day. Plus, I get to stick it to ol' MB back in Japan since he's the biggest James Bond fan that side of the Pacific.
All seems to be quiet on the White House front after Obama's supposed stunning victory back on Tuesday. However, he's gonna have to contend with this Fiscal Cliff and even more immediately, the disaster in New York and New Jersey. The poor people there had gotten walloped by Sandy last week, and now they've been assaulted again by a nor'easter. And speaking about assaulted, what is up with Donald Trump? I used to respect the guy for his candor and his resilience in terms of his ability to come back from financial adversity, but now he just seems to be ranting like dictators on the verge of getting their comeuppance.
As I said last entry, my class and I had watched "The Dark Knight" on DVD. It still holds up well and is easily the best of the trilogy by Chris Nolan. It really did elevate itself beyond the typical comic book movie and into a crime movie. Comparisons with this one against Tim Burton's"Batman"(1989) were going to be inevitable. I guess both movies reflected the socioeconomic realities of their times. When Burton made his Dark Knight, there was still enough of the decadence of that decade that filtered into his vision of a grotesquely romanticized view of life in Gotham City with fedoras and fantastically grotty structures...kinda like smashing together Art Deco society and contemporary urban life distorted through a funhouse mirror. Jack Nicholson's take on The Joker was grand farce and Grand Guignol....a lot of laughter and he made sure that if someone died, he died noticeably....burnt into bacon or with a forced smile on his face. All that almost subsumed Michael Keaton's dour Batman....heck, even the stylized Batmobile threatened to do that. And then there was the Danny Elfman soundtrack which had the over-the-top mix of Transylvanian horror and 1940s thriller radio serial feel to it. It was the first soundtrack album that I absolutely felt compelled to buy since "Star Wars".
Then, almost 2 decades later, there was "The Dark Knight"under Christopher Nolan. It was much more down-to-earth. Gotham City could've been New York City or...as it truly was....Chicago. People watching could relate to the sparkling skyscrapers, the grungy ghettoes and the organized crime....and even the citizens, although one of them had a penchant for wearing a rubber-and-armour batsuit and bashing criminals. Heath Ledger's Joker seemed not to have had any of the resources that the 1989 Joker had. Just knives and lint...and the odd tommy gun which he used for spree killing, a type of murder that even plagued Japan one year. Just like the city he violated, this Joker was relatable....a psychopathic terrorist leader with a Ph.D. in strategy and salesmanship. But what made him truly scary was that there was no origin story for him unlike his predecessor. No name, no accident, and he shifted his past 2 or 3 times in the course of the movie. He didn't want money or political change....he just did all that he did because he simply was The Agent of Chaos. However, as much as Ledger almost stole the show (and got that Oscar posthumously), Christian Bale could hold his own and had his own personal and professional matters to chew on. The technology that his Bruce Wayne had at his disposal was at least theoretically plausible. I could see more people asking where to get a Tumbler than the 1989 Batmobile. Whereas Keaton and Nicholson butted heads as Good and Evil from within the pages of a graphic novel, Ledger and Bale were two disturbed fellows battling each other for Chaos and Order. Overall, "The Dark Knight"adopted a much more stripped-down approach. Even Hans Zimmer's score was minimalist but effective. His theme for Batman centered on two ominous notes with added nuances depending on the mood. That's quite something for Zimmer when I remember that he was the guy behind the "Backdraft"soundtrack.
I like both of these movies done in the styles of their decades. And I'm pretty sure that there will be another series of Batman movies in the near future. I will be interested in seeing how the next auteur will approach this one. Will it be more of the down-to-earth or will it return to a more escapist and gothic feeling? Or will it head in the direction of Adam West?
Well, I really needed to catch "Looper"before it left the main screens since I heard so many good things about it. The other movie I'd wanted to catch, "Dredd", has apparently already done so according to The Anime King. Fortunately, "Looper"was playing at the Silver City on Yonge & Eglinton, so it just meant a straight bus ride for me. And of course, if I'm going to see a movie at Silver City, I will usually have lunch at one of my favourite haunts, The Sunset Grill. Being a Tuesday and all, the place wasn't all that crowded...a bit unusual to see since I've been used to seeing it packed to the gills.
Kinda surprised my waitress when I ordered a Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich instead of my mess of Corned Beef Hash, Sausages and Eggs. But the spirit of my doctor was niggling me, so I decided to go for the relatively healthy route. And as you can see on your left, there was actual vegetation on the dish. But I made sure there was the obligatory cup of joe on the side. The sandwich straddled the fence very nicely between tasting good and tasting healthy. Was awfully tempted to get that side of hash, though. The total came to $10.27 with tax...perhaps a bit high for a sandwich, but it was a damn fine sandwich. Gave the waitress a $5 tip; I only had the $10 and the $5 with me for lunch, and: 1) I didn't want to bother to ask for change, and 2) she was a good waitress, and I know from some personal experience how demanding the job can be.
Of course, to make it perfect for the urban lunch, I had to have my newspaper with me. I would've been happy with either The Star or The Sun, and since this was the issue just after (former) Premier Dalton McGuinty's resignation, there was a lot of red meat in there. Kinda surprised that there wasn't more vitriol or celebration. Not thrilled with McGuinty's seemingly final F.U. against the Legislature by proroguing it (why do I keep thinking of Ukrainian pasta shells whenever I mention that governmental term?), but I guess he decided he needed to make one final stab at protecting his party over the needs of Ontario. In any case, the sign hanging at Queen's Park is now "Closed until further notice".
courtesy of artistbyday from Flickr
Then, it was time for the feature of the day. "Looper"has gotten some fine accolades from the critics, and certainly having it launch TIFF back in September couldn't have hurt either. I was interested in the sci-fi premise of organized crime dumping their detritus through time instead of concrete, and there were two veteran stars in Bruce Willis and Jeff Daniels, plus the new royalty of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt.
I'd been expecting a future noir, near but not quite on the level of "Blade Runner", and there were aspects of that via Young Joe's voiceover, the time travel aspect and the tragedy. But there were a lot of very sunny scenes and the final scene had that hope that also punctuated the last scene of "Terminator 2", so I couldn't really say that it was a true future noir, but nonetheless it was overall a fine movie although there was some threat of sagging in the middle. The quasi-philosophical discussion that the two Joes had in the diner rather nicely foreshadowed the final showdown. In addition, the technology didn't get in the way of the story which, I thought, changed focus from the Joes to the future Rainmaker. Not quite sure whether this is a future DVD buy or an Oscar movie, but I think it was well worth my dough.
It was another Sunday of foodie-ism and anime with The Anime King back on the Thanksgiving Monday. The anime menu consisted of a couple of episodes of "Smile Precure"and the final episode of the zany "Joshiraku"...certainly hope that the producers will think about another series for that last one.
However, the theme for this entry is connected with the anime that I'm currently watching. The 2006 series of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" has been fun and is keeping me on my toes in terms of the overall story arc. Mind you, the chronological Episode 7 was far more of the goofy comedy that Episode 0 had been. I caught Ep 7 this afternoon, and I found it a bit of a nice respite considering what I'd seen on Monday.
Over at the King's house, he showed me a Season 2 episode which was vital to watch before he showed me the movie "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya". Then it was on to the main feature. Over the months, The King had been telling me about the glory of watching this movie. After first watching Episode 0, aka "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina", I was rather wondering if The King had been exaggerating about how good this movie was.
But I have to say that "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya"was about as far away from "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina" as "The Quatermass Experiment"was from any episode of "The Big Bang Theory". Although I have read differing opinions on the movie since I'd watched it, I have to say that it did deserve the accolades it has gotten as a masterpiece of the genre and the clear anime winner for 2010.
The plot itself wasn't original. The idea of the protagonist (in this case, Kyon) waking up in an alternate world where all of his friends have gone has been in a lot of Hollywood flicks from "It's A Wonderful Life" to at least a couple of episodes in the "Star Trek"franchise. But the director told the story well. There was a definite upgrade and improved fluidity to the animation compared to the TV series which hadn't been any slouch either. Camera angles and movements seemed to emulate those used in live-action pictures which added to the upgrade. And the director and writers made a very bold move by making "Disappearance" absolutely dramatic. Film versions of anime TV have always tended to bring over the basic patterns of drama interspersed with goofy comedy, but this film almost completely eschewed any opportunities to inject (with the very tiny exception of Mikuru being dressed in a Santa suit) any humour into the proceedings. Any of the verbal sparring matches between Kyon and Haruhi were kept as such.
The other bold move was to yank out the title character who had been the heart of the series for most of the movie. This would've been insanity in other productions, but in this case, the ploy worked because the other half of the power duo, Kyon (the soul of the series), was taking on the burden of carrying the movie. This was a Kyon story, as he (and we) discover over the span of 2 hours and 45 minutes that all that has happened is due to him and his feelings about the SOS Brigade. It's truly a large arc as the initially grumpy Kyon comes to the realization that he needs and appreciates the motley group of friends that he's had for several months.
But at the same time, it's a Yuki Nagato story as well. The emotionless artificial humanoid interface has been the brains (and at least in one TV episode, the brawn) of the operation, and at least to me, her arc was even more interesting to watch at points as her story starts to resemble that of Pinocchio....after he gets turned into a real boy.....while Kyon becomes George Bailey and Marty McFly. As I eventually discovered her role in the story, there was definitely a feeling of pathos surrounding her, and seeing the subtle emotions that surface on her face in her completely humanized form made her the most deserving of our sympathy. Both arcs finally converge at the end of the movie as both Kyon and Yuki still get something new from each other. And I was left wondering at the end of the movie, if Kyon's romantic directions have gotten further muddled and even though she reverted back to her old self, whether Yuki may have evolved a little.
"The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya"left a lot of philosophical questions for me to mull over which is often a sign of a good movie.
The 50th anniversary of the James Bond movies has arrived, and not surprisingly, one of the movie networks was showing the first two movies with the latest 007, Daniel Craig. I enjoyed "Casino Royale" immensely (despite the theme song), and the debut of the really tough Craig did much to redeem the title from the 1967 weirdness. I wasn't as enamored with "Quantum of Solace" but after seeing the whole thing again today, things may be looking a bit more up to me. Initially, perhaps I hadn't liked it as much because it just seemed a little less exciting than the first movie. But now, I think the first sequel may be more along the lines of Sean Connery's 2nd outing as Bond, "From Russia With Love", which I actually do like. The second movie is more focused on the internal dynamics within Bond and within his relationship with people (especially with M). Unfortunately, outside of his boss, people who did get to know him tended to end up dead in "Quantum".
My favourite of the whole bunch of those select actors was indeed Sir Sean. The saying goes that people tend to choose their Bond from the one they grew up with. Well, I think it is more accurate to say that I chose my Bond from the one I saw on TV. Roger Moore was the one I grew up with but it wasn't until his very final outing in "View to a Kill"that I actually saw a 007 flick at the theatre. I was weaned on Connery from watching a lot of ABC Sunday Night Movies via his appearances in "Dr. No" and "Thunderball".
I will be catching "Skyfall" when it comes out. But first I've got to catch "Looper" and "Dredd", the latter more because I got the request from Movie Buddy back in Japan.
2012 is started to seem like the Year of Celebrity Deaths. Every year has its share of famous folks leaving this mortal coil, but it just feels like this year has had an especially big bumper crop. I mean, just a couple of days ago, it was crooner Andy Williams.
And now it's actor Herbert Lom. Unfortunately, I only came across a small rectangle of an obituary in today's Toronto Sun, although admittedly it's been a few decades since the heyday of "The Pink Panther"series, but I loved the first few entries. I've only known Lom almost only for that series (the only other movie I've seen him outside of it was "The Ladykillers"with Sir Alec Guinness). His harried portrayal of the increasingly insane Chief Inspector Dreyfus was one of the highlights of every movie. In the very first "Pink Panther", he, and Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers), played it both quite straight which reminded me of how the similar series "Get Smart"started off with Agent 86 and The Chief.
But then from "A Shot in the Dark"onwards, it was total mayhem between the two. A couple of my favourite highlights: in "A Shot in the Dark", after one near-meltdown by Dreyfus, he calmly asked his assistant to help find his nose. And then in a later entry at a sanitorium, Clouseau had to rescue his old boss from the pond and while he was administering mouth-to-mouth, a couple of old ladies physically remonstrated the pair for indecent activities. Just some classic comedy.
I heard he passed away at the age of 95. Hopefully, it was a good life as well as a long one.
