Lost In Translation

Scoop

Scoop (1941) is another classic satire by Evelyn Waugh that sends up newspapermen, especially foreign correspondent during the pre-war years in Africa. it is based partly on Waugh's own experiences as a correspondent in Abyssinia, which is now Ethiopia. It seems Waugh was posted there because he had traveled there and and had read a half dozen or so books on the country-making him an expert despite his unfamiliarity with journalism in general. It is another case of mistaken identities, dreadful conditions, an innocent abroad, clueless leaders, and ignorant incompetents trying to cover a cou'd etat in Africa. In the published version I read there were letters from Waugh to various people that suggested many aspects of the novel were born from true life experiences that Waugh had as a correspondent. Perhaps more about being a foreign  correspondent than working on Fleet Street, but they get a bollocking as well. It is typically entertaining Waugh.

The Counselor

On paper it seemed that such a confluence of talent couldn't miss: a screenplay by Cormac McCarthy (whose No Country For Old Men proved so entertaining), an all-star cast (Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penelpe Cruz, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, etc.), and proven director Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner etc.). The result for The Counselor (2013) is uneven at best, one of my favorite critics Andrew O'Heir called it the worst movie ever made, obviously he didn 't see The Howling III. I don't think it's the worst movie ever made, but it is a mess. This is the first time I didn't like Bardem and Fassbender (terrible accent) in a film, Diaz is overrated and over the top here. The dialogue is pretentious and overblown. The pacing is slow and overlong, and there are some gratuitous scenes of sex an violence. It was something that I had to see for myself, and I would say it is a disappointment.

Rocks Off: 50 Tracks That Tell The Story Of The Rolling Stones

Bill Janovitz wrote an interesting 33 1/3 series book on The Rolling Stones landmark album Exile On Main Street. In his new book, Rocks Off (2013) tells the story of the Rolling Stones. The book is divided into three sections that reflect three distinct line ups, the early version was the Brian Jones era, followed by the Mick Taylor years, and finally the Ron Wood years which has been the longest. Janovitz admit if he was writing this book about the album he has found worthwhile it would have stopped at 1981 Tattoo You, but this is a history and a critical appraisal, but there is a good deal of analysis about what makes the songs successful. I made a play list of all the tracks and listened as I read about each particular track.  A well-researched and fascinating look at a band that is still together more than 50 years later.

Lightning

Lightning (1952) is another collaboration between underrated Mikio Naruse and Hideko Takamine. In this film Takamine plays Kiyoko, an unhappy bus tour conductor living with her mother and three other siblings from four separate fathers. She is trying to establish herself as a young adult in life but there are complications at home with her wayward siblings. She is disgusted with their bickering, begging, self pity, and poor life choices. She finally decides to go off on her own and this causes consternation with them and her mother. Naruse's world is often bleak, but there is a moment of hope as Kiyoko connects with her mother but on her terms. Perhaps she can live apart and still help and respect her mother, but from a distance here the wayward ways of her other siblings won't affect her everyday life and she can plan for the future and have hope to marry and have a normal, stable family life-unlike her self-pitying, but wronged mother.

BFI: M

I was aware of the reputation of Fritz Lang's M, when I saw Jean-Luc Goddard's Contempt, in which Lang had a role. This inspired me to finally see the film and I found it to be a powerful, classic film. Anton Kaes, a Chancellor's Professor of German and Film Studies at the University of California Berkeley, looks at the film in the context of its cultural history and analyzes the books social and symbolic energy. The book is divided into six sections. The first is "Berlin, 1931" gives the cultural and societal context of the film made in the Wiemar Republic. a short time before the Nazis take over the government and a time of social upheaval and economic depression. Chapter Two "Serial Murder, Serial Culture" discusses the importance and/or popularity of serial murders in society. In Chapter Three "Total Mobilization" the author discuses the different society organizations that are searching out for the child murderer: police, criminals, beggars, etc. In Chapter Four "Before the Law" the finals acts and conclusion of the film are discussed in context of things that were going on at the time. The last chapter, ""Los Angles, 1951" discuses the 1951 Joseph Losey film noir based on this film. There is also an appendix that publishes for the first time M's missing scene.  It is another well written and researched BFI film analysis of a classic.

An Autumn Afternoon

An Autumn Afternoon (1962) was to be Yasujiro Ozu's last film and it is very representative of the personal style that was his hallmark. Here we have a story about the dissolving of a family where a widower marries his daughter off. There are the usual  "pillow shots" of exteriors, hallways, smokestacks, baseball stadium lights, etc. used to transition between scenes, the low "tatami" camera angle, frontal close ups of characters as they speak, ellipses of major events (in this case a wedding) and artistically framed interior shots. There were a couple remarkable aspects to this film, for example, there was some talk about the war and one character suggests to another that it was a good thing that Japan lost, to which the other agrees. They are vindictive, but merely stating a fact which reflects how easily Japan focused their efforts on modernization rather than war after their defeat. There were several other scenes where women were telling men to do their own chores, and another where a husband is doing the cooking, which is somewhat of a modern conceit and different from the typical homemakers that populate Ozu films. The Criterion DVD also includes an informative commentary featuring David Bordwell, author of Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema, excerpts from "Yasujiro Ozu and The Taste of Sake" a 1978 French television program looking back on Ozu's career, featuring critics Michel Cimet and Georges Percec, and a booklet with new essays by film critic Geoff Andrew and scholar Donald Richie. This is certainly one of Ozu's best and most entertaining films.

Under The Jaguar Sun

I have been a fan of Italo Calvino since college when I read the fascinating If On A Winter's Night A Traveler, so when I read in the Mexico Lonely Planet that he had written a story that was an ode to Mexican food I knew I would have to read Under The Jaguar Sun (1986). This collection of three stories was meant to be a larger collection of stories about the five senses, however Calvino died before the completion of the series. The first story, "Under the Jaguar Sun," delivered and then some with a treaties on taste that made me want to immediately book a flight to Mexico. I like the fact that Calvino includes references to Mexico's bloody past before and after colonization. The other two stories, "A King Listens" (about hearing) and "The Name, the Nose" (about smell) also have their virtues-a lyrical narrative style is among them. This collection was inspirational in a sense since it makes me want to revisit Calvino's oeuvre and read all the other works that I have not read yet (since the only other novel I read was Invisible Cities).

Okubo Matsuri Ramen

Negi ramen at Okubo maturi Ramen in Chiba.

The Autumn Of The Patriarch

When Gabriel Garcia Marquez died I heard a podcast discussing his work and the critic on the podcast chose Autumn Of The Patriarch (1975) as the most representative of his writing. I was intrigued since it is one of the novels that I hadn't read yet, so I decided that would be the next Marquez novel I would read. it reflects all the great lyricism of other novels such as One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love In The Time Of Cholera. It also catalogues the barbarity of the military dictatorships that once dominated South America and most of Latin America. The book is divided into six sections about the eternal dictator and his cruel reign as well as the discovery of his so-called dead corpse at the onset of each section. The sentences and paragraphs are long, flowing, and lyrical. It is truly one of his masterpieces of modern fiction.

Miyazaki

Outside of Miyazaki station in Miyazaki city in Kyushu for the JALT PAN SIG Conference.

Handpritns of famous athletes, Miyazaki is location for many Japanese baseball teams to have their spring training.

At alocal restaurant to have some local delicacies.

Kyushu is famous for its shochu.

Appetizers.

It turns out that one of my favorite chicken dishes, Chicken Nanban, was created in Miyazaki.

Pork and mushrooms.

Miyazaki "Jitokko" chicken.

Miyazaki beef.

More shochu.

Ted and Adam at The Bar.

Hang your bra and drink free all-night.

Miyazaki Municipal University, site of the conference.

Aoshima.

Naoshima shrine.

Miyazaki Prefectural Aoshima Sub-tropical Botanical Garden.