Lost In Translation

Kitade Shokudo

My friend Al is friends with, Shige, the owner of Kitade Shokudo, a nice little taco restaurant on the East side of Tokyo not far from Kanda with a cool vibe..

Margaritas all around.

We had shrimp marinated in chipolte sauce tacos on the large platter and a mix of steak, shredded herb chicken and chorizo sausage on the other platter with garnishes of salsa, onions, avocado and cilantro. Not exactly authentic, but more fusion-like with corn tortillas.

Sakura 2016

Some shots of the cherry blossoms from around Tokyo-Harajuku.

Shibuya ku on Meijidori.

Back at Yoyogi Park.

On Meijidori again.

Happy Go Lucky

Happy Go Lucky is a little Mexican restaurant near Minami Asagaya subway station near where I am moving. I stopped by while in the area and had the tacos rice set lunch ¥850 that comes with soup and coffee. I expect to be a regular and plan to try some of the other dishes at dinner.

Blackmail Is My Life

I was first introduced to Kinji Fukasaku through Battlel Royale and the Battles Without Honor and Humanity yakuza series. I have seen a couple of others and now want to see more after reading a retrospective about him in the last issue of Film Comment. First up is Blackmail Is My Life (1968). It is a story of how four friends got into the blackmail business to make money rather than be suckers who work hard for little pay and no respect. There is an inevitable fall from grace.  But I think the value of this film lies in the new wave feel of the sets, props and effects, like freeze frames, flashbacks in black and white that draw to mind comparisons to early Seijun Suzuki.

Maximum Bob

Elmore Leonard died a few years back and I am trying slowly to make my way through his oeuvre-I've enjoyed several already and Maximum Bob (1991) is no exception. It is set in Florida-like many of his novels and has the usual great dialogue, descriptions, and characters-good and bad. Maximum Bob is a racist, womanizing judge who sometimes abuses his power to get favors and finds himself a target for assassination. Some of the bad guys are familiar to me, there are two members of the Crowe clan (Elvin and Dale)-who are frequently found in the Rayland Givens stories. However, this time the protagonist is a very competent divorced Cuban-American, Kathy Baker, who saves the day. A fast and entertaining read. There are still several Leonard novels in the waiting.

Prisoners

Prisoners (2013) is the second Denis Villeneuve film I have seen (the other being Sicario) and I continue to be impressed. This, almost three hour, crime drama has some interesting twists and turns and it more satisfying tome than Gone Girl. I think this might have something to do with the fact Villeneuve uses frequent Coen brothers cinematographer Roger Deakins to create a sense of dread through the cinematography-it is an impressive outing. Hugh Jackman plays the resourceful father of a kidnapped child that takes the law into his own hands-not trusting the red-tape respecting ways of the law. The star detective in charge of the case is played by Jake Gllyenhaal. I will continue to work my way through Villeneuve's body of work after reading an interesting article about him and last year's Sicario in Film Comment. I'm not sure how he remained under my radar for so long-a true talent behind the camera. Perhaps, it is because he comes across a more traditional mainstream director rather than an art film auteur. Looking forward to seeing more film by Villeneuve in the near future. 

Out Of The Past

I read some admirable things about Jacques Tourneur's classic film noir, Out Of The Past (1947). It is a classic tale film noir with Robert Mitchum in his prime as the hardboiled Jeff who falls for the feme fatale, Kathie (Jane Greer) while on a job for a wealthy boss (Kirk Douglass). However, the story is told in flashbacks as we meet Jeff in the present where he is hiding out in a small town trying to invent a new life for himself, but trouble has come looking for him and it is gradually revealed why he had to go on the lam. It has great dialogue, locations, acting, and a clever script. Suffice to say they don't make them like this anymore.

Machibuse

Hiroshi Inagaki's Machibuse (1970) is an all-star historical period piece that gathers the biggest stars of the 60s together for one final hurrah. Once again we have Toshiro Mifune playing the bodyguard (yojimbo). He save Okuni, Ruriko Asaoka, from her drunken husband and the retire to a tea house where most of the action unfolds. Genetsu, a burly doctor, is played by Zatoichi star Shintaro Katsu. There is also an appearance of 60s heart throb Yujiro Ishigara as Yataro. The plot is somewhat convoluted and little happens until the final 30 minutes or so. However, not my favorite samurai film, but entertaining enough.

Map Of The Invisible World

I very much enjoyed Tash Aw's debut novel, The Harmony Silk Factory, so I anticipated liking his follow up, Map of The Invisible World (2009). It is yet another fascinating look at Asia, this time the action takes places in Indonesia rather than Malaysia. There are several stories that insect throughout the novel both those of native Asians and Europeans who have come to see the island country as their home. The setting is 1964 in Sukarno's increasingly unstable state-"the year of living dangerously"-as it was portrayed on film. One story is that of the separation of two brothers orphaned at a young age-Johan is adopted by a Malaysian family and later his younger brother Adam is adopted by a Dutch man, Karl, who feels that Indonesia is his spiritual home. I wonder if these boys represent a metaphor of how the boy reflect the respective countries reactions to independence form colonialism. I don't know enough about either country's history to confirm this suspicion. During the troubles, he is mistakenly seized by soldiers and may be headed for repatriation to Holland. Adam searches out a long lost fiend of his father's Margaret Bates. It is here that Adam gets caught up with revolutionary students from Margaret's university, Din and the beautiful rich girl would-be Marxist, Z. Aw does an admirable job of giving each character a distinct personality and world view. He also does a good job of recreating "the year of living dangerously."

Charlie Bubbles

Charlie Bubbles (1967) was written and directed by Albert Finney and was brought to my attention by the positive review it received from Renata Adler in her book A Year In The Dark. In fact she named it one of the Best 10 of 1968. Finney stars as Bubbles a working class man that has skyrocketed to literary stardom, but seems to be alienated with his success and the trappings of upper class life that is punctuated by lunch with smarmy businessmen and exasperated help. Not much happens he runs into an old friend has a bender, picks up his young American secretary (Liza Minneli's first role) and drives off to the North of England to visit his ex-wife and spend time with his young son. There's an overall sense of ennui, not unlike other European films of the day.