Lost In Translation

Castle Of Owls

Castle Of Owls (1963) is the second film I've seen by Japanese director Eiichi Kudo and it is also his audacious debut. It is a famous ninja tale adapted from a historical novel by Ryotaro Shiba about Iga ninja Shigezo (Ryutaro Otomo) who had vowed to avenge the deaths of his family by lord Nobunaga's army. But he goes a different direction when his master Naejirozaemon (Kensaku Hara) asks him to assassinate Nobunaga's protégé, and current ruler of Japan Hideyoshi (Masao Oda). During this mission he meets a formidable female ninja Kohagi (Hizuru Takachiho) and falls in love. But Kohagi was a spy who was ordered to spy on Shigezo's moves. But Kohagi has a change of heart as she falls in love with Shigezo in earnest. The film has many excellent fight scenes and is stylish filmed in color with all the trappings of classical framing throughout.

New Discoveries: October 2016

So I've been doing some exploring on iTunes after Shazam-ing a song by Her & Him, a collaboration between Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward that I really dug, but somehow missed. I uploaded the rest of their albums onto the cloud after listening to the first one, here's a sample: Her & Him "In The Sun". So I explored some playlists with the band as well as radio stations and discovered several other cool bands.  Some other new discoveries include (band with a sample song included from an album I listened to): Slow Club "Giving Up On Love", Black Angels "Black Grease", Black Lips "Bad Kids", The Kills "Cheap and Cheerful", The Detroit Cobras "Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand", and Gore Gore Girls "All Grown Up". I still need to check the back catalogues of all of these bands-but really digging what I found so far.

Red Sorghum

I have been a fan of Chinese fifth generation filmmaker Yimou Zhang since the 90s with his impressively cinematic historical dramas featuring Gong Li (Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, To Live, etc.), but somehow I missed his first film Red Sorghum (1987). It is another compelling historical drama about a poor woman (played by Zhang'smuse Gong Li) who takes over a winery in a remote region. The first half of the film is comedic and pastoral, but it soon turns harrowing when the Japanese oppressors arrive and force the populace into labor to build a road through the red sorghum that is used for the wine. The Japanese terrorize the community with brutal example killings of dissidents. Zhang uses majestic locations and colorful set pieces and impressive cinematography to add a sort of poetic beauty to the adaptation of a contemporary classic by novelist Yo Man.

Mistress Of A Foreigner

Mistress Of A Foreigner (1930) is a film directed by legendary Japanese filmmaker Kenji Mizoguchi. Unfortunately, only 4 minutes of the film have survived which shows a dance accompanied by music by the lead. The film, Tōjin Okichi, is based on the novel by Gisaburo Juichiya.  The fragment has been published on DVD coupled with The Downfall of Osen (1935) by Digital MEME in 2007.

The Music Room

Satayajit Ray is generally acknowledged as one of the masters of world cinema and The Music Room (1958) is an example of why that is generally understood. It is the tragic tale of a music lover who undergoes a great tragedy and gives up his passion for music. The combination of fascinating, compelling images and exotic music combine to make this a visual and aural feast. In comparison to his career-making "Apu Trilogy," there is significantly more camera movement and effects throughout the film. It is also obvious that he is working with a much larger budget as he is filming on location in a the palatial home of Bengali landed gentry. His great themes of change and the creation of great art within a specific time frame that takes place before disintegration is at the center of this masterwork.

Into The West

The Jim Sheridan penned and Mike Newell directed film Into The West (1992) is one of several Irish films that were popular in the early 90s and one I managed to miss. (In America, In The Name of the Father, etc.) I mostly sought this out for the cast which includes luminaries such as Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin, Colm Meaney, and Brendan Gleeson among others including the impressive child actors. It is a strange tale of modern Ireland, travelers (Irish gypsies?), and magical realism embodied by a high jumping white horse that the boys adopt.

Rise

I finally got around to trying Rise, an European style tapas bar in Asagaya that specializes in meat. This a  coriander salad.

Two types of salami.

 

Stewed tomatoes and beef ajio.

Cheese mashed potatoes.

Black Angus beef from the US.

Four mushrooms fritta.

Creed

The latest installment of the Rocky story focuses on Apollo Creed's illegitimate son Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) as the underdog in Ryan Coogler's Creed (2105). It was listed by many critics as one of the best films of last year-it is certainly a feel good movie like it's predecessor with several fine performances and capable direction with all the training montage scenes throughout.

YYG Brewery and Beer Kitchen

New brewery taproom in Shinjuku near the west side with an outdoor deck, YYG Brewery & Beer Kitchen, nice atmosphere. The beer wasn't bad and they had several guest beers on tap as well.

Black Tight Killers

Yasuharu Hasebe's Black Tight Killers (1966) is a typical example of the Nikkatsu aesthetic of the 60s and bears the stamp of his mentor Seijun Suzuki. It is a wonderfully camp James Bond inspired action thriller with Nikkatsu lead Akira Kobayashi in the lead as a Vietnam war photographer who becomes involved in a kidnapping plot of his flight attendant girlfriend. There are several groups after the woman who is daughter of a man who is said to have a large cache of gold from Okinawa during the war. One such group sis a band of sisters and cousins who hail from Okinawa and are rightful heirs to the gold-they are ninja assassins and...Go-go Girls! There are several scenes with them getting down at clubs. The bold colors and striking original set designs call to mind those of Suzuki's 60s films like Tokyo Drifter and Gate of Flesh. It a lot of good 60s camp fun.