Lost In Translation

In A Lonely Place

I have to say I quite enjoyed Dorothy B. Huges' hardboiled crime story, In A Lonely Place (1947). Incidentally, a fine film directed by Nicolas Ray starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame was adapted from this source material-however, the story in the film is quite different. Her style is  reminiscent of the greats-Chandler, Hammett, and Cain. It is the story of Dix Steel, a former US pilot who has relocated to Los Angeles after the war-looking for his fortune. He is the attractive man about town with stylish clothes, a trendy address, and a car to boot. He decides to look up his old military buddy Brub Nicolai and finds that he has joined the Los Angles police force as a murder detective and married a beautiful and savvy lady, Sylvia. Not all is as it seems, though, as Brub is obsessed with catching a serial killer who targets attractive young women. Huges' greatest gift as a writer might be seen in the psychological depiction of a psychopathic killer in this novel. It seems that Patricia Highsmith was a fan -and I can see how she was inspired by this story in her her most well-known crime novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley. There's an informative Afterword by Megan Abbott included as well. I think I'll have to explore some of Huges' other titles in the future.

Burlington, Vermont 2018

The mascot of Saint Michael's College is the Scarlet Knight.

The campus really shines in the summer.

A turkey bacon sandwich with salad at Waterworks Food + Drink overlooking the Winooski River.

New mural downtown Burlington.

Southwest Mac (grilled corn, black beans, red peppers, chipotle cream sauce, cheddar & topped with fried tortillas) at Our House in Winooski, Vermont.

On my way tot he top of Mount Philo-Vermont's first state park. This turned out to be a tricky endeavor without a car-I manged to get a Lyft ride there, but was stranded and needed to call a cab to get back in town. So I ended up abandoning the second part of my day trip-taking the Charlotte, VT-Essex, NY ferry, which is nearby via car-but over 90 minutes walking. I didn't rent a car since I am trying to limit my spending on the work part of my trip.

The views from the summit.

The Lake Monster, said to inhabit Lake Champlain.

My lunch selection, the Bay Salad-something like a Cobb salad with chicken breast at the scenic Spot on t    he Dock at the Burlington lake harbor.

It seemed like the right place for a cocktail, so I ordered my Seattle seafaring friend's cocktail of choice, the Dark 'n' Stormy.

A mural near the harbor.

It wouldn't be right to not visit Ben 'n' Jerry's-7 Layer Coconut Cake ice cream.

A nearby trail, Casavant Natural Area Trailhead that I meant to hike last visit.

Trainspotting Redux

I recently was inspired to re-watch Danny Boyle's modern masterpiece Trainspotting (1996), after reading Murray Smith's BFI (British Film Institute) book on the film. I should have taken the time to re-visit the film last year before I saw the sequel, T2 Trainspotting. That being said I enjoyed T2, but it is no original like this film. Some of the things that stood out on this viewing is the editing and concise storytelling-it doesn't seem as though a frame was wasted in this this film. I always admired the soundtrack and original effects. It stands the test of time extremely well, and while Boyle has made some entertaining and highly praised films like 28 days Later... and Slumdog Millionaire-none of them have put it altogether the way that this film has-it is a truly remarkable film that chronicles a specific time and place and feels fresh and universal 20 years later. It is a triumph of original, inventive film making.

BFI: Trainspotting

Murray Smith's BFI: Trainspotting (2002) is a comprehensive look at a seminal 90s film by the production team of director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew Mcdonald, and screenwriter John Hodge. The book is divided into nine sections. The first section, "Arriving," gives the context in which the film was made as inspiration from Irvine Welsh's inventive, ground-breaking novel from which it was adapted. Section 2, "Young Americans", discusses not only the American stylistic influences within the film, but also the regional and national aspects of the film-being Scottish and British. Section 3, "The City's Ripped Backside", looks at the importance of the setting of Edinburgh in the film. Smith identifies friendship and loyalty as key themes in section 4, "Like Friends." In section 5, "Bad Person", Smith analyzes Johnny Renton, whose self-criticism in the film self-identifies himself as a bad person.This is something that Murray questions if we can take this analysis at face value or not. Smith identifies and discusses rapid-speed and propulsion forward as key visual elements in section 6, "Speed of Life." The next section 7, "Scoring Trainspotting", argues that the popular and eclectic soundtrack adds great value to the effectiveness of the film overall. Another original aspect of the film, called "black magic realism" by Smith is discussed in section 8. in section 9, Murray argues that Trainspotting is a modern classic-it is my estimation as well. I thought this was one of the better BFI film books, I tend to prefer these thematic and stylistic discussions of films rather than the production history types of film discussions.

Summer In-Flight Films: Part One

I've been looking forward to seeing Ramen Heads (2017) a documentary about the Japanese obsession with ramen noodles directed by Koki Shigeno. I was expecting an entertaining and informative documentary on par with Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Although it doesn't quite hit those heights-it is a very informative and telling documentary. The director mostly focuses on a critic and fan favorite Tomita Ramen in Matsudo, Chiba and this master also has the same level of dedication to creating his own perfect style of ramen. It doesn't get around to the history and evolution of ramen until after introducing Osamu Tomita and his hop, which is the focus of the film-starting out with an overview would have been more effective in my opinion. And to be honest, tsukemen, Tomita's variety, is not among my favorites. But it was still worthwhile since it is a food that immediately became one of my favorites when I arrived in Japan so many years ago.

Blade Of The Immortal (2017) is Japanese director Takashi Miike's latest manga adaptation. It is the story of a skilled samurai, Manji (Takuya Kimura) who is cursed with immortality. He feels guilt for not having saved his sister from murder and is hired by a young girl, Rin (Hana Sugisaki) who want sot avenge her father and mother's murder. The over-the-top manga elements of the story and art design were off putting for me-massive battles with scores of causalities, outlandish costumes and hair, and the fact that Manji is supposed to be a great swordsman but wins many duels because he can regenerate his wounds. the special effects and actions scenes become tedious like the big tent pole superhero movies constantly being made and it clocks in at two hours and 20 minutes. I don't think this was one of Miike's better efforts.

I hadn't heard of Brad Anderson's Beirut (2018) before seeing it as a new release on the airplane, but the Tony Gilroy penned script was an entertaining political thriller. Jon Hamm plays a failed diplomat , Mayson Skiles, fallen into alcoholism after he saw his wife killed in a terrorist attack during an earlier stint as a diplomat in Beirut. He is suddenly called back into action in 1982 (the year of the siege of Beirut) to help broker a deal with Muslim terrorists who have kidnapped his former best friend Cal (Mark Pellegrino). He is aided by current diplomat Sandy Crower (Rosmund Pike). There are some other great ensemble cast characters such as Shea Whingham and Dean Norris. Overall, I found it to be a well-made thriller about redemption set in an exotic and historically accurate atmosphere.

I think I am usually pretty hard to please when it comes to comedies, but I have to say that I enjoyed Game Night (2018) much more than I thought I would. I think much of this had to do with the great comedic performances of the lead actors Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams playing the ultra competitive married couple Max and Annie. There were also great supporting roles by Kyle Chandler and Jesse Plemons. Probably an ideal in flight movie.

I also found myself enjoying the social media cautionary tale and black comedy Ingrid Goes West (2017). And I think this is mostly due to Aubrey Plaza's impressive performance of the the insular needy and unhinged Instagram stalker Ingrid. Elizabeth Olsen plays the social media star that she longs to be with great accuracy as well. It was surprisingly more entertaining than I had anticipated.

Exterminate All The Brutes

Sven Lindqvist's Exterminate All The Brutes (1992) is one of those books that is hard to classify. It is a travel memoir, a history of the writing of Joseph Conrad's seminal novella The Heart of Darkness, and a sort of history about European genocide-which occurred before it the word was coined. Lindqvist is writing the book as he travels through the Sahara desert and alternates between Conrad's story and the history of European conquest and genocide in Africa. He repeatedly makes the point that there was European genocide before the holocaust and some of the worst atrocities were carried out by the Belgium in the Congo-which is the subject of Conrad's great story. Of course the Americas and Australia are not absented from the conversation. The genocide in Tasmania was one of the more effective examples as was the example set forth in Argentina. It is a short but thought-provoking little book that raises some valid points about colonialism and genocide.

Bunny Lake Is Missing

This is the distinctive graphic design for the movie poster by Saul Bass for Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965). Brother Keith (Keir Duella) and sister Anne (Carool Lyneley) with her young daughter, Bunny, move to London. On Bunny's first day of school she goes missing. Someone is trying to make it look like the girl never existed. They must find who has taken Bunny and prevent a tragedy. The police superintendent Newhouse (Lawrence Olivier) is suspicious of the family and seems to be counterproductive in the search. The reveal in the last act asks a big suspension of disbelief that really marred the film for me.

Potasta

I've been meaning to check out the new sandwich shop in the Beans complex under the Asagaya JR station, Potasta, and today I finally did ordering the bacon and egg toasted sandwich set with coffee for ¥600. Tasty and reasonably priced.

The Power Of The Dog

I really enjoyed Don Wilson's drug war novel, The Power Of The Dog (2006) which takes place in the 70s and 80s. Winslow apparently did five years of research in writing the novel that takes the reader from Sinaloa province of Mexico to places like Tijuana, San Diego, Boston to introduce the mafia as players in the drug game, Central America-where drugs and guns are exchanged to fight communism in the Reagan era, and Columbia-which is the epic center of cocaine production. There is an equally impressive cast of characters that populate those exotic locations: Art Keller obsessive DEA agent out for revenge, the drug kingpin Barrerra brothers, Nora Hayden the high class prostitute with vengeance on her mind, Sean Callan, a Boston hit man with ice running in his veins, among other colorful characters. I look forward to reading Winslow's follow-up: The Cartel. It was an entertaining story based on real historical events that were well-researched.   

Where Chimneys Are Seen

Heinosuke Gosho's 1953 film, Where The Chimneys Are Seen, a family drama, has an impressive cast. Ken Uehara (Ryuichi) and Kinuyo Tanaka (Hiroko) star as a newly wed couple struggling to get by. They are renting rooms upstairs out to an unmarried younger couple, Senko (Hideko Takamine) and Kenzo (Hiroshi Akutagawa) living separately. They live on the outskirts of Tokyo near Ueno, which has some　prominent location shots at eh famed lily pond near the zoo and the statue of Saigo Takamori. All of the main characters have some issues to deal with. Ryuichi's salary isn't enough for them to live on, so they are putting off children until they are more stable and Hiroko has picked up a part-time job at the local velodrome. And she was previously married, but seems happy with Ryuichi. Senko is considering marrying Kenzo, but is reluctant to to become attach to him due to war time tragedies she has faced. Kenzo doesn't like his job collecting taxes from late paying citizens who can barely afford to continue. The house upturned when it is learned that Hiroko's former husband has survived the bombing of Tokyo and has left behind the baby of his recent wife. The crying baby upsets the household and they struggle with how to solve this new problem. It is a paean to the postwar troubles faced by many in Japan as the country rebuilds itself and people try to create new lives in the ashes of the war. Gosho finds a way to end on a positive note giving the viewer hope in the future. This may be Gosho's masterpiece.