A Parcel from Tokyo

A Parcel from Tokyo arrived last week.

My friend in Tokyo sent me something. It was a Christmas/Birthday gift for me. It contains a small box, a booklet of a Movie, that I wanted to see but I couldn't because I left Japan before starting, 3 DVDs, and a card. I haven't opened the small box yet, leaving it for Christmas day to open.

The 3 DVDs are all recent Japanese movies, one of them is "日本沈没" = "Japan Sinks" that I wanted to watch as well.

Recent Japanese movies are very Hollywoodnized that it is quite easy to watch. Thanks to the CG technology that they can modify the scenes to be unrealistically realistic. "日本沈没" = "Japan Sinks" was made in the 70s first time and remade in 2006.

The entire Japanese islands sink into the Pacific Ocean because of volcano eruptions, earthquake, and movements of plate techtonics. It is a great science fiction and sometimes as silly as "Day After Tomorrow" or "Armageddon."

When Japanese loses its own islands to live, we will be forced to be refugees and drifted around the world.

Vexille

http://www.vexille.jp/

I can't wait that the movie is opening in North America, too, later...

Genie in A Bottle Unleashed | 「魔法のランプのジーニー」

An aricle about a 14-year-old American director (in Japanese)

Every summer, no matter where I am, this topic comes up in my head – about the war and peace.

This is a great short documentation film (QuickTime) by the youths in Chicago.

***

「魔法のランプのジーニー」（Asahi.com より）

どこにいても、夏はやっぱりあの題材を思い出させる。幼い頃からの教育やマスメディアの情報だろうけど、毎年触れるというのは良いことだと思う。
この短編ドキュメント（QuickTime）はシカゴに住むアメリカ人の少年たちが作ったものだそうで、詳しくリサーチされてあって１４歳という視点であの爆弾がどのように準備されたのか見ることができる。

Buddy

I watched a Norweigian movie, called "Buddy."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371589/

It was a nicely composed story about usual friendship, love, and career/fame.

I liked an actor for "Stig Inge."

Bareback ...ah... Brokeback Mountain

At the ticket booth, when I bought tickets to the movie, I almost said "Tickets for Bareback Mountain," it was held in my mind fortunately. Instead, I mumbled.

This movie was a good one. It is kind of sad like "Boys don't cry." Homosexuality is really hard in the lifestyle of farmers/cowboys, I guess.

Unlike other gay movies, this represents an alternative way of life of gays in a rural area. Time period is way before 90's gay-live movement.

Thanks for the big-name director to visualise a homosexuality. I want to see more laid-back gay love stories in the future because we are nothing special and out there in your neighbourhood.

http://www.brokebackmountainmovie.com/

Goodbye Lenin! (2003)

I went to a BlockBuster near my home yesterday. I am too busy to watch movies nowadays, so I haven't been to videostores for long time. One thing that I noticed yesterday was the selections of videos was broadened. Whether it is because they start to realise changing and diversifying North American market more or Hollywood doesn't produce good movies anymore, this is a welcoming tendency to me.

I watched "Goodbye Lenin!," a German movie. I missed it when it was at a theatre in Toronto. I finally watched it last night. It was a story of a family in East Berlin before and during the walls were falling. You can observe a transition as well as how people think in the transition. It was such a heartwarming movie. I highly recommend it to everyone.

After watching a good movie, we can become happier.

Goodbye Lenin! (2003)