telophase | (no subject)

Watched Sukiyaki Western Django with

myrialux Saturday night. Lush, gorgeous costumes and art direction. Plot - nothing you haven't seen before. Attitude: hipster. Basically a remake of Yojimbo crossed with spaghetti Westerns like Django, set in an AU where the Japanese have settled the American West. At least that's how *I* explain why it's set in Nevada and the two warring gangs are the Heike and the Genji. :) It was shot in English, and several of the minor characters' actors have that "I have learned my lines phonetically!" thing happening, but the major actors are much more fluent, and your ear gets used to it very quickly.

It was also about 20 minutes too long. Oh well. But I loved the mixture of Western and Japanese elements, and the inversion of the Mysterious Foreign Sensei being Western (well, Quentin Tarantino, in a minor role). (We're not discussing the gender roles, however. :/) And the visuals are gorgeous. I am tempted to pick up the DVD for that. I wouldn't sit and watch the whole movie again, but I'd be willing to dip in here and there

Anyone who's seen it and knows something about Japanese literature/theatre - Tarantino's lines in the opening: are they from something? They had that feel, although I admit I was only paying half attention as I was also making kanzashi at the time. (ETA: Opening paragraph from the Tale of the Heike, thanks,

keelieinblack!)

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I picked that up a while back and need to watch it still. If you're into murder mysteries try to find Blood Rain (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462684/).

Darn, doesn't seem to be available via Netflix. Sounds good, though.

I'll try and remember to bring it to the game sunday. It's a bootleg copy (bought at Akon, we'll be cracking down on those now that I know what to look out for) so watching the extras is useless. I need to get a legit copy. Are you into horror at all?

Thanks! Horror depends on the movie in question - splatterpunk and serial killers aren't really my thing, but suspenseful horror and things that draw on traditional folklore or ghosts, etc. I like more.

I've some stuff for you. I'll set it aside and send it on Sunday. Do you have a region free player? I don't have too much stuff that requires it (and I don't remember what does/doesn't off the top of my head).

I don't have a region-free player, but I shall confer with Toby and see What Can Be Done vis-a-vis ripping or whatnot.

A quick look through shows that stuff I'm sending doesn't require it. I think I may have 2 or 3 dvd's that do, but they aren't in the first batch of movies. One of the movies I'd send is the original shutter. Have you seen it?

Cool, thanks. :) Nope, haven't seen it. Had it on my Netflix list for a while, I think.

Not surprisingly, Tarantino's lines are the opening paragraph from the Tale of the Heike (http://www.gotterdammerung.org/books/reviews/t/tale-of-the-heike.html). XD

I really wish Momoi Kaori's performance as the Bloody Benten had been enough to offset the meh-inducing gender problems in the rest of the movie, because watching her shooting people and generally being awesome was one of the best parts of the movie for me.

Hah! :)

More of the Bloody Benten and less maundering about between the gangs would have made the movie more awesome.

I had it recommended to me by my folks; I found it to be weird and funny. The whole cast of characters were Genre Savvy - witness the early warning by one gangleader to the Mysterious Stranger not to "go Yojimbo on them" and Tarantino's comment about naming his son Akira - "I guess I'm just an otaku at heart." The weird link to "Django" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060315/) made me want to find that movie, although I suspect it's pretty cheesy, as it's described on IMDB as a knockoff of Leone's Spaghetti Westerns, and those are already swimming in queso.

I will pretty much watch anything that's a remake of Yojimbo, crossed with anything but not. Will have to move it up in the Netflix queue.