I used to write about the movies I had seen. I’m no reviewer, and I pride myself on my inability to analyze a film (and therefore enjoy it), but I thought it would be nice to break my film discussion out of The Wife and my dialogue. Since we tend to go through movie-watching binges, this might also give me some fodder to stetch my blog-writing muscles.

Taboo

…or, Brokeback Samurai. I couldn’t resist. As you might surmise from that comment this is the tale of, well, samurai getting jiggy with each other. There’s a bit more, but that’s pretty much what it comes down to. It has been in our Netflix queue for ages, and I had always assumed it was a Takeshi Kitano movie.

I have a love/hate relationship with “Beat Takeshi” films. He walks the line between genius and idiot, which tends to just make him look more brilliant in my eyes. But, although he does play a major character, the movie was actually directed by Nagisa Oshima, who directed the In the Real of the… duology in the 70’s (and apparently little else in between, aside from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and a few others). I have seen most of In the Realm of the Senses and was unimpressed. Despite not being directed by Kitano, the movie did exhibit some shortcomings (and strengths) that I usually find in a Kitano film.

The biggest shortcoming, in my opinion, was the inability to come to any coherent solution. Without giving too much away, there is a mystery in the film (that has trouble staying focused on) that comes to a very open climax, obfuscated by fantasy sequences and overtly symbolic gestures, namely the felling of a blossoming cherry tree.

Oddest of all, the homosexual relationships in the movie never really appear to be particularly taboo at all. At first I thought this might be a problem with the translation of the title. Often Japanese movies are either given English titles to give them an exotic or impressive ring, or the titles are altered for a western audience to capture something in the English vernacular (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi changing to Spirited Away, for example) [after a little research, I've learned that kamikakushi translates to, in a sense, being spirited away. A sort of heavenly kidnapping]. In both instances, certain nuances can often be missed or mistranslated. Anyway, upon further investigation, it appears that the title in Japanese does indeed mean taboo. Or else I am mistranslating it myself. Regardless, no character in the movie seems the least dismayed that high- and low-ranking officers are buggering each other and making kissy faces all over Kyoto.

No real special features on this DVD besides a Cast and Crew slideshow and some trailers, so there was no chance for any creative redemption through backstory.

The Weather Man

With another foreign language DVD waiting in the wings, we decided to rent The Weather Man OnDemand. We had thought that after a night of swordplay and man-love, we would get some comic relief from Nicolas Cage getting Slurpees repeatedly whipped at his head. No such luck. I found myself cringing and contorting in my seat through most of it.

That said, I really liked it. I had forgotten that it was directed by Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Mexican), who I think is pretty talented and capable of really beautiful things. Nicolas Cage overcame most of his Cagey-ness to become the awkward, loveable/hateable David Spritz, local weatherman and struggling human being.

David Spritz is unsuccessful at everything except his job presenting the weather on a Chicago morning show, which seems frivolous and overshadowed by his father’s (Michael Caine) accomplishments as a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He is divorced, and having difficulties coming to terms with his ex-wife’s current partner. His 12 year old daughter is overweight, unmotivated, smoking, and the subject of name-calling at school (pretty funny when this comes up throughout the movie). His son is charming, but unfortunately he is charming his creepy drug counsellor.

I’ve read a few reviews that took issue with the ending of the film, for either being to “happy an ending, or being to “dark.” I appreciated the ending. I was left feeling that the character experienced a significant amount of realistic growth, that I was able to experience gradually throughout the film, without having to see him break character and somehow magically coral his family back together as though he was wrangling stormfront projections on a greenscreen.

I’m certain the DVD has a commentary and other features, but since I rented it through OnDemand I had to be content with watching a Whose Line rerun afterward.

March came and went without a post. Now we are halfway through April and still nothing. A lot has happened in that time. Perhaps the thing that is keeping me from writing is that the main thing going on in my life is a pretty big project that, due to a nondisclosure agreement, I can’t talk about at all. Let’s just say that I’ve been learning a lot and I think the result is going to be pretty fantastic. As soon as I can I will share it.

I’ve noticed that the weather back in New York has been flirting around the 80° mark, while out here we can’t seem to even break 50°. Our house is pretty large and its heated by a tiny gas fireplace and the heat generated by our computers. I can barely type, my fingers feel so cold. I hope things warm up over the next month.

Although we have been living like hermits, The Wife and I did manage to get out to the Washington Park Arboretum a few weeks back, just in time for the cherry blossoms, which were spectacular. What was missing was the throngs of Japanese merry-makers downing beer and singing karaoke. We also visited the Japanese Garden, which was a little small for the $5 cover, but fairly authentic and lovely overall.

Happy Tax Day!