Tag: kurosawa

Weekend Shopping Guide 11/23/12: Eye Of The Beholder

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)

So influential is its dynamic of a single event having many different interpretations based on the observer that the very title of Akira Kurosawa’s classic Rashomon (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP) has become a shorthand to represent in the subjective nature of human observation. As a film, its exploration of truth and justice in the wake of a murder remains a masterwork, heightened by a beautiful sound and picture restoration from the folks at Criterion. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, an interview with Robert Altman, documentaries, interviews, trailers, and Criterion’s standard booklet of essays and ephemera.

So what’s this week’s Thinkgeek goody? Howzabout a new bit of LEGO? The Uruk-hai Army set ($29.99), containing a battlement, Rohan soldier, Eomer, and a quarter of Uruk-hai, is intended as a supplement to the already-massive Helm’s Deep set. So get building and let the battle begin.

I hope you’ve got plenty of bubblegum to chew, because there’s more than enough kick ass to be found in the long-awaited high definition arrival of John Carpenter’s They Live (Shout Factory, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.93 SRP), starring Rowdy Roddy Piper as an everyman who finds a unique pair of sunglasses that allow him to see that some of the people around him are actually aliens bent on enslaving humanity. Oh, it’s just fantastic, and now it looks great, too. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, an interview, featurettes, and more.

If you’re going into The Expendables 2 (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) looking for a great film, best to probably look elsewhere. However, if you’re looking for an actioner equivalent of Cannonball Run that funs and packed with all of your action heroes from the last 30 years, this is the sequel for you, as it adds in more Bruce, more Arnold, and even Chuck Norris. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.

How do you know an entire generation has come of age? When their childhoods are packaged up and sold back to them as nostalgia. The consumer nostalgia machine has just laid claim to Saban’s Japanese perpetual repurposing machine with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Complete Series (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$119.99 SRP), which contains all 3 seasons of the original run, plus the Alien Rangers mini-series and a pair of bonus discs featuring rare archival materials and retrospectives. And if those 19 discs weren’t enough, you can pick up the complimentary Power Rangers: Seasons 4-7 Collection (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-SRP), which picks up where the last set left off with the successor seasons Zeo, Turbo, In Space, and Lost Galaxy, plus EVEN MORE archival materials and retrospectives, and is available only from powerrangersondvd.com. So yes, former kiddies now all grown up, this is the way to snap up your lost youth and sit your own children down in front of it, knowing that you’re right and that Adventure Time they seem to love so much doesn’t make any damn sense.

Kudos to Shout Factory for ensuring classic TV shows make their way to DVD in their entirety, rather than languishing as abandoned single-season releases – as had been the case with the still-sparkling 70’s cop workplace sitcom Barney Miller (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$159.99 SRP). Well, fear not, for it has been rescued by Shout and released as a complete series set, collecting all eight seasons plus interviews, commentaries, the original pilot, and even the entire first season of the spin-off Fish, starring Abe Vigoda. Thanks, Shout!

Oh, you can nerd out for hours, and hours, and hours while re-living scores of childhood memories perusing Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection (Chronicle Books, $40.00 SRP) – a massive tome containing details on every single Star Wars action figure Kenner, then Hasbro, has produced over the past 35 years. Incredible, and just a little bit frightening.

You knew once they wrapped that a big box full of the entire run was inevitable, so relive all of the merry misadventures of the rising star Vincent Chase and his tacky Tinsletown Trio via Entourage: The Complete Series (HBO, $249.99 SRP), which contains all eight seasons of the Hollywood insider bromance. Bonus features include audio commentaries, featurettes, a pair of panel discussions with the cast & crew, a series retrospective and more.

They’ve covered dozens and bands and eras, and while I view it through the filter of my own preferences, I always find the Under Review series fascinating viewing for a music fan. The latest is The Rolling Stones Under Review: 1975-1983 (Sexy Intellectual, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP), which looks at the first part of the Ronnie Wood years.

It was inevitable that Dreamworks couldn’t resist exploiting the successful – and quite good – How To Train Your Dragon, so we get a TV series whose introductory premiere gets a DVD release with the Dragon Riders Of Berk (Dreamworks, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), featuring 4 episodes of the further adventures of Hiccup, Toothless, and their pals.

How excellent is it that Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (MGM, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$19.99 SRP) is now in high definition? Totally excellent. Bonus features include an air guitar featurette, radio ads, a featurette on the real Bill & Ted relationship the film drew upon, and even an episode of the cartoon series.

There have been many cinematic attempts at Zorro (Somerville House, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP), but one of the most enjoyable is one that I not only had never heard of, but also happens to be newly-available in high definition. Produced in 1975, this take stars Alain Delon as the titular masked avenger, and it’s worth a spin.

Only the BBC could produce a show like Call The Midwife (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP), about a midwife from a privileged background who joins an order of nursing nuns in poverty-stricken East London in the 1950s. Bonus materials include cast interviews.

Previously available only on DVD, all 4 specials featuring Joss Whedon & John Cassady’s take on Marvel’s mutant superteam are collected together in high definition in Astonishing X-Men (Shout Factory, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.97 SRP), featuring a behind-the-scenes featurette, music video, and interviews with Joe Quesada and Neal Adams.

If you’ve got a toddler about to enter the scary world of preschool, let the Muppets help out by picking them up a copy of the social primer Sesame Street: Preschool Is Cool – Making Friends (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), which provides fun acclimation tips to make things easier.

For this week’s soundtrack round up, we’ve got a pair of releases from Danny Elfman and a film about a boy and a tiger in a boat. First up from Danny Elfman is the score to the biopic Hitchcock (Sony Masterworks, $9.99 SRP), along with Elfman’s score to Silver Linings Playbook (Sony Classical, $8.99 SRP). And as to that flick with the boy and the tiger on a lifeboat, that would be Mychael Danna’s score to Life Of Pi (Sony Classical, $12.99 SRP).

I would be far more accepting of the awful reality and fantasy series filling up their schedule if the History Channel and A&E would just admit it they were no longer History or Arts & Entertainment and just change their names already. But they haven’t, so we get backwoods show about duck call nouveau riche in Duck Dynasty (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP) and the atrocious pseudo-history of Ancient Aliens: Season 4 (History, Channel, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP). But I suppose simple folk need something to watch.

Hot Toys is well on their way to releasing just about every character seen in The Avengers, so it certainly makes sense that we’d get a figure of SHEILD Agent Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye ($189.99). And as we’ve come to expect from Hot Toys, not only do you get a damn good likeness of actor Jeremy Renner, but it’s also loaded with a slew of incredibly detailed accessories, from his strung bow to a quiver packed with individual arrows, plus a selection of swappable trick arrowheads so you can customize your display. Heck, he’s even got his sunglasses.

So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

-Ken Plume

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November 23, 2012
Trailer Park: Kaori Momoi

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

Apart from the fact that it’s simply an awesomely constructed film that blends the traditional with the very modern SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO will leave you wanting. For some, the movie was a jarring blend of styles but, for me, there wasn’t a better film that dared to be bold in its execution and was different not for the sake of it but for what it could be if it was.

Of all the highlights in the movie, however, wasn’t Takashi Miike’s curious choices for locales or the way he decided to twist language but it was in the performance of Japanese film star Kaori Momoi that caught me unaware. It’s not to say that the rest of the cast doesn’t do well enough on their own but seeing Kaori in this film shows you the kind of respect this woman commands.

Those who need a quick primer of why Kaori is so compelling all you need to know is that in her career she worked with Akira Kurosawa, is a two time Japanese Academy Award winner, and pursues a life in, “producing, directing, screenwriting, and design in addition to her acting.” And, she’s released some 15 albums. She’s a real renaissance woman. Needless to say, when the opportunity presented itself to interview her there was no way I could pass it up.

Needless to say one of the peculiar things about this interview is that this is the first one I’ve ever done through a translator. Kaori’s English is quite good but there was still the language barrier to contend with. However, her jubilant spirit would not daunt her ability to answer the questions I tossed her way.

SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO is now out on DVD.

CHRISTOPHER STIPP: First I would like to thank you for taking time for me. I just want to ask you a few questions but want to start off by saying it’s a pleasure and an honor to be able to talk to you.

TRANSLATOR: Please ask any questions.

CS: Thank you. I know that Takashi Miike has made a film that has blended some various genres together ““ the American Western and Japanese Samurai. How did you respond initially to being asked to be in this picture?

KAORI MOMOI: Now, I can speak a little bit English.

I have to say that I love Miike. I love to work with Miiki very much because he is a genius and a genius director, and a crazy artist, and fun person. He looks like a youngster but he is a very nice person and a shy boy. He always experiments everywhere. I love to work with him. This movie is Japanese history. This is not just a Western movie. This is Heike Western. I love the sound of Heike Western. I love that. Maybe it’s my accent. What do you think?

CS: As an actress, can you expound, or talk about how you approached the material in a way that could feel authentic, yet in the vein that Miike was going for?

MOMOI: Well, I have never been in an action movie before. I am old enough. I was a ballerina. I wanted to play an action role and felt this was the last chance for me to do so.

CS: You say you’ve never been in an action movie, how was it to actually see what eventually made it up onto the screen?

MOMOI: I just say too heavy for my body.

(Laughs)

It was too cold. It was so scary like a bungie jump ““ I hate that.

Laugh.

CS: You mean it wasn’t fun?

MOMOI: Yes! I enjoy it very much. It was fun, but it was scary.

CS: I would definitely like to know your thoughts on the idea that many inside Hollywood like to take ideas and the riches of others like Japanese cinema, overtly, STAR WARS being influenced by THE HIDDEN FORTRESS being one example. In your years being in the film industry do you see a difference between how American’s like to see their films presented to them as opposed to, let’s say, the Japanese audience likes to have theirs presented to them?

MOMOI: I do like to make films. Filmmakers make Japanese old movies ““ I don’t like it. We have to experiment. We have to have new directors to make new movies as an artist. Originality is very important, I think.

CS: You’ve mentioned in other interviews about wanting to get work in some Hollywood productions. As an older woman in a market that loves it’s young talent, does going after jobs still thrill you as an older woman as it did when you were a younger one?

MOMOI: I don’t feel so much different because I look young.

(Laughs)

Nobody knows about me in LA or USA or other countries other than Japan. As an actress, as a woman, no one knows how old I am. That’s good for me as an actress. I think actress has to be new. That’s good for me.

CS: Speaking about your career, in other interviews I’ve read with you, it’s your energy to be relevant and to experiment with different ventures really exceeds anyone I’ve ever read about. Where does that motivation and that hopefulness and look-forwardness come from?

MOMOI: I’m so hyper and vocal. If you have power you have to smoke and drink lots of wine. That helps you.

CS: You’ve challenged directors that you’ve worked with. How have directors responded to the idea that your job is not only to interpret the script but to add your own thoughts about the movie making process?

MOMOI: Dialog is in English. I can’t speak English, somebody said. English is good for me. I can speak English dialogue. I was like a young girl in a conversation with Miike. I didn’t do anything. I was just loving him. The movie was so special for me. Some directors are not so great, and sometimes I have to kick them, and I will push them away and I will get the job as the director.

(Laughs)

CS: You got the chance to work with Akira Kurosawa. He’s revered here in America by those who really love film. How do you look back on the time that you got to spend with him?

MOMOI: He is a great person. We Japanese are very proud of him. He is a great director now too. I want to work with him more and more. He was a big person for me. I worked with him on Kagemushma. He was a big person in the studio and every person was scared of him. I called him and said, “How are you today and what do you want?” I want to make him more relaxed. I asked him, “What do you want, my body or something?” Every morning I took him and made him feel not so lonely. One day he called me. It was his birthday. He said, “If you have the time, let’s have lunch.” Then I went to the restaurant and we had lunch ““ that was a memory. That’s all.

CS: I know my time is short so I’ll ask one more question. You have done this movie with Takashi Miike, where do you see yourself going from here?

MOMOI: I think I have to speak English more. Because I want the world to know more about Japanese movies and Japanese actress. Any Asian can speak English well. We have to speak English now. I want to speak English dialogue and I will get another country’s movie and I will live in Los Angeles some time and for my English. I will then give me the job!

November 13, 2008