Moving Out Delayin' My Postin'

Sup sluts.

Finally managed to move all of my crap out of the duplex and I'm currently on my setup at home, in the basement. What's cliche about living in your parents basement? Nothing, shut up, don't be a jerk. I just thought I needed to update since my last one was a week ago.

[Heads out to lunch with Dad/Sister combo]

The Currents:

Currently Reading:

Shit is so cash right now. I've devoured over 500 pages of this 700-page book in record time and I think it's due to the writing style. It moves fast, things happen quickly, and you can easily lose track of time. I'm def. falling victim to the "Just one more page" reading disease that keeps me staying up way past beddy-bye time.

Currently Listening:

Alec over at A-Ton linked me to a La Mode remix of P-Diddy's "Bad Boys For Life" and it's ridiculously heavy... so I'm trying to explore things like it. This is alright, though whatever song is playing now has shit vocals.

Currently Watching:

Gotta catch up on the newer episodes. The fact that this has to be on a network like Starz and not on regular tv makes me all sad.

+

(hopefully, if I can convince some people to watch it with me.)

Currently Playing:

Black & White is so, so, so, so cash and I'm currently patching up SC2 Beta to kick some ass in a little while. Good Sunday is so good.

Filmage:

Ugetsu (1953, dir. Mizoguchi)

(Copied over from my posting for my Intro to Japanese Cinema course)

Ugetsu (1953, dir. Kenji Mizoguchi) follows two money-crazed farmers during the 16th century (qualifying this film as Jidaigeki, perhaps) as they seek fortune through pottery production while their wives look on in dismay. Initially, we could assume that the male characters' actions are negatively affecting the women and children of their families and that would be correct. They continuously endanger their families thanks to their huge desire to obtain as much money as they can, perfectly seen when an opposing faction invades their village, and the two men risk capture in order to check on their pots still baking in the kiln.

However, Ugetsu doesn't just follow the traditional melodrama format when it comes to gender. Perhaps the women have been victimized at the beginning (culminating in the slaying of Miyagi, Genjuro's wife) yet when Genjuro and his farmer buddy Tobei make it to a large town and sell their wares, Genjuro becomes enchanted by the ghost of a young wealthy woman. Perhaps, in this way, Mizoguchi desired to depict the females' (and in this way, also Japan's) revenge upon those who had for so long victimized them. She traps this man, not physically, but with her beauty and wealth, thereby victimizing him instead of the other way around!

Ugetsu is one of those films that I certainly wouldn't have seen without being assigned it in a class, as it doesn't really go with my typical tastes. However, it quickly grew on me as the camera work here is really interesting (the final shot where Genjuro returns home to an empty house which then suddenly fills), and the story has a kind of nostalgic nature to it being a folk tale. If it were to have been intended for American audiences, some of the scenes could have been trimmed but it's quite enjoyable. I also enjoyed how this style of Jidaigeki was not interested in Samurai (though Tobei was), but instead the poorer more common folk that you otherwise wouldn't see in other more popular films.

To add to this shitty assignment, I'd like to say that Japanese women back in the 50's were so. not. attractive. Or, if they were, someone wasn't casting them in these movies. Goddamn. GODDAMN. This enchanting ghost that Genjuro (the main character) falls for had me going:

upon viewing her. No thanks!

I give it:

Ghosts Gone Wild/10

Stranger Than Paradise (1984, dir. Jarmusch)

This film makes me realize I should really revisit Mean Streets. The interesting parts of this film come from how Jarmusch strings together each short vignette, each one different and interesting. I enjoyed the Hungarian-ness of two of the characters, and Willie's american companion Eddie is a lot of fun in the way that you might enjoy a Scorsese character.

I will say that sometimes the dialog, or perhaps just the delivery, felt pretty amateurish and forced. Did it pull me out of the story? Yeah, a couple of times, but I grew to like these people and the atmosphere so much that I was willing to overlook the goofy performance from these non-actors. This semester's History of Film class has really tested my patience with film length and pace, and I think now I'm finally coming around to the idea+my attention span is increasing. To really enjoy this film, you need to go into it with the mindset that it takes its time with things, and really, it makes the product much better.

I give it:

You come to some place new and everything looks the same/10

As always, your favorite,

GT