Casual Japanese Bystander

Mad Max: Fury Road

2015-07-21T02:29:00.003+09:00

Mad Max: Fury Road blew my mind. This is the standard that all big-budget films should be striving for: a seemingly inexhaustible supply of creativity, bursting from every single frame from start to finish; a fully-realized world where every element of the film links to the environment that has been created; and characterizations that rely on our knowledge of tropes but know how to move beyond them.

If you didn’t know that Mad Max: Fury Road is based on an Australian trilogy (starring Mel Gibson at his handsomest) that started in the late 70s, your jaw will drop when you learn that the director George Miller was subsequently responsible for films such as the Babe films (the talking pig movies), and Happy Feet (the dancing penguins series). But there is a common thread: his singular talent for creating original worlds, each with their own internal logic, and his masterful control over them. One of the reasons why I can no longer watch Peter Jackson’s films is because he expects people to be taken with entire scenes made out of CGI. (All I see is strings of dollar signs, like the strings of numbers in The Matrix.) In Mad Max, you don’t know what is live action and what is CGI, but you believe all of it. Not to mention that literally every single action sequence is inventive, down to the set pieces, and all of it is integral to driving the plot forward.

Those who watched the trailer may be put off by the level of testosterone and cruelty. But I assure you, this is one of the tiny handful of Hollywood action films where the female characters are not a backhanded compliment. I’m talking about the frankly disgusting number of films where they are pointlessly perfect (and can even kick the villain in the balls!) -- or are responsible for initiating the action in the story but are wholly sidelined as the men take over. The majority of female characters in the film may be breeders for an evil ruler’s harem, but when the action starts, they all contribute to the story, and perhaps crucially, their contributions are wholly plausible.

A film like this is proof that mass entertainment doesn’t have to be limited to stories that write themselves, and have just enough bursts of inventiveness to give a cute little spin on well-worn genres. (I doubt the people who were raving about Bryan Singer twenty years ago could have imagined that his subsequent best would be the amazing-for-a-bar-set-low X-Men: Days of Future Past. Also, literally every single trailer for a superhero film I have seen in the past five years looks like a Hot Shots!-level parody.)

I haven’t even bothered to write about the plot or the actors, but if the trailer provides even a glimmer of interest, go see it in the theater, no questions asked. I would watch the original trilogy, but I’m afraid after watching this film that the chase scenes will be like watching a golf cart drive over a sand dune.

Selma

2015-06-21T18:45:00.000+09:00

Thinking about Selma today, and all the choices director Ava DuVernay emphatically avoids making in her Martin Luther King biopic. The intelligence and nuance she brings to her film are undeniable.

I find many biopics to be marred by a certain cheapness: the “greatest hits” style storytelling, where you cherry-pick the highest and lowest moments of the subject’s life, creating an easily digestible trajectory; living, breathing people reduced to mere heroes and villains, with little affordance of ambiguity; and supporting characters that inject occasional doses of humor into the film but often derail its tone.

Nothing DuVernay does is ever on the nose. The film focuses only on one period of King’s life: the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, which King and his fellow leaders organized in 1965 to bring attention to the overwhelming number of black people being denied the power to vote. Selma takes an established fact and implores us to see it as something beyond a success, taking us into the exact machinations of the political process, and the complicated tangles within the black community that led to it.

My elementary school-level US education may not be much to go on, but I was only ever taught to see MLK as a saint. In Selma, while you never doubt the fundamental righteousness of his vision, King is never deified. You see his savviness about using the media, how he was prepared to sacrifice the lives of innocent people to achieve a larger goal, and how he depends on his wife for emotional support even while he is not entirely faithful to her.

Equally important are the portrayals of President Lyndon B. Johnson and Alabama Governor George Wallace. Despite Johnson’s reluctance to push for federal legislation that would allow black people to register to vote, you see that it wasn’t motivated by ignorance but also a resignation about bureaucratic/political processes that dictated how much he could push through. Likewise, while Wallace may have allowed the police to brutalize 500 peaceful black protesters, when you see him refer to the town’s head sheriff as a “white trash cracker”, you realize he’s not a racist bigot -- he’s a bigot, period, and that’s what is clouding his vision.

For lack of better phrasing, I also appreciated that Selma never forgets it is a work of cinema. The soundtrack choices are often pointed, such as the use of ethnographic recordings of workers in Selma singing. I especially loved the cinematography, which made frequent use of the actor’s profiles and often cloaked figures in shadow. (There is a stunning scene set behind bars where practically the only light you can see is the dim, fading light in MLK’s eyes.)

What is so painful about watching Selma is that it’s impossible to not think of recent headlines running parallel to the film. A scene of the Alabama girls being bombed in their church immediately links to the Charleston church shooting, and scenes of peaceful protesters being brutalized by policemen only brings to mind the horrific videos of policemen brazenly flouting protocol and killing or manhandling black civilians. I heard so many sniffles throughout the theatre during the film, but I only hope that people’s emotions didn’t stay in the theatre, and that the film started an actual conversation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRGscLLlfaw

The Line Hotel

2015-06-10T20:04:00.002+09:00

The Line Hotel in Koreatown, Los Angeles.

Commissary @ The Line Hotel

2015-06-10T15:26:00.000+09:00

Commissary, a restaurant at The Line Hotel.

Clam chowder and bok choy.

Elem Klimov's Come and See

2015-03-07T21:24:00.002+09:00

Watched Come and See (『炎628』), a 1985 Belarussian war film. No joke, it was as hard to watch as Resnais' Night and Fog (so much that I'd put off seeing it for about a decade.) The film opens with a young teenage boy from a small, war-impoverished village digging in sand for an abandoned rifle so he can join the army to fight against the Nazis. He (and the audience) has no way of preparing for all the horrors he will face, as he faces one atrocity after another without ever being able to make sense of it all.

If, like me, most of the war films you've seen are from Hollywood, everything about the film will stun your senses. None of the elements you cling to in an American war film are present here: the soundtrack is by Mozart but is jarringly overlaid with the persistent drone of a jet, or the buzzing of flies. The long takes don't show off the fluidity of the scenes or the action, but instead show how suddenly and uncomprehendingly cruelties are forced upon people. The protagonist goes on no honorable soldier's "journey"; he simply survives, moving from one demolished village to the next, abject horror etched permanently on his face. Characters are shot in close-up, but look straight into the camera, allowing not empathy but instead making you feel almost accused.

All of this makes the film almost impossible to watch. And yet, it made me think, what good is there in making a war film that is amenable to the audience? I'm sure Hollywood war films are considered educational, but what is the value of a war film that reduces ideologies to a good side and a bad side, creates action scenes that offer an adrenaline rush and makes us cheer on the annihilation of human beings? It's so easy to dismiss these films as entertainment, but it's interesting how certain morals are always upheld in American films while others get a slide.

American Sniper

2015-03-07T21:21:00.001+09:00

Went to a screening of American Sniper last night, a biopic of US Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle directed by Clint Eastwood. As someone who views the US military with skepticism, and is also not religious, I couldn't fully appreciate Kyle's motivations for joining the Navy, or see the virtue in his continuing to fight even after so much death and carnage, both on the US side, and the Iraqi side (him being personally responsible for the deaths of over 160 people).

At the same time, I can see how audiences could cheer on Bradley Cooper as he picks off enemy after enemy with precision (literally killing it at his job), and admiring his character's unwavering stance on protecting his country and honoring God's will. (I'm sure this is what has led to explosive box office in the States.)

The story is told solely through Kyle's experience, and you see little evidence of him considering the larger repercussions of war. When Kyle returns to Iraq for a fourth tour of duty despite the protestations of his wife, his main motivation is to avenge the death of a comrade. Some may see this as honorable, but I saw it as a forced myopia that allows soldiers to keep doing their job. This is enforced by stray storylines of soldiers becoming despondent when they start questioning the aims of war, leaving the army, or even committing suicide.

These contrasting reactions are made possible by the opacity of Bradley Cooper's central performance. I'm trying to figure out how much of it was intentional; I feel like a more skillful actor could have been more emotionally transparent, even while playing a shellshocked, taciturn war vet. When the protagonist is a big, wooden hunk of a person, it rather takes away from the watchability of the film, but it also allows viewers to project their own ideas of war onto the film.

Despite these points of interest, I was disappointed by how pedestrian the film is overall. Many scenes are staged with a surprising lack of originality: the obligatory boot camp montage, where the recruits are called "ladies" and hosed down with ice-cold water; the way you know a soldier is going to die when he says, "I bought a ring for my girl". So few Hollywood films manage a fresh interpretation of the war movie.

So yeah, while I didn't particularly enjoy the film, it certainly has the ability to generate interesting discussions.

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2015: The Iconoclasts

2015-01-31T18:54:00.004+09:00

It's always exciting when you see people take a long-established craft and reinterpret in bold and exciting ways. The following are some of my favorite's from this year's festival.

I recognized this quilter's work in an instant. (Scroll down to the bottom of this page.) She certainly has a flair for storytelling, and injecting humor into her work.

Spot all of the Gallic references!

Pushing the definition of "quilt" to the hilt.

These artists could work for couture houses!

The text above is a sutra.

Perhaps my favorite: a quilt made up of hobo symbols.

The tongue-in-cheek humor, in addition to the truly original concept, made this one a favorite too.

This swordfish isn't caught in the trawling net! He's gotten away!

Hundreds and hundreds of gulls.

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2015: The Beautiful Works You Come to Expect

2015-01-31T18:46:00.000+09:00

It says something about the level of talent among the participants that the following quilts, as painstakingly designed and sewn as they are, seem somewhat derivative. (Compare last year's photos.)

This was cute: an homage to different types of cocktails.

As mindblowing as this looks, it is an oft-repeated idea.

Initially minimalist yet quite detailed.

This was a tribute to Anne Shirley, from the Anne of Green Gables series.

The inevitable Frozen quilt.

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2015: Close-ups

2015-01-31T18:10:00.000+09:00

This one was made by a group of schoolkids in junior high.

Closeup of the snowflake quilt.

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2015: Just Flowers

2015-01-31T18:08:00.002+09:00

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2015: Inspired by Children's Books

2015-01-31T18:06:00.004+09:00

A section of quilts based on popular children's books, such as Dick Bruna's Miffy series, above.

Frog and Toad.

Peter Rabbit.

A Japanese series I was not familiar with.

Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, which was incredibly ornate and detailed.

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2015: Little House on the Prairie Quilts

2015-01-31T18:01:00.004+09:00

As mentioned in the previous post, this year's special exhibit was Little House on the Prairie. Some of the quilt designs were obviously based on Garth Williams' drawings of the book series, while others were based on the long-running television series.

There was a band that played renditions of the songs mentioned in the Little House books.

The author herself, rendered in cross stitch.

Quilts within a quilt.

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2015: A Tribute to Laura Ingalls Wilder

2015-01-31T17:54:00.003+09:00

The Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival, held once again at Tokyo Dome.

Once again, the crowd consisted mainly of older ladies.

This year featured a tribute to Little House on the Prairie and its author, Laura Ingalls Wilder. This is a quilt she made around 1900. (Last year's focus was on Moomin.)

One of her good Sunday dresses, surprisingly diaphanous.

The first edition did not feature Garth Williams' illustrations. I'd grown up with the Williams versions, so this came as a surprise to me.

Hairpin lace that Ingalls knit.

This was not from Ingalls' collection, but was a vintage quilt from over 150 years ago. As you can read on the plaque, families would often create quilts of this pine tree design when they could not afford to buy a Christmas tree!

Garth Williams' illustrations.

Star of Bethlehem quilt, again over 150 years old.

A gorgeously attired attendee.

Feeding the Birds at Ueno Park

2015-01-29T23:19:00.000+09:00

Winter in Ueno Park, again.

There is a nice spirit of community here. People share bird food to total strangers, and the man here is lifting up a child who just happened to be walking by with his mother.

A regular with a snazzy bike decorated with electrical tape.

His shoes and pants are decorated with tape too!

SDF Vehicles

2015-01-29T22:52:00.002+09:00

The self-defense forces had their vehicles on display.

Water truck equipped with a shower system.

A vehicle for evacuees to rest in.

Todoroki Valley

2015-01-29T22:49:00.003+09:00

Todoroki Valley, in Setagaya Ward.

Koto Cinema Festival 2015

2015-01-14T20:05:00.005+09:00

Koto Ward's annual film festival, showing primarily black and white and silent films, was held from January 10-12 this year. The showing I went to had a benshi (a performer who narrates the intertitles and does the voices of the characters) and a six-piece orchestra! I'd never considered the incredible stamina required to play throughout a feature film, not to mention the sense of timing.

The films I saw: a ten-minute newsreel that showed a dozen Tokyo landmarks, and the hour-long The Freshman, starring Harold Lloyd, one of the silent film greats. I always feel like Tokyo pales in comparison to the sense of history that is palpable when you visit a major city like London or Paris, but seeing how the dozen or so Tokyo landmarks look virtually the same as a hundred years ago, I saw the grandeur of this city.

The Freshman was quite an inconsequential film, though fun and pleasant. I found the Charlie Chaplin-like, repetitive pratfall-oriented gags rather annoying; I prefer the visual inventiveness of Buster Keaton. Much is made of how silent film actors often played young characters far into their thirties. But looking at the 16mm film, I saw how it was possible: the contrast is so high that wrinkles are basically blasted off the screen!

All in all, a very worthy experience.

Owl Cafe in Kiba

2015-01-14T19:59:00.004+09:00

About a year and a half ago, I was having lunch by the Sumida River when I saw a couple with three owls. I mentioned this to my father, who said, "Oh yeah there's an owl cafe near my office." I finally made the trip there, and it was a hoot.

There were a fair number of tourists wanting to get in.

You can take photographs from the outside, but there are also parakeets and owls inside.

This one looked like Furby.

The inside birdcages. With all these birds, the food and service were basically an afterthought.

At one point, this one was on its back at the bottom of the cage, playing with a paper cup.

Two baby owls in a cage, apparently about five months old. The cage was so small, they had to bend over to spread their wings! It seems they fly around at home, though.

Owls are nocturnal, so they basically spent the time nodding off.

Fake owl.

Lots of bird motifs.

Bathroom light.

Captain Cook's Voyage and Banks' Florilegium

2015-01-14T19:44:00.003+09:00

Went to see "Captain Cook's Voyage and Banks' Florilegium" at Bunkamura the other day. In the late 1700s, Cook took a party, including naturalist Joseph Banks, on a voyage to Polynesia, New Holland (Australia), New Zealand, and Batavia (Jakarta, under the Dutch), primarily to observe the transit of Venus. Along the way, Banks and other naturalists recorded hundreds of plants.

(Image courtesy of the University of Michigan Library.)

Andreas Cellarius' Celestial Chart from the late 17th century. It was used to guide Cook and co on the journey to observe Venus.

It was interesting to see just how many of the plants they recorded 250 years ago still exist today, in more or less the same form. There was an exhaustive amount of information on each plant, such as a note on sweet potatoes and how mere contact with the flowers could cause dysentery, and often death. (They grew amid filth in trade-ravaged Batavia.)

(Image courtesy of this page.)

The plants were initially recorded in watercolor, after which copper line engravings were made. Black and white prints of the engravings were issued in the early 20th century, but the beautiful drawings that we respond to today weren't actually created until the 1980s!

(Image courtesy of the National Museum of Australia.)

These flowers (called scaevola), recorded in Botany Bay in Australia, surprised me: I thought they came only in white and were native to Hawaii. For proof, a photo I took in Hawaii last summer:

Despite the softness of the drawings, there is a precision to the line engravings that make it look like the leaves in particular were painted with cellular-level precision. The exhibit continues until Sunday, March 1. I can imagine people dismissing this exhibit as just "pretty flowers", but there was certainly a lot more to it than it let on!

18 Baby Turtles and a Temple

2014-11-05T22:28:00.000+09:00

Revisited my favorite tiny temple next to Yushima Tenjin.

I was very happy to read that 18 baby turtles were born in late August. They are being kept separate for now, because their shells are still very soft.

Unlike the last time I was here, the turtles were all quite small. So small in fact, I didn't even realize that there was a turtle crossing the bridge when I initially took this photo.

The turtle on the left is not real, the one under the maple leaf on the right is.

This one was unmoving for so long, and his head was submerged in the water, I flagged down an old man nearby and asked his opinion. His response? "Turtles don't really move all that much. It's definitely alive."

Rainbow Shower Tree and Other Plants

2014-11-05T18:26:00.000+09:00

The rainbow shower tree, my favorite.

The ends look like asparagus.

They look beautiful even when half dead on the ground.

A flower caught in a spider web.

Closeup of a naupaka flower.

Hibiscus flowers that I rescued from an over-zealously trimmed shrub. They do very well in just water!

Closeup of hibiscus with Easy Macro.

Waimea Stop

2014-11-05T18:25:00.000+09:00

Waimea, a small town on the north end of Hawaii Island. It's up in the mountains, so the air is always crisper than Waikoloa or Kailua-Kona.

It also rains intermittently throughout the day, making for some of the most beautiful mountains you'll ever see.

The Waimea Homestead Farmers Market, on Saturday mornings.

Coconut carving.

The Parker Ranch, which visitors can enter freely. A huge swath of Waimea is owned by this family, and their family history is fascinating. Unlike the oft-told tales of a (white) newcomer coming to an island and taking its land away from the native dwellers, in the early 1800s John Palmer Parker landed on the Big Island and essentially married into a prominent Waimea family.

Their self-guided tour is worth looking into.

Horses on the ranch.

Animals Seen on the Big Island

2014-11-05T18:21:00.000+09:00

Photos taken in August on the Big Island, Hawaii.

A fish (angler fish?) washed up on the beach after a hurricane.

Sandpipers on a golf course.

A family of quails running away in Waimea.

Horses on Parker Ranch in Waimea.

Praying Mantis captured with Easy Macro lens.

A lizard on the beach, captured with Easy Macro.

Parrots at the Hilton in Waikoloa Village. They can sort of speak.

A huge cluster of these birds were fighting with this mongoose.

A feral cat. I like how the cats on the Big Island have longer than average ears.

Fruit-shopping at Kona Farmer's Market

2014-11-05T18:18:00.000+09:00

My annual visit to the farmer's market in Kailua-Kona.

This year, I was much more ambitious about what I purchased.

Salamanders blending in with the fruit.

Papaya, star fruit and chicko. The lady at the fruit stand was spectacularly unhelpful when I asked chicko tasted like: "It tastes like chicko."

It tastes like a cinnamon-laced persimmon.

Rambutan (the furry red balls), passion fruit (yellow balls), cherimoya (green fruit), papaya.

The rambutans were the easiest to eat, and the most delicious.

The cherimoya was not ripe at all, and tasted absolutely horrible. Apparently it is supposed to taste like custard, and the seeds are truly poisonous!

The Dolphin Tour

2014-11-05T18:15:00.000+09:00

A little bit off Kawaihae on the Big Island, Hawaii. The Ocean Sports dolphin tour is always excellent.

Mother and baby.

Dolphin mid-spin.