My first home vacation since I left for Japan 10 months ago to pursue my film studies has just ended with 20 days and 11 films. That meant one film watched every other day but cramped in between catching up with good friends and equally good food I wished I could have squeezed in time for a couple more. Hitherto Mike Nichols superbly crafted Closer wraps up the trip and as much as I would say the highlight of the film was seeing Natalie Portman dressed ( hardly I mean ) in a sexy thong much appeal is also attributed to the exceptional screenplay by Patrick Marber ( who also wrote the original play that this film was based on ) Indeed the 10 month hiatus has left my already subpar english language even more diminished so I was neither intellectually nor linguistically capable of appreciating the nuances in the delivered lines as much as I wished I could, so owning the dvd would be a plus. ( nonono, its not about Natalie Portman and her thong, mostly no. )



With that, till next year and see you guys back in Tokyo.

Movie/comic comparisons aside, Francis Lawrence's directorial debut Constantine is a tastily shot film topped with superlative visual and creature effects, crisp, moody photography and a host of radical, interesting characters. In this fashion-savvy universe Gabriel the Archangel dresses like a spokesmodel for Versace while Lucifer does Armani endorsements in bleached white designer suits. Such a stark contrast in the portrayal of the ultimate evil is a clear departure from past films where Satan is often depicted as a savage demon king bent on inflicting human suffering whereas here he's a well dorned CEO with an eterprise to manage, however hellish it is. In this sense inhabiting such a world where the supernatural forces heed attention to "the balance" of good and evil seems almost desirable. Evil never once looked so good.

Takeshi+Kojima

Bound for a year long travel trip to Montreal come next week, Kojima+Takeshi had only moved out a couple of days ago, but the absence of my 2 extremely likeable japanese friends are immediately palpable; gone are the familiar Bossanova tracks playing off Takeshi's amps in the evenings; ( remembering vividly his incredulous disbelief when I first admitted I had never come across the term Bossanova music ), Kojima's plants lined outside the house, including a durian seedling I swore would never grow due to Japan's cold weather but did, now all gone, a barren slab of concrete floor; amongst other memorable incidents we shared.



Both accomplished photographers themselves, Takeshi+kojima also travelled widely and shared a true sense of spirit that embodied the love for new experiences rather than material pursuits; indeed, they had very little posessions beyond what was necessary for a decent and comfortable living. They were also great cooks; most of my culinary procurement since I came to Japan ( of which I had zilch before ) I had stole from them in between their dinner preparations. It takes little to surmise I'll be missing their company significantly, and see you guys next year, Takeshi+Kojima. ( and hello to my new roommate, Hirobe-san. :] )

Denizens of Domiru Meguro : ( L to R ) Takeshi, Shige, Bernie, Kojima. Yappari minna mechamecha yopparakunatta.

I can't recall exactly as to why I missed Darren Aronofsky's Requiem For A Dream when it hit theatres back in 2000, but I'm more than glad that I finally watched it after putting it off everytime I hit the rental stores, having remembered lucidly my friends' caveats that it's extremely detrimental to one's healthy mental state. Nontheless, watching Requiem is an excellent exercise in filmmaking, ( the film had 2000 plus cuts, as compared to a regular movie's 600/700 ), and the sophorific visuals are so compelling its like been hypnotised.

A flower shop in Daikayama, close to Shibuya about 10 minutes cycle from home. Fans of Luc Besson's Leon have got to be smitten with this shop, watashi hajimete mita toki mo bikkuri. :]

It will no doubt take several more repeat viewings to even barely grasp and appreciate the full masterly range of Krzysztof Kieslowski trilogy Trois Couleurs ( Three Colours : Blue, White and Red ), but Rouge ( Red ) immediately springs up as my favourite of the three. Maybe because it was the easiest to comprehend and relate to, but simply put Red is so richly imbued in a mix of fantastic visual and narrative symbolism, utilizing austere but stunning photography to enhance the intensity of every scene the experience of viewing leaves one breathless; I can only imagine the impact it would have had viewed in a theatre. Sadly the depth and meaning of the trilogy is way beyond what my inept writing can express, but you've been so informed.



( Note however, this trilogy's narrative treatment is everything an archetypal Hollywood outing is not, so some may find it completely senseless and boring. )

Although I would had very much preferred a sloshed out, frenetic PVD treatment to celebrate the new year things turned out fairly different as we ended up in Meiji Jingu ( a famous Shrine in Harajuku where the Emperor chills out ) for a more traditional proceeding. Packed to the brim on New Year's Eve every year everyone thronged to toss coins before the altar wishing for happiness and long life.

SNOW@DOMIRU-MEGURO.

Having hogged my brother's Notionwerks website for years now I've finally gotten my bones together to set up my own domain. After much deliberation I've finally settled on www.playwithlight.com. ( tying into the cinematography, chiaroscuro thing ) One has to realize that with the word "light" within the name its only too easy to end up sacrosant sounding ie "stepintolight.com", nor did I wanted something too corporate, not running a business here. Right now its all but an empty shell, but go to www.playwithlight.com for a peek.

Isao Yukisada's tearjerker Sekai no Chushin de, Ai wo Sakebu ( Crying out love at the centre of the world ), though employing an egregiously cliched, age old melodramatic narrative that is sure to have teenage girls swooning for the lead actor's undying love in the film, is redeemably executed with accomplished skill and beauty ( no small part due to Shinoda's photography ). As unabashedly sentimental as the film is, the superbly timed use of Ken Hirai's moving ballad can really get one reaching for their hankies.



Regrettably, this marked the final film shot by DP Noboru Shinoda, a long time collaborator with Iwai Shunji, whose cinematography work included Love Letter, Swallowtail Butterfly and April Story.

Tokyo Tower, in all its night glory. Merry Christmas folks. :]

To celebrate Takeshi's last day of work ( Takeshi+Kojima are bound for Montreal come late January. *sniff* ) and my film school admission, we had a nice dinner at a restaurant in Nakameguro, where as we were making our way there I was told a scene in Lost In Translation was shot just a street away, outside a Pachinko Parlour. Hmm. Back home we were then treated to Kojima's exquisite Mandarin cheesecake, honto ni umagatta. With some free time on my hands finally, a few events are in order, not least some decent photo trips, Takeshi dittos that.

Perhaps the Japanese were once again exercising their usual diffidence and propriety but me and my friends just could not for cat's sake control our uproarious laughter yesterday while watching Pixar's latest outing The Incredibles. Coupled with Pixar's now reliably excellent plot and visual delivery is Brad Bird's unique direction, a style ringing close to the underrated Iron Giant. There's a hint of mischievious nature seemingly missing from Pixar's past works that is beautifully integrated here, the Warner Bro's animation touch if you will.

Highlight today however must go to the receipt of Toho Gakuen's letter of acceptance, my film school starting next April. Kojima-chan was noticably more estatic than me when told the news, chotto bikkurishita. *laughs*

Its uncomfortably cold this time of the year in Tokyo, but it can only get colder. There is a palpable change in the air, the seasons in gradual transition. Everyday as I cycle to school I witness the maple leaves cover more and more of the walkways and pavements but still the trees seem reluctant to lose their yellow skin for the scarlet reds. If only I wasn't so caught up with school work I could have spent an entire afternoon photographing this beautiful sight, imbued with nature's rich colours and textures. Let's hope there's time yet.

It would seem at long last that the talented folks up at SquareSoft ( now Square Enix ) have decided finally to make right the debacle years ago that was to become FF : The Spirits Within. I've always yearned for a Japan tight FF film with inputs only from their own design team. FF7 - Advent Children, original planned a game, was rescripted and will soon be released as a CG film direct to DVD. I've never followed the FF games but the redesigned CG character Cloud is simply put, beautiful. Better yet, his antagonist Kadaj, ( screen shot below ) looks so devastatingly cool, been a baddie has never felt so good... *rants on like an overexcited kid*

If, Miyazaki Hayao fan or no, after a viewing of his latest animation film Howl's Moving Castle one detects a perceptible difference from his previous works, not so much with the style and visual treatment, but storyline, that's because it is - the script is an adaptation of a children's book by British author Diana Wynne Jones. Though this detail does little to hinder the film's overall greatness, I cannot but feel a sense of detachment, as if the distinctive, Hallmark Miyazaki visuals are just one soul removed from the story. It is not typical of Miyazaki to center his theme and message on the romantic relationship of the protaganists, themselves usually contributing only a certain fraction to a bigger, broader subject that is the more important message he wishes to convey.



Of course, this simply isn't a Miyazaki story to begin with. Certainly my deplorable level of japanese is also hindering my ability to understand the story fully. ( no, no subtitles for a Japanese film in Japan, it makes sense. ) Let's hope I get to see the dvd soon with subtitles and personally no, nothing comes too close to Mononoke Hime , period.

It was only yesterday did I discover that the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno Park houses a most impressive collection of paintings running the gamut from movements like Romanticism, Post-Impressionism, Dada to Pointilism. ( Being able to recall these semantics, admittedly, credit must go to my Victoria School AEP teacher, who tormented us with lengthy essay assignments on art movements. ) Some noteworthy names included Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Tiepolo, Pollock, Rosetti, heck, they even had an El Greco. But certainly the highlight had to be the Delacroix ( housed in a quaint, original Delacroic frame ) even though the painting on display was a lesser known work I couldn't remember, but standing in its presence where the master had worked his magic some 200 years ago still gives one considerable kick. Now all that's left to do is to see Liberty Leading The People in Louvre.

As visual echoes of the lusciously photographed 2046 continue to course unbridled through my brain, threatening to inundate and flood out lesser, perceived inferior imagery, one lucid observation comes quickly to mind - Doyle and WKW have once again topped their personal standards of the brillant marriage of visuals and content. Pausing momentarily to evaluate recent chinese film history, with the exception of perhaps John Woo, ( with his gun totting, slow mo antics ) no director and DP have created film images so strong and intense in personal style that they are almost instantly recognizable as such. As Tony Leung converses with a character we could never see, often hidden behind a door or out of frame, we are at once cut off and unable to assert our presence, lessening the experience more akin to that of a voyeur. This motif continues from In The Mood and becomes ever more pervasive here, alienating our role as an unobtrusive, obscured viewer.



Watching 2046 gives the attuned moviegoer a collective chance of appreciating the best work of 3 masterful auteurs - Doyle, WKW and Tony Leung, all in excellent form, with the sum of their respective creative inputs culminating into a portmanteau work that is nothing short of a masterpiece.

There's an extraordinarily electrifying and exhilarating scene in Kazuaki Kiriya's live action rendition of the anime Casshan: Robot Hunter, where the protaganist Tetsuya, having realized that he is the reborn warrior Casshern, lays complete and utter waste to an impending army of invasion robots without so much as breaking a sweat, in between looking devastating stylish and with his affection Luna tucked safely in his arms. The adrenaline rush can be likened to watching the finer moments of those antiquated Hong Kong kungfu flicks where the hero finally learns his skills and starts to kick some, only this is shot with tons more style and coupled with excellent music.



Having raised the bar to its apex hitherto however, the plot starts its descent into sanitized morality issues and lengthy, philosophical ramblings on the ravages of war, but with a fairly disjointed and convoluted narrative so far, one finds it hard to relate to any of the characters, much less their idealistic musings. My take would be to sit in for the stunning visuals, but leave the human ethics lessons at home.

" How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd. " -- Alexander Pope

Not enough praises can be sung of Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, indeed, though filmlovers familiar with screenwriter Kaufman's work have come to expect much from his writings, the basis of which gave birth to bold and inventive works like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, none of them exhibits the sensitivity and romantic longing that envelops Eternal Sunshine "like a soft blanket on a chilly night", quoting BFI's Sight and Sound. This added emotional element raises the film to a higher plane where, bar entities devoid of feelings, makes anyone wonder about their memory backlogs and if Lacuna(www.lacunainc.com)is really such a good idea.



Michel Gondry makes up a third of the triumvirate of genius minds, along with Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham, whom with their pool of vastly influential MTVs have undeniable shaped the look of the industry. Come the day when Cunningham embarks on his feature, the creative circle would then be complete.

Early autumn is upon Tokyo and temperatures are taking a steady dip, hitherto 15C and going straight down till winter. Certainly one of the highlights of autumn here would be the beautiful fall foliage, think the gradiose setting where Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi slugs it out in Hero, minus the morbidity of course. Gotta head down to Shinjuku Kouen for some shots once the leaves starts to scatter and will post them here soon.

Earlier on a post dinner conversation with Takeshi+Kojima and Shige had them caveating me about the killer winters here in Domiru Meguro where we reside, for a resident here had apparently froze to death last winter. I counted "can't sleep too much" far too many times to dismiss it as a joke, I suddenly feel like an eskimo living in the caps, give or take the polar bears. "SCHOLARSHIP STUDENT IN JAPAN FREEZES IN SLEEP, REQUIRES THAWING."

Now that would be quite a heading.

Oh and er, can someone please remind from time to time that I ought to be keeping up to speed with the Korean movie scene. Oldboy, Spring, Summer, just to name a few to get hold of.

Wes Anderson's audaciously eccentric The Royal Tenenbaums, though clearly not suited for all tastes, joins the ranks of films ( Hu Jinho's One Fine Spring Day been another ) that when given a second viewing, garners a considerably deeper dimension and quality.



Perhaps upon initial viewing in the theatres during its cinematic run I had yet to acquire a nuanced taste for Anderson's bizzare narrative style, but this time round the excellent performance of the actors, with their outrageously hilarious dialogues had me laughing out maybe too laughly. Coupled with an eclectic soundtrack, beautifully executed art direction and photography, this is one unforgettable film. With the Criterion edition dvd going for just 16.39, its impossible to pass this up.

Watch out for his next feature, The Life Aquatic.

In the climatic showdown from Mamoru Oshii's original Ghost In The Shell, Major Motoko Kusanagi confronts the cyberhacker Puppetmaster codenamed 2501, under the aegis of a formidable Type X10-er crab tank. This intense and impactful battle within the "floating museum", coupled with Kenji Kawai's haunting score is remembered as one of recent anime's most memorable scenes.



Innocence, though retaining most of the prequel's characters, embarks on a different storyline, this time told through the travails of Bateau and Togusa, both looking even more stoned than in the original. The film, now augmented with considerably more 3D shots, introduces sleeker mecha designs and stunning sets, while still keeping up with superb 2D animated characters. ( the quality varies at times, one thinks this might have to do with sub-outs for different animation houses ) Though not nearly matching the first film's brilliance, the weaker finale is alleviated in part by Motoko's return, whose "ghost" have been drifting in the network eversince her union with the Puppetmaster. Worth a look just for the visuals alone.