Nobody Knows, Graveyard of Honor, & Graveyard of Honor

Nobody Knows is a depressing film about a group of children who are abandoned by their mom and how they have to survive with the oldest being only 12. I cannot express how sad this film is. It is based on a true story, which just hurt all the more. Hirokazu Koreeda, who also directed Maborosi and Afterlife, gets good performances from the kids, but I do sort of wish it wasn't so heartbreaking.

Graveyard of Honor is a 1975 film by Kinji Fukasaku which was remade in 2002 by Takashi Miike. I watched both. Fukasaku's version is slightly better, as it's less bloated. They're both about a yakuza who struggles to be a not huge dick and getting every yakuza family pissed at him. He fails, and eventually has to fight both his family and other families, along with the cops. Watching these back to back was a little annoying, because he was just ridiculously stupid and overreacting. The Miike film just went on a little long. Fukusaku's film is actually similar to the Yakuza Papers films, firmly placing the story in a historical context, which adds a lot of texture to the film.

The Lookout, I Think I Love My Wife, & Passport to Pimlico

The Lookout was written by Scott Frank, writer of one of my favorite big Hollywood films of the 1990s: Out of Sight, along with another excellent Elmore Leonard adaptation in Get Shorty. He also wrote Dead Again, a film for which I have a possibly irrational fondness. Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh are just always great together. Anyway, about the Lookout: Joseph Gordon-Levitt continues his very strong string of performances along with Mysterious Skin and Brick, showing that he's quite talented. Oh, and 10 Things I Hate about You, but that's in a different class. Rural Kansas seems sometimes interesting, and sometimes not very nice. It's an interesting film, and supporting actors like Jeff Bridges and Carla Gugino add some nice performances (well, Carla Gugino is a little underused). A little too influenced by Memento, but still worth watching.

I Think I Love My Wife is Chris Rock and Louis C.K. film remaking Chloe in the Afternoon, one of Erich Rohmer's Six Moral Tales. I'm not sure why it was remade, and I'm not sure why this film was made. It's not particularly funny, and it doesn't really tell a story that seems worth telling. Hey, don't cheat on your wife! Wow, thanks overlong film. And who doesn't like viagra jokes! There's talent in this film, but it is in evidence nowhere.

Passport to Pimlico is an early Ealing Studios comedy about a somewhat crappy part of London that, due to an unexploded bomb that suddenly explodes, discovers that they're not actually part of the United Kingdom but was actually given to the Duke of Burgundy and thus is the lone remaining part of Burgundy. There are some funny bits, and the small guys versus the government is a fine message. Having Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford basically be their same bumbling characters introduced in The Lady Vanishes adds a bit of interest to film buffs. Not as good as other Ealing Studios comedies, but enjoyable enough.

Standard Operating Procedure, Path to War, The War Game, Culloden, & Fast Food Nation

Standard Operating Procedure is the newest Errol Morris film, and as such is a brilliant documentary. It's about the Abu Ghraib scandal, and as such, brought out some very interesting points that I had never known before. Did you know in the famous photo of Lynndie England pointing at a prisoner's junk, he was masturbating? See, I saw the pictures when they were first released, and I never noticed that. Something about my sickening feeling when I first saw them led to me not actually going over them in detail. But man, this film does, made me extremely uncomfortable to see what was done in my name, and then I just got extremely pissed. Seriously, this was just a completely messed up way to treat a human being. I'm so anti-torture now that just the idea that this was condoned by anyone in the military makes me want to call for their imprisonment. Just a sickening display of supposed moral righteousness. This is why they hate us. And it's not really all that clear as to why they'd be wrong.

Path to War is about LBJ's presidency as it relates to Vietnam. I saw people portraying people I know in it. That was fun. It has an amazing cast, universally excellent, and is really an interesting look at just how it seemed completely impossible that we could be drawn into a war there, even as we had no idea how to win it. Statistics are useful, but they can't beat actual experience. And it's frustrating to know that a great man was taken down by stupid rabid anti-communism, when there was so much evidence that Vietnam was fighting for its independence as nationalists not as communists. Seriously, why the hell does the US do so many stupid stupid things. I blame the Republicans. Democrats just couldn't be "soft" on communism, even when it would have been so much better for everyone involved.

The War Game is a documentary about what would happen if England would be the target of a nuclear attack. As such, it's horrifying. I've been reading metafilter and ask.metafilter for years now, and they've mentioned it a few times, and I started to read about it, and apparently it terrified many English children back when it was shown on TV. I can certainly understand that, as nuclear war is a motherfucker. Seriously, the idea of just what would happen and how much of England's population would be wiped out in a first strike, but how bad it would be for those who would survive. Even though it's based on evidence, it's basically a fictional film, and yet it still won the Oscar for best documentary. It's that good.

Culloden is another film made for British TV by Peter Watkins, but this is about the battle of Culloden, the final battle in the Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland. Not the best thing the English ever did, as after they crushed the Jacobite forces, they gave the fleeing rebels no quarter and it led to horrible atrocities committed by the English forces. It's not nearly as good as The War Game, but it was interesting, as you really don't hear much about the Jacobites in any American school class on European history. It came on the same DVD as The War Game, so think of it as an added bonus for that film.

Fast Food Nation is the book by Eric Schlosser that was made into a movie that I saw back in March. I borrowed Tweaks's copy, and enjoyed the little notes she wrote in it (she read it for school). Somehow it actually made me more upset about suburban sprawl and the mistreatment of workers rather than the danger of eating tainted meat. It's a very easy read for a book about maimings and horrible diseases, exploitation of illegal immigrants and young workers not washing their hands, crazy Christians and heartless executives. I need to read Reefer Madness now. Sections on pot, illegal immigration, and porn? My three favorite things all in one place!

Zodiac, Samurai Girl, Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story, & Valis

Zodiac is something I saw a while ago, and forgot to write up with either of my last two posts. But it's David Fincher's long and involving look at the Zodiac killer, a serial killer in the San Francisco area who killed at least five people in the late 60s. Of course, he wouldn't be nearly as interesting had it not been for the codes that he sent to reporters after some of the murders. Quite a fascinating case. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey, Jr., Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Dermot Mulroney, Donal Logue, Philip Baker Hall, Adam Goldberg, Clea DuVall, and Chloë Sevigny, all of whom I have a soft spot for, or love unreservedly. And David Fincher does a good job, ratcheting the tension, even though you know that no one will ever get caught or charged with the murders. It's just a strong film, all around.

Samurai Girl is an ABC Family miniseries event thingy, six hours about a young girl named Heaven who it turns out is a sort of Japanese Jedi master whose destiny it is to save the world, or destroy it or something. Honestly, I didn't entirely understand what the hell would happen. She is about to get married when the wedding is hijacked by ninjas who kill her brother and send her running off to her brother's friend (who happens to be a ninja master), but not before meeting a goofball (played by Kyle Labine, brother of Tyler from Reaper, which doesn't start up again until January?) and his roommate. The cast is uniformly mediocre (besides Kyle, who's not as charming as Tyler), and Jamie Chung (who is Korean-American and plays Japanese, which I would have been bothered by had this tried to be remotely realistic) formerly starred on The Real World San Diego. So yeah, it's cheezy as hell, but it's surprisingly watchable. As long as you're sitting on your bed, bundled up, under the influence of drugs. And willing to deal with a much worse Buffy ripoff.

Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story was shown on Frontline, and is an interesting look at the history of one of my lifetimes greatest racebaiters: Lee "Willie Horton" Atwater. For those who don't spend too much time reading about the history of Karl Rove and the like, it's probably informative, but other than actually seeing pictures of him palling around with terrorists (black people!) and drunks (George W. Bush) and his face post-steroids, there's surprisingly little there there. Still, I enjoyed it, and enjoyed thinking that Lee Atwater and Karl Rove were so dirty that Ed Rollins thought they went too far.

Valis is a Philip K. Dick novel (I think the first work of his I've actually read, which is surprising based on my enjoyment of movies based on his books), that has been cited in Lost, which is why I have wanted to read it since I saw that Tweaks had a copy. I'm not sure how much I can really explain about it, but the wiki page might help a little in explaining why I feel like it's an interesting and possibly illuminating look at what goes on on the island in Lost. Of course, as for anything attempting to explain what's going on in Lost, a visit to Lostpedia's page on Valis is informative.

Running out of Time, Last Hurrah for Chivalry, Charlotte Sometimes, & The Mission

Running out of Time is a pretty good movie, with Andy Lau as a dying master criminal who is playing a game with an expert hostage negotiator. It's a stylish little thriller from Johnnie To, made during the same year as The Mission, and considerably better than that one. The Mission is about a group of bodyguards hired to protect a triad boss, and then have to struggle with the repercussions of an affair. They're both stylish thrillers, but Running out of Time is just a more effective film, and held my interest much better.

Last Hurrah for Chivalry is an early John Woo film, before he decided that honor was about two .45s being fired at the same time at waves of dudes in suits. At this point it's about guys with swords fighting unnamed guys and guys with names like Green and Pray and Sleeping Wizard (who fights while sleeping). It's eminently silly, a twisted plot about a son revenging the death of his father and an attempt on his life by his newlywed wife (who was a whore he bought and his enemy paid twice as much to kill him), and the two swordsmen who help him. There are many, many swordfights, some interesting, most not, and it seems like the good guys get stabbed many, many times and don't really suffer much. Weird how that works in movies.

Charlotte Sometimes is a little indie film about a quiet Asian guy (the actor's Japanese-American, but the movie doesn't specify his ethnicity) who rents out part of his parents' house to a couple (she's Asian and he's half-Asian) and works as a mechanic. When he meets a girl in the bar at which he hangs out, tensions arise. It's a small film, mainly just the two couples, but it's shot impressively for DV six years ago and looks good and uses light and shadows very well. And it's surprisingly deep. Definitely one to check out if you want to see a great film that doesn't treat the audience like an idiot.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters & Ace in the Hole

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters might be funnier if I had enjoyed the show, but I've been told by some others that the movie isn't particularly funny for those who have enjoyed the show. I mean, just not particularly funny, and, like most of the Adult Swim shows, it's weird for its own sake. Occasionally that can be extremely funny (Harvey Birdman and the like), and other times it's like this. And the title? If you find that funny, maybe you'd like it. But it just goes to show that the entire movie is full of over-the-top things that someone high might find funny. But I was definitely not high.

Ace in the Hole is a dark, dark satire from Billy Wilder. Man, I really didn't expect it to be that evil. It's great though. I liked the reference to Floyd Collins, who I used to hear about all the time when I worked at the Natural History Museum, so that was an added nice touch for me. But Kirk Douglas makes the film as a drunk former big city journalist stuck in Albuquerque who milks a trapped caver as an attempt to get back to working in New York. And of course, everything goes wrong and it becomes a media circus.

Bishop Allen at the Black Cat 11/1

I'm a little behind. Anyway, a large group ended up at the Black Cat to see Bishop Allen. As with the last time they were here in May, they didn't play long enough. But they did play for an hour including the encore break, so that was 10 minutes more. Hey, Bishop Allen: you have two (soon to be three) albums, and around 10 other EPs of original material (one was live and at least a couple of them were rerecorded for the most recent album): you can play longer. I think most would agree. Set was pretty good, and the new songs only stuck out in that I couldn't sing along to them until the chorus had repeated. Definitely looking forward to Grrr..., the new album which should be out in February.

Songs played included: The Monitor, Middle Management, Like Castanets, Click Click Click Click, The Same Fire, and the encore finished with Butterfly Nets. Which made Ms. Albright happy, with her ukulele. Even though the ukulele broke halfway through and the song had to be finished on guitar.

Drink Up Buttercup sucked ass though. They were like a drunken carnival that sunk to the bottom of the sea and started to sing sea shanties. Just crap. According to this guy who agreed with me on Drink Up Buttercup (and this guy who liked that dreck), Electric Owl was actually pretty good. I kind of enjoyed my pre-show event (sushi and then candy), so I guess I'll have to deal with it. And here's a video of Middle Management (AKA the Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist trailer song).

The Magnetic Fields at Lisner Auditorium 10/26

I'm not actually sure what my first experience was with The MF, but it was definitely in college, during which time I picked up a couple of their albums on CD (but not 69 Love Songs, which I had most of on mp3, but didn't own because I hadn't yet just started buying CDs from the labels themselves, and I never could find the box at record stores when I had the cash). I got 69 Love Songs the summer after graduating when I had a job and too much money to spend, and a deep and abiding love for MF was only strengthened. Due to Merritt's rumored (to me at the time, I wasn't as news hungry about things other than my hatred for Bush) reclusiveness, I just put them in a list of bands I would never see live and just went on with my life. When I was surprised by the release of i, I happily picked it up and was extremely happy with most of the album, with it very reminiscent of the more acoustic tracks from 69 Love Songs, rather than what I had originally fallen in love with, the tracks like Take Ecstasy with Me and The Flowers She Sent and the Flowers She Said She Sent and All the Umbrellas in London. But I liked it, and again lamented the lack of touring. Fast forward a few years, past the weird Chinese operas (most of which is a footnote at best in Merritt's career), and I start hearing about his new album, a tribute to Jesus and Mary Chain. Being a huge fan of theirs (and recognizing that Merritt clearly was from the drum beat of When You Were My Baby among others), I was kind of excited about it, but the actual release was kind of disappointing. The noise had gotten in the way of my enjoyment of the lyrics.

But then I heard that they were actually going to be touring this album. Outside of New York City. And I got more excited. Even if I didn't like the most recent album, he was guaranteed to play stuff from earlier albums, along with the 6ths and Gothic Archies songs that would work. So I then promptly forgot about it until a friend reminded me. And then promptly forgot about until said friend reminded me again in front of a group of people who all also wanted to go. So we went. I think there ended up being at least thirteen people I have talked to there, along with an insane amount of people that I've seen at shows and around the city, at the show.

The opening act was one Shugo Tokumaru, who was actually really impressive. Acoustic, singing so quietly it took me a couple of songs before I realized he was singing in Japanese (although introducing himself in a very thick accent and saying he was from Tokyo should have tipped me off), and definitely a nice surprise. I do sort of wish that Portastatic had opened for him, but eh, I can't have everything. For those of you who would like to see what would happen if Portastatic opened for The Magnetic Fields, go here for some videos.

The show itself was a nice, low-key affair. I like sitting shows. Also, being able to hear a pin drop (aka, some random guy coughing (not, me, I could hear myself coughing each and every time I did so)) was nice. Sure, Stephin and Claudia were snippy with each other, but after almost losing their instruments in Philadelphia and it being the last day of the tour, of course they were going to be snippy. Most of it was funny, especially their argument about the Olsen twins. Stephin was sick, and clearly irritated with the audience, especially one dude with a camera, who wins douchebag of the show for that (although the people who left after the first set, what the hell people?). The set list was extremely varied, and while it didn't include all my favorites from the early synthpop days, it had my three favorite MF tracks (Yeah! Oh Yeah!, Take Ecstasy with Me, and one that I won't name due to it making abundantly clear that I'm a sap), so I enjoyed it.

Setlist, based on here with corrections along with band.

When I'm out of Town (The 6ths)
No One Will Ever Love You (Magnetic Fields)
California Girls (Magnetic Fields)
Walking My Gargoyle (The Gothic Archies)
The Nun's Litany (Magnetic Fields)
All My Little Words (Magnetic Fields)
Old Fools (Magnetic Fields)
I Don't Believe You (Magnetic Fields)
Dreams Anymore (Magnetic Fields)
This Little Ukulele (Stephin Merritt)
I Don't Love You Anymore (Magnetic Fields)
Xavier Says (Magnetic Fields)
Zombie Boy (Magnetic Fields)
Papa Was a Rodeo (Magnetic Fields)

Intermission

Lonely Highway (Magnetic Fields)
Take Ecstasy with Me (Magnetic Fields)
Courtesans (Magnetic Fields)
Crows (Gothic Archies)
The Tiny Goat (Gothic Archies)
Too Drunk To Dream (Magnetic Fields)
The Book of Love (Magnetic Fields)
Give Me Back My Dreams (The 6ths)
Drive On, Driver (Magnetic Fields)
What A Fucking Lovely Day (Stephin Merritt)
Yeah! Oh Yeah! (Magnetic Fields)
It's Only Time (Magnetic Fields)

Encore

Washington, DC (Magnetic Fields) (well, at least part of it)
Grand Canyon (Magnetic Fields)