hmong
so. i just watched Gran Torino, the new Clint Eastwood movie.
its all about clint eastwood being a racist curmudgeonly korean war vet, and how he befriends some Hmong kids next door, and their troubles with gangs. The acting is super stiff, but its excusable, as they actually used real Hmong people for the parts. They had casting calls in the 3 or 4 hmong centers in the US. fresno being one of them. The title and the poster for the movie really ignore the main focus of the movie.
I also didn't realize there was a Hmong rap scene. apparently the first female hmong rap "artist" just married "Buddah" one of the more popular detroit hmong rappers. i know because i checked out his myspace page.
last night i saw Synecdoche, New York. Charlie Kaufmans directorial debut. I'm not sure how i feel about this one. I suppose i really liked it, until maybe the last 20 minutes or so. It kind of just spirals out of control, and becomes too awkward, and it really hurts the acting and writing.
I think its my favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman role. And Samantha Morton was really great. And it was refreshing to see something that original. There are some angry reviews on imdb about how it was pretentious and wasn't "deep". They may be right, and those same things apply to wes anderson movies... but for some reason the pretentiousness really works for me, and i'm not watching it for a life changing message.
also tried watching Morvern Callar. It was an unintentional Samantha Morton marathon.
I had to fast forward some scenes as that movie was just too slow for its own good. Synecdoche is slow as well, but at least something new keeps happening. Morvern just walks around, listening to good music on her headphones for half the movie. Really wasn't into it.
I am really excited that i remembered that the Hong Kong international film festival is starting soon.
and unlike in san francisco, i don't have to pay 12 dollars to see a movie. student price is around 5 dollars thanks to shipping charges. (no will call i guess). full price is around 8.
I have tickets for Shinjuku Incident, which appears to be a new Jackie Chan movie, but more of a drama. i think its about chinese immigrants in japan. and people get shot and beat up. the trailer looked good, but folks on twitch who saw it already didn't like it. oh well.
I have tickets for the new Takeshi Kitano. this is the 3rd movie in his strange self referential trilogy. i've really liked the last 2 movies. the first one was definitely for fans only, as it referenced all his movies, which i had already seen. the 2nd was 2 parts, 1 of which was hilarious, the other a bit tedious at times. this one is in 3 parts. i hear its the "easiest", or most watchable of the 3. we'll see.
i'm also really excited that Peter Greenaways "Rembrandt's J'Accuse" is playing. it is not often you get to see Greenaway in a theater. I'm a bit concerned i won't enjoy it, as it seems really art history specific. I am not well versed in Rembrandt, and not sure if am actually interested. But i feel obligated to see this, and i'm sure it will great to watch.
also, just cause its a cheaper way to see them, i have tickets for Che (All 4.5 hours in one night, hopefully with an intermission), and W. .
There is a lot more playing, but only so much time, and money.
i am tired.
its all about clint eastwood being a racist curmudgeonly korean war vet, and how he befriends some Hmong kids next door, and their troubles with gangs. The acting is super stiff, but its excusable, as they actually used real Hmong people for the parts. They had casting calls in the 3 or 4 hmong centers in the US. fresno being one of them. The title and the poster for the movie really ignore the main focus of the movie.
I also didn't realize there was a Hmong rap scene. apparently the first female hmong rap "artist" just married "Buddah" one of the more popular detroit hmong rappers. i know because i checked out his myspace page.
last night i saw Synecdoche, New York. Charlie Kaufmans directorial debut. I'm not sure how i feel about this one. I suppose i really liked it, until maybe the last 20 minutes or so. It kind of just spirals out of control, and becomes too awkward, and it really hurts the acting and writing.
I think its my favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman role. And Samantha Morton was really great. And it was refreshing to see something that original. There are some angry reviews on imdb about how it was pretentious and wasn't "deep". They may be right, and those same things apply to wes anderson movies... but for some reason the pretentiousness really works for me, and i'm not watching it for a life changing message.
also tried watching Morvern Callar. It was an unintentional Samantha Morton marathon.
I had to fast forward some scenes as that movie was just too slow for its own good. Synecdoche is slow as well, but at least something new keeps happening. Morvern just walks around, listening to good music on her headphones for half the movie. Really wasn't into it.
I am really excited that i remembered that the Hong Kong international film festival is starting soon.
and unlike in san francisco, i don't have to pay 12 dollars to see a movie. student price is around 5 dollars thanks to shipping charges. (no will call i guess). full price is around 8.
I have tickets for Shinjuku Incident, which appears to be a new Jackie Chan movie, but more of a drama. i think its about chinese immigrants in japan. and people get shot and beat up. the trailer looked good, but folks on twitch who saw it already didn't like it. oh well.
I have tickets for the new Takeshi Kitano. this is the 3rd movie in his strange self referential trilogy. i've really liked the last 2 movies. the first one was definitely for fans only, as it referenced all his movies, which i had already seen. the 2nd was 2 parts, 1 of which was hilarious, the other a bit tedious at times. this one is in 3 parts. i hear its the "easiest", or most watchable of the 3. we'll see.
i'm also really excited that Peter Greenaways "Rembrandt's J'Accuse" is playing. it is not often you get to see Greenaway in a theater. I'm a bit concerned i won't enjoy it, as it seems really art history specific. I am not well versed in Rembrandt, and not sure if am actually interested. But i feel obligated to see this, and i'm sure it will great to watch.
also, just cause its a cheaper way to see them, i have tickets for Che (All 4.5 hours in one night, hopefully with an intermission), and W. .
There is a lot more playing, but only so much time, and money.
i am tired.