Grab Bag of Stuff

[dangermousie]

I started Long Vacation last night, which I liked but was a bit tired so put off till later. Minami is kinda annoying though: pushy and spastic and abrasive. Please tell me she mellows out because right now I wouldn't want her to get together with Sena who seems normal, if quiet

Comments

[linaerys]

Oooh, you're making me really look forward to the Rent DVD. Mine just arrived.

[dangermousie]

It's a really good 2-disc edition, chock full of stuff.

Long Vacation

[winterspel]

Both Sena and Minami are on a journey, and Minami is in a very tough spot right now; I was quite taken aback at how abrasive she was at first, but as koalathebear has told me, the way that Japanese women tend to be portrayed in jdoramas is very different from Minami (quiet, gentle, etc.), so the character is very much against type, which I think was a really amazing thing - I'm still surprised that a series with this kind of storyline was ever even made. I grew to love Minami quite a lot, and partly it was because she is SO high-spirited. She's also sweet and she "gets" Sena in a way that no one else does. Also, she really struggles with growing older in what seems to me (at least how it is portrayed in this jdorama) a very ageist society, and the way her life is going is not at all how she thought it would be! So part of the way that she is a defense mechanism.

;) Just some thoughts. I really loved LV!

Re: Long Vacation

[dangermousie]

I was coming to jdoramas from anime (which is the only other Japanese entertainment I have any familiarity with) and there, the stories are full of pushy, forward heroines. But usually they are a lot younger (I'd tolerate a lot more in a teenager than I would in a 31 year old woman who should know how to behave by then) and are a lot 'cuter' about it (which I realize is subjective). They are a lot less hard-edged.

I don't think it's her high spirit that bothers me (I adored Shan Cai in Meteor Garden and that girl was no walk over), it's the brittleness that gets me. She is not very joyous. There isn't the cheery high-spirit that helps with pushiness (am I even making much sense).

But I realize she is in a very bad place right now, and hopefully as I watch I will warm up to her...

Re: Long Vacation

[winterspel]

I guess that's my point - is that she is in a bad place, and she is brittle and "hard" for a reason. It doesn't go un-noticed by Sena in particular - in fact they exchange some harsh words on the subject. YMMV on her, of course. Obviously I warmed up to her a lot, and she completely won me over by the end - but this was after being VERY uncertain when I watched the first episode. I wasn't sure I liked either Sena or Minami after the first episode.

[elvensapphire]

This movie is addicting as I kept playing random bits and then other random bits and basically I could play the whole thing in an endless continuous loop. So could I! Of course, I have been guilty of playing the soundtrack in a continuous loop, and that right there is enough to make me mushy and emotional

[dangermousie]

It was filmed really beautifully and I'm sad we had to miss it. Also, the deleted scenes made Benny waaay more human. Taye got cheated. The small, fleeting look that Benny and Roger share as Roger is leaving was shattering, because suddenly the feeling between the two men, and the fact that they have somehow come to understand one another when it's too late...Goodness.

Oh yes. Or the scene where Benny pays for the funeral and reveals he knew about the dog. A pity they got cut out. Maybe some running time restraints?

[weissman]

Bob hugs elvensapphire's post . I love this show and have seen it in Broadway twice.

" I am SO glad that they decided to focus it on Jonathan and the theatre, rather than a making-of-the-film, because it still remains Jonathan's work and legacy, "-Hooah!

Bob

[syliasyliasylia]

I have Long Vacation in my hard drive waiting to be watched, but I haven't started yet. :) I'll be looking forward to reading you thoughs on it!

[dangermousie]

Heeee. I've been so tired lately in the evenings that watching anything requires more concentration than I have. But it looks like LV is a lot of fun.

[morwen_peredhil]

Orchestra Wives has been lurking in the depths of my Netflix queue for ages. Sounds like I need to bump it closer to the top!

[dangermousie]

It has a fluffy puff of a plot (though some fun bitchy scenes) but the music is sublime...

[morwen_peredhil]

I like Stage Door Canteen, so I should like this one for the same reasons.

[dangermousie]

It's the reason I like Busby Berkeley musicals. The plot is non-existant but the music is great and the staging is pretty.

Have you seen "Gold Diggers of 1933?" The same genre of film, though actually a lot more pre-Code cynical fun.