Looking Foward To This One?

looks pretty good.
not as good as the book maybe, but pretty good.
what to you think of the casting?
what do you think of the look of the film?
does it look as you picture it from the book?
well, we will see...

A review of "Departures"

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Departures
A film by director Yôjirô Takita
Starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki

 

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Movie reviews are not my usual thing here.
Not sure why, since I love to share my opinions on most things.
But I had to share this time because I watched this movie the other day and liked it so much. I think it is so good but fear, because it is a foreign film, and about a slightly touchy subject, that it is a movie that not many of you will ever see.
And you should!

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009, it is a funny, sweet, moving and beautiful movie that, sadly, many Americans may not see...thank goodness for Netflix!
Daigo Kobayashi, a cellist for an orchestra in Toyota that goes bankrupt, decides to return to his hometown with his wife, to live in a house that his mother left him when she died and to start a new life. Looking for a job, he answers an ad in the newspaper for a job in "Departures", and that he assumes has something to do with a travel agency. Well, yes, a sort of travel is involved because his boss is in the business of preparing bodies for their trip into the afterlife. He is an encoffiner, someone who ritually cleans, dresses and grooms bodies, as the family looks on, before they are placed in a coffin to be cremated or buried.

It is a job that Daigo hides from people, even misleading his wife about what he does, because dealing with dead bodies is considered by many Japanese, and many worldwide, to be dirty. And to tell the truth, he is not too thrilled with it at first. It is often a very difficult job. But the pay is very good and in a short time he grows to respect and care for his elderly boss, Ikuei Sasaki, who becomes a father figure for him, since Daigo still suffers from his own father walking out on him and his mother when he was just a child. Most of all, he grows to respect the beautiful, precise and respectful ritual and the closure and peace it brings to so many families. He begins to feel that he is doing something very important and meaningful and something he must continue to do.

Now some of you might say, "Oh, that does not sound like a subject that I want to see in a movie."
And you would be wrong.
Yes, it is about death but it is about much more. It's about families, about love and loss and reconciliation. It's about telling those around you how you feel while you still have the chance and it is about the respect that we should pay to both the living and the dead. It is also beautifully filmed, with some lovely scenes in the Japanese countryside, including that one pictured on the cover of the DVD above, and has a beautiful, cello heavy, musical score. The film is framed by the beautifully filmed opening scene, which I suggest you watch carefully so as not to miss a reaction that will be explained later in the movie, and a touching closing scene.

But what really shines in this movie are the characters. Major and minor, each has a story to tell, as we discover as the movie unfolds. Some are funny...and this is often a quite humorous film...and some are heartbreaking sad. Yes, I will admit it, as much as I hate to, that on more than one occasion I had to reach for a tissue.

A sweet, moving, beautiful little movie that you really should not miss.
If I gave stars, I would give this one 5.

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The Best Christmas Movies of all Time

I was watching TV the other morning, a cable morning show on the channel that makes Nancy Pelosi scream, and there was a fellow on there who had written The Atheist's Christmas Coloring book, because he says, just because atheists don't believe in Christ..who you might remember is the one whose birthday we are celebrating..is no reason they can't enjoy Christmas.
And why I might not agree, I can't blame them. Honestly, Christmas is such a great holiday. The sharing, the giving, the celebrating. The wonderful music, the lights, the decorations, the movies. Oh, so many movies.

For reasons we will not go into, I have found myself watching hour upon hour of "holiday" movies on the Hallmark Channel this year. And let me tell you, there are a great many very bad seasonal movies out there. But there are also some great ones and I thought I might share my top picks. And please add any you may think that I missed.
OK, I like sweet, touching, sappy Christmas movies. I find The Polar Express creepy, The Midnight Before Christmas scary. How the Grinch Stole Christmas, creepy and scary. I don't want anything mean spirited or cruel. Sweet, sappy, with an underlying great message is what I am looking for this time of year.

The Muppet Christmas Carol- Some people consider this as just another version of A Christmas Carol but I think it stands on its own as a classic. I love A Christmas Carol. I love the Muppets. What can I say.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- The stop-motion animated TV special from 1964. I don't totally get the appeal of this one but OK, I am putting this one one the list just because my sister-in-law loves it so much. I always find the island of Misfit Toys a bit creepy, but you have to love that red nose! "It's a Holly, Jolly Christmas...."

A Charlie Brown Christmas- I am of an age, before VCRs and DVDs, when we would have to wait each year for the one night this would come on the TV. And wait I did. Love the music...love the message, love the tree.

The Dead- Ok, for a complete change of pace, I will throw in this movie, staring Anjelica Houston in an adaptation of a James Joyce story, set in Dublin, Ireland at Christmastime. The story all takes place on one night, the Feast of the Epiphany, the 12th Night, to be exact, and is a rather dark, haunting movie. And again, it is a movie with an ending you must not miss, but for a very different reason than most Christmas movies. One particular highlight, the appearance of Irish tenor Frank Patterson, in a  small role that is pivotal to the story .

Elf- We watch this movie every Thanksgiving night, sort of the start of the Official Holiday Season. I will admit, I was not sold on it at first, but it has grown on me in recent times. It's funny, it's sweet, it's all about the importance of family.

It's A Wonderful Life- A great beginning and a wonderful ending...around a pretty forgettable middle part. The whole Donna Read, high school part could be cut IMHO. But the ending saves it for me, when poor George, convinced he has been a failure, is saved by all the people whose lives he has touched and he holds his little daughter by the tree, and he is crying and the bell rings...well, if you do not have a tear in your eye, you are a Scrooge!

Miracle on 34th Street- Please, the original version only. Little Natalie Wood, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn. I will allow the colorized version, but no remakes please. OK, very Santa heavy, obviously, but sometimes you just have to believe and give up your cynical ways Caite. Another movie with a sweet ending. Where are the tissues..?

A Christmas Story- This movie seems to divide people into those that love is..and those that don't get the attraction. Why do I like it? Well, although it is set in a time a decade or two before my own childhood, it reminds me when I was a kid. The look of the town, the cars, the way they dress, their house..that scene at the department store reminds me of going with my mom downtown at Christmas, to the big Bamberger's store. A time when a Chinese restaurant was as exotic as we got and kids were bundled in snowsuits. And it confirms my long held belief that Santa can be scary.

The Bishop's Wife- Maybe not one that is as well know as some of these movies, but a great one. First of all, two words..Cary Grant. So handsome and sweet as the angel Dudley, helping a basically good man who has gotten a bit distracted about what is really important to get his priorities back in line. David Niven and Loretta Young star as well...a charming, funny movie.

A Christmas Carol- Now in my opinion, out of the many versions out there, the choice comes down to the Patrick Stewart version, the George C. Scott version and the 1951 Alastair Sim version...and the winner is Alastair. Yes, he is a bit over the top in the Christmas morning scene but still this is the classic against which all others must be measured. Redemption, a radical change in the course and purpose of your life, a realization of what is really important..I think it touches on the very heart of the real message of Christmas, so it is my winner for the best of the best!

I was aiming for a top ten, and I had to reach a bit to come up with that many.
Is there one that I am missing, that just has to be on the list? Any that should be struck off?
I am sure we all have our favorites.
Still, I think these are some winners here that you can't go wrong with.

For Your Viewing Pleasure....

I have mentioned before that my poor state, New Jersey, is so often misunderstood, the butt of jokes, so I like to take every opportunity to highlight positive things about my rather wee state. This afternoon, as I was watching the T and V, a movie came on, a great NJ movie, that I want to share. Not a mobster in sight, no urban blight, not one refinery to be seen, but rather a glimpse of a different side of the Garden State. The movie is The Station Agent, and it is, without a doubt, one of my favorite movies. Set in NJ, filmed in NJ, it is a small, lovely movie about loneliness and friendship, sweet and touching and, at times, quite funny. A must see if you are not familiar with it, a movie with three great performances by Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Cannavale, a movie that I think will just make you smile. If you have that Netflix thingie (a truly wonderful invention BTW), I recommend you put it in your queue.

A description from the movie's web site...

Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage) is a man trying to live life on his own terms. Looking only to be left alone, he takes up residence in an rural town's old train depot. But much like the station agents that occupied small town depots before him, he finds himself reluctantly becoming enmeshed in the lives of his neighbors, especially Olivia (Patricia Clarkson), a forty-year-old artist struggling with the break up of her marriage, and Joe (Bobby Cannavale) a thirty-year-old with a talent for cooking and an insatiable hunger for conversation - whether anyone wants to talk to him or not.

The STATION AGENT is about three people with nothing in common, except their shared solitude, until chance circumstances bring their lives together. Before long, from this forgotten depot, this mismatched threesome forges an unlikely bond, which ultimately reveals that even isolation is better shared.

Take One..Lights, Camera....ACTION! On Musing Monday ..

Another work week begins..the good new is, it's time for another Musing Monday...from Just One More Page,

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about movies …

How do you react to movies made of your favourite books (or even not-so-favourite books)? Do you look forward to seeing them, or avoid them? Do you like to have read the book before seeing the movie?

I can't say that I anxiously await the film version of a favorite book. No, I don't. Quite often, if I liked the book, I will not bother to see the movie. Let's be honest. The movie can rarely be as good as the book. At best, it can only capture a small part of the plot of the book, just because of the time factor. And very often, the cast does not fit my mental picture of the characters.

And then there is the whole issue of changes. They take a book, and buy the movie rights because, supposedly they like it. But once they start writing a screenplay and doing the casting and and filming it, often...not always but often...they make drastic changes. Sometimes so drastic that you wonder why they bought the movie rights to the book to start with rather than just start from scratch. To attract people that loved the book? I am not sure that is true because there just are not that many book lovers out there in most cases. So, really, I am not sure what there thinking is there.

On the other hand, if you see a movie based on a book and have not read the book yet but read it after seeing the movie, that, I think, can be a good experience. If you like the movie, in the vast number of cases, the book will be a deeper, more comprehensive, richer experience. But also an experience that can be enhanced by some of the visual images from the movie. Maybe I don't have a great imagination, but I often find it helpful.

As an aside, I HATE when they reissue the book when the movie comes out and do one of those tie-in book covers, with pictures of the stars all over it. I just think it is so cheesy. But I guess if it works and sells books, and if it takes that to get people to read, well, that is a very good thing. And if it didn't work, they wouldn't keep doing it.

The Best....and the Worst.

Yes folks, it is that time of year again, when the Academy of Motion Pictures announces their nominations for the best picture of the year and they are ((drumrole...))

Best Motion Picture of the Year

-"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
-"Frost/Nixon"
-"Milk"
-"The Reader"
-"Slumdog Millionaire"

But that is not all my dear readers. No, indeed! Because here are this year's anti-Oscars, the Golden Raspberry Awards, which celebrate the worst on film this year. No drumroll needed this time I think.

Worst Picture of the Year

-"Disaster Movie" and "Meet the Spartans" The same director directed both the same screenwriter wrote both, so they seem to put them together
-"The Happening"
-"The Hottie & the Nottie"
-"In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale"
-"The Love Guru"

Does it say something that I have seen NONE of them. Not the best and not the worse. Perhaps that I read too much. And that the new season of Lost has just begun. But I do plan to see Slumdog...someday.

Happy Birthday!!

Oh my, I almost missed it!! It is a very, very important day!!
It is Mickey Mouse's 80th Birthday. He looks very good for his age. Perhaps he has had some work done.
Actually, I would argue that it is not so much his birthday as the day he first appeared in public, his debut. Of course, he was born earlier.

To quote the folks at
the Disney Archives

“Mickey Mouse is arguably the most famous of the Disney cartoon characters. Making his debut in "Steamboat Willie" at the Colony Theatre in New York City on November 18, 1928, Mickey went on to star in over 120 different cartoons. He also starred in "The Mickey Mouse Club" television show of the 1950s.

Mickey Mouse's original drawings used circles for his head, body and ears. 1939's "The Pointer" saw a bold, new design for Mickey as his body became more pear-shaped and pupils were added to his eyes to increase his range of expression. Later on, animators of the 1940s would add a perspective aspect to his ears, giving them a three-dimensional effect. This change, however, was short-lived. The Mickey Mouse of today appears much as he did in the early days with the exception of a costume change here and there.”

All very interesting...but I find it quite disturbing that they discuss Mickey as if he were not REAL, as if he were just a cartoon creation. But as we all know he is very real. I have shaken his hand at Disney World. I saw his house. Don't be telling me he is not real!! I will not listen {{la, la, la, la, la....}}

For your viewing pleasure, in his first film, The Mouse himself...



♫♫ M-I-C...See you real soon...K-E-Y...Why? Because we like you....MOUSE... ♫ ♫

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what's old is new again...

This weekend, the Tumer Classic Movie channel was having a Spenser Tracy marathon that I happened upon.
Now I like movies...I lean toward 'small' movies, with subtitles is OK too...but quite honestly, I don't really watch older or so called 'classic' movies too often. That may well be my loss I am starting to think, after watch several of Mr. Tracy's movies that I took the opportunity yo Tivo.
What we might tend to forget, in our embrace of the idea that what is new is somehow better, is how very good and very modern these movies often are.

First there were two with his frequent co-star, Katherine Hepburn, Adam's Rib and Without Love. My gosh, how very well written these movies were! What witty, what funny, what smart dialogue these movies had. They really put the writing in many new movies to shame and make them sound so dumbed down. Then there was Captains Courageous, in which Tracy played a Portuguese fisherman on a boat out of Gloucester...a sailing fishing boat...cool...who rescues a very spoiled rich boy, played by Freddie Bartholomew, who had fallen off a cruise ship. The boy spends the next two months on the with them before they return to port and of course, comes out learning many lessons about what it means to be a good person. Sounds a bit hokey, but it was really very sweet and quite clever with a very touching ending. Yep, tears were shed.

And the last one I watched was The Seventh Cross, based on a novel of the same name by the German refugee writer Anna Seghers. Set in Nazi Germany of 1936, it is the story of seven men who escape from a concentration camp, and while being hunted down, are often betrayed by those they trust and helped by those you would least expect. Produced in 1944, in the very height of WWII, one would expect it to paint the German people in a very black and white way. But contrary to that expectation, it is really a much more balanced and ultimately hopeful view of the inherent goodness of humanity.
That might be a book worth looking into as well.

I will leave you and my brief homage to the films of Spenser Tracy, with a quote from Without Love that I thought was particularly good. Hepburn and Tracy are married in the movie, but a marriage in name only, in an attempt to help the war effort..well, you have to watch the movie maybe to get it. But of course, they start to fall in love and when Hepburn's character almost considers a dalliance with a handsome friend, she realizes that she actually loves her husband and confesses her almost 'fall'. Tracy's character responds...

“You're not the falling type. You're like the tower of Pisa. You may have certain leanings but you always remain upright.”

Snappy patter, ya gotta love it...lol

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