Something To Get Off My Chest

Less than 10% of South Africans regard English as their 1st language. Specifically, 8.2% of the South African population are "native" English speakers. 91.8% have English as a second language. Yet, S Korea thinks them emminently more suitable to teach English to their populous than any other African country. Why is that I wonder? Could it be pertain to the fact majority of the 8.2% are not South Africans of African descent?

Happy Birthday, 비

Today is Rain's b'day, so a quickie note note to send birthday wishes. I also needed an excuse to post gratuitous pics. Oh well. Happy 26th 비!

Pic courtesy of Hancinema

*Tear*

I realise I'm getting older 'cos the average age the entertainment industry has started being younger than I am. Everyone is permanently 18 to 24 while I certainly am not. Bummer.

Of Two Minds

I am into my third Haruki Murakami book, and though I have not read enough of his works to truly give an informed opinion (and even if I had, I would not have the analytic wherewithal to do so), of the three that I have read there seems to be a commonality between them all; two worlds. The two spheres of existence that feed upon each other. The protagonist's real world is a fractured, painful, imperfect one, and the escape into his alternate and ultimately more fruitful one is fraught with battles both with the self and others. That is not to say that the alternate is perfect, it just seems to hold more answers to the more pressing questions, and permits behaviour and ideals that reality places restraints on.

I find his books a consuming read because he truly mystifies me as to when and how the worlds are intertwined and I have no choice but to finish. His books are surprisingly easy to read even though they are dense, multi layered and at times metaphysical I cannot help but to continue reading, and the pay off is always as good as promised. I think it is the scifi, curious nature in me that likes his books. His insight into human motivations and riddles are full of "light bulb!" moments that never fail to make me want to pick up another book, a pen, music and delve deeper. Into what? Of that, I am not sure.

Pipe Full of Dreams

Probably the man with the longest reach in the Korean music industry JYP (Park Jin-Young's initials in the English-friendly name order), a.k.a Rain/Bi's former producer, is certainly a force to be reckoned with. After conquering the Korean market he helped bring forth the Hallyu wave to the rest of Asia by engineering the rise of one of the biggest stars there is over there; Bi/Rain. There are other groups that he has produced as well, but since I really do not give a could care less, they shall not be mentioned.

Rain and himself parted company last year, due to creative differences. Ever since then I have gotten repeated whiffs of someone trying to be younger than he really is. Especially when he dances. Justin Timberlake and Usher certainly don't move anything like Chris Brown and Omarion. Why? With age comes the realisation that sexy does not necessarily mean flashy. In trying to go up against his younger, hotter, better looking, if slightly (read: a heckuva lot) dumber ex-protege he has gone through all manner of age-defying processes all of which has done nothing but earn him the moniker "gorilla".

Rumours of plastic surgery, extreme weight loss and dodgy taste in clothing aside, JYP is still a good producer. Good as in not revolutionary, as in a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10. He's good enough to have worked with some of the bigger names in the American music industry, but on a personal note, it tends to be the music I skip, because everyone else produces music in a similar manner in the R&B/hip hop field nowadays, less than memorable album filler that masquerades as a mjor release (don't worry I won't start that again). On the other hand I have liked the production on Rain/Bi's albums including my current favourite "With U".

Which brings me to the ultimate reason for this post: his latest bid to take over the world (i.e. the American music market) involves five gamine girls aged 15 to 19 called the Wondergirls. Winsome and pretty with voices that can barely hold a tune (think Cassie), I shocked the living daylights out of myself by actually liking their new single "I'm So Hot". Light, frothy and which as much depth as a hair on a mosquito's behind, it is the type of song that could have been a summer hit in the US. Enjoy!

Out Of Korea, AFRIKA?

What do you get when you mix gambling cops, bumbling gangsters, guns, and four girls on the run? The result is a Set It Off-lite movie A.F.R.I.K.A (2006), which varies from lightly amusing comedy to boring, pseudo-moralistic tripe about the power of friendship.
Two college girls off to the beach stumble upon a supposed toy gun in the back seat of the car. Unbeknownst to them, the vehicle has been stolen and the guns are real, having being lost in a game by the aforementioned cop and gangsters.
By some inane and downright unbelievable plot devices, the girls pick up a waitress/hostage/hooker/getaway driver and a "mysterious" girl and make their way to Seoul, robbing people who--by movie standards I guess--supposedly deserve it, all for personal gain. Cue montage of girls getting their hair "did", buying expensive phones and living in luxurious hotels. In an incredulously short amount of time the girls bond and become fast friends, but not before they end up pointing the guns at each other once or twice for some drama and garnering a fan club A.F.R.I.K.A (Adoring Four Revolutionary Idols Korea Association. Does that even make sense?) for which they are named. They apparently love the derrings-do of the girls, enough to grant them cult status.
What is sadly lacking is actual character development, or anything that allows us a real connection with the ragtag theiving crew. All the circumstances created to promote pathos for anyone (all seeming to revolve around men doing a female wrong) sadly falls flat and really seems almost petulantly childish. The anticlimatic finale is the icing on this very, very disappointing cake, making this a miss in my book.

1 out of 5 for being made.

And I So Should Not Have Wasted Bandwith

Pygmalion and its retelling as the classic movie My Fair Lady (1956) is a perennial favorite with movie makers. A makeover story with a dab of fiery, combative romance and a surefire ending guaranteed to please the sensibilities of any dewy-eyed lover of love, it seems fairly straightforward that at least some passable fare could be created, but no. I guess Ovid never counted the ineptitude of the director of My Dream Girl to screw up something so simple, so royally.

The director had all the ingredients; beautiful people, montage of fun makeover scenes, the cheating girlfriend of the lead dude. It all comes across however as flat, humorless and seemingly without a single thread of thought to keep the movie flowing seamlessly between the scenes. Instead, scenes vary from incredibly rushed to absolutely pointless and a blooming waste of film.

Crappy, disappointing and my now hard drive a much poorer piece of a equipment for it, my ratio sacrificed.

0.5 out of 5. That's only because...forget it 0 out of 5 for ruining my day

Go Rain Go!

Speed Racer finally premiered on May 9th 2008 after much anticipation, drooling and chomping at the bit. The Wachowski brothers' live-action adaptation of a much beloved children's anime from Japan which I'm sure they still show in Nigeria. Heaven knows the programming doesn't change much. Anyhoo, one of the biggest Korean megastars--actor, singer, dancer and all around hottie-McHot-hot Bi/Rain (real name Jung Ji Hoon)-- made his first appearance in a Hollywood production as Taejo Togokhan a Japanese racer with an axe to grind with bad guy Royalton. I must say, he acquitted himself nicely. He gave a solid performance, and even though I don't quite understand why the Taejo ends up cheering wildly in the end, I think he did a credible job. His "anglais" needs much work for his next feature Ninja Assassin (again them Wachowski boys)but time and editing might help sort that out.

A couple of things to note:

After watching this movie, you will end up colourblind. The at times stunning, other times miasmic, colour palette will end up painfully and permanently soldered to your retinas rendering you incapable of anything other than black/white differentiation.

I caught Bi dancing during his fight scenes. Oh dear. Let's hope that no-one else noticed.

The producers/directors decided to add hints of Bi's Korean heritage by having his character's first name as Taejo, meaning "great ancestor" (according to wikipedia). Then they decided to have a Japanese company use Korean script to write stuff on their banners, banking on the fact that most audiences won't be able to differentiate between Japanese and Korean. Oh for shame. Or I may be casting aspersions as to their motivation for doing something so daft. Not cool.

Even though this isn't quite a review, I will give it a 3 out of 5 + 0.5 for having Bi in it

What Can't She Do?

The female half of the-group-that-can-do-no-wrong--at least in my eyes--Horan from Clazziquai created the band Ibadi (이바디) as an accoustic side project while Alex does his reality TV stint. Now, while I like a little Nora Jones and music of her ilk, I don't usually listen to Jazz music. With Ibadi though I was absolutely rooted to the spot by the first track 오후가 흐르는 숲 (oh-hoo-ga heu-reu-neun soop) and is currently one of my top 3 favorite tracks of the moment. Her rich, hypnotic voice almost immediately makes you feel you should be having a romcom moment: strolling arm in arm with some gorgeous guy with the song playing in the background.

The other tracks are just as great, with a liberal sprinkling of whimsy and almost an air of distraction about it. This is an absolute gem of an album great for easy listening on those long haul driving trips. It only suffers slightly from drag in the middle where it seems they spent a little too much time with their hanky in hand.



Here Horan sings one of the greatest pop songs evah from the 90's. Not part of the album but hey, still good!

5 out 5 This is great music!

Bits and Pieces of Epik High Goodness

I love me some Epik High and they, in their infinite wisdom decided to grace us denizens of the real world with a new album Pieces, Part One. With their usual blend of k pop and hip-hop-with-a-twist, Pieces is a solid addition to the Epik High anthology, if not a particularly revolutionary one.

There is some good stuff on there, particularly their lead single One, with its Ace of Base sound-alike tune which immediately takes me back to the 1990's electronic dance music hey days. The remix further reinforces the fact. It's awesome!



Then there's The Future which is a track aimed at other Korean artists, a call to arms so to speak, telling them they need to get over themselves and focus on the music instead of aiming idiotic "diss" tracks at other more successful artists. The gritty, hard, almost gangsta vibe is so unlike the more recent poetic Epik, I was taken aback by its ferocity. And loved it. Lest we forget, Epik High is fronted by a Stanford graduate and a poet, so gangsta seems absolutely antithetical to their background, which is a baseless idea, really, as their earliest albums will attest to.

The one disturbing thing however was that it sounded too much like the 50 Cent/Justin Timberlake/Timbaland Ayo Technology track, which to be truthful is rather annoying. Epik High is musical ambrosia precisely because they sound like no one else. Still a fantastic song.

The main issues with this album is that it doesn't seem to be as big a paradigm shift as Remapping The Human Soul was from their previous works. The tracks hearken back to their album Swan Songs with the more American sound, but still has enough of their poetic nature somewhat intact so as not to totally disappoint. This is an album not quite sure where it wants to be and there is hope that Part Two gives it a firm push and places them in the musical sphere they want to occupy.


4.25 Out of 5 0.25 Deducted for the AYO remix. Oh for shame!

Brief, but Packs a Punch

Aphorism: A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion; an adage. (American Heritage Dictionary, online). Twice, the term "aphoristic style" is used to describe the works of author Akutagawa Ryunosuke, first by Murakami Haruki in writing the introduction to the collection, and again by translator Jay Rubin. It tells you how lousy my vocabulary is when, I am truly sorry to say (mum, dad forgive me!), the term totally escaped me.

Akutagawa was a short story writer from the early 20th century Japan, who's writing style varied from classical-style short stories in his early career to more introspective tales in his later life. One of Japan's most noted authors (indeed Murakami places him in the top 10 Japanese authors of all time) he penned pieces that captured the darker zeitgeist of the times, with themes that were often macabre but fantastically morbidly humorous as well. He lived a relatively short but fruitful life, having left behind a legacy of over 150 short stories when he committed suicide at the age of 35.

To be honest the only reason I picked up the book was the blaring title Rashomon emblazoned on the front. I first encountered Rashomon as a play performed my sophomore year in college and was immediately enthralled and fascinated by the point-of-view ambiguity of the tale, which was at the time quite reminiscent of the most important thing I learnt in psychology that year: time dilutes memories. It turns out that my now favorite Japanese director Akira Kurosawa had directed the film on which the play was based. As I just learnt a week ago, Kurosawa based the film on two short stories by Akutagawa; Rashomon from which the director took the title and the setting, and In the Bamboo Grove, from which the tale of four characters all describing the same event, each with their own version of the truth, evolves.

Akutagawa has this enviably marvellous gift with words: he is able, without much ado or fuss, to tell a complete story using the simplest of words. He creates a whole immersive world with meaning, texture and depth with such deft conciseness that is thoroughly complete with no extraneous fat or filler to bog down the story. Each story packed with little kernels of truth about human foibles, both real (including his own) and imagined, I almost felt bereft when the stories came to an end. Sharp and brutal in what can seem to be an appallingly lackadaisical manner, one sometimes gets the feeling he sees you---even though he is well and truly gone--- a little too well.

By far the best story in my opinion was Hell Screen. The tale of an arrogant court painter, Yoshihide, and his twisted relationship with the king he serves. For Yoshihide to complete a painted silk-screen for the king he requests that a woman be burnt alive. The passage that follows below absolutely exemplifies Yoshihide's character in such amazing form. The very picture of a man who's art reigns supreme in his heart above all else.

Yoshihide---who only a few moments had seemed to be suffering the torments
of hell---stood there with his arms locked across his chest as if he had even
forgotten the presence of His Lordship, his whole wrinkled face suffused now
with an inexplicable radiance---the radiance of religious ecstasy. I could have
sworn that the man's eyes were no longer watching [...] dying in agony, that
instead the gorgeous colours of flames and the sight of a woman suffering in
them were giving him joy beyond measure.

This collection runs the gamut of his career from his first story to his last, bringing many of his works to a Western audience for the first time and including some of his autobiographical pieces. It includes a lot of his well known stories as well as a few of his less obvious hits, but all 18 stories serve to give a well rounded picture of Akutagawa's stylistic brilliance.

Reading this collection of short stories makes me realise what an absolute Philistine I am, because the book serves to remind me what delineates true intellectual (not me) from the pseudo ones (I wouldn't even be able to qualify for that either). These stories, while easily digestible, invite the reader to reflect and revisit the tales (which I'm doing now). I can't say any more than go read it. I guess I should try and learn to be a tad less effusive and a bit pithier with my words, see if I can apply aphorism to my writing (that means I have to learn how to get rid of brackets like this one. Wish me luck...).

5 out of 5 If only I could be 1/100th as good!

Retelling the Story of Storytelling

A great story teller accomplishes what few are able to do; they transcend the language barrier and communicate effectively with the audience, able to tell a story with no other prop other than their presence. Great comics like Steve Harvey are able to perform such incredible feats, and So do the rakugo storytellers of Japan. Rakugo is best described as a traditional form of story-telling, usually comically told by one individual on stage. It has a rich and varied history, that goes back 400 years. It relies on the strength of the ability that one person to create and personify richly drawn out characters in the story and deliver, most likely with a moral shoe-horned in there somewhere, a well spun, darkly humourous, tale.

Tiger & Dragon (2005) is the story of a yakuza (Japanese mafia) underling Yamazaki Kotora (in a slightly over the top portrayal by Nagase Tomoya) and his apprenticeship in a locally celebrated rakugo household. It also deals with the exiled, son of the household, Yanaka Ryuji, who is a naturally gifted orator that has turned his back on his family's chosen profession.

What I loved about this was the basic structure of each episode: the rakugo story would be told in its original, old school manner and the happenings in the "real" world would then be used as a basis for the retelling an imaginative, updated version of the classic tale told earlier. It was great to see how classic tales hold true even till today. For instance, how seemingly random things like a guy so forgetful he didn't realise he was dead (to which i can TOTALLY relate). Totally enjoyable with a bitter-sweet ending good stuff all around.

Slightly off topic, this reminds me of Tales by Moonlight, a Nigerian storytelling program which would tell traditional tales from the different ethnic backgrounds. I loved it as a child, and even though the stories have been long forgotten by myself, I still recall being absorbed by the variety, the colour and the depth that was our traditional lore, and I wish someone could do to that show what the writers of Tiger and Dragon did with rakugo. Of course I would hope any attempt would be done with intelligence, and not the fetid Nollywood sensibility that subtlety and evoking thought is best left in the sands of time. If only.

4.5 out of 5 for a genuinely interesting and fulfilling idea!

Some Audio Delight

This is a live version of Fan by Epik High, which has previously been raved on about, at some random award show. They reworked the song substituting some electronic bits with Honey Lee (Miss Korea 2007) playing a gayageum (Korean zither), which sounds very similar to the harp. Genius. Another thing to note: those who actually listen to Epik High's music (only guys it seems, from watching this video) bobbed their head quite enthusiastically to the music while those who had no clue were...clapping and looking quite bemused as to what sort of freakish devilry was going on on stage. Quite funny, really. What else is there to say? Oh yeah, This song is a brilliant kick in the ear.

Music For my Soul

As mentioned and groused before on this blog, music on the great Western front seems to be on the decline. The lack of imagination seems to be the prevailing trend in all sorts of genres. Of course there is the occasional unmistakable breakout of amazing talent such as Amy Winehouse and...come to think of it, that pretty much sums it up, with maybe the exception of (maybe) The Gossip. Instead people like Take That, with their stonkingly good first single from their comeback album, Westlife with their Michael Buble rehash and even the flippin' Spice Girls seem to have oodles more talent and are back with a vengeance here in the United Kingdom. Spice Girls might be stretching it. So  again thanks to the conduit of Javabeans and her fab website, an introduction me to a group known as Clazziquai occurred by happy happenstance about eight months ago, and boy is the music just absolutely gorgeous.

It originally started of as a one off side project  in 2001 for DJ Clazzi with brother and sister singers Christina and Alex Chu and was called the Clazziquai Project, received little notice from the critics, but created underground hype on the net. Their first album in 2004, Instant Pig was their come out party, garnering them critical and public success and their music was used in films (How to Keep my Boyfriend) K-dramas (run away success My Lovely Sam Soon) and advertisements, and they soon became a well known band. By this time however Christina had now become an unofficial member and was instead replaced by vocalist Choi Horan. To date they have released 3 full albums Instant Pig (2004), Colour Your Soul (2006) and Love Child of the Century (2007), as well as various remix albums including the latest Robotica (2007) which has 6 new tracks and remixes of 7 older songs.

Clazziquai's music is firmly in the camp of non hip hop, wannabe or otherwise, though this doesn't preclude them from working with hip hop acts like Tablo from Epik High amongst others. DJ Clazzi wanted to create a fusion of Jazz, House and Trance amongst others, creating this uniquely cool sound, and it works superbly. One of the best tracks is Gentle Giant, a charming, nursery rhyme like song that manages to be engaging and off-beat at the same time.

Here's a video (fan made, actually created for the K-drama Thank You) for  Gentle Giant. The little trill that Alex does while singing "falling" always gets me

My apologies. I will eventually learn to upload audio tracks and so not put you through all this hassle, but till then, enjoy.

 

All their albums are entirely entertaining and just a joy to listen to, a  versatile hash of bossanova to funk, and electronica. For those looking for an alternative to the current indie music (which really can't be defined as indie anymore because its mainstream and indie one would think was the defined as anything done with a small budget in someone's garage) I highly recommend this group just for its sheer sense of fun and great musicality too. The only drawback is that they are Korean (even though Alex is Korean/Canadian, but he might be from the French-speaking bit, who knows) and  their English lyrics sometimes make no sense (e.g. lets get dance/moving in a right time).

 

Another video, this time from their most recent full album, Love Child of the Century (2007), entitled Lover Boy.

Quick Note

Hey folk(s), felicitations of the season and what not. Just a quick, sad note. The choreographer of one of my favourite movies of all time, Michael Kidd, passed away. I've watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) since I was about eight years old, and it is one of my most enduring and fond memories of my late uncle's household. I never got tired of his collection of Elvis, Bollywood and classic Hollywood movies, and he is partly responsible for my love of movies today. Seven Brides with its strong, rousing choreography and retelling of Sabine Women tale, even though it was a tad bit politically incorrect, was a perrenial favourite and is part of my DVD collection to this day.

Michael Kidd also worked in the theatre, and directed the footwork Guys and Dolls (1951) for which he won a Tony for.

May he rest in peace.

Rain is Coming to a Screen Near You!

For the few who are unaware, the Wachowski Brothers (responsible for the Matrix trilogy) are remaking the the Japanese anime Speed Racer. An integral part of any Nigerian kid's childhood due to the incessant repeats on our national TV station NTA, Speed Racer is is near and dear to my heart. What's got me all atwitter is that Rain/Bi, South Korea's hottest singer in both looks and popularity, is playing the part of the Japanese racer Taejo Togokan. Apart from the fact that most of the American audience won't notice that he is very obviously not a native Japanese speaker ( I wonder how they are going to get around that particular issue) I am quite chuffed that he will be making his first splash overseas as an actor and not as a singer.


Why acting and not singing? Well, he's had this annoying pipe dream for a while now that he's going to make it big in the American market since he's already conquered Asia. Given a whole host of huge reasons, including the fact that his brand of pop skews towards the R & B genre and America has long since moved on to "alternative" pop, and the American music industry is amazingly resitant to anything not remotely homegrown (reggaton, dancehall, heck even Daft Punk has a hard time) I do not feel that a failed pop career would be an ideal position for him to be in. A better introduction for him would be the big screen, where i'm sure he will put his best foot forward and show himself off wonderfully well in what i'm sure is going to be a very limited role. He is a solid actor with a few great productions under his belt including I'm a Cyborg But That's Ok with the fabulous director Park Chan Wook, of the Vengeance trilogy. They've got a production still with Rain about to punch the living daylights out of Emile Hirsch. I'm so excited!!! He is one of the few people I would actually squeal for, he's so cute! Ok. obligatory drooling done with.











My only misgivings so far are about the age of the characters with the actors seemingly a tad too old for the roles that they are portraying and the fact that the series is Japanese in origin, and yet they get a South Korean to play the lone Japanese character. There's also the thing about cartoons coming to the big screen and being butchered (see: Transformers) No matter, we will see what camera trickery (there is talk of full focus filming, where both the fore- and background remain in focus) we are going to be collectively dazzled with.

Quick Note

Do you ever watch a movie or read a book and not particularly enjoy it until later on? That happens to me all the time. Take, for example, the movie Too Beautiful to Lie. Didn't particularly love it, but kept it nevertheless thinking it was an alright movie. Turns out two of my favourite thespians Kang Dong Won (from Duelist) and Kim Ha Neul (from My Tutor Friend) are both in this movie. Both solid actors and rewatching the movie I realise how much familiarity with the actors themselves plays a role in what I think or appreciate in a movie. Which leads to a myriad of problems for me to explore. Just some random food for thought.

A Long Time a' Coming

It has been five months since I 'acquired' Running Wild. Obtained during the early stages of my "Kwon Sang Woo oppa iz to die 4!" phase, I was disinclined and lacked the energy and patience to sit and watch yet another cop drama. However unable to sleep, and skimming through my (fast diminishing) database of unwatched movies, Running Wild reared its head and having nothing better to do at three in the morning to ease my worries, it was watched.

The set up of the film is rather simple; you have your off the cuff, renegade cop and your by the book prosecutor both chasing down a supposedly reformed gangster for different reasons. The prosecutor, Yoo Ji Tae is after a supposedly reformed Crime Boss who still has plenty of underworld dealings but is running for a senate-like position. Kwon Sang Woo, plays the outre police officer hell bent on avenging his younger brother's death, killed by the crime boss as the boy tried to blackmail a gangster over murder. As an aside, KSW seems to be running into the problem of being type cast. He either plays out of control, nearly unhinged dudes with more attitude than sense (Once Upon a Time in High School, My Tutor Friend, and this movie) or romantic softie a role usually reserved for K-dramas. I have a decided preference for the tougher KSW.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I have to say watching this movie, these prosecutor and the cop elicited tons of sympathy from myself. Man I felt sorry for those dudes! They could not catch a freaking break for the life of them. Every single time that they managed a solid lead or breakthrough on capturing their erstwhile prey, something came up, and decimated all hope, sending these poor dudes back to square one. At one point the director cleverly makes it seem that the movie is drawing to a finale, the evidence is compiled, there are witnesses, the whole kit and caboodle. But is seems that it was not to be. Instead we as the audience  I was at the "screw this shit, lets cut those suckers up!" stage long before the characters did, cos man that bastard gangster was slippery. That is to say that the story was engaging, well written and altogether a solid piece of work that really entertains right through to the surprise ending. Every ounce of emotion that could be wrung out is, and both lead actors stepped up and truly delivered fine performances. I can't believe it took me five months.

4.25 Out of 5. Well written cop drama that surprises with its emotion.

Quirky Fun

A Cheerful Gang Turns the Earth, is another one of those fun, totally out there, quintessentially Japanese movies that make you truly wish for a Hollywood that goes all out to create an engaging, off-the-wall movie without resorting to crude humour. Semi-psychedelic, lots of fun and full of little nuggets of absurdity,  A Cheerful Gang follows the story of four strangers who meet at a bank robbery and decided that they had the necessary skills and the oodles of panache required to pull off a true bank heist and do so just for the hell of it. Consisting of a skilled pickpocket, a guy who talks a whole lot and is in it for poops and giggles, a human lie detector and a woman with both an amazing sense of time and driving skills (a female who is always on time and can out-drive all the other males? what is this world coming to!).

What's not to love about this movie? Its off the wall fun, while having a distinct anime feel to its pacing, its storyline and even the special effects applied. They manage in 1 hour 30 or so minutes to also coherently weave in themes of lost dreams, precocious youth, and single motherhood with a light touch. The movie does turn towards darker themes such as kidnapping and a conniving ex-husband which weigh it down a touch in the second act, but it manages to redeem itself and has a not so unexpected ending done with a firm tongue-in-cheek. Mexicans might be a tad offended by some poor choices in names in the final scenes of this movie, though.

Think the Ocean's  series with more Japanese, more fun, loads of random moments and less self referential humour. Bonus question: Name three conditions needed to put an elephant in a fridge. Not really a head-scratcher but one of those throwaway bits in the movie that added to the keen sense of whimsy that I loved.

3.75 out of 5 some solid entertainment

What is it with Oedipal Complexes That Make Such Good Fodder?

My first book review. Yay! So anyways while browsing through a thread on Dramabeans website, she mentioned author Haruki Murakami as her favorite of all time, considering her good taste in TV, it certainly piqued my interest but it didn't make a lasting impression, or so I thought. I must have stored it somewhere in the back of my mind, because walking past a display in the central library, his name pops up as I walk out the door, and a couple of days later I borrow Kafka on the Shore (I was actually supposed to be attending an art function next door at the museum, but I was more amused than amazed so I wandered through to the library instead).

Two different, slightly out of sync lives sharing the same story make it for an interesting read. The first tale is of a boy named Kafka, runs away on the day of his fifteenth birthday under a foreboding curse bestowed on him by his father and winds up at a library run by the mysterious yet alluring Miss Saeki. He goes on to befriend Oshima, the ostensibly male librarian who works there and reads all sorts of great books and works through some serious issues. The second is about Nakata, an elderly gentleman, who due to some accident is unable to read or write, but possesses the uncanny ability to speak to cats and so supplements his government "sub city" by finding lost cats.

This is the first book that I've read in ages and in that I managed to finish reading it in two days (in between a whole host of other things going on in my life that i won't get into now) and kept forging on through some intensely depressing scenes, means only one thing: The book was damn good. Murakami was able weave fantasy, modern life and the (definitely) surreal into an intense, gripping read that constantly keeps you reaching for understanding until the very end. He adds touches of whimsy and humour that had me laughing in the middle of a train @ 6:30 am on the way to work and garnering some intensely weirded out looks. He introduces minor threads that are woven into the story at the most unexpected moments, jolting the reader. Even so, the book is unrelentingly dark. It seems that the courses for these two lives, headed toward an inevitable meeting both in the flesh and in the ether, are burdened with things definitely out of left field. I was left profoundly disturbed by the oedipal and incestuous references (as i always am), but funnily enough in a Back to the Future, Marty and his young mother sort of way.

The book was an amazing reintroduction back into the world of literature, and since I am currently sans the interwebs (picture deep, wracking sobs at the public library while typing this. How the heck does one go about surviving without a computer?), I've picked up another author also seen in passing. We'll see how this whole book reading thing goes.

5 out of 5. One fantastic mind-bender