What do critics know anyways?

Turns out the critically praised frontrunners went home with some small prizes as the Cannes Film Festival came to a close. Babel didn't take home the Palm D'Or or the Grand Prix but managed to grab hold of a Best Director award for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu which isn't bad at all (hell, head juror Wong Kar Wai has even taken home a few of those in the past). Volver on the other hand took home Best Screenplay and Best Actress (which actually went to the entire ensemble female cast of the film). The big ones went to Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes The Barley (Palm D'Or) and Bruno Dumont's Flanders (Grand Prix).

So was I a litte dissapointed with the picks, yeah...but at least the films I wanted to win didn't go home empty handed.

So apparently all the front runners for the award ceremony tonight at Cannes are all the greats I want to see. Many say the race for the Palm D'or are down to two films Babel and Volver. I will be happy with either film because both directors are extremely talented. They also say Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth has a chance too. Should be a interesting award ceremony with Mexican directors leading the way this year. I am off to work and will find out the winners the minute I get back.

Great, great news.

Remember I was talking a while back about the great dvd company Fantoma that finally got off their asses and started release some great discs again. Remember I said one day maybe they will release a 60's Japanese film called Red Angel, which they mention releasing three years ago. Well, guess what? It finally has a release date. August 22nd. Mark your freakin' calendar. The previous four films they have released by director Yasuzo Masumura - Blind Beast, Giants & Toys, Manji, and Afraid to Die are all stellar films. I truly can not wait for this date to come.

But the great news doesnt stop there. Starting in October, the Turner Classic Movies channel is going to air a new show called "TCM Underground" host by Rob Zombie. It is going to be a great place for some of the truly bizarre and amazing cult films of the last 100 years to get some television broadcast airtime. Not only will Zombie host the show but he will also pick the films. So far lined up already is George Romero's The Crazies, Francis Coppola's debut Dementia 13, Leonard Castle's The Honeymoon Killers, Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter and Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster. How freakin' cool is that. We have a mix of the Horror channel (which never has been officially broadcast on television, only through the web) and the amazing Z channel ( an insanely brilliant cable channel from the 70's that aired ever cool film imaginable- think a Sundance and IFC playing films from the beginning of film through the 70s).

Very exciting news. I can't wait.

Alright most of you guys out there know by now my guilty pleasure of the last couple months. For the rest of you, I will finally let you in on the secret...I am a Taylor Hicks fan.

And the man, just won, so I need to give him some props on my blog. Come on, any one that covers Elton John, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Elvis, and The Beatles & then nails every one of 'em is pretty freakin' cool in my book.

Soul Patrol!!

Just wanted to post Hollywood Reporter's review of Babel.

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - Tense, relentless and difficult to watch at times, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Babel" is an emotionally shattering drama in which a simple act of kindness leads to events that pierce our veneer of civilization and bring on the white noise of terror.

Brad Pitt,Cate Blanchett, and Gael Garcia Bernal give committed ensemble performances alongside seasoned character performers and nonactors as the story ranges from Morocco to San Diego to Tokyo.

The film, which also features exceptional work by director of photography Rodrigo Prieto, production designer Brigitte Broch, editors Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise and composer Gustavo Santaolalla, is headed for major prizes and large, appreciative audiences.

As with his previous films, Inarritu tells his story using scenes out of order so that the pieces fall together in a jagged form that heightens the tension. It starts in the Moroccan desert, where a man buys a Winchester rifle from a neighbor to help keep the jackals away from his herd of goats. A Japanese hunter had gifted the neighbor with the rifle in gratitude for his work as a guide.

The rifle is entrusted to the goat herder's two young sons, who end up firing it from a mountainside at a coach filled with Western tourists just to see how far the bullet would go.

The bullet, however, strikes an American named Susan (Blanchett) who is traveling with her husband Richard (Pitt) in attempt to patch up their marriage following the death of a child.

Four hours from the nearest hospital, the coach takes a detour to a remote village, where a local man offers shelter while the other tourists argue over whether to stay or leave.

Desperate, Richard phones the U.S. embassy pleading for help and also calls home in San Diego, where their longtime maid Amelia (Adriana Barraza) is caring for their other two children. With Susan bleeding and near death in the desert, he begs Amelia to remain with the kids as he tries to get help.

Amelia's son, however, is getting married across the border and, having exhausted attempts to find another sitter, she decides to take the kids with her to the wedding in a car driven by her friendly but hot-headed nephew Santiago (Bernal).

As Richard fights to keep Susan alive with the help of a wise and calm old Moroccan woman and a veterinarian, the shooting escalates into an international incident with security forces believing terrorists to be responsible and hunting for the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, a young deaf-mute woman named Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) is grappling with the loss of her mother by suicide, fighting with her equally bereft father (Koji Yakusho) and trying to deal with the frustrations of adolescence.

The filmmakers succeed brilliantly in weaving these stories together, taking time to explore depth of character and relationships. The suspense builds throughout as everyone involved becomes lost in a place they don't understand with people they don't know if they can trust.

Several astonishing Tokyo sequences replicate what it might be like to be deaf-mute, and equal imagination is applied to scenes at night in the wasteland of the Mexico/California border and the barren mountains of Morocco.

This is not a fear-mongering movie, but it is unpredictable and shocking, with compassion hanging on for dear life.

Man, am I dying to see this.

So Babel screened at Cannes today with glowing reviews. It is already being tacked as the festival frontrunner for the Palme d'Or (just in case you are not a big film nerd, this is the award for Best Film). I am dying here. To make matters worse I can't seem to find a broadcast of the closing award ceremonies on Sunday anywhere on television yet (usually someone like Bravo or IFC broadcast them, I can't remember which one). There killing me, man.

So just wanted to throw out some more amazing casting news I heard about today. Apparently, Natalie Portman has joined the cast of Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights. Could this cast get any better. Man, I can't wait.

Okay so I am not a big monster movie guy. I have never really been a monster movie guy. I have always swayed more toward the horror side of things rather than the Science Fiction. But I will be damned if I don't sure this film out the minute it is available on Korean dvd.

The film is called The Host and is the next hopeful blockbuster to come out of Korea. Two of its stars are some of my favorite actors out of Korea, Song Kang-Ho (of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and JSA) and Bae Doo-Na (also of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Linda, Linda, Linda). It has gotten its world premiere as we speak at the Directors' Fornight at Cannes and the reviews have been very favorable. Can't wait to here more as things keep on rolling on through with this film.

Babel screens tomorrow at Cannes so I will be back in the next day or two to report on whets going on with this promising film. I hope to see some footage from the film pop up in the morning on Cannes website. Richard Kelly's (Donnie Darko ) follow-up film Southland Tales has already not receive the greatest feedback and I hope the response to Babel is a lot more positive. Nonetheless I will be there opening day to see it one way or another.

The films rolling into the New York Asian Film Festival are getting better and better but still know film schedule up on their site. We are planning our trip and schedule based around when Linda, Linda, Linda is playing so it all comes down to the damn times and dates. So hopefully They will update their page so that I can write more about the films we plan on seeing. Can't wait. We have been dying to go to New York since our last visit in June 2005. More on this as things start to come together.

Caught a few flicks over the weekend. The first was The Da Vinci Code.I assumed the film would be a big critically applauded film which would garner all the nods come Oscar time. Then the reviews came. And man did they stink. Matter of fact out of about 30 reviews from top of the line critics only about 3 liked the film. So my hopes as the day dragged along were slowly dropping. Then it came time for the film. And we like it. Chiaki and I enjoyed it a lot actually. Granted neither of us have ever read the novel but still it was a well made film with a great cast. It actually makes me want to read the book and the other novel Brown wrote which deals with a lot of the same things called Demons and Angels. Some of the critics made reference to the film as Hanks worst of his career. I just don't get it. The whole cast was entertaining as hell, at least in my opinion.

Speaking of entertaining as hell, we just got back from catch Lucky Number Slevin at the dollar theater, and damn was it great. Definitely has some Guy Ritchie undertones (granted it was directed by Paul McGuigan, a Ritchie clone), if that's your thing, but I think it has so much more than that in store. Some of it is predictable, yeah, but it throws in enough twist towards the end that at least you won't know everything single think that happens. Many people may get tired of the whole twist after twist ending but we both found it highly entertaining. And man, look at the cast: Bruce Willis, Josh Hartnett , Lucy Liu , Morgan Freeman , Ben Kingsley , Stanley Tucci. I mean really, you can't go wrong here. Lucy Liu, in my opinion was the most enjoyable performance out of the bunch because it finally gave her the perky, adorable female role, instead of the total badass roles she usually gets typecast into playing. Definitely worth a buck to see (hell it was even worth full admission) and I would recommend it to anyone in the mood for a clever fun fast-paced movie.

So Cannes has been going on for a few days now. Wish I was there. Man, do I. Anyways some good stuff is playing in and out of competition as always. Wong Kar Wai is at the head of the jury this year so it should be an interesting award ceremony. Speaking of Wong Kar Wai I found this pick on line of a promo billboard for his next project he is starting soon, My Blueberry Nights.

In case your wondering who that is in the picture, it is Norah Jones, of all people and yes she he playing the lead. Other cast members are still in the rumor stage, however, most have been claiming that Rachel Weisz and Jude Law may also star. It will be Wong Kar Wai's first feature length English language film (that is if you count his BMW short film). I have high hopes for this one (if you know me well, you know my obsessions with Wong Kar Wai).

So back to the films at Cannes this year. In competition we have Pedro Almodovar's Volver, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel (probably my most anticipated film of the year), Richard Kelly's Southland Tales, Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, and Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. Those are the films I am really curious about in competition. On the other hand in either the out-of-competition or un certain regard sections of the festival we have more films I would kill to see including Johnnie To's Election 2 and the anthology film several years in the making Je T'aime. The latter film consists of 5 minute films each shot in different sects of France from such world renown directors as Walter Salles, Gus Van Sant, Tom Tykwer, The Coen Brothers, Olivier Assayas, Alfonso Cuaron, Alexander Payne, and Christopher Doyle. I have been waiting for this ever since I have heard about it almost 3 years ago.

They are even screening restored versions of both El Topo and The Holy Mountain in a tribute to Alejandro Jodorowsky. Also supposed at the Festivities even though its no where to be found on the website is the new Kim Ki Duk film Time.

So there you have it, a rather wide range of films I would have loved to check out if I was rich and could travel to France to the Cannes Film Festival (I swear I will go before I die). This stuff is just at first glance too. The more I look at the website the more things I find.

Sorry. its been nearly 10 days. Sadly enough, there not much I want to get out of my system recently as far film goes. Cannes started today (or yesterday if you wanna go by French time) so hopefully I should have some steady blogs of opinion as movie goodness leaks out the next week and a half. Also Chiaki and I are in the process of planning another trip to New York this year for The 5th annual New York Asian Film Festival. Last year was a highlight of our lives together. A perfect few days. I think we are going to try to shoot for a few days longer this year (4-5 days, hope, hope) and it should be one hell of a trip. A few flicks we have been dying to see (one of which is Japan's Linda, Linda, Linda) our playing and as soon as the schedule is released I will have a better idea of what we are going to see and when were are going. Check out the Subway Cinema page to learn more about the films and the fest.

That's all for now. I know, short post.

Just found out that my boys, The Blood Brothers, are recording a new record and guess who is co-producing it....Guy Freakin' Picciotto of Fugazi (the orginators of post-punk music) fame. I know that when most people think of Fugazi they think of Ian MacKaye but Guy was equally as important to the bands success and I can't wait to see what direction he take The Blood Brothers in. Exciting stuff, well at least for me it is.

Also of note, the new Tsai Ming-Liang film I Don't Want to Sleep Alone just got picked up by Fortissimo Films, a company responsible for releasing a lot of great films internationally. Tsai Ming-Liang describes the film as being about a group of laborers who enjoy watching Bollywood movies, a Chinese Indonesian girl who works in Chinatown, a man wandering in the streets without an identity, and a mysterious mattress abandoned by a rich man. It is a comedy, but it is also tragic.

Can't wait to here more about this, as Ming-Liang is one of those directors out their that I love everything that he does.

I know its been over a week and I promised there would be more posts and less time in between. Sorry. Who really reads this anyway?

So if you know me well, you know I have a soft spot for Tom Cruise so had to check out Mission Impossible 3 on opening weekend. So I drag Chiaki on Saturday afternoon to avoid the annoying Friday night crowd. So what did I think, you ask? Come on, what do you think. I loved it. Honestly, I think its a hell of a start for the summer and the best of the three films in the series thus far. I won't dive into details and all that boring stuff, but I will let you know that Chiaki was very tired of all Cruise's public appearance and really didn't want to see the film but came out absolutely loving it. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was evil as hell in the film too. He took the more sinister route instead of the over the top cheese of a villain and it worked out great for the film. A brilliant performance.

Also finally checked out my Elevator to the Gallows. Man, please go out and buy this or at least rent it. If you call yourself a film fan at all you really need to see this. Director Louis Malle never touched this genre after this film (which was his first) but could have truly made a living out of it. A French Hitchcockian film about murder, jealousy, mistaken identity, love and lost hope. So much a head of its time really. Also noteworthy is the amazing soundtrack, entirely composed by Miles Davis. I am in the process of digging this one up as we speak.

So you may be wondering what the hell is Aaron listening to nowadays. What albums have blown him away. I know I don't talk about music much on here but if you know me, you know I have a pretty damn wide range of music taste. Granted lately, I have filled my head with some pretty chaotic stuff, but that's not everyday stuff. I do have love for just about anything (others than country of course, what do you think I'm crazy). As long as your orginial and different, I can really dig it (the main reason why country doesn't appeal to me, in my opinion, it all sounds the same....ignorance is bliss).

As far as this year goes already there are at least two extreme good records out. The first, which has heavy rotation in my car since its release almost a month ago, is the new Built to Spill record. Man, is this record awesome. Their first album in almost 5 years is definitely some of the band best work. Even if you are not an indie rocker you really should check out their stuff. The latest record You in Reverse, almost feels like a classic rock record with its great guitar riffs and 70's sound. One of my all time favorite tunes by the band is "You were Right" from their '99 release Keep it Like a Secret, which mixed in famous classic rock lyrics to make a killer track. It seems like they took the band one step forward with this idea and brought it to a whole new level. Amazing record my favorite by far this year so far.

Another record, which matter of fact is in my player right now, is the new Mogwai album, Mr. Beast. Always know for being a great mellow band, whose lyrics never matter seem to matter as much as the beautiful music, hit the new record out of the park. I will admit, I haven't followed them much since their amazing album Rock Action from '01, but when I heard that the singer of Envy was on one of the tracks I figured I would check the album out. Man, am I lucky I did. Really great stuff here. Check it out.

Others than that I have been jamming to the Bloc Party full length for a while now (one of the best albums from last year) and when in Chiaki's car The Postal Service record (I know its way old but damn if its still not a great record years later).

But for those who really want to check out a great band you should really listen to some Death from Above (I refused to call them by their new name since signing to Vice Death From Above 1979, which was changed because they were being sued by the label DFA).

A great band out of Canada that I have been listening to for a good 3 years now. If you are not familiar with them they are a two piecer made up only of a bass and drums (the drummer, Sebastien, sings most of the time). There roots originally started as crazy synth-laced hardcore but has progressed into something even more amazing. Their latest release which consists mostly remixes and a few b-sides is some of my favorite stuff by them. And my favorite record from last year (yes, a remix album, a type of record which I normally don't like to begin with, topped my best of '05). Jesse, the bassist, also has to great side projects, Femme Fatale, a band who hasn't at all drop their hardcore roots over over three eps and I am glad they haven't, and a remix group entitled MSTRKRFT which are finally releasing their first record next month. Please, as I always say, do yourself a favor and check out their stuff.

Alright, enough for now. As always, I will try to update a lot more often even though only about four people read this (you know I love you guys!).