So as promised I am back with yet another film review. This time courtesy of an amazing Australian company called Madman Entertainment. The fine folks at Madman were gracious enough to supply me with a copy of the Danish film Princess, which actually played at the Cleveland International Film Festival last year but I was not able to attend. So here it goes, I present to you my review of Princess.

I must admit. I am not really much of a fan of anime. Sure I dabble in the films of Pixar and seemed to get alot of enjoyment out of the work of Hayao Miyazaki but that is pretty much where I draw the line. Princess, however, interested the hell of me when I first read about it last year. For starters the story is just plain fucked up.

The title character is a drug abused young porn star named Christina (known in the adult film world as The Princess) who is now dead and has left behind her 5-year old daughter. Raised in a life of porn, Mia knows nothing else but what she watched take place in her mother's daily life. Her perception of what is right and wrong is just completely fubared. 32-year old August has just given up on his life as a priest in an desperate attempt to take care of his niece, Mia, he has just met for the first time.

What better to do than to avenge the death of his sister by taking out everyone person who had contributed to her rather short yet destructive life. What follows is a bloodbath of epic proportion which, at least as far as I know, has ever been captured in the history of animation.

What essentially is your basic revenge picture, takes on a whole new level when creating this overused genre into a whole new light thanks to the brillant animation found in the film. Another factor which sets this apart from others is its use of live action material to represent a window to the past. Each live action piece is used as a video capture of Christina before her death. Director Anders Morgenthanler brings us an amazing film which leaps boundaries above anything I have ever seen in the genre of animation. Sure, any anime freak may be left wanting more but as a admirer of international cinema I found Princess to be one hell of a ride and was truly in league of its own.

So how do you get your hands on this lovely piece of filmmaking, you say. Well, as I mentioned before, this great film can be purchased from a stellar company out of Australia entitled Madman Entertainment. Be for warned that the release is a Region 4 PAL disc so make sure your player is compatible before ordering.

Pick up Princess now by clicking here.

It seems a whole two weeks have gone by without a single post. Let us just face the facts...I am a slacker. Needless to say, I am hear and I am writing. Within two more weeks, the Cleveland International Film Festival will be upon us. Within days, I should be receiving my Media Pass and I have already planned out a weeks worth of film viewing. Somewhere between 15-20 films actually. So what do I have up my sleeve you ask.

Here is a breakdown:

Ben X - Belgium

Big Man Japan (aka Dai Nipponjin) - Japan

Blind - Netherlands

Dead Time - Indonesia

Deficit (Gael García Bernal's directorial debut) - Mexico

Flash Point - Hong Kong

Flight of the Red Balloon - France

Gone With the Woman - Norway

Jar City - Icelandic

Jellyfish - Israel

Love Songs (aka Les Chansons d Amour) - France

Mongol - Kazakhstan

Otis - United States

Priceless - France

The Substitute - Denmark

The Teeth of Love - China

Timecrimes - Spain

The Trap - Serbia

What We Do is Secret - United States

You, the Living - Sweden

Okay, so I guess that is alot. 20 to be exact. I may or not see all them though. Probably about a good 11 or so are definite. But I would really like to make it to all of the above. My sidekick from last year, Aaron H, is only catching a a few this year. A few other friends as well plan to see a handful. I hope to drag Chiaki along to a some too. If you would like to attend something let me know. You will be more than welcome to join me. As with last year, I will report back during the fest with a little feedback on the flicks. I can't freakin' wait.

So I sat down the other day and watched 3:10 to Yuma on Blu-Ray the other night. Damn, was it a beaut. There is always one will each year that I see after I make my Top 10 list and this is it. I will admit a guilty confession. I haven't seen Unforgiven. Yes, I own it on HD DVD (my first purchase on the format actually). And yes I admit I am a very big fan of spaghetti westerns. 3:10 to Yuma has been marketed as the best western since Unforgiven which I sorta of took offense to. Have these people not seen the brilliant The Proposition or The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada not to mention this years The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford and No Country for Old Men. But yeah, okay. As far as rough and tough cowboys, the film definitely fits the true feel of a western. 3:10 to Yuma is nothing short of brilliant. I absolutely loved everything about it. Crowe's performance even brought me back to liking him as an actor again (it has been a while....um....The Quick and the Dead was the last I believe). Ben Foster though steals the f'n show. Amazing. Add Foster to the list of actors robbed from this year's Oscar nominations.

So I will be back in a day or two with my reaction to this year's Academy Award winners along with a review of the fantastic film Princess which has recently been distributed by the fine folks at Madman Entertainment.

Finally the time has come. I squeezed in my last film I really wanted to catch from last year. Yes, there were a handful of films I would have liked to see before I made my list but lets face it - it is now February 5th and a Best of 2007 is long overdue.

I am going to start things off this year with the 'just missed' list. Those films I loved this year but just didn't quite make my Top 10. Films like Ratatouille, Grindhouse, Exiled, The Ten, Fay Grim, I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, Diggers, and The Aura were just a pleasure to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed the blockbuster Transformers too which is something I really wasn't expecting. Nothing, however, touched a nerve like these 10 films. So lets cut to the chase.

10. The Lives of Others

What can be said about this film, that I haven't stated already. Fantastic film.

9. Eastern Promises

I really wasn't a fan of David Cronenberg's early horror films but Eastern Promises and A History of Violence honestly changed all that. More of a slow burn piece than A History of Violence but equally as riveting. Viggo and Naomi are stellar throughout.

8. Invisible Waves

I really love this film. From the same crew that made the insanely memorable Last Life in the Universe. I actually saw the film orginially in 2006 but was able to catch it theatrcially at the Cleveland International Film Festival last year. Christopher Doyle's cinematography is graceful, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's direction perfect, and Tadanobu Asano's actiing is as elegant as ever.

7. Dans Paris

Romain Duris and Louis Garrel are a true pleasure to watch. I just loved the French New Wave feel it had going for it. I am dying to see director Christophe Honore's musical follow up film, Les Chansons d'amour.

6. Big Bang Love, Juvenille A

Takashi Miike's experimental masterpiece. Hands down one of his best films, if not the best. An important film in contemporary cinema.

5. The Darjeeling Limited

Poor Wes Anderson. Chiaki and I thought this thing was darling. The critics thought otherwise. I am really looking forward to watching this one again once it hits dvd. Chiaki wanted to see it again in theaters and she never wants to see things twice theatrcially. I found it to be his best work since Rushmore. Oh and by the way Adrien Brody is so so Wes Anderson material.

4. Transylvania

Well, you already recently heard my rant on this film earlier so I won't repeat myself. I love everything about this film. Asia Argento most impressive performance.

3. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

This was the reason I had to wait for my list until now. I wanted to fit it in because I waited so long for this picture. Glad I did. The thing is a treasure to watch. I loved every little thing about it. Pitt, Rockwell, Affleck, Parker. Andrew Dominik could do no wrong with the film. Deakin's camerawork is just a beaut. Alot of complaints about the film has stated that it is just a bit too long. I beg to differ. Usually if a film has the feeling of being too long it is because the ending is a little too drawn out. However, with The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the end seems like the final chapter of the story and honestly needed to be told. Matter of fact I love the ending.

Speaking of endings, my top two films have also been criticized by moviegoers because of their final scenes. I myself thought both had perfect and well-needed endings.

2. No Country for Old Men

What can you say about this film that hasn't already been said. Quite possibly the best thing that the Coen Brothers have ever done. Their most serious work since Miller's Crossing. May even be my favorite of the Coens right next to Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski but it is in a whole other league than those two pictures. I really think Josh Brolin should have been recognized for his work here. Amazing.

1. There Will Be Blood

Did you really think anything less. Man is this one a whopper. Nothing like anything PTA has ever attempted. This thing is a powerhouse. All the obvious influences are oh so true. Yes, it looks like early Malick. Yes, it seems like a staple of 70's American Cinema. And Yes, dammit, Daniel Day-Lewis delivers an iconic performance. Love Love Love this film. I just love how it takes awhile to seep into your brain. Not one person I know walked out of this film and could form an immediate opinion. That is what makes this so brilliant. I will be a bit sadden if PTA doesn't take home the Oscar for directing this puppy.

Okay so lots to talk about today. For starters I will break down my trip to Japan for you.

Things started off on December 27th when we made our way to the Cleveland International Airport to fly to Detroit then straight to Nagoya, Japan. Our flight to Detroit was quick and easy and even left us enough of a layover to grab a bite to eat. What else would you eat before head off two Japan for 16 days....er, Japanese. I know we should have had our last taste of American food but instead stopped into the only Japanese restruant in the rather large Detroit airport.

Arriving in Nagoya, Japan 13 hours later brought a bit of trouble. Apperently the Nagoya airport wasnt connected to the Nagoya train station which made it difficult as hell to simply jump on a train Himeji where Chiaki's parents were set to pick us up. Usually when flying to Japan we go to Osaka's airport which has its own train station and is only a hop skip and a jump to Himeji. Our choices instead were to take a long bus ride to the Nagoya station or take two seperate trains there. Matters became worse when we decided to take the two train route. Apperently their had been a accident (a death actually...suicide, perhaps) and the train did not move for over an hour. Finally afters hours of arriving in Nagoya we finally made it to Himeji at around 10:30 at night, gracefully greeted by my wonderful inlaws.

This years trip came with many pleasures. Meeting Chiaki's other brother Makoto(who Chiaki had seen in over 7 years), seeing Chiaki's best friend and her beatiful children all grown up, being introduced to Chiaki's other brother Shun's new girlfriend, hooking up with our good friend Miho in Hiroshima, and of course eating great food and shopping like crazy.

I will try to post some pictures on here very soon of both people we met and things we picked up while there. I was going to break the whole trip down for everyone but then realized as I began to write that this could take forever. I instead have decided to break down bits and pieces of the trip throughout my next few posts or so.

I will mention probably my favorite new place to visit was Nakano Broadway when we were in the great city of Tokyo for two days. Nakano Broadway is a geek's cluster of stores (also known as an otaku's wet dream) in a 4 floor shopping complex. While alot of the crazy and unique toys were a pleasure to view and take part in purchasing, my favorite store was a little poster store buried in the corner of the 2nd or 3rd floor. My new favorite place sold Japanese posters for ridcuously low prices, most as low as 1000 yen (between 8-10 US dollars). One of my several gems I found was this poster for a Meiko Kaji film, Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2 - The She Cat Gambler.

Or how about this killer Meiko Kaji 7 inch of her theme song from the series Female Convict Scorpion. Chiaki found this little treasure.

I know your jealous, aren't you. I love it and I have several others just as cool. I will try to put them online as soon as I can.

For now lets move on to another subject...the Academy Award nominations. You are probably wondering what I thought of them. Well, I happen to really like their choices this year. Anytime two of your favorite films of the year are up for most of the categories then I am pretty happy. This year's nods came with that very scenario with both No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood rounding out most of the categories. It will be a tough year I believe for the Oscar voters and I will be really happy if either take home the big awards. Two things that are certain are that of course Javier Bardem will take home Best Supporting Actor and Daniel Day-Lewis will bring home the Best Actor statue. While a few other categories such as Best Actress and Best Supporting Actess have clear front runners, nothing much else is for certain. I will be a bit sadden if at the end of the night Paul Thomas Anderson doesn't walk away with Best Director. The man deserves the damn thing. As always, I am also looking forward to the Best Foreign Film and Best Cinematography categories. Kazakhstan's selection Mongol happens to star Tadanobu Asano, one of my favorite actors working in international cinema today. All in all some good picks, though as with most years I believe a handful of people got snubbed recognition. Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men was a revelation and I could honestly not picture anyone else in the role.

Alright well, I suppose that is all for now. I will be back in a day or two with more of a breakdown of our trip to Japan along with a possible film review. Also look for my Top 10 films of 2007 list to spring up by Tuesday or Wednesday.