Man, talk about a slacker. Okay, I am not a slacker all the time, but apparently when it comes to update this blog, I sure as hell am. It been over two months. I think by now I have lost my last two readers. So what's been going on. Well, as you know from my last post, I have been writing for KFC Cinema, which is pretty damn great. I have had the chance to not only post front page news, but even review films for the site, so you know I am loving it.

Everything else is good too. I am still procrastinating about deciding on a school for my graduate work. Holding down the house and trying to find a close school that deals with film studies, is as you know, pretty freakin' difficult. Damn, near in possible in fact for the area I live in. So the hunt continues.

Caught Babel as planned yesterday. I must say I was not disappointed whatsoever. In my mind it is equal to everything Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (including his amazing short Powder Keg). I just can't fathom why people don't understand what the film is about. That has been the main complaint. It's quite simple in my mind. It's about alienation. It's about miscommunication. It's about the things that pull us apart and ultimately bring us together. The film is just beautiful. Everyone in the film is superb. People also complain that the Japanese story is kind of pointless and beg to differ. People I believe are reading the film the wrong way. Yeah the Japan segment loosely ties into the intertwined storyline but I don't think that was Inarritu's intention. Each story is about family about how horrific experiences just bring us closer to each other. People are missing the big picture in the film. Say what you say about the film but I believe it deserves Best Picture along with a handful of other awards (director, cinematography, screenplay, supporting actor, supporting actress). To be honest, the only thing I wish is that both Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi could both be nominated but more than likely it will only be one.

Call it one more step closer to making my own site. The good people over at KFC Cinema were looking for a good contributor of Japanese Cinema news so I figured I may as well go for it. I sent them a link to this very site and...I'm there new writer. Will I stop with this blog? Hell no, too many fans - and of course this blog is full of my random thoughts, which as you know, goes far beyond Japanese film discussion. But seriously if you wanna check out a cool Asian cinema site they are the place to go (others than Todd and the crew at Twitch, which is central for everything that is great in film).

So if your really bored, you can take a minute to check out KFC Cinema and read some stuff by their new writer, just look for the stories posted by Aaron....that's me.

I know I don't talk about music much on here but I have to say I finally got a chance last night to see the show I have been waiting for, for quite some time now. I saw Envy play in Columbus. If everyone doesn't know already from me ranting and raving I will clue you in. Envy is a band from Japan that would be label as hardcore even though they are so much more than that. They are a wonder. They play the most amazing music which just so happens to involve quite a bit of screaming. But don't shy away because of the vocals they are way beyond that. There are not words to describe how beautiful they are musically. Take a few minutes (roughly six minutes actually) of your day and listen to Further Ahead of Warp, from their new album Insomniac Doze. Its awe-inspiring. Remember listen deeper than the vocals (which you may or may not enjoy). Just do your self a favor and take it all in. You won't be disappointed. This was hands down the best show I have ever seen.

Okay so on with the film ranting now.

So the new schedule for the Cleveland Cinematheque (September/October) has been released and its pretty promising. For starts at the beginning of September they are playing Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2 back to back. Pretty damn cool, huh. But thats just the beginning. Miike's The Great Yokai War (a fun movie), Lower City (a film from the producers of City of God), 13 Tzameti (a film from France that I have been hearing about), the Pusher trilogy ( three films from Denmark that have been the talk of many website as of late), Two Drifters (from Portugual directed by a truly bizarre filmmaker that Film Comment speaks highly of).

But no oh no, it does not stop there. October 26th through the 29th is a great weekend for classics with both Polanski's Repulsion and Jean Pierre Melville's Army of Shadows fitting the bill. Both truly great films from two equally spectactular filmmakers.

So do you think thats all. Nope sorry again. The last two weekends of October house for Early Godard films: Le Petit Soldat, Alphaville, Les Carabiniers, and last but surely not least, Pierrot Le Fou. Flashback to the last two weekends of of September and you got yourself a Viva Pedro! Thats right, the Pedro Almodovar retrospective is making its way to Cleveland after beginning in New York. September 22nd through October 1 will be the time to catch up on not olny his most recently masterpieces (Bad Education, Talk to Her, and All about my Mother) but also some early works that made him famous, and which I have also neglected to see including Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Live Flesh, Law of Desire, and Matador).

As usual, I am sure there are more lost treasures hidden inside the Cleveland Cinematheque schedule that I have yet to find. I lost count of the times I have skipped over something listed in their schedule only to read about it months later and being pissed off I didn't catch it at the Cinematheque.

One last thing I will mention before I stopping writing for the day is to let you all know of the slight date change of the release for the Red Angel dvd from Fantoma. I know I know. The original date was August 22nd. And I am sure all of you readers went to your local stores to pick it up and lo and behold it was not there. Well, rest assured, they moved it to September 19th. A sigh of relief, I know.

All kidding aside though this is a disc that everyone should definitely check out. Yasuzo Masumura was an amazing filmmaker from Japan who made some really breakthrough films. Unfortuately Fantoma been the only studio smart enough to release his films on American soil (others than Homevision's release of his entry in the Hanzo the Razor series). Red Angel follows in the footsteps of their previously released Masumura titles Blind Beast, Giants & Toys, Afraid to Die, and Manji. All films I bought cite unseen based souly on my satification of the previous film. If it is even close to the brilliance of both Blind Beast, and Giants & Toys then it should be one hell of a film. Red Angel is a film I truly look foward to and I hope you give it a chance too.

So okay. its been like 10 years since my last post. I apologize to all three of you. I am actually thinking about buying a domain for a few bucks and making a real website hear in the distant (or not so distant) future. would be cool. The plan is to actually go to the dark side and use myspace as marketing and getting the word out about the site. That is of course if I get off my lazy ass and make a really freakin cool website that I would update daily or every few days. That is the thing about some sites. Don't get me wrong I love alot of great sites but damn they update sometimes every three months if I am lucky. That's what you gotta love about Twitch . The man updates daily. what a kick ass site.

Anyways, I should have updated two weeks ago after viewing The Science of Sleep but I didn't lazyness is to blame.

Man, what a killer film. I loved it. Best film I saw this year (okay, maybe a tie with Kamikaze Girls). It is such a beautiful and entertaining film. I would be pointless to try to explain the plot or even the point of the film because its not about that. Just please just see the film when you get a chance. Its a film of beauty about love and happiness and sadness and anger. Its everything and nothing. Just do yourself a favor and see it. I will warn you though, some may just not get it. If you have ever seen a music video by Michel Gondry then you will honestly have a better understanding of his visuals in this film. His vision has finally come full blown. It is one of his videos come to life more than anything he has done previously. I explained to some one the other day that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind will seem straightforward and normal compared to how abstract he goes with this film. But that is truly the genius of him as a filmmaker and more importantly the beauty of the film. That is all I will say.

Also caught World Trade Center over the past weekend. Good stuff. Very moving. Nothing negative really to say. Was pretty much what I thought it would be. Will I watch it again? Probably not. Am I glad I saw it? Definitely. Oliver Stone has got some points back in my opinion. I was starting to worry about 'em.

It only a matter of days (alright maybe like 60 days..but still) before Babel hits theaters and I am dying to see it. After finally seeing a full length trailer of the film I have to say I will continue to tell people that it is going to be the film to beat this year in my opinion. I am already predicting it to be my film of the year. I really hope it gets some recognition this year at the Academy Awards cause it looks absolutely amazing. Please check out the trailer, when you get a chance by clicking on the picture below.

Well, I guess that is good for now. I will write more tommorrow, I promise. My computer has a bad CPU fan it it shuts off from time to time so I don't want to push my limit.

So since my last entry was kinda long I held back to things I really wanted to talk about. The first being My Blueberry Nights the new film by Wong Kar Wai (and his first American feature length film). Below is an interesting picture courtesy of the good folks at KFC Cinema, which was taken on the set of the film.

You can obviously see that it is Jude Law and Norah Jones. I know the picture isnt bunch but damn I didn't realize that he was heading into this film so quickly. Normally his films are in development for quite some time. I really can't wait to see more from this.

The next interesting info I found in the last several days was a nice little storyboard of the new Alejandro Jodorowsky film King Shot, from the fine folks at Twitch who recieved the following straight from the horse's mouth.

Now I thought that the El Topo sequel was supposed to be his next film with Marylin Manson attached but now this came up. Apprentally this will also be a speghetti western which will still star Manson along with Nick Nolte. Now like Nolte or not but you have to say this guy is pretty freakin great at picking films to work on. I mean look at the man's filmography, especially as of late and this guy is very international. Click on the picture above if you want to check out some more storyboards. Man, I can't wait to hear more about this.

So we are back and I am finally ready to write a post. New York was great as usual and the films were a good time too. Antonioni's Red Desert was a a great watch even though it doesn't quite measure up to some of his other classics (not to say it still wasn't was a brilliant film). Funky Forest was just plain strange. It was a bit on the long side (2 1/2 hours ) and I felt it was a bit too up and down. Some things were great about it while others I just couldn't get into. Chiaki, however loved it. The highlight of our movie viewing came in the form of a Korean film called Git. It a simple film but it was just so beautiful. A lot a reviews hyped it up, claiming it to be the best Korean romance film ever. So much talk often times ruin a film in many cases, however, that was not what happen. I don't think it would due the film justice by labeling it as a romantic comedy, which many will call it, but instead I will just leave it as saying its a small little film with a whole lotta heart. Highly Recommended.

Last time we were in New York we kinda skipped over Chinatown. This time we decided to give it another chance and I am glad we did. Yeah it isn't the cleanest place but damn can you find some kick ass films for between 5-10 bucks- yeah, there boots, but who cares.. the films I picked up would have cost me three times that. I don't feel too bad about the purchases because they are not films released here in the states anyways so technically they can legally get a way with it. I was luckily enough to find a copy of Git and another movie I have been dying to see also out of Korea called Welcome to Dongmakgol (it was actually South Korea's submission for Best Foreign film at last year's Academy Awards). We even managed to find a great Korean restaurant between Chinatown and Little Italy. Tasty!

While we were in New York some really solid dvd releases. Cache, Yakuza Graveyard, Cops vs. Thugs, Burst City and my personal favorite, Electric Dragon 80,000 Volts, which I finally picked up yesterday. I know I mentioned this a while back on the blog but man do people need to check out this crazy ass experimental noise rock balls to the wall battle flick. yeah, I know that doesn't make any since but just see it please. The dvd release even has the soundtrack to boot how damn cool is that.

And for those of us living in ohio there is quite a schedule lined up for the next two months at the Cleveland Cinematheque. Three of the films I have seen in the last year or so and would highly recommend the following: Clean, The Hidden Blade, and Woman is the Future of Man. Others I am planning on attending include seven different samurai films (Samurai Rebellion, Three Outlaw Samurai, Kill!, Sword of Doom, Harakiri, Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron, and Samurai Saga). Also of interest is the screening of a bizarre visual stunning film entitled Drawing Restraint 9, which stars Bjork and was directed by her boyfriend Matthew Barney the creature of the Cremaster series. The most exciting screening on the schedule is the early August sneak preview of the new Michel Gondry film The Science of Sleep. The week it is screening is the same weekend it is supposed to open limited in New York and LA, we should feel honored (word is that the film may have even gotten pushed to September now which means we may be very lucky to catch it a month earlier than the rest of the US...pretty damn cool). I am sure there are more goodies playing which I am not too familiar with. Overall a good solid schedule.

Finally, Panik House Entertainment has unveiled a division of their company entitled Casa Negra Films which will introduce the rest of the world to Mexican cinema. I am really looking forward to this because Mexican cinema is one thing I really need to be more educated on. So far their are only two releases with three more planned in the coming months. Check out their site for more info.

Alright so this isn't technically my update yet. this is a teaser for my update. I have a decent amount to talk about which include one amazing film I caught in the big city (along with another good one and another which was just plain bizarre), the release of some great films on dvd this past week, some great bootleg purchases from Chinatown, a new subdivision of Panik House Entertainment that's worth talking about, and finally I will ramble about a great new schedule for the Cleveland Cinematheque which includes an advance screening of a film that is sure to top a bunch of Best film lists this year. So please come back soon to read a rather lengthily update which I am just to lazy to start right now. At least I started it, right.

I am getting really bad at this whole update thing. Not much to report, honestly. I think now a days I am writing for myself anyways.

Last Wednesday and Thursday, I worked as a production assistant on my friend Bo's short film entitled Miles Wynberry of Glendale Lane. It was really a great time. Bo is trying to get his masters in film at Columbia University in New York City. I am pretty damn jealous really. The shoot was very professional. It was great we had a great crew, great equipment (including a jib, a dolly and track, and so much more), and great weather. I was like I was working on a shoot at film school. The camera had like $40,000 lens that makes it look like your shooting on film. Pretty amazing! I can't wait to see how it turns out. I will report more as it unfolds.

I also won some tickets online for the New York Asian Film Festival so it looks like we are catching another film in New York. When we get back I am sure I will have a lot to talk about along with a lot of pictures so I will see you all then.

So in just a few weeks, Chiaki and I are off to New York for a fun little trip. My parents wanted to get us plane tickets for our anniversary but instead I talked them into getting us a few nights in Queens instead. May as well go somewhere you can drive, right. And what so happens to be going on in a few weeks in the wonderful New York City. Well that would be the New York Asian Film Festival. We went last year and it was truly the highlight of our year (others than Chiaki's family coming for our wedding last year, of course). We love New York. Just love it. If we can someday down the line get some great jobs that can easily be found in New York City, then that's where we are heading. But for now good ol' Ohio will suffice, with an annual trek to the big city.

Last year we ended up catching University of Laughs (a truly amazing film which should have been on my top ten last year...oops I forgot), Vital (a film that split us...I dug it alot, while Chiaki was disappointed), and Cafe Lumiere (which we both felt disappointed with). This year we are spending an extra day in the city to explore it more and are once again catching three films:

Funky Forest

A total bizarre looking film from Japan, starring everyone favorite actor Tadanobu Asano which by the view of the trailer reminds me of last years Survive Style 5+ (a film that was on my top films of 2005 list).

Git (Feather in the Wind)

A very poetic looking film that is highly praised where ever you read. It is by a really inventive Korean director who is supposed to be one of the best of the country's independent filmmakers. I have seen his previous work Spider Forest recently and found it to be very unique. I am really looking forward to this film also.

The final film was are going to catch is not part of festival but was something we couldn't pass up while visiting NYC.

Red Desert

This is a film I have been dying to see. Fortuately, the month we are planning on going to New York just so happens to be when the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) are screening a retrospective of Michelanglo Antonioni. It just so happens to be the same week that we picked is when they are playing Il Deserto Rosso (Red Desert) one of his films I haven't been able to get my hands on to see. It was meant to be I guess.

So we are pretty excited to go. Yeah to catch the films of course but also to travel throughout the city. Can't wait.

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.