Pushing the Boundaries of Japanese TV
Written by billywest on October 26, 2008
Kudos to the folks at Fuji TV for coming up with a groundbreaking new TV drama that dares to explore the nature of the “Innocent Love” of two young women.
Wait a minute… Oh, I see. Oh, ok… Let’s start again:
Kudos to the folks at Fuji TV for coming up with a groundbreaking new TV drama that dares to explore the nature of the “Innocent Love” of two young men.
No, no, no… WTF!? Now, hold on… Maybe it’s about the incestuous relationship between twin brothers. No, that’s not it…
Screw it; Who knows what’s going on with this show?
Posted in: Entertainment
Movie Night in Tokyo: “Wanted”
Written by billywest on October 4, 2008
Haven’t seen a movie in theaters since “The Happening”, M. Night Shyamalan’s most recent flick. Tonight, despite really having wanted to see “Iron Man”, I let a friend talk me into seeing “Wanted” with Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman. I have to admit, as much as I don’t like cheesy CG-laden flicks, I enjoyed this one.
For the sake of movie-theater escapism I’m usually able to suspend disbelief for a couple of hours in order to enjoy my moviegoing experience. But, with “Wanted” I didn’t have to put much effort into it. I can’t really put my finger on why I found the movie as entertaining as I did, but I guess all that really matters is that I got my ￥1200 worth (last show).
I won’t bother to give a brief overview of the movie because you can find what you need to know at IMDb. I guess all I can really say is that most of the action scenes were well done, both with CG and honest-to-God stunts, the soundtrack was cool, and a lot of McAvoy’s dialogue was pretty good for this kind of movie. And, even though some people say she’s looking a bit haggard these days, I thought Jolie looked pretty hot in this one. Morgan Freeman is pretty much the same old Freeman he is in a lot of movies, but that’s still pretty good in my book. As for the bad points, I guess the goofiest part of the story was the whole bullet-trajectory-curving thing. The fact that I was trained as a physicist isn’t even relevant; nobody’s buying it.
Anyway, I won’t go so far as to recommend “Wanted”, especially considering how expenisve moviegoing can be here in Japan. But, I will say that if you’re looking for a decent roller-coaster ride of a movie, it serves its purpose.
Posted in: Entertainment
