Friday, December 19, 2008

Two things and TOKYO DRIFTER (39)

Two things to start:

1. I may or may not be excessively intoxicated right now. I drank a half a bottle of champagne and at least two or three large cans/bottles of beer and decided that at 2 in the morning I'd make sure to get my Criterion Quest blog up and ready for the world. Please excuse gratuitous spelling errors and grammatical issues, well, more so than you normally do.

2. I want to thank all of you who called or emailed or just let me know that you were thinking about me during my interview for the Whitman In China program. Sure, it could've gone a ton better, but you guys made me feel like I really had a chance. If things go bad, or if things go well I owe each and all of you a beer or six.

That said, lets talk about a great movie.


Tokyo Drifter (39) is pretty much Branded To Kill (38) but with a better plot and technicolor. Seijun Suzuki is very obviously a strange strange man, but some of the fight scenes that dominate this film are as colorful and brilliant as anything you've ever seen. I'll say this, and remember I've been drinking, the Japanese are my favorite filmmakers. Oh sure, Fellini is a genius, and those Frenchies have a pretty strong handle on this whole film making thing as well, but at the end of the day I want to be plugged in to a Nippon film undoubtedly. If you're feeling adventurous, start with Suzuki, he's a weirdo, but a genius in the same breath.

Monday: Hopefully some new movies.

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