More from Cut Magazines Top 150 Movies (3)

Let's blast through some movies on the list as we creep up to the Top Film Fanatic movies.

130-121

130. Predator (1987) who would have thought 20 years later the (human) leads of this movie would go on to become U.S. state governers? At least we can look forward to seeing Charles Weathers in... The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang?!? Predator could be called the best of the limited strong-man-vs-alien action genre. Lots of tension and guttings.

129. Last of the Mohicans (1992) I think Daniel Day Lewis has been in about four movies over the last fifteen years, but he always picks winners. One could argue Gangs of New York was a better movie for him, but why would you want to? You can have your cake and eat it, too.

128. Cinema Paradiso (1989) A fantastic French movie at a time when some thought French cinema was dead. Movies about love for movies can crash and burn if not handled perfectly, and in this case is. I think this just went back to the top of my Netflix queue.

127. Spiderman 2 (2004) How do you follow-up the most popular superhero movie in recent memory? Don't change a thing, just turn up the heat. A great follow-up, as good or better than the original puts confidence in the hearts of fan-boys that part 3 will be just as good or better. With Sam Raimi still at the helm and the intorduction of the Venom story-line, the movie should practically make itself.

126. Rushmore (1998) Saying Rushmore is my least favorite Wes Anderson movie is the same as me saying Three Musicians is my least favorite Picasso Painting. It may not be my favorite, but it's still pretty damn good. This is the beginning of the new Bill Murray, and the subtleties he shows in this role have become his namesake now. A high school picture too intelligent for most high school kids.

125. Hero (2002) The second anti-grav string held action movies, this time starring Jet Li. As Jet Li movies go, this is one of the highest budget movies he has been in, and it is gorgeous. However, there isn't quite as much heart as some of his earlier historical movies.

124. Once Upon a Time in America (1984) One of the best all around movies (beyond the historical/gangster genre) that I almost never hear people talk about. This is the second of our Sergio Leone movies, and he goes from the barren west to New York City without missing a beat. Epic in length and proportions this is an amazing tale of a gangster returning home to atone for his sins. As memorable as Goodfellas and quotable as The Godfather, Once Upon a Time in America is another absolute must-see.

123. Grease (1978) If your are going to force yourself to watch a musical, you might as well make it Grease. Many careers peaked with this flick, which became a classic not thanks to the great story or acting, but mostly the music, which despite all efforts, is hard to resist.

122. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Going from Grease to One Flew Over... is like going from out of the out of the banana split and into the fire. Jack Nicolson shines in what may be one of the most talented supporting casts in the history of film. The strength of the story and the power of the cast make it hard to not be sucked into this tale of a petty criminal pleading insanity to avoid jailtime. The often imitated "patients running the nuthouse" is executed here perfectly to a poweful and unforgettable finish.

121. Top Gun (1986) Hot actors, hot soundtrack, hot action...perfect for 1986, but you cannot listen to "(Highway to the) Danger Zone" now without snickering. The same is true for the movie. Many have great memories of seeing Top Gun, but I dare you to sit through this one all the way through today.

Bra-Jackets and Dark Horse

You've seen those free postcard stands at Tower Records and other stores. It's a rack with hip looking postcards that are actually ads for one thing or another. And you've seen the popular brown paper book covers common at Japanese bookstores, I am sure. Customers get them so they can read on the train without every knowing if they are trying to crack The Da Vinci Code or exploring modern literature a little more lascivious. So from the "Why Didn't I Think of That" file come the bra-jacket! Short for brand-jacket, the bra-jacket combines free advertising with popular book jacket covers, and found itself a huge hit.

http://web-japan.org/trends/

Apparantly some jackets are more popular than others, and the hip ones go glying off the free shelves.

Here is the Japanese link where you can see the available models. Is it wrong to want this?
Anything that keeps people reading is good enough to me.


I took a visit down to Dark Horse yesterday afternoon to pick up some new books and to finally meet a couple people who have been so good to the PDI bookstore. We are working on an article on Dark Horse for our newsletter, and it will be reprinted here, so stay tuned, and in the meantime - pick up a comic!

Movie Fanatics Top 150 (2) and a Hippo Kick

Continuing our Cut Magazine's Movie Fanatic Top 150...

140-131

140. Casino (1995) It's easy to look at this as a "part II" of Goodfellas, as Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci play such similar roles in Scorcese's 1990 masterpiece. However, this is better looked at as a standalone work. It is it's own unique tragic story, and is probably the best acting Sharon Stone has ever done.

139. The Deer Hunter (1978) Famous for Christopher Walken's "Russian roullette" scene, a level of intensity difficult to top, overall this is an amazing and sad movie. Robert De Niro could do little wrong at this time in his career.

138. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) An adventure movie like few others, I preferred this one to the more gory Temple of Doom, but not as much as the original. On the other hand, there was something a little too...cute in the relationship between Indy (Harrison Ford) and his father (Sean Connery). The casting was a little too perfect, and there was a certain loss of a threat of real danger.

137. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) Known more for it's soundtrack and imitators, this is, hands down, the best spaghetti western, and maybe the best western every made. Clint Eastwood's nameless anti-hero is the definition of cool in the scorching desert. Unlike typical westerns, this one is deep and flowing. Sergio Leone's wise use of limited dialogue lets the amazing imagery speak for itself. Personally, this is much higher on the list for me, maybe the first must-see.

136. Breathless (1960) NOT the Richard Gere movie, but the Godard masterpiece. This is a definitive movie of the era, and unlike some definitive movies of their eras, this one is greatly entertaining and deserves a spot on this list.

135. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy (2004) Though I think it's a little early for this one to show up on the list, it is a very funny movie. However more recent movies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin will likely stand the test of time longer. There is something about that "R" rating that gives a comedy legs.

134. Dawn of the Dead (1978) Said it before. Will say it again. Not into the zombie movies.

133. The Breakfast Club (1985) The "Brat Pack's" finest work, hands down. I don't hear anyone talking about St. Elmo's Fire anymore, but I believe The Breakfast Club will speak to generations of high school kids. A simple concept: five completely different students stuck in Saturday detention together feel each other out, then open up in ways they wouldn't expect. The beauty is in the honesty of the writing.

132. Airplane (1980) In many ways a comedy boiled down to the essentials: funny gag after funny gag. Airplane depends on visual puns to practially assault the audience from every angle with jokes. Personally, I don't feel it grows funnier with time, as similar comedies of this time, like The Jerk, do. Its appearance on the list is forgivable, but not this high up.

131 Oldboy (2003) Another fairly recent release, Oldboy falls into the bloody revenge sub-genre, popular in Asian film and stories for many years. Honor and sportsmanship become low priorities as a man trapped in an apartment for 15 years finds not only his way out, but who put him in there. This one is not for the weak-willed, especially when it comes to the end's twists and turns. Oldboy is probably the best entry from Chan-wook Park's revenge trilogy, but all three movies are worth checking out. This July, Dark Horse will be releasing the original manga, from which the movie is based. After seeing the movie, I am psyched about the manga.



And I had to include this link...it was just too cool: Infinite Pictures.

Speaking of Russian Roulette, I had to include this pick of one of the silliest Japanese toys ever. Enjoy this look at the Hippo Kick!

Yusaku Matsuda's worst movie and Movie Fanatics Top 150 (1)

In my personal promise to watch all Seijun Suzuki movies released on DVD I recently watched Kagero-za, the second in the Taisho Trilogy released by Kino. I am starting to see why Kino did this series, and not Criterion. Despite starring one of my favorite actors from Japan, Yusaku Matsuda, this movie was hard to get into to. The two hour plus runtime is way to long for what Suzuki is trying to accomplish. I will watch the third in the series, but am not too excited about it. It is made 10 years after Kagero-za, so I do have a little faith it will show some improvement.

One of my favorites periodicals, Japan's Cut magazine, recently released their Movie Fanatacs Poll of the Best 150 Movies Made... Over the next couple weeks I will reveal their list, with comments. It seems this list is comprised of movies from all over the world (though the highest non-English movie is number 62), and isn't just a poll of Japanese movie fans, but 100,000 fanatics from all over the world.

Cut Magazine Movie Fanatics Top 150

141-150

150. Blue Velvet (1986) I first saw this when it came out, then again when I was studying the history of motion pictures in college. My professor hated the movie, but, for some reason, felt compelled to show it each year. David Lynch is such a difficult director to comprehend, I think watching a movie like this is required, when he was slightly more accessible. A worthy choice and a good movie.

149. Trainspotting (1996) A great novel with a worthy director and diverse, talented cast should always lead to the result of a movie this good. Unfortunately that isn't always true, but thanks to DVD we can always go back the Trainspotting as one of those quirky, weird, non-linear novels that resulted in a comprehensible, stylish movie, and introduced most of the world to the fantastic Ewan McGregor.

148. Goldfinger - 007 (1964) It's been a few years since I've seen this. To me Bond is Sean Connery, (not the other way around), and this is why. I am looking forward to seeing Daniel Craig tackle the role this year in Casino Royale. He was fantastic in Layer Cake.

147. Good Will Hunting (1997) Did the planets line up right, the stars all fall in place at the right time for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck when the inspiration for this movie hit them? Absolutley, but it is terrific and it works and post-GWH copies have paled in comparison.

146. The Evil Dead (1981) You know, I don't like zombie movies. And I will repeat this sentence more than twice on this list.

145. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Ang Lee introduces wired kung-fu fighting to the rest of the world. I could forgive it then, but watching this now, the "weightless fight sequences" are distracting. Even Goerge Lucas tries to follow the laws of physics. An otherwise excellent cast and excellent movie.

144. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) Never read it, never saw it. Though I am sure I will someday.

143. Platoon (1986) It's funny, I wasn't allowed in the movie theater in 1986 to see this movie because I was too young. It was the first (and probably last time) I was ever asked for ID to see a movie, despite the fact that every 15-year-old SHOULD have been let in to see it. Now I can tell you that it's a modern classic for a reason.

142. Field of Dreams (1989) America loves Kevin Costner, then hates Kevin Costner, then loves him again. This was made when he was on an upswing. I am not a particular fan of sports movies, including baseball movies, but Field of Dreams and The Natural are two that I can handle.

141. Swingers (1996) Now we are getting to the comedies, and the movies that are truly my personal favorites. Comedy is it's own monster, and a good comedic movie is one that can be watched again and again and gets better and better. Swingers is one of those movies. Jon Favreau is the perfect yang to Vince Vaughn ying. The dialog is natural and believable, and Vince Vaughn has been playing some version of his role in this movie in every movie he has been in since. See the original VV in Swingers.

Zigeunerweisen and non-sensical kanji tattoos

Zigeunerweisen has to be very likely the most forgettable title of a Japanese film I have ever seen (ツィゴイネルワイゼン in Japanese). The title refers to a German musical piece played in the film, and although the piece is a part of the movie, it is an unfortunate title. This is one of Suzuki Seijun's Taisho Trilogy, and, I must say, I prefer it when Suzuki is trying to sneak in his visual brilliance under the radar of the studios, rather than being given the freedom to go out on his own. Long, drawn out and arty, Zigeunerweisen depends more on the Suzuki's too few stunning visuals than it does on it's paper-door thin plot. The theme of the movie is love triangles. And we see several different versions of the doomed scenerios, though most cleverly surmised in a side story of a blind homeless threesome who travel the land playing randy rhythmless songs for spare change. The young helper falls for the young wife of the old blind man, and stupidly flirt with each other with little reservation, leading up to a bizarre beachside showdown between the two blind men.

The movies also explores the time in Japan (1920s) when styles from Europe and the US slipped in hand-in-hand with the more traditional Japanese dress. I am happy Kino chose to release these titles in the US, but their menus are rather cheap-looking and the extras minimal. Criterion does such a much more professional looking job, I do hope they will continue bringing us more quality Seijun Suzuki films.

I had to include this article from Fox News. So often people are quick to point and laugh at meaningless English on Japanese t-shirts and handbags, but I have never seen a Japanese person with Engrish permanently inked on their arm, and there are plenty of Westerners who have gone that route.

She thought it said "blood and guts," but it really said "blood and
intestines." He thought it said "rock 'n' roll," but it really said "to sway and
to roll."

"That would be translating it literally, but nobody would actually use
those characters to say 'rock 'n' roll' in Chinese," [New York City jewelry designer Jane Ko] said. "In Chinese
people would ask, 'Why would you 'get the rolls?'"
Maria Robinson, a video
game designer in Oakland, Calif., who was born in China, has often seen people
with badly written tattoos that were supposed to be Chinese. In one case, the
Chinese text was actually upside-down.
For the non-tattooed, at least, the
results can be worth a good laugh. Ko recalled one instance in which a man
approached her with a tattoo on his forearm that he had always taken to be the
Chinese character for “spirit.”
“I was like, ‘Why did he have that tattoo?’”
she said. “It really said ‘gas’”

You mean not everyone has a favorite translator?

Here is an interesting article from philly.com on the low amount of translated literature in the US. (Thanks, Anne!)

Steve Wasserman reported that only 3 percent of books published in the United States are translations, compared with almost 70 percent in Italy. And of the 3 percent, Wasserman added, "many were technical manuals or reference works."

That is pretty despicable, if you ask me. The same is true, I am sure, of other parts of our media (movies, television, etc.) I bet comics is the only place you might see a better balance.

So make sure you support your favorite translator! (Mine is Stephen Snyder, translator of Coin Locker Babies...but I am so wishy-washy. Who knows who it'll be next week?)

Cool things we found under the couch when we were vacuuming...

Just finished Dark Horse comics' Lone Wolf and Club Volume 3, and it is the best one yet. It's hard for me to believe there are 23 more volumes (yes. actual volumes) left in the series. It is worth checking out. If you don't want to dedicate yourself to 3000 pages of the head-splitting fun, start out with the Lady Snowblood series. It's only 4 volumes and by the same author, Kazuo Koike...





Best blog ever. On TV. In Japan.




It's FREE COMIC BOOK DAY this weekend. Now you have no excuse not to go to your local comic book store. They are GIVING them away!

Vertical Inc.: An Introduction

This went out in our newsletter today, and I thought I'd reprint it here.
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This is the first in a series articles introducing our Pacific Dreams Bookstore customers to some of the publishing houses we work closely with. This issue’s article is on Vertical Publishing, which has brought us Saying Yes to Japan, Naoko and A Rabbit’s Eyes, with more titles on the way. Vertical is a relatively new company, but has had a certain influence on the growing interest in modern Japanese fiction in the U.S. We spoke with Anne Ishii, Vertical’s Director of Marketing and Publicity, about Vertical and publishing Japanese books in English, and here is what she told us.

Vertical was founded in 2001, and published its first books in 2003. With only four full time employees one wonders when there is time to sleep. The number of titles released every year is slowly rising, from nine in 2003, to 20 plus planned for next year. Their best selling title was probably Koji Suzuki’s Ring, thanks partially to interest generated by the Japanese and American movie versions, but at the present time the most consistent best seller is the Buddha series written by Osamu Tezuka.

Even though publishing fiction in English from the original Japanese would appear to be a fairly narrow field, the ways in which a title makes the transformation and trip from Japan are quite varied. In some cases Vertical will approach the Japanese author to begin discussions of bringing a title to the US, and sometimes it’s the other way around. Sometimes an English translation is already written before negotiations begin, and other times a translator needs to be hired once the agreement is made. (Imagine translating an entire novel, and then it never getting published!) Often there are many processes happening. Translation, editing, promotion, and layout and design may all be happening at the same time, and a stall in any of these areas can delay the entire project. (Speaking of design, it is really worth mentioning the amazing covers all done by Art Director, Chip Kidd. You will find yourself placing your Vertical books with the front facing out on you bookshelf to see the consistently stylish covers.)

Sometimes it is the case that a translator will approach the publishing house with a finished translation, and the process will start from there. Other times Vertical will look for a translator once the negotiations with the author’s side are settled. Like PDI, Vertical is always looking for talented bilingual individuals. Here are a couple helpful hints to get hired to work in literary translation: 1) don’t tell the publisher that you don’t know their books because you are into more “serious literary stuff” and “don’t like genre fiction” and 2) don’t tell the publisher that you thought their translation of a certain title could have been better. As Anne says, “that’s like trying to get a job by slapping the prospective publisher”.

As logic would dictate, Vertical goes ahead with books that are going to translate well into English, without cultural topics or issues that an American reader will be thrown by. Naturally, if the scope of a book is unappealing or its contents confusing to all but a very small sliver of the American market, then the title is probably not worth pursuing.

Vertical has also published a few of titles from the godfather of manga, Osamu Tezuka. Graphic novels present new challenges in translation. Unlike a novel, where you work with only words on a blank page, with graphic novels the publisher must fit (in this case) English where Japanese once stood. Spacing can be a difficult issue. On top of that the rhythm of the work can be compromised, as sentence structures in Japanese are very different in English. Translating so that the pacing as well as the content of the partitioned bubbles to match with the original Japanese can create some real difficulties translators in other fields may not have to deal with. On top of all this, the pages are “flipped” to an American orientation of left to right, which is a time consuming process.

In the US, graphic novels are gaining legitimacy out of the comic world, and more and more people are looking at the graphic novel as a unique and exciting way to tell a story. Though until recent years in the US, comics have had a reputation for being strictly for children and maturity-stunted adults, Japanese writers have been writing mangas for Japanese children as well as adults for generations, entering the modern manga age with Osamu Tezuka’s work in the 1940’s. It is a great time for American manga fans as more titles, especially titles for mature readers, are becoming available in English thanks to publishing houses like Vertical.

See our Vertical titles available now at the links below.

Saying Yes to Japan by Tim Clark and Cark Key

A Rabbit’s Eyes by Kenjiro Haitani

Naoko by Keigo Higashino

PDI will brink you more Vertical titles throughout 2006, including The Honda Myth: The Genius and his Wake by Masaaki Sato as well as titles by Koji Suzuki, Yusuke Kishi, Kenzo Kitakata, and Osamu Tezuka. Check out all the Vertical titles and news here and the complete PDI Bookstore here.

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You can also check out Anne Ishii's blog at Vertical, which covers a lot of issues related with Asian literature, among other things.

Cosplay is not Japanese culture

Recently my family and I went to our local Uwajimaya for the Spring Sakura Festival. It's one of the many Asian cultural events they have every year, with informational booths and Japanese carnival games and traditional food stands. A large stage is set up so local taiko groups and karate dojos can can show off thier students' skills. The Spring Sakura festival is relatively small, and only one day, but it is a place where local Japanese can catch up with each other, local Japanese businesses can target a certain demographic, and people interested in Japan and Japanese culture can taste Japanese food, see certain factions of Japanese culture (including the forementioned karate and taiko, there were flower arranging exhibitions and calligraphy and the like). One thing that was different this year was the seemingly massive amounts of American cosplayers who attended the festival.

Cosplay (コスプレ) isn't particularly new in Japan, but the hobby of dressing up as one's favorite manga character is an expected evil with the increasing rise of popularity in manga and anime in the US. English how-to books are being published and more and more anime fans are jumping on the large-eyed bandwagon.

As a fan of Japan and Japanese culture, anything that gets more Americans into learning about Japan and learning Japanese is an all-around good thing. All Japanophiles have their epiphanies when the world of Japan opens up to them, and they see something wonderful. One of the goals of Uwajimaya's Japan festivals is to introduce Americans to Japanese food and culture, and promote Japan as a whole.

But cos-play is not Japanese culture.

I felt the sight of Americans dressed up as obscure Japanese cartoon characters in the volume that was there took away from what the organizers were trying to do, and I know there were Japanese people there that felt the same way. I fear sounding elitist, but cosplay is a niche of a Japanese sub-culture that the general Japanese population isn't particularly proud of. Is it wrong to think too many cosplayers at a Japan festival can change the atmosphere in a negative way? The fact that there were no Japanese natives in anime costumes makes me wonder if the American attendees weren't overstepping the line of good taste a bit. To be fair, all attendees were in good spirits and behaved in a proper manner. The question is, is it appropriate to treat a Japan festival as a comic-book convention, or am I being overly sensitive?

I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Convince me I am wrong, or praise my incredible insight!