The Kaijyu Comes To VCinema!

Well. Figured it was more than overdue to spill about what has been going on behind the scenes as of late. True to this (and other) blog's roots, reviews and thoughts are more than waiting in the scaly wings, as I've been hard at work fine-tuning a wholly new & challenging life schedule. But the biggest news to come out of this resides in the newest place fellow monsters can check out for my signature (read: silly) rantings and ravings. Turns out after much radio silence, I'll now be providing occasional commentary for the fantastic souls over at VCinemashow! A truly one-of-a-kind home for news and reviews spanning asian cinema of all shapes and morphology, my duty will likely mostly consist of thoughts regarding anime films/ OVAs, and various strangeness in between. I must admit to being a little nervous, but that can only better fuel the excitement. So please, add VCinema alongside everything else to get a more vivid picture of what excites us about far east visual culture & more! It's bound to be a worthwhile trip.

Halcyon Go Round

You know? After last night's viewing of the Korean Romcom, Crazy Waiting (aka The Longest 24 Months), I've been back into the groove of catching asian films with aesthetics such as lingering handheld shots, unusual cutting, austere use of color, and an appealing young cast, creating a soothing effect without irony or sarcasm. The film was harmless enough, and perhaps not even worth writing anything about. But it definitely had me watching like a long recovered addict who has accidentally fallen into a crack party.

As artificial as it may seem to some, there's also some very earnest material brought forth in films like Tokyo Trash Baby (2000), All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), and Distance(2001). There's also this great, grizzled sort of verisimilitude that elevates these works to a more subconscious level for me. Perhaps it is the lack of reliance on knee-jerk gimmickry, or even the focus on an almost surreal vision of young life. And even as it can be said that I myself still have a few good years left before I can honestly look back longingly, there is something to be said about the last ten years regarding verite filmmaking. A sort of in-the-moment take on cinema that echoes eras such as the late 60s-early 70s, when shooting from the hip was catching fire in Europe and beyond. Seeing that sort of expressonistic bent taken in more mainstream terms can be seen as disheartening to some, but I feel that with an honest outlook, any good story can be told in this manner. Which is to say that there are many other unexplored angles with which to dive into come future days.

I just happen to love catching films with this sort of almost-controlled chaos driving them. It also helps to have an indie tinged soundtrack, and some very sweet notions amidst said torrent.




Not the most representative trailer, but a fun diversion nonetheless.