Movie night at Brian's place.

STILL WORKING ON THE PAGE. MORE TO COME OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.

Let's start out with nothing less than spectacular: The Qatsi Trilogy was two decades in the making: Koyaanisqatsi in 1983, Powaqqatsi in 1988 and Naqoyqatsi in 2002 and each one is an independent and different excercise in mind-blowing imagery set to an equally spectacular soundtrack that that only re-enforces and enhances the visual experience, so that it all becomes very, very powerful. Not a single word is spoken. No dialog or verbal expression. Just imagery...and music.

"Koyaanisqatsi" is old Hopi language and translates as "A world out of balance" and the imagery most certainly drives that message home in very clear fashion. All the ways that people fucked up this planet. "Powaqqatsi" translates as "A parasitic way of life". Again, it's driven home in very clear fashion and the parasites (on mother earth) are the human beings. "Naqoyqatsi" translates as "a life of killing each other" or "war as a way of life"...and no chance you will miss that message, either. And everything is accompanied by a sublime soundtrack.

Let's go global, now, 'cause what comes out of America is 99.9% garbage. If you want the good stuff, the stuff for your brains, that stays with you long after you leave the movie theatre - potentially for the rest of your life, you have to go global. But be ready to be shaken to your core. Especially if you watch "The Stoning of Soraya M".

One Taiwanese, one Chinese (yes, they are different countries, to anyone of European descent).

First one a gorgeous feast on love, relationships and high-end cooking, with all the good and the bad that such profession entails. Three daughters and a widowed Dad makes for an interesting chemistry. Gorgeous movie you really want to watch.

Second one? Thives pitted against thieves. What volture will come out on top. Who will dine and who will be dines on? Highly entertaining.

One on survival (Mads Mikkelsen is a class actor). One on the right to die and the third on the ugly side of humanity, brilliantly acted by kids, so our "adult guilt" can get a break. But let me focus on the right to die (in English titled "The Sea Outside").

Young man breaks his neck in diving accident and is paralyzed from head down. He just wants to die, but the Catholic hypocritical church says no: "You don't have the right to die,  you don't have to right to decide your own fate, you don't have to right to decide over your own body. It's not your body. It belongs to "God". You are condemmed to suffering for the rest of your life". Well, we all know how that one ended, right? At least in Canada. Spectacular movie. Watch it.

 

TWO ON MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE.
BOTH WORTH SPENDING AN AFTERNOON ON WHERE
YOU WILL GET THOROUGHLY ENTERTAINED.
ONE OF "UP NORTH", THE OTHER FROM "DOWN SOUTH".

IF THERE ARE ANY YANKEE LOVER LEFT OUT THERE,
HERE ARE THREE CLASSICS FOR YOU. NO FURTHER COMMENTS.

Nordic cinema, with Denmark leading the field, is generally blunt, merciless and painfully honest and this one is no different. Do not bother with the American version. It's garbage. Drink from the source:

Two brothers; "Dad's loser" and "Dad's pride". "Pride" goes to war in Afghanistan. "Loser" stays home to "waste his life". Pride is captured, tortured and presumed dead. Pride's wife and two daughters (of course blue eyed and blond hair - a horrendous cliche) see their whole life crumble...if it wasn't for "loser" who comes to the rescue.

Then, one day, "Pride" shows up on the door step by the suburban picket fence, with all the PTSD, psychohlogical baggage, trauma and everything else in tow. Now what???

Watch it! You will never forget it. There are no winners in any war.  In war, everybody loses.

Let's mix it up:

Quest for fire: Early "homo sapiens" adventure; whoever had the fire was more likely to survive. But what if one could actually learn to create fire. Then what? Wonderfully acted.

Y tu Mama tambien: Well, being a hormonally driven teen is never easy. Not even in Mexico. Wonderful coming of age movie.

Bleu, Blanc, Rouge: Kieslowski's trilogy of gorgeous European art cinema, where the "Symphony for reunification of Europe" will haunt you forever.

The Girl On The Train: Observant girl on the commuter train sees the same scenario every day, but gets curious about what is really going on in there in that house?

You might have been unfortunate enough to waste two hours of your life on the American version of "Dangerous Liasons". Please accept my condolences.

Don't give up yet, however. Here are the Korean and Chinese versions of the same movie and if you only pick one, make it the Korean version, because the Chinese make the same mistake the Americans do: they are dumb enough to believe that "big names" will guarantee a good movie. In the Korean version, we don't have to gag on the same old, worn out relics of the past. The Korean version is a breath of fresh air.

I'm an enormous Kitaro fan.

Dumb as we humans are, we feel better, we feel justified, when labelling everything, to the point of absurdity and often beyond the glaringly deceiving.

Fact remains, that Kitaro was, and still is, a trail blazer and a pioneer of early electronic music and anyone even slightly familiar with his music, know how hauntingly beatiful, dreamy and often highly emotional it can be and often is.

This particular concert DVD from his concert at the Yakushiji temple is one of my most treasured golden nuggets, if not the most, of all time.

Other than just being incredibly beautiful and spectacularly gorges from a visual point of view, it brings a profound calmness and sense of balance to your life when you watch it. It restores your beliefs in everything that is beautiful and harmonic.

BUT IF I CAN'T HAVE KITARO, I'LL TAKE LEONARD, ANY TIME.

Three absolute stunners! Film making for the quality focused, critically thinking, profoundly independent and reality based mind, simply does not get any better than this. And best of all, it's a 100% ALL Canadian trilogy. It's not just "made in Canada". It's 100% PRODUCT OF CANADA, for those who know the difference. Arctic life. Out of this world spectacular scenery and landscape. Stunningly gorgeous visuals.

"There are no straight lines in nature". One of the first things you learn when watching Mantracker. Most people would never pay attention to that sentence, but it's a line that can actually save your life, if you are smart enough to know the value of it.

36 hours to get from point A to point B, for "the prey". The pray has map, compass and head start.

A cowboy and his side-kick (the "hunters") has no map, no compass, no clue as to where the start or the finish is. All they have is two horses and the side-kick's knowledge of local landscape. This is wild, this is adrenaline...and not without its risks.

PHILIPPINE CINEMA.
IT'S BASICALLY SEX, VIOLENCE AND ANIMAL BESTIALITY.
(DID I FORGET THE "HALLELUJAH"?)
PICK YOUR POISION.

X-Files. Complete series covering every eposide in the original (first 9 seasons) series. That is a lot of episodes.

No, I don't believe in "little green men (women?) with antennas on their heads", but you have to be really, really dumb to  not believe in life on other planets, under some form, whether carbon based or not.

The real kick for me, here, the the inquisitive mind, the "open to learning new things", the mere posibility of the existence of something the human mind simply doesn't have the ability to grabble with. We are horribly and horrendously inferior in the bigger scheme of thigs and in relation to natural phoenomena. The irony of it all is, that we know more about what's out in space, billions of km away, than we do about what below the surface of the oceans, which is 12 km deep at its deepest point (Mariana Trench). Let's get started on exploring the oceans. It's a lot more vital to us that what is is deep space.

YES, I HAVE THE COMPLETE, ORIGINAL TWILIGHT ZONE
 SERIES, TOO, WHICH IS STILL SADLY RELEVANT IN 2026.

Never, in the existence of planet Earth, has there been a better movie director than Akira Kurosawa. Period!

A few has been close (we'll get to those later), but not not consistently producing the amount of  sublime and powerful material that Akira did.

I grew up in Denmark watching Akira Kurosawa with my Dad, so it would be fair to say that he - Kurosawa - has had an effect on my entire life, as far as my choice and definition of quality movies. Yes, there are plenty of good movies out there, but you have to go global and nobody did it...or will ever do it...better than Akira Kurosawa. RIP, Akira, and thank you for everything you gave to me, my Dad and the rest of the world.

Up until somebody coined the phrase "mind-fuckers", I wouldn't know the label these 1960s B/W Japanese...mind-fuckers. They really mess with your mind, on the deeply paychological level. Not thrillers, but dramas. It's all about the psychology and it's absolutely fascinating. I was at first hunting for "the woman in the dunes" and found her in this trilogy where I got two added gems. If you are a guy, the woman in the dunes is for you. If you are a girl, "the face of another" is gonna shake you to the core.

WHAT CAN I SAY? WOMEN WITH GUNS (AND VARIOUS
OTHER WEAPONS). NOT A GOOD COMBINATION, BUT
VERY ENTERTAINING. JAPANESE, OF COURSE.

MORE WOMEN, MORE DANGER AND SHOW ME A GUY
WHO DOESN'T LIKE A LITTLE DANGER?

Ok, off to something funny. Monty Python's hardly need any introduction, unless you've been living in the caves of Postojna for the last 1000 years.

Life of Brian? A case of mistaken identity and it's concequences. Is he Jesus Christ, or is he really just...Brian? Erik the Viking? Go ahead, kill yourself laughg but follows the real Viking history (not the Hollywood one) with amazing precision. Holy Grail and The Meaning of Life? Well, just more Monty Python's at their absolutely best.

Old Japanese stuff and realistically what one would have to consider the beginning of the "Filmu Pinku" era. It's definitely not for the squeamish, but if you notice the "Cannes Palm Leaves" bottom right, you are guaranteed an artistic level you don't see often. So bitch about it all you want, but this is real life and very beautifully done. Maybe it's just your mind that's not quite up to snuff?

Ok, let's celebrate Vietnam and a couple of off-shoots: 

Incredibly beautiful movies that oozes with atmosphere, tension, despair, sexual coming of age, family relations and culinary extravaganza.

You can smell those papayas, you can feel his pain searching for his daughter, you can feel the empire crumbling and there's nothing you can do about it. Very powerful movies, each in their own right and all spectacularly gorgeous. A feast for all your senses.

CHAPLIN! THE WORLD WAS A BETTER PLACE WHEN
HE WAS AROUND. SIMPLY A GENIOUS...AND THAT SPEACH
(IN THE GREAT DICTATOR)? BEST SPEACH EVER!!!!

LET'S GO SWEDISH, NOW: KNOWN TO EVERY LITERARY PERSON, THIS IS THE SATANDER TRILOGY; BRUTALLY HONEST AND PAINFUL LIKE MOST NORDIC MOVIES. A HIGH OCTANE, SOCIO-POLITICAL COMMENTARY TOO HONEST AND REAL FOR MOST PEOPLE. SYSTEMIC RACISM AND ABUSE, AND THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR IT. THIS MOVIE BELONGS IN CANADA (ACTUALLY, IT BELONGS EVERYWHERE, WHICH IS WHY THE BOOKS SOLD MILLIONS OF COPIES).

THE AFORE-MENTIONED FILMU PINKU AND ONE REMAKE.
PROBABY DON'T WATCH THEM WITH YOUR MORMON AUNTIE 
OR YOUR DEEPLY CATHOLIC MOTHER, BUT CHANCES ARE
THEY'VE BEEN FANTASIZING ABOUT THIS, THEMSELVES. 
THEY'RE JUST TOO HYPOCRITICAL TO ADMIT IT.

After the communist propaganda machine stalled in China, there has been good movies made. Just not that many, and HK still does it better. A lot better.

But hey, I have always lusted for Gong Li. No secret, there. The only world class actress they ever had in China and Wong Kar-Wai the only world class director.

AND ABOVE I FORGOT MY FAVOURITE MOVIE WITH
"MY OBJECT OF ETERNAL LUST", SO HERE IT IS.

99.9 % OF WHAT COMES OUT OF AMERICA IS ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. HERE ARE A  FEW OF THE 0.01%, THE TWO LAST ONES (BOTTOM RIGHT), BEING NOTABLE.
(JACK NICHOLSON IN ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST? I FEEL LIKE THAT AT MY WORK AND WILL PROBABLY END UP THE SAME WAY)

Here is proof that the Europeans know how to do it. Alain Resnais' "Hiroshima, mon amour" is one of the greatest master pieces ever made, in the history of cinematography. Simple as that.

But that being said, you have to be a fan of European movies (this one being French), as they are for the brains and not for the "flash in a pan" that you forget again, even before you are out of the cinema doors.

It's all about the dialog and you won't be interupted by frantic action of any kind. It's about the intensity and chemistry that developes when two people meet on the set of a movie shoot in the post-war destruction of Hiroshima. It's people who sow and nourish the seeds when you fall in love with what you think is a city.

I can relate deeply to this one because I have it the same way with Thailand. Others will related because they have it the same way with other places. But behind it all...are people who are crossing paths.

I totally identify with this guy and I know a lot of people would.

When you've had enough of society, including the pressure and pretentiousness of your own snobby parents and family, for whom nothing you do is ever good enough and are only "raising you" or "advicing you" based on your own, selfish need for recgognition..then, what do you do? You opt out. You revolt, and you go live your own life, not theirs.

Off-grid sounds like a nice place to be, and it might just be what I need. At least for a while, untill I clear my head and gather my thoughts again. My own thoughts. 

Just make sure you know the edible plants from the inedible, 'cause there are no supermarkets...or doctors...out there. As they say: "all plants are edible, but some of them just once".

Few things are cerain here in life, but here are two exceptions: You can't talk about Brazilian soccer without Pele becoming a part of the conversation...and you can't talk about Korean cinama without "Old Boy" coming up at some point.

Easily the best Korean movie made, ever, and that's a steep statement because Korea has made a lot of spectacular, worthwhile movies. But if Korean movies are a part of the global pinnacle of moving making (and it is, in my opinion), it would be the Old Boy who is sitting at the top, and you better watch out, 'cause he's out for revenge.

I previously referred to a category of movies, called "mind-fuckers". This is one such movie. As you can read in the top of the box, there will be confrontation. There will be violence. It will be gory. And somebody will die. But then again; see that little "Cannes palm leaf"? It's not a pretty, feel good movie, but it's well worth it and very deserving of it's honor.

Yes, that's right. There's nudity. But if you have a problem nudity in art, I really don't have much empathy for you. If you have a problem with your body in it's natural state of being, paired with gorgeous, stunning cinematography and mind-blowing use of light, dark, contrast, movement,, sand, water, forest, fragility and sensitivity...you and I are simply on different planets. 

This is the story of Eve in the garden of Eden, where she meets Adam. But this is not your bible, ok. This is art. Huge art!

I don't think I have ever watched an anime as beautiful and powerful as this one.

I'm a Viking by DNA and trust me, that DNA is still in me. But I needed a box of cleenex for this one, 'cause I was weeping at one or two points during this one, and if Vikings weep, you know there is something powerful at play. Some emotions that really rip and tear at you.

Maybe it's becoming a Daddy, watching the birth of my own daughter that brought me to my senses, but I'm proud to say that even Vikings weep...ocasionally, and this was one of those occasions.

IF HORROR IS WHAT TURNS YOUR CRANK, HERE ARE A 
FEW SUGGESTIONS THAT'LL PREVENT YOU FROM
GETTING A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP.
IF YOU ARE A YOUNG GIRL AND HOME ALONE TONIGHT,
THESE ARE PROBABLY NOT THE MOVIES YOU WANT TO WATCH.

AND AFTER YOU DIE...SOMEBODY HAS TO PREPARE
YOU FOR "YOUR JOURNEY", RIGHT? BIG TABOO...IN JAPAN.

NOW I ALMOST FEEL 20 AGAIN. ALMOST.

I ADORED ANTHONY BOURDAIN.
UP UNTIL THE POINT WHERE HE HUNG HIMSELF.
(SEE PURPLE COMMENTS ON ART ON FRONT PAGE OF THIS BLOG)

Ok, these ones deserve special mentioning. Some will call them controversial, because of the subject they deal with, but they raise a profound and very valid question: Can you force, or make somebody love you? If you abduct somebody, confine them and spend enough time with them in a secret location "out of sight", is there any chance that you can establish a mutual, emotional bond? And when eventually somebody, maybe even the authorities, catch up to you - because they will, at some point - then what is the reaction from from the victim going to be? You know, as some of us have learned, life is not always easy and it's full of hard questions and nothing is ever just black or white, including the answers to the questions above. But you can watch this series and maybe get a new perspective on the questions.

Three excellent movies on the First Nations theme, all of which are highly valid in each their own right, all have their own merrits and all are pretty much a "must watch", unless you are living on planet Saturn or further out in the universe. 

First one a little more "wild", a little more what I would call psychedelic. Second one about wanting something so much that you are will to do anything. As Robert Davidson put it, in relation to the Grouse Mountain Eagle Transformation Mask: "Put on the mask, become the mask". Third one is something that fat old white guys like me, are more familiar with and that everybody in this great country like; a good old ripping, kick-ass roadtrip. Go watch them - expand your horizon.

My two favourite HK moves of all time. First one being about a female assassin of Cambodian origin, but plying her 'trade' in HK. I love this one because it has a very human touch that makes you feel some level of...empathy...for her, but it's also about he paranoia of the trade and how it manifests itself, and, as we all know or can at least imagine, if you get emotionally attached to anyone...well, then you know what you got coming. "The Pillow Book" is a gorgeous story about body art, calligraphy and the human body as the expressive platform and the movie is bathed in beautiful cinematography, light and contrast.

"The Eye" is a Pan-Asian production and one of those you really want to watch if you are in the mood for a good scare to take the brunt of your extended sleeping patterns. Without revealing too much, it suffices to say "Whos' eyes?"

Let's do a few grand epics, focusing in Jan Dara, first: Gorgeous Thai production. The typical Asian messed up family, Daddy being an evil, messed up asshole and mommy being the loving, nurturing, care giver. But are those really your Mom and Dad or are you just a "bastard"? And what's gonna happen when you grow up?

"The Mission" is about the Conquistadors - the "conquest" of South America and the division of the continent between Spain and Portugal, obviously fucked up by church matters, as usual. Spectacular cinematography that will blow your mind. The last one? Well, we all know that one, don't we?

Back to where we all came from. The ocean. I guess you'd have to label the first one "documentary", but wow! Mind blowing. Second one is a beautiful story about a good-hearted weirdow who lives in a derelic mansion by the sea and is writing a symphony for...the whales, The runaway who squats at his place and the wirdow have something in common they can build on. "The Abyss" is a "Sci-Fi in reverse", meaning they...obviously...don't go into space. They go in the other direction, to the bottom of the ocean, which is just about the only place we haven't explored yet, probably because it a lot tougher to go 12 km down that a million km up.

TITLED "HAPPY ENDING" IN ENGLISH.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU ONLY DO IT ONCE,  YOU CAN 
PROBABLY GET AWAY WITH IT. BUT IF YOU BECOME
A FUCK-A-HOLIC, YOU WILL PROBABLY END UP GETTING CAUGHT.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE IRONY OF THE TITLE AND IT'S EASILY
THE SECOND BEST KOREAN MOVIE I HAVE EVER WATCHED.

THE BEST ONE? THIS ONE!
NEVERMIND KIM KI-DUK (DIRECTOR) AND HIS LIFE,
CRIMINAL CHARGES AND THE WAY HE DIED. THIS 
ONE WILL STAY WITH TILL THE DAY I DROP DEAD MYSELF.
"IMPERMANENCE, IMPERFECTION, IMPATIENCE"

FRENCH!  CIRCA 1870's. ARTIST SUMMONED TO PAINT A PORTRAIT,
ENDS UP FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE LADY OF THE  HOUSE.
STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS ART MOVIE.

CHINESE ATTEMP ON A "EUROPEAN ART MOVIE".
NOT BAD. SLOW AND INTENSE. I LIKED IT BECAUSE
EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT BUT "THE PROCESS" IS FAMILIAR.

BHUTANESE MOVIE! KHYENTSE NORBU'S MASTERPIECE.
"THE AMERICAN DREAM" IS ALIVE AND WELL IN BHUTAN.
BUT IS IT A PIPE DREAM, A DREAM, OR CAN IT BE REALIZED?
"IM GOING TO AMERICA, TO BECOME A SHOE SALESMAN"

Double beauty.

"Away from her": What do you do when your loved one is slowly slippng away from you, on the Alsheimer Slow Train? Intensely beautiful and emotional movie that anyone past 40 should watch. I can not recommend it enough.

"Central Stain": Brazilian, gorgeous and emotional. A lady that "doesn't have much in life" takes in a street kid and they set out on a search to find his father. A must-watch for anyone fond nothions of Brazil.

Their Japanese son is dying of cancer. His last wish is to see the Chinese opera "Riding alone for thousands of miles". Do daddy endeavours across the border to find someone to perform the opera so he can video tape it and bring it back to his son, on his death bed. Have a box of cleenex nearby when you watch it.

"La Belle": Nevermind the best boobs on planet earth, whoever the actress is, but this is a hard movie about the emotional torture that'll rip you apart and shred you to pieces when your intense love is unreciprocated. Absolutely gorgeous and stunning movie, but not nessecarily pleasant to watch. Ok, maybe pleasant, but also painful, on some level. It'll stay with you, forever.

Ok, let's stay in the emotional real for a moment.

Is redemption really possible? If you have done something really bad, is it possible to redeem yourself and start all over, gain?

Specifically, if you have killed somebody, is it then a good idea, even possible, to seek out your victims partner in an attempt to redeem yourself? And if you do so, should you then let the victims partner know, up front, who you really are and that it was you who killed their loved one?

This movie opens the proverbial "can of worms' of questions to be answered, but it's not taking any particular side. It's just asking the questions and let's you search for the answers yourself, as those answer appear and apply to you, yourself.

Definitely worth spending an hour and a half on.

OK, LET'S GET ON THE TRAIN. JUST NOT THIS TRAIN, PROBABLY.
HIGH OCTANE KOREAN DRAMA ABOUT SOMETHING AS QUAINT
AS PHYSICALLY ROBBING A BACK AND THEN PICKING WHAT IS PROBABLY
A BAD ESCAPE ROUTE. ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE IS A STUBBORN COP ABOARD.
BUT DAM, IT'S AWESOME ENTERTAINMENT.

Let this movie be a warning to all young girls, or any femaile, no matter her age, who doesn't know where to draw the line between beauty, vanity and obsession.

Yes, we all like to look our best, we all want to be "beautiful", but going over board can very easily come with a hefty price that you are not likely willing to pay.

The movie is somewhat chipping away at the stereotypes, but male and female, but the purpose of this is very legit, and that is something you should keep in mind when you watch it. It won the honours (top right corner) for a very good reason.

It raises tough questions but the answers you have to do your own soul-searching to find.