Crash Review

The title to this movie did not grab me and I was not going to see it, but after a beautiful but hot day at the swap meet with my sister and niece, and lunch at Genki sushi, there was time and the idea of air conditioning sounded really good.

IMDB rating is 8.5 and the synopsis sounded interesting so I decided to chance it, especially after I found out Sandra Bullock was in it.

The two movies I thought of when I saw this movie were Amores Perros and Short Cuts. The acting was very good. The bad cop tells the good cop that if he stayed in the police force for awhile, then he would eventually lose himself and not remember who he was. That is is one of the main themes. How does a person keep his/her integrity when life bumps them around, and clouds their ideals? How do we reconcile it when people we have "judged" don't conform to our picture of them? What is the basis for bigotry and racisim? How does the best of every person get expressed?

I have a bit of difficulty imagining that in a city the size of Los Angeles, people would run into each other as much as these people do.

There isn't much humour in this movie; mostly angry people just trying to survive. I give it 4/5 acorns. It made me think.

Speaking of acorns, the closest thing that came across to an acorn at the swap meet was a walnut sewing kit. Okay, well, not that close:), but I loved it anyway. See the picture.

Uzuaki 

Uzumaki Review

Uzumaki means spiral in Japanese. This is a movie about spirals. It is strange in a way only the Japanese appear to produce. The characters are strange, and a plot is hard to spot. It is the kind of movie that makes one go "huh".
I won't say more as I do not want to spoil it, hehe.

I think it's my TV, or everyone is very green in this movie.

Rate: 2/5 acorns

The Hidden Blade picture 

The Hidden Blade Review

This is a great period samurai flick. It takes place during the Tokugawa era, and is a similar tale to Twilight Samurai, another great movie.

One theme is in westerns, like Unforgiven. A fighting man has a code of honor he lives by but realizes the life he trained and lived for is no longer valid. The big difference is that the gunfighter has no master and for the samurai, loyalty is everything.

For Katagiri, the last straw is the disgusting behavior of his Lord.

There are two great martial arts scenes. An all out one and another involving the title technique. I think the showdown in Twilight Samurai was better, but they were both great.

I give this movie 5/5 acorns.

Killing the Buddha

My niece found a saying in a Zen book "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him."

I cheated and looked it up on the Internet because it was very puzzling to me. The way I interpret this is that whatever preconceived notion I have about Buddha, or any thing or any one for that matter, is not true. What I see in my own mind is my notion and therefore not the true Buddha. In order to really get of glimpse of the real Buddha, I would have to empty my mind of what or who I think Buddha is.

This echos the empty bowl idea in that book that Heidy gave me, Everyday Sacred. If I am full of ideas of what and who Buddha is, I will not exprerience the real Buddha.

" Free your mind and the rest will follow
(Why oh why must it be this way)
Be color blind, don't be so shallow
(Before you can read me, you gotta learn to see me " ...En Vogue

I guess this idea is different then getting a lobotomy.

Revenge of the Sith-Go see it!! 

Star Wars Review

I watched this movie today and give it 5/5 acorns. I believe almost all the loose ends were connected. There were as many subplots flying around as light sabers. The Jedi look to be in deep trouble.
The special effects and costumes were all really wonderful. In fact so wonderful, that
the present episode appears more technically advanced then the original Star Wars.
I'll have to watch this a few more times to get all the great quotes.
This series can't really stand alone. I met a person today who said, "I can take it or leave it." "I never really got into the first one." Watching this episode would certainly be difficult for her to follow.
I love all the actors/actresses in this one.

May the Force be with you.

Chloe and Jack from 24 

No more 24

I watched the two hour finale of 24 tonight. I only made it through 20 minutes of Jazzercise so I could be sure to make it. I was not disappointed. The Ex President redeemed himself, but left the country in the hands of slime. The actor playing the current President does a very good job of playing him, and I may hate him for a long time.

The real question is whether or not 24 will be back for another run. I'm thinking a period of time should elapse like it did between season 1 and season 2. That would allow for wiping out that wimpy President, and an all new CTU cast. I have become attached to Edgar and Chloe and of course Michelle and Tony, but Jack needs a rest!

He should go off to some foreign country and bask in the sun and perhaps contemplate his fortunes. The Chinese can send Jet Li or someone who knows kung fu after him.

So now the real question. What will I watch next week? With the end of 24 and American Idol, I'll just have Yoshitsune to watch on Tuesday night. Hmmm, but I do have a bunch a movies to catch up on.

I give 24 5/5 acorns.

Kung fu Hustle  

Kung fu Hustle Review

This was an entertaining comedy with the look of a Western and a comic book, and a little bit of Chinese Ghost Story. This is not one of those movies you go home afterwards and ponder the deep meaning or have long discussions into the night with friend about what it all means. WYSIWYG.

I will give it 3/5 acorns.

BTW, I cut out of day two of Music Qi dong. I stayed up to 11pm last night and tried to connect with Master Wu, but I think at this point in my life, I am one of those people who will not do the exercises and so I won't get the maximum out of it. I decided to clean the living room, and run some of those errands that I have been putting off for awhile instead.

I found a nice black laquer chest for the living room to put my DVDs in. Free delivery! YAY! The furniture left in the house when my parents moved out is black. I thought about changing it, but I kind of like it. Perhaps I should think of realizing my childhood dream of having a black room. I will get a wall sized televison, black drapes and a black leather sofa. But then again, maybe not. Heh.

Convention Center 

And now for something Reeaallly Different!

http://musicqigong.com/english/index.htm

An opportunity arose in the shape of a free ticket to see Master Wu Shen and his Music Qi gong, so I took it. I scurried over after work to the Hawaii Convention Center to see him.

As an aside, the Convention Center got off to a controversial start, rumors like...
"They discourage local event", parking and traffic are bad, blah blah blah. This is only the second time I've been in it, and it was woefully empty. It is very beautiful, but there were more workers then conference goers. I'm a bit worried about the Center's fate.

Anyway, when people asked me where I was going, I had to admit I really wasn't sure. It turns out Mr. Wu is now an assistant professor over at the John Burns School of Medicine, in Alternative Medicine. He speaks Mandarin and it took a while to get used to the translator. The idea is that if our yin yang is balanced, we will be healthy. He uses exercises and music to harmonize our innards-kidneys, heart, liver, lungs and stomach, and that results in good health.

One thing he said is that it only works for people who are dedicated to doing the exercises and listening to the music. He plays 30 instruments and has 5 CDs, one for each of the organs.

All I can say, is that it is really different and if it works for some people, it is better then taking a bunch of pills.

The closest I've come to something like this is Acupuncture. I tried it for Depression since I hate taking pills, and I think it did help.

I notice that Mr. Wu's techniques are very much like meditation or self-hypnosis.

Yoshtsune Picture 

Yoshitsune, NHK Taiga Drama

This url has nice summaries of this series on Yoshitsune. http://www.sonic.net/~tabine/Heike/Heike_Yoshitsune_taiga_summaries.html
and this one a short blurb about the figure
http://www.samurai-archives.com/yoshitsune.html

Yoshitsune is a historical figure who generated a lot of fantasies and stories. He is the subject of Noh plays, Kabuki and old Akira Kurosawa movie, Tiger by the Tail. One of his vassals, Musashibo Benkei, the warrior monk, has generated a lot of stories also.

He lived in the mid 1100s in pre-Shogun Japan. In that time, being Emperor was boring business, and they tended to retire early and leave the title to an infant son. The Regents wielded the real power. The Hojo and Fujiwara families supplied the regents. In addition, because Emperors tended to have many sons, two other lines descended from his household, the Heike (Taira) and the Genji (Minamoto). Why they had two names, I don't know.

Yoshitsune himself had at least 3 names. He was born Ushiwaka, raised as Shanao, and then became Minamoto no Yoshitsune when he had his manhood rite.

The actor playing Yoshitsune is very handsome!!!
I look forward to this ongoing series.

Unleashed Picture 

Unleashed Review

I saw this Jet Li movie today and although it was a bit corny in places it was saved by some great fight scenes and Morgan Freeman.

Hoskins is the bad guy and he is pretty slimy. Morgan Freeman's daughter is goofy and sweet. It's highly implausible to me that two New Yorker's would take in a weird stranger that bleeds all over the place and hides under the bed, but then having never been to New York, I will have to defer to real New Yorkers on that one.

I like that the gravity defying twirling was minimized a bit in the fight scenes. It works in fantasy stuff, but not so well when it's supposed to look real.

Jet Li fit well in his role. He is much better at being serious and even sad then Mr. Jackie Chan as comedy comes so natural to him.

Morgan Freeman is great as the mentor, and of course he has that wonderful voice.

Not Oscar material, but very entertaining. I give it 4/5acorns.

Orlando Bloom in Kingdom of Heaven 

Kingdom of Heaven Review

I saw this movie today and right off the bat have to give Orlando Bloom 5/5 acorns. He was wimpy in Troy, but very wonderful in this movie.

The movie itself brings up a lot of questions about the history of the period of the Crusades. Time to get the history books out. The story was a bit disjointed and so as a whole I can only give it 3/5 acorns. The party I saw the movie rated it from 1-5. It is more memorable then the recent King Arthur, imo.

The big war scenes with all the computer enhancements are getting a bit old.

I'll have to watch Kung Fu Hustle next.

Karma?

Right after the housekeeping rant, I came across a show about organizing. What's up with that? It was a very warm day today and after my wonderful massage and returning my digital cable box Polynesian Paralysis set in. It was a chore even to channel surf with the remote. I got stuck on a decorating show and then the organizing show. It moved me to work on The Closet. This monster has been collecting my craft magazines, cookbooks, novels and Goodwill donations for over 10 years.

I managed to give some books to my mom to take to her golf club to share, box up that mid 1980 barely used World Book encyclopedia, and throw away some real junk. I feel badly about that World Book, but while I used mine extensively when I was in school, my kids rare used it. I don't even know if anyone will want it. Sigh, a sign of the times.

Anyways, the closet is a little better off, but my son pointed out to me that a lot of stuff is now in the hallway outside the closet. I'll see how long it stays there! I only really made it through less then a third of that closet, but the rest of the stuff is not urgent.

I watched American Idol...Anthony said goodbye. He has such a sweet face and voice. The three left are all great, too, and I don't know how it will end up.

http://www.raggedyheaven.com/index.html 

Housekeeping Rant

I have a resolution to keep up with the housework enough so that if someone drops by I won't feel embarrassed and also to have a dedicated guest room.

So far, neither has materialized. I wonder how many women out there are embarrassed if their house is not clean when visitors come. At the rate I am going I will never have any guests.

I am not even making headway with my bedroom. My rubber-stamping in one corner, then my computer "multimedia" projects, then my beading desk, the all purpose gift wrapping, wall, and the "office" desk are covered with clutter. I wonder if there is a cure for this. Whenever someone asks me how I have time to make projects, I always reply that I don't clean house. I have noticed lately though, that I have made very few projects and still don't have a clean house. I also say repeatedly that my job interferes with my hobbies and also my cleaning. I have mother to thank for the irrational idea I have about dust. Apparently SHE was dusting all those baseboards, and ledges, and cleaning those window screens while I was growing up, and boy was I surprised to find out that those objects got dirty. I don't think I've fully recovered from that. (wink wink)

This will be a lifetime project for me, no doubt. Luckily, depending on how you look at it, this house has a ton of storage, and I can just keeping stuffing all the cupboards.

Wait, there was that other resolution I had to empty my bowl, ala Everyday Sacred, by Sue Bender.

Aaah, it is true how that saying goes, a woman's work is never done.

Finding Neverland cast 

Finding Neverland Review

I borrowed this DVD from a friend and put off watching it because it sounded like it would be sad. There was no doubt that I wanted to watch it because it has Johnny Depp and Kate Winslett in it.

I did cry. Have tissues ready if you watch it.

It was a very lovely movie. Mr. Depp did not overdo his accent, although perhaps someone from Britain, Scotland, Ireland or Wales will be able to critique it better.

I give it 4.5 acorns/out of 5.

Love Letters-Korean soap opera 

Finished Watching: Love Letters

I finally finished Love Letters, Episodes 9-16. I admit I fast-forwarded through some of it. All the big secrets come out. Dr. Jung, Woo jin's father confesses to his wife that he caused the death of her first husband, father of Friar Andrew and true love. He also confesses it to Friar Andrew (the other Woo jin) and when Andrew refuses to forgive him, he injects himself with a lethal substance and dies.

After Andrew returns from Italy, he finds out that there was a love letter from Eun ha, and they both find out that Woo jin stole it. Andrew is tormented about becoming a priest and loving Eun ha. Woo jin is tormented by his irrational love for Eun ha and can't let it go. Eun ha is tormented by her love for Andrew, who she thinks should become a priest, and of course her terminal illness.

Oh wait; did I mention her terminal illness? She has some kind of heart problem. She has decided not to take the risk of highly specialized surgery so she can enjoy her remaining 6 months with Andrew. Of course the kind of surgery she needs is highly specialized and done by Woo jin and his father, Dr. Jung. Before Dr. Jung offs himself, he leaves Woo jin a letter saying, don't make the same mistake I made with your mom and my old friend and by the way here's an operation I made up to save Eun ha.

Eun ha decides not to tell anyone about her surgery, so of course everyone finds out. I better not tell the ending.

The actors and actresses are all good in their parts. They all look so good. Korea looks chilly most of the time.

I give the series 3/5 acorns.

Jack Bauer of 24 

24

I don't know any other show that packs in as many crises as 24. I don't know how Jack keeps going. He's lost his wife, and now his girlfriend and has killed or maimed so many people. How does he sleep at night? The ex-President gets to call the shots again, which is a good thing since the default President, can't make a decision to save his life, but I was sad when Palmer crossed the line of honor and it still makes me sad.

I am glad Chloe has come back. She is smart and nerdy and not your classic heroine type.

CTU is quite the little Peyton Place these days. Just reinforces the tabu against office relationships. It's a wonder that anything gets done there!

Well it keeps me coming back for more. Only 3 more episodes!

Book Cover of The Triffids 

Day of the Triffids

My DVD arrived from Amazon.uk. This is a 1981 BBC TV series based on the novel by John Wyndham. I remember seeing the 1962 movie and was unaware there was a TV series and a novel. Mr. Wyndham's other claim to fame is Village of the Damned.

From what I have read, the BBC version follows the book more faithfully. The adventures of the people remind me somewhat of the ShowTime series, Jeremiah, as they try to survive in a world without the infrastructure as we know it. There are plagues, scavenging for food, pockets of survivors each with their own ideas of how society will be, and of course the bully's who use force meet their ends. The movie also reminds me of 12 Monkeys, because of the scenes in decaying cities.

The actual Triffids look much better in this incarnation. It is still a mystery what drives them. Are they intelligent or are they just reacting?

While surfing Amazon, looking at the book, I seen there is a sequel book, by Simon Clark, staring David Masen, son of Bill from the first movie.

I enjoyed the 6 part series and give it 4/5 acorns.