NEW PEOPLE TO RAISE FUNDS FOR JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE/TSUNAMI RELIEF WITH A SPECIAL SCREENING OF HULA GIRLS
Award Winning Film Set in Fukushima Prefecture Plays On March 26th And Offers A Heartwarming Story That Is A Testament To The Enduring Human Spirit
NEW PEOPLE, the nation’s only entertainment complex dedicated to Japanese popular culture, will present a special screening of director Lee Sang-il’s celebrated film, HULA GIRLS, to raise funds for Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief. HULA GIRLS will screen on Saturday, March 26th at 2:00pm, 4:30pm and 7:00pm. Suggested donations are $10.00 or more per person. NEW PEOPLE is located in the heart of San Francisco’s Japantown at 1746 Post St.
Proceeds from the screenings will be donated to the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, administered by JCCCNC and Union Bank in San Francisco’s Japantown. More information on the screenings and the work of this relief organization is available at: http://www.newpeopleworld.com/.
A heartwarming film, HULA GIRLS is set in Fukushima prefecture, site of the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that was heavily damaged during the recent earthquake and tsunami on March 11th. HULA GIRLS was Japan’s official entry to the 2007 Academy Awards Best Foreign Film category and also won four Japanese Academy Awards the same year including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress.
“The world was stunned by the damage and tragic loss of life from the recent earthquake and we invite audiences to donate to the recovery efforts and attend the screening of this uplifting film that is set in the area of Japan that was affected by the disaster,” says Seiji Horibuchi, president of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. “HULA GIRLS is a moving testament to the indomitable human spirit and we hope its story inspires audiences to contribute to the ongoing relief efforts that are now underway.”
Based on a true story set in 1965, the desolate and declining mining town of Iwaki, located in Fukushima prefecture in Northern Japan, tries to revive itself by building a Hawaiian-themed resort. The featured attraction is to be a hula show, but in this isolated place far from the tropical bliss of Hawaii there are no palm trees or hula dancers. In fact, no one knows how to do the dance or even knows what the hula is! The town leaders invite a dance instructor from Tokyo to teach the local minors' daughters how to hula, but conservative townspeople are initially resistant to the provocative dance. The skepticism and conservatism of the locals is gradually overcome as their daughters fall under the spell of the talented and determined dance instructor from Tokyo.
Once a leading performer, the instructor at first looks down on the coal miners and their amateurish daughters, but the girls’ sincere dedication gradually rekindles a passion in her. Each dealing with their own harsh lives, the local girls find a new lease on life and, for the first time, support in their friendships as they absorb the essence of hula dancing. The film has been praised as an enchanting story of women who take once-in-a-lifetime chances to escape their monotonous lives, only to become unwitting heroes to their depressed mining town as well as the whole of Japan.
About NEW PEOPLE, Inc.
Based in San Francisco, California, NEW PEOPLE, Inc. (www.newpeopleworld.com) offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan through its unique entertainment destination as well as through licensing and distribution of selective Japanese films. NEW PEOPLE Entertainment (www.newpeopleent.com), a film division of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. strives to offer the most entertaining motion pictures straight from the "Kingdom of Pop" for audiences of all ages, especially the manga and anime generation, in North America. Some titles include DEATH NOTE, GANTZ, KAMIKAZE GIRLS, and THE TASTE OF TEA.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Review: Always Ready to Escape to "Escape from New York" (Happy B'day, Kurt Russell)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 28 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux
John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981)
Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: John Carpenter
WRITERS: Nick Castle and John Carpenter
PRODUCERS: Larry Franco and Debra Hill
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Dean Cundey and George D. Dodge (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Todd Ramsay
COMPOSERS: John Carpenter and Alan Howarth
SCI-FI/ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER
Starring: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau, and Tom Atkins
One film certainly deserving of its cult movie status is John Carpenter’s early 80’s futuristic sci-fi thriller, Escape from New York. Set in (what was then) the future of 1997, Manhattan Island in its entirety is a giant maximum-security prison where all hardened convicts are sent for life i.e. no one gets out alive.
Early in the film, a terrorist hijacks Air Force One and crashes it into Manhattan. The President (Donald Pleasance) escapes the crash in a pod, but he falls into the clutches of Manhattan’s overlord, The Duke of New York (Isaac Hayes). The Duke holds the President hostage, in an attempt to use him as leverage for his own release from the island.
After the security force that guards the prison on Manhattan Island is unable to rescue the president, the “warden” of the prison, Bob Hauk (Lee Van Cleef), tries something different. Hauk makes a deal with a former Special Forces serviceman turned bank robber, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), who is about to be imprisoned on the island. All Plissken has to do is sneak onto the island and rescue the president in 23 hours, and Hauk has a micro detonation device inserted into Plissken’s neck to give him incentive to complete the mission.
Escape from New York might be seen a cheesy entertainment, and much of the film, both in story and production values, certainly seems dated, but the film remains an excellent example of speculative science fiction film, especially of the sci-fi action/adventure sub-genre. Carpenter, an exceptional director when he’s on his game, was right in the middle of his golden age. Escape from New York is a delicious, wacky gumbo that combines several film types: urban thriller, western, search and rescue, gangster, exploitation. Carpenter is an imaginative filmmaker and storyteller, who mixes pop science with pulp fiction craziness quite well.
Kurt Russell, a frequent collaborator of Carpenter’s, does his usually cool John Wayne riff, mixing it with a flavor that can be best described as a pre-hip hop gangsta/thug precursor. Escape from New York gives us Snake Plissken, a wonderful and strangely endearing character for such a hard ass. If anything, Russell’s Plissken is always worth the price of admission.
7 of 10
B+
John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981)
Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: John Carpenter
WRITERS: Nick Castle and John Carpenter
PRODUCERS: Larry Franco and Debra Hill
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Dean Cundey and George D. Dodge (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Todd Ramsay
COMPOSERS: John Carpenter and Alan Howarth
SCI-FI/ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER
Starring: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau, and Tom Atkins
One film certainly deserving of its cult movie status is John Carpenter’s early 80’s futuristic sci-fi thriller, Escape from New York. Set in (what was then) the future of 1997, Manhattan Island in its entirety is a giant maximum-security prison where all hardened convicts are sent for life i.e. no one gets out alive.
Early in the film, a terrorist hijacks Air Force One and crashes it into Manhattan. The President (Donald Pleasance) escapes the crash in a pod, but he falls into the clutches of Manhattan’s overlord, The Duke of New York (Isaac Hayes). The Duke holds the President hostage, in an attempt to use him as leverage for his own release from the island.
After the security force that guards the prison on Manhattan Island is unable to rescue the president, the “warden” of the prison, Bob Hauk (Lee Van Cleef), tries something different. Hauk makes a deal with a former Special Forces serviceman turned bank robber, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), who is about to be imprisoned on the island. All Plissken has to do is sneak onto the island and rescue the president in 23 hours, and Hauk has a micro detonation device inserted into Plissken’s neck to give him incentive to complete the mission.
Escape from New York might be seen a cheesy entertainment, and much of the film, both in story and production values, certainly seems dated, but the film remains an excellent example of speculative science fiction film, especially of the sci-fi action/adventure sub-genre. Carpenter, an exceptional director when he’s on his game, was right in the middle of his golden age. Escape from New York is a delicious, wacky gumbo that combines several film types: urban thriller, western, search and rescue, gangster, exploitation. Carpenter is an imaginative filmmaker and storyteller, who mixes pop science with pulp fiction craziness quite well.
Kurt Russell, a frequent collaborator of Carpenter’s, does his usually cool John Wayne riff, mixing it with a flavor that can be best described as a pre-hip hop gangsta/thug precursor. Escape from New York gives us Snake Plissken, a wonderful and strangely endearing character for such a hard ass. If anything, Russell’s Plissken is always worth the price of admission.
7 of 10
B+
----------------------------
VIZ Media Announces Anime DVD Releases for March 2011
VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES NEW VAMPIRE KNIGHT, BLEACH AND POKÉMON DVD RELEASES
VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced their new DVD releases for this month. These include the first episodic volume of VAMPIRE KNIGHT GUILTY (the second season of the hit gothic melodrama VAMPIRE KNIGHT), the latest Box Set for BLEACH, and 3 new releases from the latest installment of POKÉMON, POKÉMON DP GALACTIC BATTLES.
NEW VAMPIRE KNIGHT RELEASE:
VAMPIRE KNIGHT GUILTY, Volume 1 • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $19.97 U.S. / $28.99 CAN • Available Now!
In the opening of the second season, Zero is accused of Shizuka Hio's murder and becomes the target of the Senate. When Kaname refuses to attest to Zero's innocence, Yuki's loyalties are torn between the two. Then Yuki meets a mysterious little boy whose seemingly innocent kiss on the cheek draws her deeper into the world of vampires. Zero, seeing Yuki struggle to recall her past, tries to help. Do the archives of the Hunter's Society headquarters hold the key that will unlock Yuki's memories? Contains Episodes 1-4.
For more information on VAMPIRE KNIGHT, please visit: http://www.shojobeat.com/
NEW BLEACH RELEASE:
BLEACH BOX SET, Volume 8 • Rated ‘T’ for Teens • MSRP: $49.95 U.S. / $71.99 CAN • Available March 22nd
Just a few months from the showdown with the Arrancars, Ichigo and his friends are deep in training. But the battle may arrive earlier than expected when Aizen sends the Arrancars into the World of the Living. Captain Hitsugaya's advance Soul Reaper troops assist in defending Karakura Town and the fight appears to be going to the heroes, when Aizen orders the kidnapping of one of Ichigo's most loyal friends – Orihime! Box Set features Episodes 134 – 145 (Original and Uncut).
For more information on BLEACH, please visit Bleach.viz.com.
NEW POKÉMON RELEASES:
POKÉMON DP GALACTIC BATTLES, Volumes 1 and 2 • Rated ‘A’ for All Ages • MSRP: $14.97 U.S. each / $21.99 CAN each • Available Now!
POKÉMON DP GALACTIC BATTLES GIFT SET • Rated ‘A’ for All Ages • MSRP: $24.92 U.S. / $35.99 CAN • Available Now!
Non-stop excitement awaits audiences in the Sinnoh region, as Ash's quest for a Gym Badge lands him in a shocking encounter with Rotom and a family feud between father and son Gym Leaders! Then, watch our heroes witness the power of Aura when they join forces with Riley and Lucario to protect an island full of Pokémon from Team Galactic. But Aura won't help Pikachu and Piplup when they wind up lost on a deserted island! From an infatuated Phione to a Snorunt search-and-rescue, the adventure never ends for Ash, Dawn and Brock!
The POKÉMON DP GALATIC BATTLES GIFT SET contains Volumes 1 and 2 in a collector’s box.
For more information POKÉMON and other VIZ Kids titles please visit www.VIZ.com/pokemon/.
VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced their new DVD releases for this month. These include the first episodic volume of VAMPIRE KNIGHT GUILTY (the second season of the hit gothic melodrama VAMPIRE KNIGHT), the latest Box Set for BLEACH, and 3 new releases from the latest installment of POKÉMON, POKÉMON DP GALACTIC BATTLES.
NEW VAMPIRE KNIGHT RELEASE:
VAMPIRE KNIGHT GUILTY, Volume 1 • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $19.97 U.S. / $28.99 CAN • Available Now!
In the opening of the second season, Zero is accused of Shizuka Hio's murder and becomes the target of the Senate. When Kaname refuses to attest to Zero's innocence, Yuki's loyalties are torn between the two. Then Yuki meets a mysterious little boy whose seemingly innocent kiss on the cheek draws her deeper into the world of vampires. Zero, seeing Yuki struggle to recall her past, tries to help. Do the archives of the Hunter's Society headquarters hold the key that will unlock Yuki's memories? Contains Episodes 1-4.
For more information on VAMPIRE KNIGHT, please visit: http://www.shojobeat.com/
NEW BLEACH RELEASE:
BLEACH BOX SET, Volume 8 • Rated ‘T’ for Teens • MSRP: $49.95 U.S. / $71.99 CAN • Available March 22nd
Just a few months from the showdown with the Arrancars, Ichigo and his friends are deep in training. But the battle may arrive earlier than expected when Aizen sends the Arrancars into the World of the Living. Captain Hitsugaya's advance Soul Reaper troops assist in defending Karakura Town and the fight appears to be going to the heroes, when Aizen orders the kidnapping of one of Ichigo's most loyal friends – Orihime! Box Set features Episodes 134 – 145 (Original and Uncut).
For more information on BLEACH, please visit Bleach.viz.com.
NEW POKÉMON RELEASES:
POKÉMON DP GALACTIC BATTLES, Volumes 1 and 2 • Rated ‘A’ for All Ages • MSRP: $14.97 U.S. each / $21.99 CAN each • Available Now!
POKÉMON DP GALACTIC BATTLES GIFT SET • Rated ‘A’ for All Ages • MSRP: $24.92 U.S. / $35.99 CAN • Available Now!
Non-stop excitement awaits audiences in the Sinnoh region, as Ash's quest for a Gym Badge lands him in a shocking encounter with Rotom and a family feud between father and son Gym Leaders! Then, watch our heroes witness the power of Aura when they join forces with Riley and Lucario to protect an island full of Pokémon from Team Galactic. But Aura won't help Pikachu and Piplup when they wind up lost on a deserted island! From an infatuated Phione to a Snorunt search-and-rescue, the adventure never ends for Ash, Dawn and Brock!
The POKÉMON DP GALATIC BATTLES GIFT SET contains Volumes 1 and 2 in a collector’s box.
For more information POKÉMON and other VIZ Kids titles please visit www.VIZ.com/pokemon/.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Review: Oscar-Winning "Inside Job" Calls Out Wall Street and its Congressional Ho's
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 23 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux
Inside Job (2010)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – PG-13 for some drug and sex-related material
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Charles Ferguson
PRODUCERS: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Svetlana Cvetko and Kalyanee Mam
EDITORS: Chad Beck and Adam Bolt
COMPOSER: Alex Heffes
Academy Award winner
DOCUMENTARY
Starring: Matt Damon (narrator) Jonathan Alpert, Robert Gnaizda, Christine Lagarde, George Soros, and Eliot Spitzer
At the recent 2011 Academy Awards ceremony, Inside Job won the best documentary feature Oscar. Directed by Charles Ferguson (No End in Sight), Inside Job is about the financial crisis of 2007-2010. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the financial services industry’s systematic corruption of the United States. The film also looks at the subsequent consequences of that corruption: millions of people losing their jobs and homes, the worst recession since the Great Depression, and a near collapse of the global financial system.
Ferguson uses thorough research of financial issues and extensive interviews of key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics. The director paints a portrait of a rogue industry that relies on powerful insiders to control government regulation of itself. Insiders in politics and academia also help to shape the financial services industry’s flow of information to the public. Filmed mostly in the United States, Inside Job connects the dots by visiting Iceland, England, France, Singapore, and China, where we see unemployment, foreclosed homes, shuttered factories, and tent cities for the homeless.
As he did in the excellent No End in Sight, Charles Ferguson presents a dizzying array of interviews, information, history, and even a few reluctant talking-head types as he explains how we got to the derivatives market, what that market did, and how we got to our current financial recession and malaise. Watch this film and Ferguson will make it clear that the financial crisis was an inside job because all the players: CEOs, corporate board members, banking chieftains, government regulators, Presidential cabinet appointees, university economic professors and directors, etc. are all insiders; they rig the system and suck up all the cash for themselves. We live outside their little world, but what they do can and often does harm our larger world.
Two things about this movie stand out. First, the movie informs us that, thus far, no one has gone to jail for causing the financial crisis. Secondly, Matt Damon’s narration of Inside Job transforms the film from mere documentary into a gripping account that is part journalism, part storytelling, and all take-down of the financial services and its overeager servant, the U.S. government.
Most of all, Inside Job is simply a great movie.
9 of 10
A+
NOTES:
2011 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Documentary, Features” (Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Inside Job (2010)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – PG-13 for some drug and sex-related material
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Charles Ferguson
PRODUCERS: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Svetlana Cvetko and Kalyanee Mam
EDITORS: Chad Beck and Adam Bolt
COMPOSER: Alex Heffes
Academy Award winner
DOCUMENTARY
Starring: Matt Damon (narrator) Jonathan Alpert, Robert Gnaizda, Christine Lagarde, George Soros, and Eliot Spitzer
At the recent 2011 Academy Awards ceremony, Inside Job won the best documentary feature Oscar. Directed by Charles Ferguson (No End in Sight), Inside Job is about the financial crisis of 2007-2010. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the financial services industry’s systematic corruption of the United States. The film also looks at the subsequent consequences of that corruption: millions of people losing their jobs and homes, the worst recession since the Great Depression, and a near collapse of the global financial system.
Ferguson uses thorough research of financial issues and extensive interviews of key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics. The director paints a portrait of a rogue industry that relies on powerful insiders to control government regulation of itself. Insiders in politics and academia also help to shape the financial services industry’s flow of information to the public. Filmed mostly in the United States, Inside Job connects the dots by visiting Iceland, England, France, Singapore, and China, where we see unemployment, foreclosed homes, shuttered factories, and tent cities for the homeless.
As he did in the excellent No End in Sight, Charles Ferguson presents a dizzying array of interviews, information, history, and even a few reluctant talking-head types as he explains how we got to the derivatives market, what that market did, and how we got to our current financial recession and malaise. Watch this film and Ferguson will make it clear that the financial crisis was an inside job because all the players: CEOs, corporate board members, banking chieftains, government regulators, Presidential cabinet appointees, university economic professors and directors, etc. are all insiders; they rig the system and suck up all the cash for themselves. We live outside their little world, but what they do can and often does harm our larger world.
Two things about this movie stand out. First, the movie informs us that, thus far, no one has gone to jail for causing the financial crisis. Secondly, Matt Damon’s narration of Inside Job transforms the film from mere documentary into a gripping account that is part journalism, part storytelling, and all take-down of the financial services and its overeager servant, the U.S. government.
Most of all, Inside Job is simply a great movie.
9 of 10
A+
NOTES:
2011 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Documentary, Features” (Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
------------------------
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
VIZ Media Releases Official Statement on Terrible Events in Japan
I received the following from VIZ Media this morning:
Official Statement From VIZ Media Regarding The Earthquake And Tsunami In Japan:
The terrible events in Japan affects us all at VIZ Media directly, personally and professionally. Our hearts go out to those affected by the tragedy and the ongoing crisis, and we hope for a quick recovery. We know the people of Japan will persevere & prevail.
Sincere thanks to all those who have inquired about our parent companies, Shogakukan, Shueisha and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions. Our colleagues in Tokyo are safe and the situation is stabilizing, though resuming normal day-to-day business activities may take a little while. On a company level, we will be coordinating activities with our parent companies to support the disaster victims.
The victims of this tragedy are in our thoughts, and our gratitude goes out to all of the heroic people around the world pulling together to help them.
Official Statement From VIZ Media Regarding The Earthquake And Tsunami In Japan:
The terrible events in Japan affects us all at VIZ Media directly, personally and professionally. Our hearts go out to those affected by the tragedy and the ongoing crisis, and we hope for a quick recovery. We know the people of Japan will persevere & prevail.
Sincere thanks to all those who have inquired about our parent companies, Shogakukan, Shueisha and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions. Our colleagues in Tokyo are safe and the situation is stabilizing, though resuming normal day-to-day business activities may take a little while. On a company level, we will be coordinating activities with our parent companies to support the disaster victims.
The victims of this tragedy are in our thoughts, and our gratitude goes out to all of the heroic people around the world pulling together to help them.
Review: "Crash" Crashes into Itself (Happy B'day, David Cronenberg)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux
Crash (1996)
Release date: March 21, 1997 (USA)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada/UK
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – NC-17 for numerous explicit sex scenes
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: David Cronenberg
WRITER: David Cronenberg (based upon the novel by J.G. Ballard)
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Suschitzky
EDITOR: Ronald Sanders
Cannes winner
DRAMA/THRILLER
Starring: James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger Rosanna Arquette, and Peter MacNeill
After being seriously scarred in a near-fatal collision (that was his fault and cost a man his life), television director James Ballard (James Spader) finds his soul mate in Dr. Helen Remington (Holly Hunter), fellow crash survivor and wife of the man killed in the accident. Anxious to connect with the widow, Ballard joins Dr. Remington in a study of cars, sex, and death in which they focus on the point where the three meet. Together, with a band of misfits that include Ballard’s wife, Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger), and Vaughn (Elias Koteas), a fetishist who recreates and eroticizes famous car crash deaths (James Dean and Jane Mansfield’s seem to be his favorites), they probe the eroticism of the automobile and the sexual violence of auto accidents.
To call David Cronenberg’s Crash “weird” would be kind of dumb and simple. To call it an obtuse art project would be close. The film continues Cronenberg’s look at the effects of technology, in this case machines, in particularly the automobile, on the human body. The film seems to take place in the near future, sort of a tomorrow or the day after that. Sensations increasingly have become the method of communication between humans, and mechanical things intrigue people, in particularly how they can be an extension of the human body and also extend perception of or enhance sensation. Cronenberg gives us lots of sex scenes that involve cars, car crashes, and death as aphrodisiacs.
Those who like film as art with an emphasis on the visual sensation or the visual communication of film will find interest in this. However, Crash too often comes across as a boring exercise in creating mildly disturbing images. Sometimes, those images are disgusting, but in a way that makes you roll your eyes. Still, Cronenberg is, as always, daring in the way he challenges audiences to come with him as explores the darker side of humanity merging with machinery.
6 of 10
B
NOTES:
1996 Cannes Film Festival: 1 win: “Jury Special Prize” (David Cronenberg); 1 nomination: “Golden Palm” (David Cronenberg)
Crash (1996)
Release date: March 21, 1997 (USA)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada/UK
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – NC-17 for numerous explicit sex scenes
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: David Cronenberg
WRITER: David Cronenberg (based upon the novel by J.G. Ballard)
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Suschitzky
EDITOR: Ronald Sanders
Cannes winner
DRAMA/THRILLER
Starring: James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger Rosanna Arquette, and Peter MacNeill
After being seriously scarred in a near-fatal collision (that was his fault and cost a man his life), television director James Ballard (James Spader) finds his soul mate in Dr. Helen Remington (Holly Hunter), fellow crash survivor and wife of the man killed in the accident. Anxious to connect with the widow, Ballard joins Dr. Remington in a study of cars, sex, and death in which they focus on the point where the three meet. Together, with a band of misfits that include Ballard’s wife, Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger), and Vaughn (Elias Koteas), a fetishist who recreates and eroticizes famous car crash deaths (James Dean and Jane Mansfield’s seem to be his favorites), they probe the eroticism of the automobile and the sexual violence of auto accidents.
To call David Cronenberg’s Crash “weird” would be kind of dumb and simple. To call it an obtuse art project would be close. The film continues Cronenberg’s look at the effects of technology, in this case machines, in particularly the automobile, on the human body. The film seems to take place in the near future, sort of a tomorrow or the day after that. Sensations increasingly have become the method of communication between humans, and mechanical things intrigue people, in particularly how they can be an extension of the human body and also extend perception of or enhance sensation. Cronenberg gives us lots of sex scenes that involve cars, car crashes, and death as aphrodisiacs.
Those who like film as art with an emphasis on the visual sensation or the visual communication of film will find interest in this. However, Crash too often comes across as a boring exercise in creating mildly disturbing images. Sometimes, those images are disgusting, but in a way that makes you roll your eyes. Still, Cronenberg is, as always, daring in the way he challenges audiences to come with him as explores the darker side of humanity merging with machinery.
6 of 10
B
NOTES:
1996 Cannes Film Festival: 1 win: “Jury Special Prize” (David Cronenberg); 1 nomination: “Golden Palm” (David Cronenberg)
-------------------------------
Finale of "Cross Game" Anime Streaming on VIZAnime
VIZ MEDIA PRESENTS THE FINALE TO THE HIT ANIME SERIES CROSS GAME
Concluding 2 Episodes Of The Coming-Of-Age Sports Drama Streaming On VIZAnime.com And HULU
VIZ Media presents the finale to the acclaimed anime series CROSS GAME with the availability of Episodes 49 and 50 today on VIZAnime.com, the company’s own premiere website for anime, as well as through the streaming content provider HULU (www.Hulu.com). VIZAnime is a free-to-use interactive web destination that is now the permanent home to some of the company’s best-loved animated series.
CROSS GAME is based on a hit manga (graphic novel) series created by Mitsuru Adachi and is set against the backdrop of baseball. The series is a moving coming-of-age drama that is heartfelt and true and flows delightfully with a light and amusing touch. It centers on a boy named Ko, a family of four sisters who live down the street, and their shared passion for the sport of baseball.
In the gripping series conclusion, Ko faces tough odds in the 12th inning of the final game. Thanks to Ko’s pitching, his team has earned a one-run lead, and all the players are fully aware that a championship is just within reach. But pitching eleven innings is starting to take its toll. The count is full, and Ko must put his all into one last pitch!
One of the biggest names in the manga industry today, Mitsuru Adachi made his debut in 1970 with Kieta Bakuon in the pages of Deluxe Shonen Sunday. The creator of numerous mega-hits such as Touch, Miyuki, and Cross Game, Adachi-sensei received the Shogakukan Manga Award for all three of the aforementioned series. His cumulative works have seen over 200 million copies sold, and many of his series have been adapted into anime, live-action TV series and film. A master of his medium, Adachi has come to be known for his genius handling of dramatic elements combined with romance, comedy and sports.
For more information on the CROSS GAME manga and other titles from VIZ Media’s Shonen Sunday imprint please visit http://www.shonensunday.com/.
For more information on the CROSS GAME anime series, please visit http://www.vizanime.com/.
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