Netflix Vacation

I'm one of the few people in the world who has almost no experience with Netflix. Since I have a collection of over 1500 films on blu-ray alone, i don't usually feel the need to spend a monthly fee to have access to more films. It's hard enough to find time to watch the ones i own. I'm also not a huge fan of streaming. I like to own a physical copy of something. Some of the physical copies of films in my collection are gorgeous works if art, even before you put the disc in the player. I also don't want my film collection to change based on the whims of a company and it's licensing rights. Not to mention if i was going to go down the streaming road, I'd be a Hulu guy, since they have over 800 films streaming from The Criterion Collection.

So I'm not a Netflix guy.

But I'm on vacation, and our Air B&B on the lake here in Ithaca doesn't have cable, but *does* have usable Netflix. I'm still not a fan, especially of it's choices or search functionality. Actually maybe it's choices are excellent, but i just can't tell because i can't find any of the good stuff. We did find a few things to watch however.

First up was the documentary The Search For General Tso. We spend most of our vacations seeking out good food, so it makes sense that when it came time to watch a documentary, it was one about food. The Search For General Tso is just what it sounds like, a quest to find out the roots of America's most popular Chinese Restaurant menu item. A fun journey if you like food and ever wondered if General Tso was a real person, and if so, how much did he like chicken.

Next up was Hector and The Search For Happiness, the film adaptation of the book above. It's a generally feel good movie about a psychiatrist's journey to try and find out what makes people (and himself) happy. I enjoyed it, and was glad that it was a R-rated film. It would have felt a little too hokey and feel good for my tastes without the slight edge the rating provided. It also stars Simon Pegg, who's a bit of a guilty pleasure actor for me.

I still won't be getting Netflix anytime soon, even if it *is* currently offering Hirokazu Koreeda's Nobody Knows to stream.

One Last TIFF 40

I finished off my last day at TIFF on Thursday with a double feature. I originally had a ticket for a film today (Naomi Kawase's An), but since we leave for vacation today i traded in that ticket for another film on Thursday. The main draw for Thursday's trip was an advanced 3D screening of Ridley Scott's The Martian. The film plays out like something of a mash up of Interstellar, Gravity, and Cast Away. The elements all fit together well, with a surprising amount of humor blended in. It's nice to see that Science Fiction seems to be making a bit of a come back lately after so many years of 'science fiction that can't avoid also being horror' that seemed to have been so popular lately. An entertaining film that's worth catching in the theatre if you get a chance, with decently executed 3D.

The 2nd film of the double feature ended up being Sergei Loznitsa's documentary, The Event. The Event was created using found footage that had been filmed during a failed Coup d'etat in The Soviet Union in 1991. All the footage comes from 4 days of filming in Leningrad, and is presented without any real commentary. Thankfully, like so many TIFF screenings, the director was present for an introduction, as well as some Q&A after the film. Of the 5 films i saw at TIFF, The Martian was the only one where the director was not present and available for questions. It's a great way to explore films, but it does make going to regular theatres feel a little less robust afterwards.

Sion Sono!

Apologies for the terribly unflattering picture of me, but it's Sion Sono! At TIFF last night was the world premiere of one of Sono's many (i count 7) 2015 releases, The Whispering Star. They kept talking about how this film was unlike anything else Sono has done previously, but I feel like you could say that about almost any of Sono's films. This one was filmed in the restricted area of Fukushima, much like his 2012 film The Land Of Hope, but the similarities end there (although both films do star Sono's wife Magumi Kagurazaka). The Whispering Star is a fairly minimalist black and white science fiction film. People always ask which Sono film makes the most sense to try and get into The Criterion Collection. I'd love to see them do a double feature of The Land Of Hope and The Whispering Star, and maybe include a documentary about 3.11 (There are several out there) as a bonus feature.

Koreeda!

I felt lucky enough that I was getting a chance to see the North American premiere of Hirokazu Koreeda's latest film Our Little Sister. I didn't know that he'd be there as well to introduce the film and give a small Q&A session afterwards. As you can see, i even got to snag a quick photo op with him afterwards.

The movie was tremendous, reminding me a bit of his Excellent Stll Walking. While his style of filmmaking is much different, if there is any director that kids able to continue the spirit of Yasujiro Ozu's Japanese family dramas, It's Koreeda. There are a few of his films that have yet to find their way into my collection, but I'll be rectifying that soon!

TIFF!

One of the perks of living where i do is being able to make my way each year to The Toronto International Film Festival. It's a great way to see movies that i might otherwise not get to see for a long time (if ever). In the past I've gotten to see such great films as The Drop, Still The Water, The World of Kanako, and even the North American premiere of Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises. Sometimes you see things like The Drop, which was in theatres locally barely a month after TIFF. Other films like Still the Water, still haven't been released anywhere in the world with English subtitles, so I feel super lucky that i got to see it.

This year I got tickets to 4 films, and hopefully I'll be able to make all the showings. First up is tomorrow where i have a ticket to see Hirokazu Koreeda's latest film Our Little Sister. Koreeda's films have sadly not found their way to North America often enough, or with enough care. The Criterion Collection released the excellent Still Walking, but films like Like Father, Like Son just end up getting a bare bones DVD only release in states. A lot of his other films can only be acquired as DVD only releases from other territories. Hopefully this trend reverses sooner rather than later.

On Monday night i hope to see a double feature, including Sion Sono's Whispering Star. This might be the film I'm most excited about as Sono is the type of director who can pull off almost any genre of film, and is always able to surprise you. Some of his films I love, and others I'm much cooler on, but I'm always glad I've watched another of his films. There can never be too many Sion Sono films in my collection (and considering he's already directed 7 films in 2015, it will be a long time before i have them all).

Rounding out my Monday night is a super interesting looking film called Imbisibol about undocumented Filipino workers in Japan working jobs under the table.

My final film of the festival will be next Sunday as i start my vacation. Naomi Kawase's latest, An. Every time i read a review of a Kawase film at a film festival it always gets ripped about, but I've enjoyed both films (Still The Water, and The Mourning Forest) that I've seen by her. I guess no likes her films except me and the festival programmers?

April Story

Finally got around to watching my Korean import blu-ray of Shunji Iwai's April Story. The film is a fairly gentle introspective romance film, clocking in at a brief 67 minutes. My only previous experience with Iwai's work was Love Letter, which i recall liking, and his contribution to the anthology film New York, I Love You. I also have his films Hana and Alice, as well as All About Lily Chou Chou in my collection as well. Iwai also made a documentary about Kon Ichikawa as well, which I hope to acquire sooner rather than later.

Ozu would have been proud!

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

In between all of our Herzog films we managed to watch a movie that has ling been on my need to see list, Kim Ki-duk's Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring. The film did not disappoint at all and now I'll be one of the many clamouring for this film to get a blu-ray release. The movie is way too beautiful to only be able to see in standard definition.

There is a website called Taste of Cinema that pretty much only exists to make lists of films. The writing, and the accuracy of the info contained in the article, both leave a bit to be desired, but some of the lists the create are to fun to peruse. This one is a favorite of mine. I never would have considered myself a lover of metaphysical films, but I own 13 of the 15 films on this list, and everyone I've seen I've adored.

Happy Birthday Werner!

Yesterday was Werner Herzog's birthday. Oddly, when i woke up not knowing it was his birthday i decided that i wanted to start my morning digging a bit more into his recent blu-ray collection that was released last year, of which there were still a lot of unwatched films. I ended up watching four Herzog films, but it wasn't until i had started the 2nd that i even realized it was his birthday. I guess somewhere deep down i knew?

I watched Aguirre, The Wrath of God for the first time. Great to finally see it, Klaus Kinski was great, and I could definitely see how Apocalypse now was influenced by it. It also allowed me to check another film off the Sight and Sound top 250 films of all time list, something I'll talk about more in a future post.

Even Dwarfs Started Small was up next and it took me a little while to get my barrings. I was mistakenly under the impression that it was a Documentary, which it definitely is not. A curiously of sorts, and something I'm glad i watched, but something I'm likely to revisit (unlike Aguirre).

Third Herzog of the day was Fata Morgana, which is a documentary, but a meandering one. I struggle with documentaries like this, the ones that have beautiful and interesting shots, but the connection between them feels transitory. Maybe some day i'll warm to documentaries of this type (I wish i could love Chris Marker's Sans Soliel, which i also struggle with), but for now I'm better off with things like's Herzog's amazing Cave Of Forgotten Dreams.

Last up was Fitzcarraldo, like Aguirre, a Herzog film I've always wanted to see. More great work from Klaus Kinski. Interesting to see the same actor as a much different character traveling down the same Amazonian rivers. As Herzog used to say, everyone should pull a boat over a mountain once in their lives.

Weekend Project

Same project as most weekends. Organizing and labeling the film collection and it's transition to being organized by director.

Collection of Ozu Films

Yasujiro Ozu is my favorite director of all time, so my shelf where I keep all of his films is one of my favorite spots in my collection. I'm only missing one of his surviving films (his only documentary Kagami Jishi) and one of his partially survived films (a silent film called Fighting Friends Japanese Style). Ozu is a director that is appreciated throughout the world so there are frequently new releases of his films coming out in different territories. His main studio in Japan has been releasing newly restored 4K scans of some of his best films, so I've been cheerfully re-purchasing each new release as they come out.