tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post112166552216736339..comments2024-03-27T14:57:37.031+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: Donald Richie lecture (preceded by another brief rant)Jabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1121855350703055562005-07-20T15:59:00.000+05:302005-07-20T15:59:00.000+05:30There are too many uninterested people these days....There are too many uninterested people these days. Nice one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1121795838766953942005-07-19T23:27:00.000+05:302005-07-19T23:27:00.000+05:30Jabberwork,If you've not seen Welcome back, Mr. Mc...Jabberwork,<BR/><BR/>If you've not seen <A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133170/" REL="nofollow">Welcome back, Mr. Mcdonald</A>, please do.Quizmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11954917456386552531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1121786293150283962005-07-19T20:48:00.000+05:302005-07-19T20:48:00.000+05:30Not all the old Zatoichi films are good either. :-...Not all the old Zatoichi films are good either. :-) I would also recommend <A HREF="http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=843171005272&userid=9C5NphqBdY&frm=0&itm=2" REL="nofollow">The Twilight Samurai</A> by Yoji Yamada and <A HREF="http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=37429195024&userid=9C5NphqBdY&frm=0&itm=7" REL="nofollow">The Samurai Trilogy</A>, based on the legend of <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyamoto_Musashi" REL="nofollow">Musashi Miyamoto</A>. In fact, I was planning to blog about the trilogy and <A HREF="http://www.samurai.com/5rings/" REL="nofollow">The book of Five Rings</A><BR/><BR/>But then I'm very biased towards Toshiro Mifune. Only Amitabh can match his swagger. [Steve McQueen could, but he was too cute. :-)]Quizmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11954917456386552531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1121778573054431382005-07-19T18:39:00.000+05:302005-07-19T18:39:00.000+05:30Asian horror films are the best. But most of them ...Asian horror films are the best. But most of them also have really bad sequels. <BR/><BR/>Was the Zatoichi the new Zatoichi with Takeshi Kitano or the old one with Shintaro Katsu? People say the new one isn't as funny. I thought it was great without taking away from the old series. <BR/><BR/>Trivia: The old Zatoichi was set to star in Kurosawa's Kagemusha, but him and the director had a feud on the set. Guess who won?Ananghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13093712350047601404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1121756654347550312005-07-19T12:34:00.000+05:302005-07-19T12:34:00.000+05:30boye..Remember Murphy's laws?? It says, anything t...boye..Remember Murphy's laws?? It says, anything that can go wrong, WILL go wrong :|<BR/><BR/>Anangbhai, I like your Mogambo pose!Suhailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07003909838593766176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1121729306780805572005-07-19T04:58:00.000+05:302005-07-19T04:58:00.000+05:30Yeah...most people in such events don't even know ...Yeah...most people in such events don't even know what the event is about. It's incredibly irritating...<BR/><BR/>But speaking of Kurosawa.....I just saw this fairly recent movie "Zatoichi: The blind swordsman", that squeezed in many little tributes to Kurosawa....not too bad a movie (though I'll take Yojimbo any day). You might like it.Sunilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07776658071546232685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1121697900387974512005-07-18T20:15:00.000+05:302005-07-18T20:15:00.000+05:30Loved this post.. yes and i cant stand ignorami w...Loved this post.. yes and i cant stand ignorami who dont have the patience to sit and apply their brains while listening to someone of worth.<BR/><BR/>Hi! First time here.. will come back for more :)That Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07122621924976348479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1121692607579498982005-07-18T18:46:00.000+05:302005-07-18T18:46:00.000+05:30If you like Donald Richie's book (I've owned it fo...If you like Donald Richie's book (I've owned it for more than a year now) you would also like his other works in general on Japanese cinema and also Stephen Prince's The Warrior's Camera (Prince provides commentary on most of the Kurosawa dvds). <BR/>I thought the break in the middle was excellent, and was a more realistic way of showing Watanabe's death than having to go through some painful and melodramatic death scene. Kurosawa may have done that but his screenwriter and friend Shinobo Hashimoto (who acted as a realism "guardian") warned him not to slip into melodrama which tended to happen often when Kurosawa was writing. Just suddenly announcing his death on screen is startling and takes the viewer away from the character of Watanabe (since the film wasn't entirely about him, a mistake Kurosawa made in Scandal and The Bad sleep well). This is why Kurosawa opted to use a narrator who describes watanabe to us in the opening scene because it simultaneously defines Watanabe by his disease and distances us from him, and that is why his death is offscreen in Part 2 which shows the "terrible triumph of society" where regardless of Watanabe's attempts, no one recognizes them and uses him as an example, and by the end of the film Watanabe's efforts are suppressed once more. <BR/>I was drinking a volatile mix of ginger beer (which is nonalcoholic) and some Samuel Jackson (mmmm...mmmm..mothafacka! It'll get ya drunk!)<BR/>Actually it was a simple bottle of Jack Daniels.Ananghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13093712350047601404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1121670987027650062005-07-18T12:46:00.000+05:302005-07-18T12:46:00.000+05:30Just to say I love reading your blog -- it's helpi...Just to say I love reading your blog -- it's helping me get back into the world of cinema and books, which I opted out of years ago.The Sunshine Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03974413887721449548noreply@blogger.com