The Pop Culture Addict’s Blog

For me, the NYAFF is over although there is another week of it. I hope to write a bit more later on. But I wanted to say that Ip Man was fantastic. It was strange to see Donnie Yen with hair. Sammo Hung did a great job with fight choreography. Ip Man lead a fascinating life. Who wouldn’t want to have his martial arts skills? There is a sequel in the works. Apparently, Bruce Lee’s image is not allowed to be made into a movie even though Ip Man was his teacher. Wonder how they’ll get around that. In this one, they just showed a picture with a line of text over it. The Korean movie Breathless was also very impressive. I have to dash so let me just list what I’m going to talk about later:
- The Five Deadly Venoms: a classic, great print
- Rainbow Troops: sweet, uneven
- Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl: schlocky gore with satire that pushes the envelope really, really far; impressive that he filmed it in two weeks and edited it in two more; looks like it all took a lot longer
- Year One: funny parts
- Transformers 2: too long but pretty fun to watch
- Whatever It Takes: not bad, amusing at times, so-so at other times

Best movie of all of those was Ip Man I think. It was most consistent and I’d love to watch it again. In fact, I have the dvd so I will let you know how it holds up on the small screen.

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Subway Cinema’s New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) is totally worth checking out. The organizers and jurists are passionate, sincere and well-versed in Asian cinema. They manage to put together an annual film fest full of interesting movies spanning across Asia that would be difficult to see otherwise. They pick films that have recently opened in Asia with a mix of special prints of older movies. I am only going to be able to go to a bunch showing through this weekend. So I will make the most of my time. I went to opening night and saw Written By written/directed/produced by Wai Ka-Fai of Mad Detective fame. He is a close collaborator of Johnny To. I liked it a lot.

A little spoilery for next paragraph: But for me, it didn’t matter that I knew a bit about the plot before seeing it. I still found it interesting to watch.

Somber and fanciful, it’s about a family who gets into a car accident and loses their father/husband. They miss him terribly and the daughter writes a story about how their family was in a car accident and only the father survived. Then the father writes a story about how only the family survived. I loved the Peng Mor or Meng Por (I can’t remember which it was) storyline about the afterworld queen/god. That really sold me on the movie. I loved the little boy jumping up and down, the little girl wearing her hood, driving her tram. I loved the floating furniture. The director Wai Ka-Fai was in attendance. He gave a warm intro and Q&A. The star, Lau Ching-wan, canceled his appearance at the NYAFF. He didn’t get to see how much we all enjoyed his performance in the movie.

So I will see how many more movies I get to. I am taking Wednesday off for Transformers 2. I know it will be a lot off explosions and special effects with a light plot, but it’s a summer must-see for me. I still want to see Year One even though it is not supposed to live up to its comedic pedigree. Tomorrow I am seeing IP Man about the martial arts expert who taught Bruce Lee. The great Donnie Yen plays him. Apparently this one is his life before he met Bruce Lee. So a sequel is in the works to cover that period. I’m psyched to see it.

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Twelfth Night

Went to opening night of the Public Theater’s free run of Twelfth Night in Central Park last week. It was a beautiful night in the park. I always enjoy the experience. It’s always satisfying to actually get tickets. It takes a lot of patience, flexibility and luck. But when the stars align and it works, it makes me very happy. As for the actual show, I loved it. The actual play has a decent flow. Sometimes I get distracted by the devices used in Shakespeare’s plays especially when the message is, look at how quaint the commoners are. They are sweetly stupid. Right now I’m thinking of the play within the play subplot in A Midsummer Night’s Dream which is fresh in my mind. Anyway, everything about Twelfth Night was solid, the acting, directing, singing. Loved having an actual folk/rock band, Hem, on stage for most of the show. The set was charming and creative. Personally, I always enjoy seeing the outline of Belvedere Castle in the background. But sometimes, this time included, it is not visible. Here, let me just copy and paste the cast below:

TWELFTH NIGHT
By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Directed by DANIEL SULLIVAN

With Charles Borland, Andrew Crowe, Michael Cumpsty, Steve Curtis, Clifton Duncan, Raúl Esparza, Herb Foster, Leslie Harrison, Anne Hathaway, Slate Holmgren, Kevin Kelly, David Kenner, Christopher Layer, Robin LeMon, Hamish Linklater, Dorien Makhloghi, Audra McDonald, David Pittu, Ray Rizzo, Jay O. Sanders, Julie Sharbutt, Stark Sands, Baylen Thomas, Zach Villa, Jon Patrick Walker, Julie White
JUNE 10 - JULY 12

Anne Hathaway’s presence seemed to draw in a younger crowd, like The Princess Diaries crowd. Very cute. And they stayed. She did a great job. Understated but strong. Very pretty singing voice. It was amazing to see Audra McDonald. What a pro. She was so convincing as Olivia. Funny, naive and energized. Hamish Linklater was hilarious in a role that could’ve been annoying. Jay O. Sanders and Julie White breezed through their comedic yet somewhat not so innocent roles. Again, real pros. I was impressed that there weren’t any obvious first night issues. Seemed incredibly smooth.

Tetro

I think it’s so cool that Francis Ford Coppola is excited about making movies. When I saw Youth Without Youth, there was a Q&A with him, Tim Roth and the female actor whose name I can’t recall at the moment. Anyway, that’s when I heard that Coppola has made a very decent living being a vintner. His vineyards have been highly successful enabling him to completely finance his own movies starting with Youth Without Youth. Someone pointed out this movie is kind of like Benjamin Button because Tim Roth’s character sort of ages backwards. What happens is he starts off as an old man and then is struck by lightning and goes back to his younger self. But he still remembers all of his life experiences. Hence the title, Youth Without Youth. Tetro is written and directed by Coppola. I thought it was much more straight-forward than Youth Without Youth which was challenging to watch at times though always intriguing. Every frame of Tetro is artfully constructed. Remember how surprisingly fantastic Vincent Gallo was in Buffalo 66? He’s perfect for his part. You know, we heard stories. I wasn’t sure if he was still interested in acting. He does a great job. Maribel Verdú is excellent. I enjoyed newcomer Alden Ehrenreich who could make a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Pitt all playing brothers. Tetro is a total art film. Coppola has no interest in filmic conventions. The actual story follows many conventions about family and dramatic structure. But this is what holds it together and makes it accessible despite the challenging visuals and homages to old school masters.

PJ Harvey & John Parish: Beacon Theater 6/9/09

PJ Harvey seemed happy to be on stage. I missed her older tunes and her guitar-playing. But she is the kind of artist who needs to be moving forward all the time. I am the kind of fan who likes to look forwards and backwards. I can appreciate where she is coming from. She and John Parish and their band put on a solid show. PJ Harvey has an amazing voice and it was cool to be in its presence for a night.

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The anime of Hayao Miyazaki is layered and varied. Sometimes the stories are odd and convoluted. But he introduces such memorable characters. That giant baby in Spirited Away jumps to mind. Those little forest creatures in Princess Mononoke are others. In Castle in the Sky, I would say the pirate witch-like character stands out for me. I also loved Totoro in My Neighbor Totoro. I saw Kiki’s Delivery Service and liked it but don’t quite remember it aside from Kirsten Dunst being the voice for Kiki. I vaguely remember there being a witch-like character that was interesting. I was psyched to see that IFC Center was playing Castle in the Sky today. Even though it was on the early side, I felt like it was unique opportunity. So I mobilized and got there early morning and had a wonderful experience. I had heard great things about Castle in the Sky and couldn’t wait to see it. I loved seeing it up on the big screen with an audience. There were lots of kids in the audience of all ages. Even the little ones were rapt with attention until the malfunction right at a key point at the end. There was a glitch in the projection room that resulted in a 15 minute break. That was fine for the adults but some of the kids expressed they were done. But most of them stuck around to see what happened at the end. I liked how the story was very straight-forward. The theme of how technology and nature can co-exist peacefully was interesting and in contrast to say the Terminator movies or even Princess Mononoke. EDIT: I forgot to say how cool the robots were. Totally made me think of Transformers meets Guillermo del Toro with their ancient-looking design but military function. It was really cool how on the island the robots had greenery growing on them and animals actually living on them. END EDIT I think the cultural history of WWII influenced the level of violence in the movie. There was a lot of gun-play and explosions. People actually got hurt. I liked how the “ugly” pirates who seemed like the bad guys ended up being the good guys with warmth and beauty in their hearts while the “pretty” boys ended up being megalomaniacs with only their own preservation in mind. I am glad I finally remembered to take a picture of one of the awesome movie boards at IFC Center. I wish I had thought of it last summer at the Asian Film Festival. Whoever does these is really creative!

The Hangover

I must say that T.I. and Rihanna single Live Your Life that is featured in the trailer and heard in the movie is apt. It’s catchy and also captures the feeling of the movie. These guys are trying to live their lives for a couple of nights in a larger than life way. I like the descriptions Bradley Cooper and the director Todd Phillips gave. The first one is The Hangover is like The Bachelor meets Memento and the second one is it’s like Saving Private Ryan without WWII. It’s an amusing movie about these friends trying to piece together what happened during their night of debauchery including where they left their friend. It doesn’t try to be deep. It’s just trying to be entertaining and make people laugh with recognition. There is a certain amount of zaniness. But Vegas is a weird, artificial place where strange things happen. I love Ed Helms on The Office especially when he sings. He gives one song in the movie. I greatly enjoyed Zach Galifianakis’ performance. It’s goofy but sincere. I did miss some jokes because people were laughing so hard. But I liked having a fun crowd.

West Side Story Revival

I love everything about Leonard Bernstein. He contributed so much to music and theater. I think the collaboration for West Side Story made between Bernstein, Sondheim and Jerome Robbins is magical. Let’s not forget Arthur Laurent who wrote the book and also contributed to the new rendition of West Side Story. The actual music and dancing still holds up. But I have to complain about how expensive seats are. I know it’s not a new story. I have to admit I was invited to see the show so I didn’t even pay for my ticket. However, on principle, it bugs me. I had an orchestra seat and yet the way the theater is built, the person in front of me slightly obstructed my view. The people near me were squished. We all were. The seats are made for very small people. I don’t know how small in stature people were back in the day but at these prices, adjustments should be made. That said, the standouts for me were Maria and Rita. The guys were great dancers. Their voices were decent. The addition of Spanish dialogue and lyrics was fine. It was an interesting idea. There were changes to the order of scenes as well. Live theater, live musical theater should be invigorating and it was. I can’t say I wasn’t totally moved at the end even though I knew what was coming.

Dexter

I’m very into Dexter Season 1. Showtime has the entire first season on demand and it looks like the plan is to show all 3 seasons in order over the course of the next few months. It has a lot more to offer than I thought. I thought it would be superficial and gimmicky but Dexter and his sister are very interesting as is the relationship between Dexter and his father. I had no idea this is where Julie Benz ended up after Angel. I always enjoyed watching Darla on Angel and Buffy.

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I’ve been looking forward to seeing Pixar’s Up! for years it seems. Check out the official site for cute visuals: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/up/. Every drip and drab I’ve seen of it over this past year has tanatalized me. The overall experience did not disappoint. Sure, the kid was a little dim at times or maybe overly earnest and innocent. There was also a darkness to the villain that was surprising. The opening montage had me in tears within minutes. In fact, I get all verklempt just recalling it. Up! has everything spanning from joy to wistfulness. There is action and adventure, drama, comedy and suspense. I liked how the bits and pieces already revealed in the trailer were still surprising and entertaining when seen in context. I loved the balloon man, the protagonist, living a wonderful life and then finding wonder later in his life. It’s a relatable tale in everyone’s desire to find connection with others and add meaning to their respective lives, human and animals alike. The dog humor was straightforward yet endearing, hilarious and a little scary. The visuals were stunning. The 3D aspect was seamless. No tricks like in Coraline but enjoyable nonetheless.

Drag Me to Hell

I’m so glad Sam Raimi is experiencing success. Before Spiderman, sometime around The Gift, I read an interview with him where he just sounded so down-trodden. He was bummed about the reception of The Quick and the Dead. For the Love of the Game was an attempt at being mainstream. I hope he appreciates his enormous influence on movies like The Matrix and Kill Bill. I mean, Hong Kong movies also made huge contributions to these movies but Sam Raimi is a visionary. I don’t care what people say, I enjoyed all three Spiderman movies. I liked all of the Evil Dead incarnations and even went to see the musical version. Yes, Evil Dead the Musical played in NYC. Jealous? They even splattered “blood” on the audience during the chainsaw scenes. So, I was psyched to see Drag Me to Hell. It was concise, kinetic and entertaining. I wasn’t surprised by the narrative but I was constantly kept on my toes by the visual and sound choices made throughout the movie. I get a kick out of thinking of it playing in Cannes. I mean, I understand UP! playing there. Drag Me to Hell is a more unusual choice but inspired. It’s definitely a crowd movie. I enjoyed the interactive nature of the audience. One comment made, “Not even a gangster would sink so low!” I won’t tell you when in the movie I heard that. Alison Lohman was perfectly sweet, stupid and badass for the role. You know, she’s unaware that this kind of evil exists until it starts happening to her. Then she starts fighting back. It was fun to see Justin Long right after I walked out of the theater. I wanted to yell something inane like, “Hey, Drag Me to Hell!” But I just stared at him and his buddy Blake Lively as they came in for the following show.

Keane at Radio City Music Hall, May 27, 2009

I mostly think of May 27th as being M. E. Kerr’s birthday. But this year, it was also the date of the Keane concert. The last time I saw them, it was at crowded Central Park where I stood the whole time and barely saw them. This time, I got to sit for the opening acts and lean against the row of seats in front of me while Keane was on. Plus I could see them the whole time. Highlights were hearing Early Winter performed. This is the single Tim Rice-Oxley wrote for Gwen Stefani. While I enjoy her voice, it sounds distinctly like a Keane song so it was satisfying hearing Tom Chaplin sing it. I loved the sing alongs. Everybody’s Changing is a timeless song. I was amused by how angsty and balladic (are either of these real words?) the lyrics are to every single Keane song. Yet, they are often upbeat and catchy. Richard Hughes also kept up his energy throughout the show. Their new guy, Jesse something. Sorry, I forgot but you rocked! The energy of the band was awesome. I liked how deliberately casual they were all dressed. Tom Chaplin has such an amazing voice. I’m so glad he got over his difficult times to keep on trucking with his band. They performed most of the latest album, Perfect Symmetry. Tom Chaplin said his favorite song is Perfect Symmetry. He had fun using the full stage and the side stages too, running around, climbing up the stairs and serenading us. He sang one song on his own with his guitar. It was all great. Just when it was all over, they came back on stage and performed Under Pressure by David Bowie. I was hoping for Bootylicious but the David Bowie cover was even better because it was new to me. It lasted exactly the right amount of time. I’ve watched their performance on Jimmy Fallon a bunch of times. I just can’t delete it yet from the dvr.

Party Down

I’m officially converted to Party Down on Starz. Now that the regular tv season is coming to a close, I had time to devote time to it. It is ingenious. Sublime even. I appreciate every nuance. I love all the Veronica Mars cameos. Kristen Bell was in the season finale. Everyone seems like they are enjoying themselves but also putting forth something unique. The writing is subtle and funny. The relationships are so interesting and real. I just re-watched Wet Hot American Summer to see these actors interact as their younger selves. I highly recommend Party Down. You have to pay attention but it’s worth the effort. I also watched ep 1, season 1 of Dexter. I’m intrigued. I will watch more. I still have to start watching The Wire. This summer for sure!

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