2012年6月24日日曜日

photo of the day

In the morning, totoro cream puff and the heart shaped block. The  cream puff was great!!

朝、起きたらトトロのシュークリームが!! お土産でもらったぞ。コーヒーも入れてもらったぞ。土曜日仕事出勤の気持ちが下向きなときに、ナイスな朝ごはん。わくわく。ピンクのほうはイチゴのチーズクリームでとってもおいしかった。どこのシュークリームだろう。 

調べたらすぐに分かった。ここだ。


I know, people probably don't wanna see this... but it's a part of the eating process.. Sorry...





The cutest thing in my room... for now...


2012年6月21日木曜日

Collateral




Year: 2004
Director: Michael Mann
Written by: Stuart Beattie, Michael Mann, Frank Darabont
Star: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo

My rating: 3.0
Watch situation: Alone at my born house on Saturday mid-night

This is Matt’s recommendation. I asked him his suspense movie recommendation when we were chatting at the café. His first push was “Fugitive,” but I asked another one for new. I’ve already seen “Fugitive.”


Well, this movie is all about Tom Cruise acting crazy killer. Oh, the scariest part of this whole movie was definitely his face. And the scene where he runs like a running machine from the hospital, the action was even scary to me.

Jamie Fox, actually I didn’t recognize when Matt told me his name, but due to his simple name, now I remember it completely. He did really good job on this movie.

The story is well organized from introduction to the ending. The fact that the lady Jamie Fox met in the taxi in the beginning is the key. Well, I was surprised that the lady (Jada Pinkett Smith) is the wife of Will Smith. She is very impressive look lady, very beautiful.

I think the song selection was great. The songs and the scene of L.A. got along really well. There’s something about downtown of L.A. to me. Maybe those buildings reminds me of the excitement when I saw the huge freeway. It looks like a monster load to a girl who came from Japan. I want to visit L.A. again.

Now, I found the one song I thought good from the movie. Actually it was song of Groove Armada feat. Richie Havens. Here it is.


Max: How do you like being a lawyer?
Annie: What are you, psychic?
Max: A little bit. There's the pinstripe suit. Elegant, not flashy. A top drawer briefcase that you live out on, and the purse, A Botega. Anyway, a guy comes into my cab with a sword. I figured he's a sushi chef.









Jada Pinkett Smith changes her hair style a lot!






And this is Jamie Foxx out of movie. He looks a lot different... I like the guy in the movie better.
Also, check the PV too. It's just a common PV that has been seen so many times. I was expecting something new....  You can do better, Jamie!!










2012年6月18日月曜日

百夜行





Year: 2011
Director/Writer: 深川栄洋
Original Author: 東野圭吾
Stars: 堀北真希、高良健吾、船越英一郎、今井悠貴、戸田恵子

My rate: 4.0
Watch situation: at my home with 137 Saturday afternoon, when it rained all day.

これも高橋容疑者逮捕の一連の事件に触発されて、サスペンスモードになってしまったがゆえに手にとった映画。昨晩、Mystic Riverの後に続けて見たかったのだけれど、すでに午前3時を過ぎていたのと、サッカーの試合とかぶっているとかなんとかで137氏お得意のビミョーな返事が返ってきたので、もういいやと思って、翌日の土曜日の昼間に鑑賞。

こちらも結果から言うと、私の心境にぴったりの映画でした。邦画だからかもしれませんが、今のサスペンス気分にはMystic Riverよりもこちらのほうがぴったりでした。

原作は東野圭吾さん。えー、恥ずかしながら私はまだ東野さんの小説を一冊も読んだことがありません。でもかなり本気のミステリの作家さんですね。ここ最近、私のサスペンス心を満たしてくれていたのは、もっぱら桐野夏生先生でしたので、これはあらたなターゲットを見つけたという感じでこれからしばらく東野さんの本を読んでみるのが楽しみです。(仕事がかなりピークでそれどころじゃないんだけど、仕事がひと段落したら小説くらい読める時間を見つけなくては!)


『百夜行』はドラマが放送されて人気に火がついたとか。ドラマ版の主演は綾瀬はるかちゃん、山田孝之君だったのね。この組み合わせもよさそうだねー。堀北まきちゃんは最近NHKの『梅ちゃん先生』が好調で、『百夜行』のイメージ、『梅ちゃん』のイメージ、どちらで焦点を定めたらよいのかヒジョーに悩むです。

Wikiによると、堀北まきちゃんは中学の下校中にスカウトされたとか。これって結構珍しいパターンだよね。近所でも有名な美少女で、名高かったとか。いまどきそんな噂されちゃうくらいの美少女なんて珍しいよね。そして、そのイメージは『百夜行』でもリアルに使われていた。

それから高良健吾くん!? 彼はいいねーーー。これからもっともっと出てきてほしいね。邦画の役者になるために生まれてきたような顔つきの男だよ、彼は。ドラマでもタレントでもない、ザ・邦画の役者。切れ目で、落ち着かなさそうだけれども透き通った美少年。いい、彼はいいですよ! 

ストーリーは非常にむごいもので、どこにも救いがないのだけれど、よくできていて、グングンと引き込まれてしまいました。数か月前に『八日目の蝉』を見たのですが、これも非常によくて、『百夜行』と『八日目の蝉』のダブルパワーで「邦画いいじゃないの」の気持ちが高まってきています。

そうした中、友だち今サスペンス映画が見たくて仕方がないと打ち明けたところトムクルーズ主演の『コラテラル』を紹介してくれました。これも、同じ日の夜中に見たけれど、なんなの!?あれは??んもー、めっちゃこわい!

なにがって、トムの顔ですよ!

とにかく恐すぎ。なんで死なないの!??

(えー、レビューは改めて書きますが、とにかくトムのインパクトが強すぎてしばらくトラウマになりそうです。ほんとに恐かったんだってば。Please, believer me…

では、今日はこのへんで。チャオ。

おまけ:子役の今井悠貴くんは、今私がいちばんときめいているドラマ『パパドル!』の長男役のおとこのこですね。役がらが全然違ってびっくりした。子どもでも演じる役によってあんなに雰囲気変わるんでんすね。びっくらしました。




2012年6月17日日曜日

Mystic River




Year 2003
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Brian Helgeland
Original Author: Dennis Lehane
Stars: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney

My rating: 3.7
Watch situation: at home, rented from TSUTAYA 100 yen

Mystic とは「神秘論主義者、神秘主義者、秘密の、神秘的な、秘教の、秘伝の、不可解な」
*Meaning of “mystic” in Japanese.

昨日、オウム真理教の高橋容疑者が逮捕されたというニュースが報道された。数日前から、高橋容疑者を追跡するニュースが報道されていて、それを見るたびに、逃亡するってどんな気分なんだろうって考えた。そんなことがあったから、なんだかサスペンス映画がどうしても見たくなって、ハナの金曜日、TSUTAYAによって手に取った映画がこれ。結果からすると、私の気分にピッタリの映画でした。同時に手に取ったもうひとつの映画は『白夜行』。まいちゃんが「恐いけど見た方がいいよ」って言ってたので。(松たか子の『告白』も恐いけど見た方がいいって言ってたな。)

Yesterday, the news about the suspect of cultic incident, Mr.Takahashi was found in Kawasaki after 17 years of escaping were all over in the media. The chasing story was on the news for several days, and this kept my head thinking about how is it like to live hiding myself for such a long time. A strange feeling… Then, on the Friday night when is supposed to be fun, all of the sudden I wanted to see a suspense movie so bad. So I went to TSUTAYA and found this movie, feeling this would be fit to my suspense mood. As a result , I was right to pick this movie. Also I picked a Japanese movie “Byakuyakou”, because I remembered my best friend Mai-chan told me “ Byakuyakou is scary but you would like it.” (She also said another Japanese movie “Kokuhaku” would be good too.)


エンドロールを見るまでクリント・イーストウッドが監督だったとは知らなかったんだけど、それを見て、「ああ、なるほど」と思った。クリントっぽい臭いする。舞台となる街がどことなく『グラントリノ』と似ていたからかもしれない。物語の前半、子どもが3人遊んでいるシーンで、大人ふたりが家の前のポーチに座っているシーン、似ているのが『グラントリノ』にもあったよね。それと映画全体の空気感がやっぱりクリントなんだよね。

Until I see the end-title roll, I didn’t know this was directed by Clint Eastwood, but it was very convincing after all. Clint’s atmosphere is everywhere in this movie. Maybe the mood of town was resemble to the town in “Gran Trino”. I think “Gran Trino” had a scene of man sitting on the bench in front of the house. A similar scene was found in the beginning of “Mystic River” too, where three kids were playing on the street. Again, the color of this movie was Clint’s color for sure for me.


自分の空気を映画にしっかり残せるってすごいよね。監督の名前を調べないで映画を見るっていう映画のみかたも面白いかも。
空気がしっかりしている監督は、ソフィア・コッポラもやっぱりそう。彼女の映画は、監督名を知らないで見るというのは不可能に近いけど。

Marking the color of the director in every movie he/she directed is not easy to do. It could be fun to watch a movie without knowing the director from now on.  I think Sophia Coppola is one of this kind too. However, it would be impossible to watch her movie without knowing it, especially in Japan. She is too famous.


映画はまさにサスペンス。複雑な伏線が絡みまくっていて、ほとんど最後まで犯人を匂わせないところが醍醐味。ただ、やっぱりサスペンス映画であって、この物語が私にとっていい映画だったとは思わない。作品としてはすごくいい。ただ、私は自分のものさしで、自分の生き方、人生に近いものじゃないと、心に染みないからさ、最後に「ああ、これはいい映画だ」という感想はなかった。

“Mystic River” is a suspense movie, no doubt. So many foreshadowing stories are entangled. I couldn’t see how whole story are connected till almost the end. Although Though, this is a suspense, not a realistic story for me. Of course, the movie is good. But I want to review a movie on my life basis, my thoughts in order to feel deep. To feel something real, I think it needed to be connected to my actual life. So honestly, there were no impression of this was really good move after watching it.


Movie DatabaseやRotten Tomatesではかなり高得点のようだけれど、その高得点の意味はイマイチよくわかりません。みんな「作品としていい」という基準で投票しているのかな。それとも、クリントの映画だからいいに決まっているという判断なのかな。ま、それもなきにしもあらずだろうけど……。

According to IMDB or Rotten Tomates, “Mystic River” got high rating, but I truly don’t understand why. Maybe people are judging because it was a good movie as a production, not an effect to them. Or maybe it was a Clint’s movie. This could be one reason…   


アカデミー賞では、ショーン・ペンが主演男優賞、ティム・ロビンスが助演男優賞を取っている。このダブル受賞は『ベンハー』以来らしい。ちなみに同年のアカデミー作品賞は『ロード・オブ・ザ・リング』。作品賞、監督賞のノミネートには『ミスティック・リバー』も『ロストイン・トランスレーション』も入っている。んー、私だったら、『ロード・オブ・ザ・リング』よりはこのどちらかの作品のほうを選ぶな~。
(ちなみに今さっきちょうどケーブルテレビで『ロード・オブ・ザ・リング』が放送されていて、30分ほど見たけれど、あれがアカデミー賞とは信じがたい。だって、小説のほうが断然いいに決まってるもん。映画としていいものだとは思わないな。どうなってんの、アカデミー!!)
(ちなみに『ロストイン・トランスレーション』は同年の脚本賞を受賞。これは納得)

Sean Penn got a Best Actor, Tim Robbins got Best Supported Actor on Academy Awards in 2004. It was the first movie to win both awards after “Ben Hur.” For your information, the best picture of 2004 was “Road of the Ring”. “Mystic River” and “Lost in Translation” were on the nominee’s list of best picture and best director. If I was the selector, I would definitely select whether “Mystic River” or “Lost in Translation”, not “Road of the Ring”.
(Just a couple minutes ago, my mom was watching “Road of the Ring” on the cable channel, and I watched it about 30 minutes. I still don’t understand why this movie got a best picture. It was much better left in a novel style. So I don’t believe you, Academy Awards!)


前に町山さんがラジオで川がキーワードになっている映画を紹介していて、それかと思っていたんだけど、違っていた。あれはなんの映画だったんだろうか、川が凍るとか言ってたけど。カチャカチャ、、、(調べた)。あ、これだ。『フローズン・リバー』だって。これも見たいんだよね。よし、100で借りられるだろうし、次はこちらを見てみることにします。

A couple years ago, Mr.Machiyama who is a movie reviewer, talked about a movie which had strong relation to the keyword “river”. At first, I thought “Mystic River” was it, but I was wrong. I wonder what it was…. Click Click… (I searched…), Oh, I found it. It was “Frozen River”. I want to see this movie too. It surely be 100 yen on TSUTAYA, I should go find one.














2012年6月14日木曜日

The Avengers






The Avengers (2012)

Year: 2011
Director: Joss Whedon
Writers: Joss Whedon, Zak Penn etc.
Stars: Robert Downey Jr.(Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Mark Raffalo (Hulk), Chris Hemwoth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff), Tom Hiddleton (Loki), Gwyneth Paltrow(Pepper Potts), Samuel. L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Coby Smulders (Selvig)

My rating: 3.5
Watch situation: at a preview
Now listening: Foster the people (They are great!)

Right now, I’m stuck with my work, so there is no way that I could attend a movie preview… but, oh yes, I did.  There are many thoughts in my head about my work conditions. It’s not fun to think at all, but if I stop aiming better environment, that’s it. Nothing will change. Along with these confusion and works that I never get done in a week which I have to get done in a week, I went to a preview.

I was right to go. My feeling got better. Maybe it’s because what I saw was this movie, a lots of hitting, war, killing, jumping, smashing, and of course funny. These images worked really well to refresh my head, even now, after 12 hours later.

Anyway, the most impressing thing was this; was Hulk that strong? I mean I’ve never seen a movie of Hulk. But among all the heroes, he seems to have nothing special except becoming a little bigger. But he was the hero of heroes here. I’m Stark’s fan. To tell the truth, only movie I have seen is Iron Man, and none of others.

Captain America, the way his outfit and character worked well on the movie. Out of fashion uniforms and one cycle behind thoughts… It drops a funny essence into a movie. Mixing with Tony’s character makes good joke and comedy.

Here is one thing I have noticed, there are some parts including historical messages from States.  For example, making people surrender on their knee in Germany where once Hitler ruled.  Also the concept of opposing freedome seems strange in some way. By showing the world facing with no freedom is one way of focusing what is really important… the freedom! You know what? The way this movie attracts people’s attention is not seriousness, but comical, heartwarming, matter that makes people laugh.  After watching this kind of Hollywood movie, I always respect people who make/invest these movies. Of course, they are serious… that is the point! Doing something a little far from reality or political issues seriously… are great.  That is the world I want to be and people who I’d like to know of.

Scarlett and Gwyneth are pretty like always. Scarlett is such a talented actress, you will find out why by watching this movie. She moves perfect, regardless of the editorial changes, she does great move and faces.

Oooo, I wish I had more time to write my blog… but this is a time for good night. If I don’t sleep now, I will be late for my work tomorrow.





 Chris Hemwoth(ソー)は今公開中のThe Snow Whiteにも出ているのか。大人気だわね。




2012年6月3日日曜日

Midnight in Paris





Year: 2011
Director/Writer: Woody Allen
Stars: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Carla Bruni, Marion Cotillard


My rating: 4.5
Watch situation: with 137 at Bunkamura Theather in Shibuya


Everybody should have their golden age. In this movie, Gil (Owen Wilson) who is the main character dreams about living in Paris. His golden age would be 1920s in Paris with rain. The idea of making this concept that everybody has their golden age into a movie is a great accomplishment. I envy Woody’s golden eyes that observes and creates this concept into a movie.


The movie starts with the variety of views of Paris, and it last about 5 minutes. From this start, I could get the sense that this movie will be good one. There are some places that I recognized. They reminded me when I visited there. Actually I didn’t find that Paris was that attractive, but maybe there is something that attracts artists.


I wonder how Woody gets these images and ideas. Creative, funny, and it has a life lesson tips. On top of that, it thought me many famous people and the history. With a tiny knowledge of history, I could hardly understand all of them, but it’s not the point of this movie. As far as you follow Gil’s character and could synchronize your thought with him, you will find this movie a divine.  I should had taken notes of who I didn’t know from the movie… well it was impossible in the dark theater.


First of all, who is Gertrude Stein (Cathy Bates)? I’ve never heard of her. She has a salon that Fitzgerald, Picasso, and Hemingway and so on. I need to check up. Adriana who was with Picasso at first, is very pretty. Marion Cotillard plays her role.


Owen Wilson must have done a lot of work to act like woody. He did a great job!! Sometimes he looked just like Woody. When I saw the poster first time, when I didn’t know who was the main character, I thought the man in the middle was Robert Redford, but it was Owen. He is a great actor. I wish he keeps playing in Woody’s movie.    










 Marion Cotillard was in the movie "Inception" too.





2012年6月1日金曜日

birds of a feather

I like this unit.