“I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me.”
Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood is finally going to grace cinema screens world wide. The Norwegian Wood film (IMDB) is directed by Anh Hung Tran, stars Babel’s Rinko Kiuchi as Naoko and Ken’ichi Matsuyama as Wanatabe. Can’t lie, nor breathe, I am super excited for this. Murakami is my favourite author (yes, ever), and NW one of my favourite books.
Short trailer huh? It’s such a tease but from such a tiny glimpse, and the film stills, I think justice will be done.
Alongside the eponymous Beatles song (a licensing coup!), the soundtrack will also feature original music written by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood based on a composition called “Dogwood” which he recently wrote for the BBC Concert Orchestra.
I think the use of the word SWOON is totally legitimate on this occasion.
Sofia Coppola’s work is always exquisite, no matter what she turns her hand to. Somewhere is her fourth feature. I’m really looking forward to seeing this film. Show not tell… Did you notice there are only 15 words of dialogue in the trailer?
The song in the background is ‘I’ll Try Anything Once’ by (dreamboat) Julian Casablancas, which is a demo version of ‘You Only Live Once’ by The Strokes.
I have a total soft spot for ridiculous 80’s movies, especially if they are set in THE FUTURE. In this case, the future is a post-apocalyptic year 2017 – Las Vegas is smothered by sand and outlaw is a popular career choice.
Cherry 2000(dir. Steve De Jarnatt, 1988) is so bad it’s incredible. By the looks of it, we’ll be able to take robot wives, enjoy Kartell kitchens and have Larry Fishburne serve as our Glu Glu lawyer.
I love the outfits and interiors of the movie. Camp-tastic. If you’re ever flicking through the outer reaches of your cable subscription and you see this movie playing, stop. It’s well worth watching for the laughs, and a sneak peek at the guns we’ll all be toting in 7 years…
New York has invaded by 8-bit video game creatures. Shot in New York City (oh how I aprreciate everything so much more after visiting), ‘Pixels’ was directed by Patrick Jean. Bleep-bleep’n awesome.
Logorama is short film directed by the French animation collective H5. It was presented at the Cannes Film Festival 2009, opened the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won a 2010 academy award under the category of animated short. A deftly composed film. My favourite touch? The Evian mountains.
Cayce Pollard would have a conniption if she saw this.
It’s the tale of a pug, a kitten and the adventures they have. It starts on the farm… but Milo never listens to his mother. Here’s two of my favourite scenes:
Crab Attack
Otis Meets The Fox
Did you know that Milo and Otis is a Japanese made film and was released in English 4 years after the original release? Me neither! Did you know Dudley Moore was the vivacious and hilarious narrator? Not I!
While there has been some controversy over the use of animal actors in the movie, I still love this romp (and have done since I was 5). It’s a good film to watch from bed while hanging out in your pyjamas. Nostalgia rules.
Daniel Johnston’s recent outing at the fantastic Laneway festival reminded me of a little something I saw at the end of last year.
It’s hard to believe at first, but in our iPhone obsessed world there is even an app dedicated to the music and art of Johnston. It’s entitled, ‘Hi, How Are You‘; and suprisingly is not just a vanity project, but a well thought out puzzle game that is pretty fun to play!
Hi, How Are You the game features classic Johnston characters like Joe Boxer and Jeremiah the Innocent; the stalk-eyed-froggy-creature who is famously depicted on a mural in Austin, Texas, Johnston’s adopted home. The game focuses on a couple of motifs common to Johnston’s work – fighting the evils of the outside world, and searching for the girl of his dreams through that quagmire.
The game itself was created by two Austin based developers and costs around US$0.99 (or a more splashy NZ$4.50) – it’s an affordable, fun experience for any technologically endowed Daniel Johnston fan.
Dinner with Murakami is a 2007 documentary directed by Yan Ting Yuen about the life and work of legendary Japanese author Haruki Murakami.
“Largely structured round Murakami’s enigmatic absence, the film dramatizes Murakami’s impact on his readers and takes the camera into the hinterland to determine what is “Murakamian” in the Japanese landscape. The resulting film has a beautiful sense of form and poetic structure.” [Indie Flick Pick]
In the film everybody from groupies who hang outside Murakami’s old jazz club to schoolchildren, share their piece on the publicity shy writer. Norwegian Wood has been likened to the Nippon equivalent of J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye; so it is unsurprising most Japanese people have a story to tell about their relationship with Murakami’s work.
You never thought you would see the world Twilight on Code For Something*, did you? Well today is a special occasion. I’ve found the music.
Here’s a listing of for New Moon – The Soundtrack… It’s kind of amazing – as hard to believe as that is. Indie darlings Bon Iver and St Vincent! Thom Yorke with a brand new song! Swedish hottie Lykke Li! Brooklyn babes geniuses Grizzly Bear!
Death Cab For Cutie – “Meet Me On The Equinox”
Band Of Skulls – “Friends”
Thom Yorke – “Hearing Damage”
Lykke Li – “Possibility”
The Killers – “A White Demon Love Song”
Anya Marina – “Satellite Heart”
Muse – “I Belong To You (New Moon)”
Bon Iver and St. Vincent – “Roslyn”
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Done All Wrong”
Hurricane Bells – “Monsters”
Sea Wolf – “The Violet Hour”
OK Go – “Shooting The Moon”
Grizzly Bear – “Slow Life”
Editors – “No Sound But The Wind”
Alexandre Desplat – “New Moon (The Meadow)”
Go, download it (or stream the entire thing on Myspace) and listen. I think it’s rather lovely that because of this, so many fantastic bands are going to get the mainstream popularity they deserve. It’d be an awesome album to play while opening presents under the tree.
*Unless I was making extremely disgusting jokes. Requests for these awful jokes will be taken in the comments section.
Teen vampire romances and pale faced virgins are all the rage right now. In case you need any more confirmation of this fact, I read an article a little while ago (and checked it just now) that stated there are 69,400,000 google results for vampire. Holy Robert Pattinson. I started to wonder, when did this all start? How did vampires become the ‘it’ folkloric beings?
I haven’t found a truly satisfying answer yet, but I did discover that 25 years before Twilight, True Blood and all the other fangbangers, there was Once Bitten.
In brief; a 400-year-old vampire Countess (Lauren Hutton) needs to drink the blood of a virgin in order to keep her eternal beauty. It seems that all is hopeless, until she bumps into Mark Kendall (a very young Jim Carrey).
Thus begins a classic 80’s teen comedy romp, peppered with leotards and Ray Bans. Highlights for me included the snaky comments of the Countess’s companion Sebastian (played by Cleavon Little, who you’ll remember from Blazing Saddles), and Mark’s pimply hormonal sidekicks. The interiors of the Countess’s house also make a star turn.
Perfect viewing for a lazy Sunday morning when you can’t be bothered to change out of your pyjamas.
I’m excited for the feature length version of ‘A Town Called Panic’. Why?
A) Plastic-fantastic stop-motion animation makes my heart beat faster.
B) Crude French humour? Yes please.
C) Farm animals and humans living in perfect disharmony.
Two Midwestern nerds. On a couch. In a basement. Who woulda thought.
Wayne’s World is the my favourite movie. Ever. And I think I’m about the only person I know who has seen it in the cinema. As I recall, I was hanging out with my friend Melissa during the school holidays. Mum decided that we should go to the movies or something and as I recall, called the local theatre and asked them what was a good film for kids. So that’s how I ended up being one of the 6 year olds in the world who caught Wayne’s World.
In the years (good lord, such time wasted) that followed I watched at least once a week on a shitty VHS copy that someone recorded off the TV. I still don’t have it on DVD, but I don’t really need to invest in it, seeing as I have all the dialogue memorised. I don’t even own a gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire rack.
I could tell you many intriguing facts (filmed in 2 weeks!), figures (grossed over $100 million) and important cultural references, but I’m sure you’ve all heard it all before. If not, get thyself to a video store and smack yourself in the face with one of the most essential films of the early nineties. You’re wearing the goddamn denim, so watch the film.
So, tell me – what’s your favoruite film?
P.S. In case you’re wondering what happened to your favourite long- tendriled babes, check out their appearance at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards. They may be in their 40’s (and Garth has pubes) but it’s still party time. Excellent.
In the film Tokyo Pop bleached haired goddess Carrie Hamilton plays Wendy, a rock singer from America. She moves to Tokyo on a whime and, as the stories always go, meets a boy. Hiro and Wendy form a band; finding stardom and love. It’s also story about American customs confronting the Tokyo lifestyle.
My friend Sarah reckons when Aggy Deyn was reinventing herself, she just trotted down to her local video store and rented a copy of Tokyo Pop. Other people reckon Sofia Coppola took a good hard look at the film too, before embarking on the Lost In Translation journey.
From what I’ve seen, I’d agree! Except.. I’m incredibly grumpy because unfortunately I haven’t managed to track down a copy yet, even on VHS. If you ever come across a copy (or if you’ve seen it), pipe up, let me know!
It looks amazing; a cheesey pop love story with candy coloured cinematography, set against a retro Tokyo backdrop. Here’s the trailer:
