A few films recently watched.

I wonder if it would have worked better if Clint's character, instead of being uniformly heroic, had in fact become more unhinged as the movie progressed, with a climax that involved him intending to do the right thing, but in a way that was so violent/crazy that it alienated the people he had befriended, and made the audience more ambivalent about him. More of a "Falling Down" kind of thing. Though I highly doubt Clint would cast himself in something like that, he seems too egotistical.

that would have been more entertaining than the sanctimonious ending he gave us. the more i think about it the more i dislike the film once it lapses into that serious mode. i remember the audience i saw it with getting very restless and bored rather than engaging in the movie, so i'm thinking the tone should have just remained comedic with hints of melancholy.

i would have a very difficult time watching anything if i was offended by racism. i guess there are varying degrees, but asian americans are probably made fun without any remorse or guilt more than any other minority group. also asians (well, east asians at least) are some of the most racist people on the planet, so it works both ways.

  zaphod said:

that would have been more entertaining than the sanctimonious ending he gave us. the more i think about it the more i dislike the film once it lapses into that serious mode. i remember the audience i saw it with getting very restless and bored rather than engaging in the movie, so i'm thinking the tone should have just remained comedic with hints of melancholy.

i would have a very difficult time watching anything if i was offended by racism. i guess there are varying degrees, but asian americans are probably made fun without any remorse or guilt more than any other minority group. also asians (well, east asians at least) are some of the most racist people on the planet, so it works both ways.

Do you mean Asians born in Asia are more racist or people just ethnically Asian?

Have you seen the movie Charlotte Sometimes? It's one of the few films I've seen with what feels like a fairly realistic portrayal of Asian Americans. If you haven't seen it you should check it out. I'd be interested to know what you think of it.

eh i guess i should specify asians born in asia, and obviously that's a gigantic blanket statement to make. i'll check that movie out, there certainly aren't many like it.

I've had a few friends go to Japan and say they were surprised by the racism they encountered, so I figured you meant Asians born in Asia. But then again I have some friends that have described a situation where they find Asian

American women won't date them (they're Asian themselves). When they ask the women they say they're only attracted to White men. Some of them think it's a form of self-racism. I think there's an element of self-hatred there but I think it also comes out of antiquated racial hierarchy.

no that's just because asian women are insane

lol.

one of my good friends is a Phillipina-American woman. One of the ways we bonded was talking about Asian women's insanity. She's an extremely bright girl with a great career, but she's the first to admit she is batshit loony. She blames her mom, and Asian moms in particular, for this phenomenon.

yeah my mom is pretty mental.

my sister only dates white guys apparently. it's like one of two extremes, they're either the san francisco bratty asian girl who only goes with white nerds or the super Asian girl who will only date guys who are specifically from her cultural background. i've personally dated a half japanese girl, who had major issues, and then a full blooded japanese chick who was just batshit insane. i feel bad for guys with yellow fever.

lol

At this point in my life I just concede it's just about the degree of insanity, cause really they're all crazy.

  zaphod said:

i feel bad for guys with yellow fever.

heh, yeah, poor me

If you've gone as far as interpersonal insanity can go with an Asian girl, then no relationship in the future will phase you. But that doesn't mean you (and I guess I mean me, as a white American) will find happiness there. Most white guys get the "bait and switch" with their Asian gf; at first they think they've hit paydirt because they are with a hot, slim sexual dynamo, but then they make the mistake of taking it to marriage, only to discover later that she's an emotionally unstable and/or cold control freak.

There are just such different expectations. One funny thing I noticed recently is I switched my OK Cupid account location from SF to Shanghai. In the US, I would consistently find 80-90% matches, but in Shanghai almost all the Chinese girls are 60% enemy, haha.

I find it funny that I tend to relate to Chinese hookers better than young professional Chinese women. Young professional Chinese women tend to be completely emotionally underdeveloped, but they don't realize it. I asked my translator, who is very bright and well educated (learned Norwegian for the hell of it, is now studying Finance in Switzerland), if she could hook me up with one of her friends. So she hits me up on MSN and says sure, but her friend has one question first before we go any further, what is my salary? I almost fell out of my chair. I asked her if her friend was a prostitute, which offended her. I guess if a girl does it for money she's crass, but if she marries for money she's sensible. A gym instructor I asked out started playing this game like a high school student, where she had her friend act as an intermediary between the two of us, passing notes back and forth and calling herself my "secret friend."

So yeah, hookers and street vendors, most down-to-earth people in China.

there was a pregnant asian woman in my dutch course (she was with bald, fat white man), she wasn't insane compared to the pregnant russian woman. although she did overreact when i ordered a beer when we were simulating ordering lunch, questioning why i would order a beer for lunch. there was a japanese couple who always wore matching outfits, usually jeans, cowboy boots, sunglasses, they both seemed insane.

not sure what's relevant about them being pregnant

anyway

edit: this whole post is irrelevant really

  lumpenprol said:

So yeah, hookers and street vendors, most down-to-earth people in China.

You really need to check out Shohei Imamura's films, Lumpy. He loved prostitutes and a lot of his films are about them. I seem to remember reading that he lived with prostitutes during his days selling things on the black market after WW2.

  takeshi said:

  lumpenprol said:

So yeah, hookers and street vendors, most down-to-earth people in China.

 

You really need to check out Shohei Imamura's films, Lumpy. He loved prostitutes and a lot of his films are about them. I seem to remember reading that he lived with prostitutes during his days selling things on the black market after WW2.

cool, if you know of any torrent links you could PM me that'd be great...

It's not just the hookers but also the mamasans and some of the pimps/brothel owners I like (some of them are rather manipulative, of course, but often in a playful, mischievous way). I'm sure it's partially the appeal of the unknown/illicit for a middle class white kid, it's partially the fact that making a stable living from vice is inherently intriguing (as anyone who likes mafia stories knows), but it's also just the people...very worldly, self taught people just do it for me...I just wish I could play mahjong or cards with them but I'm a fucking idiot, and they play fast. If I had the brains to be involved in the brothel industry in China I totally would - I've explored various angles but it seems too risky. It's appealing because there seems to be very little violence or coercion involved. As someone once told me, "we're too busy making money to care about that."

I saw Antichrist last night. It was pretty good, but I was underwhelmed as I was expecting an hour long gorefest as told by many filmcritics..

Howd you see it so early?

Hmm, early? Regular screening in Norway.

Well early because basically its not playing in any other country yet

Is that true? I honestly always thought it was just allergies or something...

  Mr Salads said:

Well early because basically its not playing in any other country yet

Well, it's produced in Denmark so....

city of life and death/nanking nanking - not a fan of 'war' films, but this one was quite good. the film was shot in a sort of naturalistic style, in that there was little to no exposition in regards to the characters. focus was instead placed on the atrocities of the nanking massacre and broader themes of life/death. 8/10

Whatever Works - 7/10

Its got enough great stuff in it to make you smile pretty much through the entire thing. I think it would work better on subsequent viewings actually. Hilarious if youre a fan of allen, so if you are a fan of him obviously go check it out. Larry david has acting range too if you can believe it

I'm watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) as part of my original horror film marathon I've got going.

LOL - Leatherface squeals like a pig.

thought gran torino was hilarious. actually liked it in a kind of "this movie LOL" way

watched michael clayton last night. fantastic film.

Primer - 9/10

i rewatched batman begins last night. "nice coat" made me lol so hard. its funny and so bad its funny.

edit: nvmd