Super Size Me

I finally got around to seeing this unusual documentary
about a guy who eats nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days.

Ever since a kid I have been a sucker for McD’s, especially the fries. Everytime I walk by a McD - even until this day - I am very tempted to buy a pack of fries to munch on. It’s that smell - many think that it’s some addictive ingredient in the oil they use - that weaken my resolve to stop eating those fatty carbo monsters.

Until I was 14 or 15 I ate McD’s regularly - two or three times a week - and loved it. But after that what happened? My body wanted Chinese food instead. You see, when I was a kid my main diet at home was Chinese food and even though my mind favored McD’s, my body gradually told me that it was not right to eat that. So one fine day in my mid-teens something drastically changed: I could never eat McD’s more than once a day, or two days in a row without feeling sick to my bones.

Seeing all those fellow fat and unhealthy Americans in the documentary really made me sick again. I realize I am lucky to have had Chinese food mix into my diet since I was a kid. Because of that, my body knew that there was a healthier choice and it steered me to it. I am not sure most Americans have this choice; if they don’t eat McDs chances are they are stuck with other equally high-fat unhealthy diets such as pizzas, pseudo-Italian or pseudo-Mexican that are present in many strip malls around the country. If not, then there are crazy diet fads - to me anyway - such as Atkins that forces many believers in our country to play unnecessary Russian Roulette games with their own health.

The documentary is a wake up call, as with the book “Fast Food Nation”; too bad many still will fail to heed their advice.

And it is true: you are what you eat.

Meet the Fockers

A while back a friend, upon learning that I had become a father, told me to watch this movie.

It took a while, but I finally saw the DVD yesterday. My friend was right: the movie is funny when it gets into all those baby jokes. Seeing Robert De Niro act as an uptight, ex-CIA grandfather who works extremely hard to Ferberize his grandson is funny.

Most critics, however, gave thumbs down to the movie. I guess most of them are not parents.

Yonfan: Color Blossoms

I have heard of Yonfan the photographer, but I didn’t know he has been making art housey movies. His latest is called “Color Blossoms”.

An excerpt from IHT’s article on Yonfan:
“Hong Kong doesn’t want movies anymore,” he said, “people want DVDs. I belong to the big screen.” He paused, leaned back into a silk-covered cushion and put on his best Gloria Swanson gaze: “It is the movies that got smaller.”

Matrix Revolutions

Last night I saw Matrix Revolutions.

I don’t get it.

I have to hand it to the Wachowski bros. They are probably geniuses and have scripted the last two installments for people of their own kind. I wonder, had I watched the movie with English subtitles, would I then understand how Neo was able to defeat Agent Smith? (I doubt it.) And what about that cryptic exchange between Architect and Oracle in the end? It seems that Wachowski bros want us to read between the lines at all times, but it just makes the movie, oh, so much more pretentious.

If I watch this movie over and over, maybe I will finally get it. I always appreciate a thoughtful movie, but not one where I have to work extremely hard to understand it. I guess I am just lazy.

Sure Matrix Revolutions has its fair share of CG: the war between Zion and the machines, the final showdown between Neo and Agent Smith. Unfortunately, both scenes dragged on for too long. The movie wasn’t fun anymore like the first one; it was getting tedious. In short, Matrix Revolutions is a disappointing conclusion to a once-promising premise that had begun with the first movie.

Lost In Translation

A new Bill Murray movie, directed by Sofia Coppola that can be interesting for gaijins who have lived in Japan. Check it out on its site. The movie supposedly received rave reviews from critics at Venice Film Festival recently.

Saw two movies in

Saw two movies in two days: Matrix Reloaded and The Pianist.

Hero

Just watched Hero, the latest movie by Chinese director Chang Yimou. I thought some of the fight scenes dragged on too long and the special effects were a bit tiring, but the unpredictable story line - coupled with excellent character development on all fronts - was brought out to an immensely satisfying conclusion. The movie argues as such: a real hero is one that manages to throw out his convictions - sometimes at the last minute - for the well being of the common.

Minority Report

Saw Minority Report today. A thought-provoking Hollywood movie, a rare breed.

Gaijin

Saw Gaijin, a film directed by a Japanese Brazilian woman named Tizuka Yamasaki.  My qualms:

• The director rushed the ending: how did the main character (Chitoe) become well-to-do after escaping from the coffee plantation was not well explained.
  
• Most of the spoken scenes follow one and another very tightly but I would prefer some wordless scenes to convey to viewers the atmosphere of the coffee plantation. Show a scene overlooking the whole plantation from a hill for example. Show the surroundings.  I think they could use a little bit more wide-angle scenes.
  
• Furthermore, it was difficult for me to grasp the layout of the plantation; the locations of the boss’ house in relation to the worker’s houses as well as the plantation itself was not really clear and established so that the viewer can relate to right away.  Usually films with fixed, repetitive locations like this one could use some establishment shots to transport the viewer into the physical space of the film.

Despite the problems I had with it, I thought the film provided a fairly accurate historical account of the hardship that Japanese had suffered when they immgrated abroad to Brasil during the early 20th century.

Moulin Rouge

What better to spend a rainy Friday night watching a good movie?  Tonight I caught Moulin Rouge on DVD: boy I was really hooked with how they combined the pop and rock music our times with fantastic choreography. It was hilarious they managed to incorporate “Smells like Teen Spirits” into one of the songs, but if I have to pick my favorite scene it would definitely be the tango. Highly recommended.