Waaaagh!

While I'm Waiting to do something productive and as we all watch LiLo perform the toilet death-spiral of her nascent career...

I finished watching Kar Wai Wong's 2046 the other night... one of the best pieces of cinema I've seen in years. Spectacular. I never knew where it was going and it tore me up. Zhāng Zǐyí is an actress... damn...

Watched The Departed afterwards... probably a mistake - since it felt like a poor imitation of a hong kong police action drama (of course, there's a good reason for that). Ok fine - it might well be better than the original 'Infernal Affairs' (which i havent seen) - but after seeing 2046 I couldn't help but feel I was watching a knockoff. A screenplay that hollywood loved, but to me felt piled high with caricatures and mediocre performances (sorry, but Nicholson just felt like The Joker sans makeup). Then again - maybe it's Wong's fault for making such a good film.

Followed that up with a couple truly crappy films... as i'm running out of things in my queue that are worth watching. Not that that bothers me all that much - i've found a couple really really good series of fansubbed anime that have taken up the slack. (Yes, I'm embracing my inner geek... but some of this stuff has just gotten REALLY good). Kanon requires some patience and a willingness to get past the big-eyed style - but man when the hooks sink you're screwed. Shakugan no Shana was fun too in a far cheesier and less adult sort of way, as are a number of the Spring season releases from this year. If your experience with anime is Speed Racer, Robotech, and /or Pokemon - you might consider a new look - afterall - you cant judge Morrison's Invisibles or The Watchmen based on Ditko's ROM or the old Archies. This stuff has become a remarkable medium for storytelling.

And now that you're giggling at my childish source of entertainment - i'll go back to reading Cormac McCarthy - which is the other thing i've been doing - so piss off ;)