Monika’s Pensieve

{FILM DIARY}
Gohatto (Japan/France/UK, 1999)
Seen: Monday, 22nd June 2009 (DVD, repeat viewing)
Runtime: 100′
Director: Nagisa Oshima
Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Ryuhei Matsuda, Shinji Takeda, Tadanobu Asano
Production House: BS Asahi, Bac Films, Canal+, Eisei Gekijo, Imagica Corp., Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., Oshima Productions, Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Shochiku Kinema Kenkyû-jo
Plot: A mysterious teenager joins the militia. His comrades and superiors [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Koi no Mon (Japan, 2004)
Seen: Sunday, 21st June 2009
Runtime: 114′
Director: Suzuki Matsuo
Cast: Ryuhei Matsuda, Wakana Sakai, Suzuki Matsuo, Hijiri Kojima
Production House: Koi no mon Seisaku Iinkai
Plot: (from imdb)
Live-action adaptation of a madcap manga about art, opposites, love and a whole lot of cosplay.
Trailer

Impressions In Short
I wonder about the sanity of the people who made [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Ashita no Kita Yoshio (Japan, 2008)
Finished Watching: Saturday, 20th June 2009
Runtime: 11 episodes (45min. each)
Director: Ten Shimoyama (ep1-2,5,7,10-11), Manabu Asou (ep3-4), Yoshishige Miyake (ep6,9), Akira Hibino (ep8)
Cast: Fumiyo Kohinata, Ryuhei Matsuda, Manami Konishi, Chiaki Kuriyama, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Jun Kaname
Network: Fuji TV, KTV
Plot: Kita Yoshio has decided to commit suicide in 11 days. He meets [...]

{FILM DIARY}
46-okunen no koi (Japan, 2006)
Seen: Saturday, 6th June 2009 (DVD, repeat viewing)
Runtime: 85′
Director: Takashi Miike
Cast: Ryuhei Matsuda, Masanobu Ando
Production House: Eisei Gekijo, Excellent Film, Maki Production, Shochiku Company, Shochiku Kinema Kenkyû-jo
Plot: (from imdb)
An unknown future. A boy confesses to the murder of another in an all-boy juvenile detention facility. More an exercise in style [...]

I felt this was quite a strange, but fascinating story. Google has included some historical Japanese maps in their Google Earth service and there are calls for these maps to be taken down:
The maps date back to the country’s feudal era, when shoguns ruled and a strict caste system was in place. At the bottom [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Blindness (Canada/Brazil/Japan, 2008)
Seen: Sunday, 12th April 2009 (cinema)
Runtime: 121′
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Cast: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Yusuke Iseya, Yoshino Kimura, Don McKellar, Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal
Production House: Rhombus Media, O2 Filmes, Bee Vine Pictures, Alliance Films, Ancine, Asmik Ace Entertainment, BNDES, Corus Entertainment, Fox Filmes do Brasil, GAGA Communications
Plot: A mysterious and [...]

{FILM DIARY}
Osama (Afghanistan/Netherlands/Japan/Ireland/Iran, 2003)
Seen: Saturday, 11th April 2009 (DVD)
Runtime: 83′
Director: Siddiq Barmak
Cast: Marina Golbahari, Arif Herati, Zubaida Sahar
Production House: Barmak Film, Makhmalbaf Productions, Hubert Bals Fund, LeBrocquy Fraser Productions, NHK
Plot: During the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, a widow decides to dress her daughter up as a boy, so that at least one family member can [...]

{FILM SPOTTING}
March has me very confused as to what to see :] There’s nothing that has me seriously excited, but an abundance of things that I wouldn’t mind seeing. I rather think this means that I’m not going to see even half of what’s in this post ;-P
Watchmen (USA, 2009)
Polish Distributor: United International Pictures Sp [...]

The 103 year old lady is amazing :)