film festival

AFI FEST: Day 4 (Monday)

I arrived at the theater early, even though I had tickets for Littlerock. Not sure what I hoped to accomplish by waiting around for two hours, especially since I’d have to wait in the Rush Line anyway for Outrage later. I asked the friendly Box Office Lady if she had any extra tickets for the Yakuza film and she said no in a way that suggested I should know better, given how many days I’ve attended so far. I ended up wandering around the area for the remainder of my time, eventually grabbing a black tea at Starbucks. Not entirely certain that black teas are for me anymore.

I took a lot of pictures of my shoes for some unknown reason. You may have noticed. Oh! Looks like someone got in line!

Littlerock
Directed By: Mike Ott
Starring: Atsuko Okatsuka, Cory Zacharia and Rintaro Sawamoto
Rating: ★★★★☆

I’m not sure I could ever spend a day in a foreign country without some kind of person around to help translate. Sure, I could probably draw “where is the bathroom” or “can I have another beer,” but I would feel way too out of place and kind of go into panic mode. For Atsuko, it didn’t really matter. This is where Littlerock really drew me in. I have an affinity for fish out of water tales and this one came with an extra helping of heart, as cheesy as that sounds. We got a glimpse into these people’s lives in this rather strange town and were able to identify with the main characters. I kind of want to see this again as soon as I can.

Outrage
Directed By: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Beat Takeshi, Ryo Kase and Eihi Shiina
Rating: ★★★★☆

Like 13 Assassins, Outrage is the type of film that I’d like even if it weren’t good. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Outrage was a little hard to follow, but each character got a chance to develop a little before he was offed in some gruesome manner. Like with 13 Assassins, this film is about the resolution of an era. The old Yakuza get wiped out and replaced with a much younger set with “new” values. It’s quite a fascinating watch and I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Well, except for the various parts involving finger-chopping. Beat Takeshi was marvelous in this film and a delight to watch. I hadn’t really seen him in much since Battle Royale, so it was nice to be graced by his presence once more. Seriously, that guy could make Dr. Seuss sound threatening.

See this.

(Stay tuned for Day 5 in which I prove how much of a hipster I can be – I’m not, really…)