Watching Reality Bites (1994) for the first time in its entirety brings back very fond memories of my early secondary days where the nostalgic soundtrack featuring Lisa Loeb’s “Stay” was one of the first CD’s I ever owned, and this was still way back in the early 1990’s where the now mesozoic cassette tapes were been slowly but surely supplanted by CDs, a fate they themselves seemed doomed to reiterate in the wake of digital music.

That aside, Reality Bites is an extremely important film in recent cinematic history not only because its serves as an irreplacable memory bookmark in an early chapter of my life ( the transition from bespectacled, nerdy primary school kid to bespectacled, nerdy secondary school kid ), but more importantly because its the emblematic teen-angsty, quasi-intelligent, 90s era defining film, just as what the Matrix Trilogy had done for the new millenium years. This once again demonstrates the power of the cinema and its ability to change worlds and shape lives, deliberate or not. Now the debate of whether Bites was a good or bad film requires another article altogether, but undisputedly, it had one heck of a bloody good soundtrack, bar Sharona or none.

On location in Minami-Sunamachi. Principle photography has wrapped and editing is in the works for a short film about 2 ladies who start a cat fight over a cheesecake. As the cameraman for the shoot I also got a humble cameo ( actually almost everyone else in the team did a cameo )as an english teacher ( in a TV advertisement within the film )who tries unsuccesfully to instruct proper pronounciation for the word Cheesecake ( read as chee-su-ke-ki in Japanese ). Now that was great fun.

I wonder if the collective filmmakers ( I would like to think at least half of them had to be sane when the film was shot ) who took part in Chen Kaige’s latest film The Promise knew how *beep* ridiculous the notion of a man capable of running faster than the speed of light is. ( trivia; not even our fastest, most advanced fighter plane today can reach even a mere 1% of light speed, which if possible, would already be at an astonishing 30000km/sec. Yes, that’s just 1 measly percent. )Sure, you say, its a movie, but this is way more than pushing the audience’s ability to suspend their disbelief; its downright insulting. Contestant No.1 for this year’s worst film watched. AVOID AVOID AVOID.

Films Retrospect 2005

Total tally for films watched in 2005 stands at 28 in theatres and 150 on dvds, making that 178 in all ( Click here to see the entire list ), averaging out to about 1 film every 2 days for the entire year. Here are my top 10 favourite films viewed in 2005, in no particular merit.

1)The Machinist (Brad Anderson)
2)Not One Less (Zhang Yimou)
3)Tony Takitani (Ichikawa Jun)
4)Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan)
5)Cha No Aji (Ishii Katsuhito)
6)Bourne Supremacy (Paul Greengrass)
7)Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood)
8)Life Of Mammals (Documentary, David Attenborough)
9)Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders)
X)Majo No Takkyubin (Miyazaki Hayao)

Certainly it was tough trying to sift just 10 films out of 178, there were many other entertaining capers like Constantine and Starwars EP3, as well as films that had very outstanding visuals ie Lemony Snicket’s, also others worth mentioning like Hotel Rwanda and Daremoshiranai. Due to the exorbitant price of tickets here in Tokyo, exacerbated by its cretaceous release dates the abililty to view the latest films plunged dramatically, but the silver lining was that rental stores here stock many old titles that I was able to catch up on.

With that, here’s to another bountiful year ahead for movie viewing ! :]

Today, the 29th of December, 2005 will go down in my personal history as the day where I, an infinitesimal and paltry existence on this planet, meets Miyazaki Hayao, world renowned animator and master of the Ghibli Universe. No, I didn’t see him at a premiere for a new animation film; nor was it at a press conference or anything of this loud, official nature; I met him while he was on his way to work ( at Ghibli Studios in Musashi Koganei, not far from where I live ), driving pass my bicycle as I stopped at a junction, with one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding a cigarette, the smoke trailing from his vintage car as he drove away. I stood flabbergasted for a long time, anticipating Totoros to trod along too, but they did, in a way I guess, in the spirit of their brilliant creator.

Winter holidays are here and I’ve taken this opportune moment while taking a short breather from school to indulge in a little creative pleasure; taking s**tloads of photographs with my newly acquired, long overdue and hitherto much desire(d) Nikon digital SLR D70s. I’m loving every second of it; the handling and feel of the camera, the expanded creative options I have ( check it : ISOs from 200 to 1500 at the flick of a switch ), and I’ve barely even started. Now before any film purist lambast me as been unfaithful to the medium, no, I’m not a digital convert; I still love my good old Nikon FE10 and the romantic look of film; but the wise auteur utilizes all tools available to him so as to advance his level of work; not that I’m claiming to be one.

Here’s to many more happy and rewarding shooting days. :]

Dusk near home in Tanashi, West Tokyo.