Not enough films
Despite having watched a total of over 140 films ( and still counting ) on a mixture of dvd and cinema screenings so far this year ( this is excluding film appreciation seatings in school now ), the unthinkable, unprecedented has still happened : I have not yet seen even one of the 31 new films reviewed in this December’s issue of Sight and Sound, which by far is still the most insightful and well written film magazine ( except of course the peerless Singaporean FIRST, with reviews so intellectually potent I’ve uncontrollably vomited blood per read. ) I’ve ever read, thus making its recommendations so incredibly important.
This alarming event can be ascribed to 1) The exorbitant pricing of cinema tickets in Tokyo, charging rates fitting for seatings perhaps 20 years in the future, 2) The ironically Precambrian rate by which new films hit Tokyo shores, where by the time they actually start screening them the dvd copy of the same film would have long since been colonized by dust mites in Amazon’s warehouses, and 3) My sadly tondemonai level of japanese which largely prevents me from renting most foreign films ( read films from France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Korea, etc ) that carries no english subtitles. I fear if a remedy is not formulated soon enough, I’ll be missing treasure troves of films by near future Godards, Truffauts and Renoirs.
