Avatar in 3D at Roppongi

Roppongi, just like the other parts of Tokyo, is lit up still waiting to welcome 2010. I was there today to check out Avatar in digital 3D.

I always like to watch my movies at Toho Roppongi Hills since it is a pretty new theater. Being in Roppongi, it also attracts a lot of foreigners so it is sometimes interesting to go just for people watching. Anyway, today was nice – the movie, Avatar, turned out to be pretty good. I had high hopes but I did not realize we actually reached a level of CGI quality where computer generated things on the screen can interact seamlessly with the human actors all the while exhibiting emotions themselves. The technology behind 3D movies also improved by leaps and bounds as well. I remember watching a 15 minute movie at Niagara Falls with 3D glasses and getting a headache. This movie of 3 hours did not give me any such problems at all…

Anyway, thought I would drop a line and check in. More holidays are coming starting the 31st so that should be a nice break from all the work I hope.

Watching movies under the sky – Starlight Cinema 2009

From 17th of July to the 9th of August, Yebisu/Ebisu Garden Place in Ebisu is showing movies in the big open air atrium. I realize this may be a bit late since today (Sunday) is the last day but if you come across this and happen to live in Tokyo go check it out. It is pretty popular and they do have nice movies – some international ones as well as a very nice selection of Japanese movies (though I realize there is only one movie left). I knew about this event since the Christmas time when they used the atrium for a huge crystal chandelier.

  I really like Ebisu – it is such a nice, peaceful place even though it is only 2 minutes from the chaos of Shibuya. There are so many nice places to eat at, from little cafes to an oyster bar to a “fancy” pasta restaurant. Unfortunately, in order to go there, the shortest way for me is through Shibuya, using Yamanote Line which can get extremely crowded. I still think it is worth it though – nothing beats relaxing, listening to the water flowing through the sides of the gentle incline that leads to the atrium.

Just back from watching Departures/おくりびと

Wow… This was easily the saddest movie I have ever seen. The whole theater was crying almost throughout the movie and I am not going to lie, I shed a tear or two as well. OK, let me rewind things a little bit…

So, today was a holiday and making use of that, I went to Roppongi to check out おくりびと with subtitles at Toho Cinemas Roppongi. The movie is by no means a short one but it is really, really well made. The pace is set just right so that you don’t get bored but you do get to see a very deep story. The casting was done perfectly as well and I did not see any obviously bad choices. What can I say? If you get a chance go and see this movie. Your life will be better for it… I am enclosing the trailer below.

どうもありがとうミスターロボット! (Thank you Mister Robot)

I was watching the Oscars on Monday (WoWoW showed it both in the morning [live] and at night) and I couldn’t help but crack a smile at Kunio Kato’s speech. His English was not the best but he kept it simple and smart, finishing with a reference to the song by Styx. It is a pretty well known fact that Japanese people are into robots of all kinds (even if the statement may not be all that factual) and when one says “robot” these days after a few animated offerings, one of the first things that comes to mind is Honda’s Asimo or Sony’s Qrio and Aibo.

So here is the speech and the song:

Oscar speech

 

Mr. Roboto by Styx

Caught between two cultures: A movie

Yesterday I managed to watch the movie "Big hopes, little Tokyo" which is an independent movie - a light-hearted comedy - about Boyd, a spectacled white guy living in Japan Town somewhere in the US, who speaks perfect Japanese and acts almost more Japanese than your typical Japanese. His live-in student, Jerome, is a big Japanese guy who seems to be born and raised in the US so he is learning Japanese from Boyd and wants to become a Sumo wrestler. He also meets a pretty and sweet nurse at a hospital who is Japanese and decides to take English classes from him. I really enjoyed this movie and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who is remotely interested in the Japanese culture.

There is a new Street Fighter movie?

So watch the trailer and check out the official site first:

OK... A couple of questions:

• Why is the lady who is supposed to be Chun-Li not even Asian? Doesn't that violate some fundamental law of physics or something?
• Why is the official site and the trailer in Japanese when the movie is clearly full of westerners and is completely in English?
• If the lady is supposed to be merely "channeling" Chun-Li how are other Street Fighter characters like Balrog and Vega seemingly in the movie?

And last but not least... Did CAPCOM learn nothing of their last foray into trying to make a Street Fighter movie? Does anyone remember that catastrophe of a film?

I am so hoping this is some bad joke but with the SF4 logo... I don't know...

New Miyazaki movie - "Ponio on a Cliff" (崖の上のポニョ)

I saw the trailer for the new Miyazaki /Studio Ghibli スタジオジブリ animation today at the movie theatre (in fact this is the second time I see it at Roppongi). It looks like it will be great though I don't know if it is possible to match some of the amazing previous work by Miyazaki like Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, or Howl's Moving Castle. I will definitely watch it and I hope my Japanese will be enough to at least understand the main idea. I can usually watch movies on TV and get the gist of them but it would of course be great if they somehow add English subtitles - at least at a place like Roppongi where lots of "foreigners" come to watch movies. It looks like they have not released the trailer online but I found the song they are using for the title (and the trailer) accompanied by stills from the movie and some of the sketches. I am finding it extremely hard to get out of my head :P

Tama-center （多摩センター）and Warner-Mycal Cinemas

Tama Center is a small but neat town further from Tokyo's center than Mitaka. To get there from Mitaka (and in particular where I live in Mitaka) one needs to take the bus (either Odakyu[小田急]　or Keio [京王] 14 or Odakyu 6 from Mitaka City Hall stop [三鷹市役所前]) to Chofu Train Station （調布駅）. The trip from there to the Tama Center Station takes about 15-20 minutes and stops along the way include the Yomiru Land which I may check out later on a sunny day.


The first thing that greets you at the Tama Center Station is a big sign proclaiming this to be the "Hello Kitty's Town". The main pedestrian way seems to stretch between the train station and a large number of stairs with huge Hello Kitty inflatable "statues". Since this is the Christmas/New Year's time there is also a huge lit Christmas Tree and the whole walkway is flanked by smaller trees.


On a sideroad from the main pedestrian way lies the Hello Kitty/Sanrio Puro Land. I have not actually been inside - I think I will be waiting for my sister's visit (she is a huge fan) before I try going into this... cute and cuddly... place. I did see quite a few tourists around which may explain all the English translations around on signs and menus.



The place in general feels very new and the movie theatre is one of the reasons for this. The Warner-Mycal Cinemas is one of the few places around which has Digital 3D - this lets the audience enjoy new movies using Real3D glasses with a "perceived 3D effect". I must say I was pleasantly surprised - I watched Beowulf there in 3D and not only was the movie rendered in impressive 3D with perspectives/depth added in pretty much all shots but also I did not get a headache after the 2 hr long movie. This is a welcome change compared to the head splitting experience of watching Spy Kids 3D (yes I did watch that movie but I swear it was in the name of watching something in 3D). They also use the nice plastic Real 3D glasses as opposed to the cardboardy cheap glasses used with the earlier 3D movies (which could be shown without extra equipment). The movies are very expensive in Tokyo - the standard price for a new movie is around １８００円 - in this particular case I had to pay ２００円 extra for the glasses (which you get to keep so for the next movie I will not need to get glasses again).