I had a hard time picking the first film I wanted to talk about.



Merry Christmas, Mr.Lawrence (Senjō no Merī Kurisumasu in the original), 1983, directed by Nagisa Oshima.

What? Based on the memoirs of British soldier Laurent Van der Post as a war prisoner in a Japanese prison-camp in Indonesia Merry Christmas, Mr.Lawrence deals with the relationship between four men: two British prisoners, the Japanophile John Lawrence and the rebellious and beautiful Jack Celliers, and the Japanese officers commanding the camp, the ultrapatriotic Captain Yonoi and the seemingly easygoing Sergeant Hara.

Warnings: Some quite disturbing violent content, including maltreatment and torture of prisoners of war, executions and ritualized suicide.

( Now there's me ranting a lot, sometimes about things that don't have that much to do with the film )

Availability: Merry Christmas, Mr.Lawrence (or Furyo as it was known in some countries) is available on dvd or bluray worldwide. And there's the beautiful Criterion edition with a new high-definition transfer, which I covet more than anything in the world. Damn you, USA, you and your Criterion editions.

Recommended reading: For a really awesome investigation on the theme of seppuku and the death of Yukio Mishima try Christopher Ross' Mishima's Sword (published in the UK by Harper Collins). An informative and absurdly entertaining read.

{Take the 100 Things challenge!}

I've decided to commit to the 100 things blogging challenge, which is an awesome idea because I feel that fandom doesn't talk about things at length anymore and this is a great chance for livejournal people to do what they do best: rant a lot about things they love/hate.

My theme: 100 Japanese Films. Why I've picked this? 1) It's a subject matter I am relatively knowledgeable in and passionate about and I have a bit of theory ground to stand upon (I took specialized courses and had to write papers about it in college and that doesn't make me an expert of course but I enjoyed it a lot) and also many of my favourite films ever are Japanese films and it's a subject wide enough yet particular enough to be able to cover a lot of ground in 100 picks; 2) Not many people in fandom are that aware of the history of Japanese cinema (the new stuff is pretty well known but go earlier than 1990s and only Kurosawa is a household name) and it's super fascinating and weird and varied; 3) I get to explain what pinku eiga is and why such a genre exists and that's going to be a lot of fun.

All lists are subjective and I'll try to keep a balance betwen the "100 Japanese Films Zau Loves Whether They Are Good Or Bad" list in my head and the ideal "100 Japanese Films Zau Considers Relevant And That Everyone Should Watch". The post will not be reviews of the films but rather my personal take on how I experience these films - and that will include random trivia and unlikely connection. Also there will be a lot of appreciation of Tadanobu Asano's face, just so you know. There also will be a chance of me offending someone with my picks, and why these 100 films and not these other 100 and why do you include all of Satoshi Kon's films but not all of Ghibli's and such questions that might arise. Some of the answers to these might be belligerent (ie. because Ponyo sucks balls) but it's all in good fun, I'm not saying I have the truth, but I talk about stuff in this way, I'm not trying to convice anyone of anything (though seriously, guys, Ponyo sucks balls XD). That said, I APOLOGIZE PREEMPTIVELY if anything I say offends you. I'm totally open to criticism and if you think some of my choices are shit I'm glad to have you say so as long as you don't get personal (Ponyo sucks balls but I'm not saying that any of you who love Ponyo suck balls personally as individuals). I do love a good film criticism fight.

Also, about WARNINGS: many of the movies I'll talk about contain depictions of graphic violence and graphic sex, and some times -if I'm talking about such a film as Visitor Q for example- the films I talk about contain incest and some times -if we are talking about something like Rashomon- they will contain rape. I will WARN of all of these, specially in case someone decides to check out the movie themselves. Obviously I will not warn about gay themes because nobody should warn about that.

Ultimately I hope that, between my deranged ranting and my delusions of academic grandeur (what do you mean I should not be working at Midnight Eye? Of couse I should!) some of you might get curious and check out some of the films I talk about. I mean, THERE ARE 100 OF THEM. At least one of them would be to your taste, hopefully.

we went to see Damsels in distress at the BFI the other week (the film, by the way, AMAZING, watch it if you can), directed by the almost-forgotten Whit Stillman, who was one of those awesome filmmakers from the 90s who made personal, different films that were really formative in my ideas and FEELS about cinema. So here, have a list of my very personal pick of almost-forgotten indie movies from the 90s.

( The Weird & Wonderful 90s - Twelve American Indie Films You Might Have Not Seen But You Would Totally Love )

because other people make lists about films or records, i make lists about fanfic.

all in all 2009 has been a pretty good year for fic (nothing compared to the heyday of naruto/prince of tennis circa 2004, but well) even if i stopped reading for some of my favourite fandoms (i read almost no doctor who fic and lost almost all interest in battlestar galactica).

it has been a good year for bones fic and there was a little harry potter revival with the movie coming out. and there was the outpour of merlin stories. and despite my feelings about canon, there have been good stuff in that direction. reborn! fic wasn't as strong as in 2008 but still enough to satisfy me.

on the negative side of the fannish year, NOT!star trek happened and ate fandom and WHY OH WHY. epic fail of the year.

so here's the list of the fic i've enjoyed most in 2009. it might sound a bit like nepotism that so many of my chosen authors are in my flist but hey, i surround myself with really cool people, you know.

( TOP TWENTY FAVOURITE FANFICS OF 2009. fandoms featured: Heroes, Lost, Merlin, Disney RPF, The Devil's Whore, Band of Brothers, Prince of Tennis, Doctor Who, Stargate: Atlantis, Football RPF, How I Met Your Mother, Buffy, Supernatural, Harry Potter, Law & Order UK, Fullmetal Alchemist, Reborn!, Torchwood, Naruto and Bones. WARNINGS for much SQUEEage and Zau being a PATHETIC FANGIRL. )