Done Deal and the Return of the Couch Potato

I've been very impatient. Work has been a bit more exciting while waiting for this company merger to close. As of today, it is officially a done deal. The whole idea is interesting and feels great to be working on the buyer's side acquiring another company in supposedly the biggest all cash acquisition ever. All projected dates of the close had been pushed back again and again and now its finally over with. I can't say much else, other than what the media says about it. At least the no excitement, caffeine fueled, pizza again?! days are a little more exciting now. Other than this, I'm waiting for my new phone to arrive. This thing is like the Bang & Olufsen of mobile phones. This and about 5 other phones like this Sony Ericsson which is more like a camera will be exclusive only through the company (at least here in the US) until about the 2nd quarter of next year. Yes, my dear friends and relatives, I know you will ask, I will try to work something out to make mobile brats out of all of us.

Tomorrow I have some meeting to go to about the merger up in San Francisco which starts at 8 in the morning. I have no idea why they planned this in the city when we've always met at the corporate office in Pleasanton. And the e-mail I received about it stated that parking is scarce and recommended that either I take BART or park at the Embarcadero for $28.00 or drive really early to find parking in the vicinity. Great!... how convenient for someone who has never taken public transport or has a hard time getting out of bed. Oh well...

Autumn is starting to settle in, and while I was escaping the summer heat the past months, I now wish that I was sitting under the sun. Bay Area autumn air always feels so crisp and refreshing but at the same time you always feel wet even when it isn't raining. Time to bust out the coats, rainy day CDs, a blanket and a good book or DVD. It also means retiring Corona and Jose Cuervo for Sam Adams and Jameson.

My blog is starting to turn into a site of movie reviews. Nothing much else has been going on, especially after working 6 days a week the past month. At home I just feel like giving my brain a rest and sitting in front of the TV with a drink and a good movie, if not watch the World Series. With my day off today and a light drizzle, I just feel like being lazy and staying indoors. I was looking for something to watch on the DVD rack and realized that I have the weirdest collection.

So here is my 5 Cool and Weird Movies You've Probably Never Seen review.

I've always been a huge fan of asian cinema, especially by Wong Kar Wai.

ChungkingExpress, originally uploaded by lokeliko.

One of his best is Chungking Express which, with me, has such great replay value and bursts with color and life. The movie is divided in two parts: the first with a film noir feel about a policeman and his infatuation with a female crime boss. The segment is somewhat anticlimactic and is mostly a means to present Hong Kong life in all its color and craziness as the setting for the second story revolving around another policeman who orders the same meal from the same eatery everyday and grabs the attention of a quiet, lonely waitress.

When an airline stewardess leaves a breakup letter and apartment keys with the waitress to deliver to the policeman, the waitress takes the keys, reseals the envelope and tries to become part of the policeman's life by secretly breaking into his apartment to clean and make herself at home. It's a funny love story and the cinematography by Christopher Doyle is so good that you can hit pause at anytime and you'll always have a still image with rich color and beautiful compostion. Also check out Fallen Angels which was originally supposed to be the third segment but was later made into a single move.

BirdPeople,
originally uploaded by lokeliko.

Takashi Miike from Japan can definitely school any western director. The suckerpunch of a movie Audtion, the horror musical Happiness of the Karakuris and his Japanese urban crime comic bookish Ichi the Killer are all mind blowing. On a lighter side but without losing Miike's signature humor is The Bird People of China which is about a Japanese businessman's trip to China in search of jade. The businessman, Mr. Wada, is accompanied by a Yakuza, Mr. Uljie, who is collecting a debt from Wada's company in the form of the jade they search for. After traveling through unpaved roads and rivers, and eventually getting way off course, they come upon a lost village tucked in a mountain range. According to village legend, the children of the past were able to fly but now only wear wings to remember the legend as if they had forgotten how to fly. So instead of jade, the searchers find something in the village more rewarding. The final scenes of this film are pure magic. A region 1 disc is supposed to be out before the end of the year, so if you get to see this before then, it is well worth the search.

BattleRoyale
Originally uploaded by lokeliko.

One cool shock flick from Japan is Battle Royale, a horror-satire on Japanese youth by the late Kinji Fukasaku. With the downfall of Japanese society, this film answers a hypothetical question "What if we come up with a new law, the BR Act, which will send one lucky class by means of a lottery to a three day trip to an island, issue various weapons, and have them kill each other to control overpopulation and curb the inevitable crimes that they may cause in the real world... and the last one standing gets to go home?". Think of Survivor and Lord of the Flies. Crazy but entertaining idea. Here you'll also find Chiaki Kuriyama, who played Gogo Yubari in Kill Bill I.

Irreversible,
originally uploaded by lokeliko.

The most disturbing of the disturbing in my collection would have to be Gaspar Noe's Irreversible, a haunting look at rape, revenge, chance, fate and the power of forgetting . I'd hate to say anything else about this as not to spoil it for anyone interested; The presentation is in reverse chronological order and makes it more difficult to explain (sounds like a stolen idea from Christopher Nolan's Memento but it's purpose in Irreversible is more effective to get the point across). Let's just say that the most brutal and animal-like actions unfold at the beginning and we backtrack to what led to that point, with each chapter back becoming more and more tender and human, making the final chapter even more heartbreaking since we already know their fate. And I'm sure every guy out there enjoys watching Monica Bellucci too. But be prepared to be very disturbed.


And finally, Freaks from Tod Browning. This was banned in some countries for decades since its release back in 1932 and finally made it to DVD about a month ago.

Freaks, originally uploaded by lokeliko.

It focuses on the lives of physically deformed people of a road circus. When a trapeze artist pretends to fall in love with a midget for his money, the team of "freaks" take revenge and "...make her one of us... gobble, gobble...!". The ending will give you shivers and be amazed when Prince Randian, AKA the living torso, pulls out a cigarette and lights it with a match all with his lips. You'll also find siamese twins, coneheads, a human skeleton... and they are all real!

Hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

Wish I had other stuff to write about other than stuff I've watched. Until the clouds clear and the air gets warmer, I'm in front of the TV.