Filled with many profound and powerful scenes, aided by superlatively heartfelt performances, and wrapped up beautifully in an understated yet resoundingly expressive score, this film is an unparalleled achievement in insightful, emotionally intricate cinema.
Oh wait a minute, that’s The Hours.
I fondly remember the Potato and Bacon Pies from when I went to McDonald’s in Tokyo in 1992. I’m happy to see that they still have lots of unusual items available. The Korean barbecue beef burger was probably the best, but the curry pies they have now are pretty yummy, as is the tofu burger.
If you’re vegetarian, don’t get excited – I am told that the tofu burger also contains chicken. They don’t really “do” vegetarianism in Japan.
Another few fantastic hours in Middle Earth. Breathtaking to look at, but was it as engrossing as the first one? Anyway, I sat in amazement for most of it and I’m eagerly awaiting the Return of the King.
Is there such a thing as a sleazy ’60s noir road movie? If there is, then this is the soundtrack to it. The Raveonettes make sharp, guitar-based retro-rock (what?), they have wonderfully exotic-sounding names, and they’re much better-looking than the White Stripes.
Initially, this book is very disorienting. It’s a set of short descriptions of a strange, primitive society based on our own. Common words (house, dog, wire) take on bizarre meanings that you just have to guess at as you read deeper into this world. The whole thing is like a particularly unsettling and weird dream. By the end of the book, I felt I almost started to understand it. I’ll be reading it again.
I have spent a lot of time looking at cherry blossoms recently. It’s “hanami” season in Tokyo, so everybody spends as much time as possible picnicking under sakura trees.
This photo is from early April at Mizumoto Park, in Kanamachi in northeast Tokyo.
Word of the day: hanami. “hana” means flower, and “mi” means look, so “hanami” means flower-watching.
Three men with big sticks get their shot at the big time. This is a really fun film set in the world of seedy pub pool tournaments. It compares favourably to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and it’s great to hear all those Kiwi accents!
Another side of Australia. A true story about achieving a seemingly impossible goal against apparently overwhelming odds. But despite that unpromising description, the film is absorbing and fairly unsentimental. Beautiful sound and visuals too.
Lots of amusing snippets of writing, and part of an uncompleted third Dirk Gently book. A great reminder of how much fun Douglas Adams’s writing could be.