i’ll say for the last time: i don’t dislike “after hours”; i would just put these films above it:

“king of comedy”–my favorite scorcese
“taxi driver”
“raging bull”
“mean streets”
“gangs of new york”–pete, sunhee and i saw this together and we all loved it.

I’ve been on a Japanese bender recently, especially after reading Peter Carey’s memoir Wrong About Japan: A Father’s Journey with His Son. I’ve read two novels by Haruki Murakami: Kafka on the Shore and The Chronicle of the Wind-Up Bird (while critics seem to favor the latter I found his most recent novel, despite its flaws, the more entertaining and thought-provoking read) and watched a number of films: Yasujiro Ozu’s Floating Weeds, Isao Takahatu’s Grave of the Fireflies, Ryosuke Hashiguchi’s Like Grains of Sand, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s After Life and Nobody Knows. I also watched Shunji Iwai’s All About Lily Chou Chou for a second time. I can’t say I have come any closer to an understanding of Japanese culture—if anything these works seem to reflect a country that is more radiant chimera than coherent nation. (more…)