“The key to happiness is good health and a bad memory.”
“Five social misfits commit a successful murder-robbery, but, stuck in their hideout, they soon fight over the money” (2011 World Film Festival of Montreal schedule book, pg. 44)Warning: may contains trace of spoilers! People allergic to the discussion of any plot's elements before seeing a movie are strongly advised to take the necessary precautions for their safety and should avoid reading further.
Having rob an old man of his life savings (which he kept under a mattress) a group of young people who are all in dire need of money meet in an unused gym to spit their disappointing spoils. It result in discord and fights as they all plot to try to keep the loot for themselves -- some with the help of unscrupulous yakusa.
“Can time be made to stand still? Can it be reversed? A meditation on this theme, contrasting the worlds of the photographer Eadweard Muybridge -- who in 1878 successfully photographed consecutive phases in the movement of a galloping horse -- and a mother who, watching her daughter grow up, realizes she is slipping away from her.” (From 2011 Montreal World Film Festival program book, pg. 63)Warning: may contains trace of spoilers! People allergic to the discussion of any plot's elements before seeing a movie are strongly advised to take the necessary precautions for their safety and should avoid reading further.
This movie offers a very wobbly hand-drawn animation (made of drawing and painting on paper), a classical soundtrack (a canon by J.S. Bach) without any spoken words and a very confusing story. It is clearly inspired by the contribution of Eadweard Muybridge to the genesis of early cinema with the invention of the phenakistoscope and zoopraxiscope. He first "filmed" a horse in motion by using a series of strings that would be successively hit by a running horse thus triggering a succession of camera. The animation seems also to makes allusion to Muybridge discovering that his wife was having affair and the fact that he shot and killed her lover (a murder for which he was later acquitted). There was also lots of scenes of a mother and child dancing and playing piano, but that would not have made much sense to me if I would not have read the program description. Overall, it is an amusing animation. 
“Kyohei, who has retreated into himself after several psychological wounds, finally begins to appreciate the preciousness of live, ironically through dealing with death.” (2011 World Film Festival of Montreal schedule book, pg. 58)
A movie about bullying and about the fact that, today, our modern lifestyle put so much distance between people that we don't know how to connect with each other anymore. But, above all, it offers the intriguing parallel between the life of a young man who has been broken by tragedy and the work he is doing for a moving company for the deceased: as he sorts through the possession of death people -- to separate trash from what's worth keeping -- he is slowly sorting through his own memory and feelings to learn how to live again.
"When Usagi, a WWII veteran, returns to Tokyo everyone is surprised to learn that he survived. Usagi hopes for a revival of his prewar theatrical career but his efforts quickly hit a snag when another “Usagi” turns up." (2011 World Film Festival of Montreal schedule book, pg. 60)Warning: may contains trace of spoilers! People allergic to the discussion of any plot's elements before seeing a movie are strongly advised to take the necessary precautions for their safety and should avoid reading further. Really!
I'm not sure what to make of this film. The first part of this weird movie seems to be a variation on the "Martin Guerre" story. After WW2 a man walks alone in the streets. His face is bandaged, he seems shell-shocked and never says a word (for almost the entire movie). A small theatre attract his attention, he walks in and silently sits on the stage from where he is quickly expulsed. However, he is recognized as the rakugo artist Usagi. Considering his state, people assumes he his amnesiac. He is welcomed back without much questions into his artist "family" and they help him coming back to the stage. He is also to be married to the theatre family head's daughter. But he seems now more talented as a mime than as a rakugo performer!
Comme toutes les années le solde de livres des Amis des Bibliothèques de Montréal se tient à l’Aréna Étienne-Desmarteau du 28 avril au 6 mai, entre 13 h et 19 h.
Today, April 29, is Shōwa Day (昭和の日 / Shōwa no hi) in Japan. This holiday celebrates the birthday of the Shōwa Emperor (Hirohito, father of the current emperor, Akihito, who “ruled” over Japan from 1926 to 1989). Because of the emperor's role in the war and the fear it would be seen as glorifying the emperor himself, the holiday was controversial and ceased to be celebrated for a while (1989–2006). It was finally reinstated with the idea that it would rather “encourages public reflection” on the turbulent reign of the emperor.
”Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. This means that any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, phones and even the Dropbox website. Dropbox also makes it super easy to share with others (...)“
I use it constantly. It is very useful to keep files safe and mobile. If you have not already signed up for this free service, you should!
Join Dropbox thru this link and get an extra 500 Mb of free storage (on top of the initial 2 Gb)!
[And this will also give ME an extra 500 Mb of storage. Thanks for helping! And a special thanks to those who have already signed up!]
It's characterized by its flavoured rice which is pressed into a box with topping of cooked or cured ingredients (either eel, red snapper, omelet, shrimp, or, the most famous, mackerel aka battera or “portugese sushi”). When it is pushed out of its wooden mould it gives a perfectly square block of rice (or rectangular in the case of the battera) which is then cut into smaller square pieces. It literally looks like Rice Krispies squares with toppings!
