So much, So little...oh, what the heck

I have so much to write about. I want to write about our experience with the move, our new place, and our puppy, but instead I am going to write about movies.

As some people already are aware of, Suk's one and only hobby is watching movies, talking about movies and going to video stores to rent movies. I also love movies, so often our Saturday night dates consists of dinner and a movie. (Before you say, how nice that is, I want to stress - the grass is always greener! We are not an active couple who go camping, skiing, hiking, white water rafting, etc. together. Oh...how I imagined that kind of fun marriage when I was a kid!)

So, movies it is.

Last December, I reluctantly went and saw King Kong because Suk's company was doing the advertising for it in Japan. We took his mom with us because she loves scary blockbusters. I loved this movie from the first second to the last, and I went around and recommended it to everyone I knew, including all of the people I work with. No one that I know of went and saw it! Can you believe that?! This is the kind of movie that needs to be seen on the big screen. Naomi Watts, whom many people seem to under-estimate, was absolutely amazing. She conveyed all that emotion with nothing but a blue screen behind her and a big mechanical ape hand in front of her with Andy Serkis (the same guy who played Golem in LOTR) making faces at her. She should have won an Oscar for that, and I believe that someday, she will get an award for something. She really is a good actress.

Rent KING KONG if you have not already.

A couple weeks ago, another teacher and I went and saw Crash. It was the last night that it would be playing at the theaters in Japan, and Suk highly recommended it. He had never seen it, but he wanted me to report to him what all the fuss was about. It was an amazing portrayal of the underlying racial tensions that people from all sides feel in the USA. I could totally relate to this movie, and I hope most Americans will admit that they do also. I have seen it happen, and I have seen people completely deny its daily occurrance. I had been looking for an educational movie to show my high school students for their Intercultural Understanding course. This is definitely it. My students go on a study tour every year to Texas where they visit our two sister schools for 2 weeks and they stay with host families. Those students from the sister school also come here to visit us for two weeks. Anyway, some of my kids have commented on the fact that they believed that racism had disappeared from American culture after the Civil Rights movement...until they went to Texas and heard their host students using derogatory names for black people and making fun of them behind their backs. I was shocked as well. I am not blaming Texas, certainly. It is just a concrete example. Anyway, this movie is a must-see.

Last week, on our day off, Suk and I went and saw Brokeback Mountain. We wanted to see what all the fuss was about. It is one of those movies that stays with you for days. On one hand, it was really sad...so sad and hopeless. It just breaks your heart. On the other hand, (warning: this will be graphic), I was shocked by the scene where they do it for the first time. I can't stop thinking about it. 'Nuff said. Go rent it.

Today, I needed to get out of the house because Max and I are in the middle of training, and I have to get him used to being alone for long periods during the work day. We are working our way up to 9 hours. So, today, I needed to leave house for 4 hours, and I decided to go catch a movie since it is ladies day and all. (Ladies Day is once a week, and women get about 800 yen knocked off the ticket price.) I went and saw the Chronicles of Narnia. I had never read the books, so this was something new for me. In fact, it was so good that I think I will tell the story to my kids countless times and make them believe that I made the story up. It was that good.