Berlinale

So...this was my morning. The adrenaline's worn off and now I'm just tired.

The New Beauty and the Beast

I couldn't think of anyone who would want to go see the new Beauty and the Beast with me, so I went to the cinema alone for the first time in ... possibly ten years! It was a wonderfully awkward and entertaining experience. 

Mildly Depressing

Scandiphile G loves sad movies.

Berlinale 2014

It's back!

Movie Taste

When it comes to movies, I think G's taste is somewhat more refined (sometimes).

The Devil

Another lazy evening in.

Movie night

Beer-and-Big-Lebowski-night-in is never a bad idea.

The Late Quartet

Finishing off the lazy weekend with a bang.

Bridget Something

My parents just got back from Japan, which means more Mama comics.

It also doesn't help that my mom never remembers the characters' names so instead refers to them as "that lawyer guy," "the pudgy main character," and "the womanizing boss" every time.

3D and Musical

Boobs in 3D and musical boobs. What's not to love?

Captain Supermarket

Argh! This was meant to be a September 30 post, but I'm an hour late! Schade. I was at G's parents' house making gyoza with him for G's parents, sister and her boyfriend . . . and they were excellent! We made a batch of vegan gyoza, which also turned out pretty well. Also, I think I have a thing for men in aprons. Hot.

Right. Onto the totally unrelated comic. It was inspired by an article about terrible translations of film titles that I found via the ICoFF Twitter account:

It's almost impossible to look for a foreign film by yourself in a Japanese video store if you don't know the title in Japanese. (Unless it's something like E.T. where the title stays the same.) I learned quickly to look up the Japanese title before going to the store, but if I'd forgotten to, I'd find myself trying to explain the synopsis of the film to the poor employee as he/she tried to guess what film it might be.

Right. Off to bed, and then another weekend of intensive art classes (and for G intensive law classes)!

Depressing Documentary Film Festival

The Pigs in Maputo entry about depressing documentary films reminded me of a conversation I had with G the other day.

Meat is Romance

This isn't a comic, but I was perusing around Daily Portal Z, one of my favourite Japanese websites, and found a funny article about everything imaginable being valentinified for, well, Valentine's Day. Even if you can't read the Japanese, I recommend checking it out for pretty outrageous V-day decorations in Japanese supermarkets.

Ok, I get the wine. But V-day steak, salad, and bread?

Everything looks cuter when it's in a heart-shaped package.

So last night, after a day of translating and transcribing, I went to see a series of short films for the Berlinale with G. The last time I'd seen shorts in a theatre was at probably back in 2007 or 2008, so it was fun. I guess the biggest one they had was the 30-minute long Spike Jonze piece called Scenes from the Suburbs based on an Arcade Fire album. The others were also excellent, like the one from Iran called Untying the Knot by the currently imprisoned director Jafar Panahi about a brother and sister letting go of their family carpet to pay for a dowry. 

The theatre was packed but we managed to get good seats, and even got to hear brief Q&As with directors and other people involved. All in all an excellent evening.

and a comic to follow later!

**
okay. So not a comic, but here are some slices of lotus. Maybe I'll work on turning this into a wallpaper . . .

mmm, delicious lotus root.

Machete

Went to watch Machete last night with C, A, and his roomie M.
Senseless violence, unnecessary nudity, angry rednecks, and over-the-top stereotypes of Mexican immigrants made the movie . . . freeking awesome.

But yes. This was the conversation that took place between my parents and me prior to the movie.

(click to enlarge)

ps. Holy crap! Today's the last day of November . . . how did this happen so quickly? I'm not ready for December!