RIFLE RANGE BOY

Tokyo Vice (Miniseries) 2 Seasons, 18 Episodes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/tokyo_vice I don't know why, but watching this miniseries reminded me of President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Southeast Asian countries. Everyone had much to say about Xi in private regarding the CCP's megalomaniac and imposing projects. Still, when the big Don landed in their backyard, leaders from these minion nations decided to hide their tails behind their hind legs and play dead. No one can blame them. This is the effect a powerful nation has on smaller ones. It happened in ancient times and continues to happen now. Might is right. When the majestic fleet of the Ming Dynasty emperor came to the Malaccan shores in the 1400s, the Sultan had no choice but to send his emissaries to China with gifts. When the Siamese King showed displeasure, another entourage would go there with gifts and beautiful princesses to solidify international relations. Intertwined with physical might are the potent ...

Spirited Away (2001) Written and Directed: Hayao Miyazaki All through our childhood, my sisters and I had been watching manga without manga was referred to as so. It was then just Japanese cartoon, with characters having big round eyes, cute demeanour and screechy loud voices. Later, Japanese cartoons developed into separate entities grew wings and started telling more mature stories and themes. The written graphic form became known as manga, and animated forms that appear in games and films are known as anime. I was recently introduced to Japan's eminent cult figure in the field of animation and direction, Hayao Miyazaki. His film ‘Spirited Away’ has been hailed as Japan's highest-grossing movie for 29 years. It also won the Oscar at the 2022 Best Animated Feature Film. BBC listed it in its 100 greatest films of the 21st century. Partnered with Disney, this film infiltrated the four corners of the globe. Thanks to the vibrant colours, creative storytelling, and interesting cha...

Kuroneko (@ Black Cat, Japanese; 1968) Director:  Kaneto Shindō Thinking about it, primitive societies of yesteryears were run mainly by female tribe members. The male members were mostly out of the scene most of the time. Some may have been out hunting for food during their caveman days. In more civil societies, when aristocracy ruled the day, the male members needed to do their national services. Many left for months or even years together to fight wars. Children mostly grow up with absent fathers.  Wives led the pack in their day-to-day running of the family unit. Men were left to make many life-changing decisions like defence, security, foreign relations and food security. Guarding the household is no small feat. Nature is very unwelcoming and hostile. Torrential rains, storms, extreme temperatures and wild beasts frequently harass their abode. So, the female species was not as fragile as modern man had made them out to be. They are actually more robust than the world cred...

Onibaba (Japanese, 1964) Director: Kaneto Shindō Many stories tell us to be wary of the company we keep with. Like how Amma frequently reminds us, a calf, if it moves around with piglets, will eventually join the piglets and source its daily meals from the rubbish dump. An animal, placed high in Hindu society, will ultimately do unholy things depending on the company it keeps.  There is something special about black-and-white movies and the horror genre. It reminds me of my childhood, when my sisters and I would flock around our home 16" TV, squinting to watch RTM's Friday offering of  Cerita Pontianak . Even the poor makeup of Pontianak would scare the living daylights out of my sister. She would even be scared to enter the kitchen. To make it worse, I would hide around the corner and jump suddenly in front of her, making her scream! Onibaba is a classic Japanese movie set in the Samurai era. Times are bad. All the territories are at loggerheads; all men are out to fight, and...

The Boy and the Heron (2023) Director and Written:  Hayao Miyazaki I did not know much about this director until recently, but he has been a cult figure among those who enjoy Japanese cartoons. No, his brand of cartoons does not fall under manga, anime, or adult cartoons; instead, it carries a rather philosophical message. In fact, this particular offering is a semi-autobiographical one that the filmmaker made ten years after his retirement. In keeping with the coming-of-age era, the story is set in late 1930s Japan when the country is steeped knee-deep in the Pacific War.  It starts with Mahito, a young boy who gets up from sleep to find his mother trapped in a great fire. His mother subsequently succumbs to the fire. His father remarries his wife's sister, whom Mahito finds challenging to connect with. Mahito moves to a new town to live with his pregnant stepmother. As Japan prepares for war, we see Mahita finding it challenging to fit into his new school and accept his new ...

Perfect Days (Japanese, 2023) Director: Wim Wenders (Please note: It is plural, not singular. Every day is a perfect day, and there are many!) This is a reminder to recreational cyclists over 60: Just enjoy every opportunity that comes your way. By the twist of fate or alms from karma, you can go out, pedal, and feel the wind whisk by as you zoom downhill. Only some people are gifted with the privilege to do this. There is no need to outdo a fellow cyclist, go all out for a personal record, or invest in a state-of-the-art, spanking-new machine to keep up with the Joneses. Every completed cycling route happens on a perfect day. There will be many perfect days. This beautifully crafted film gets all my thumbs up. It moves very slowly with apparently no definite direction, but that, in essence, that is the message behind the movie. We should find happiness in the things around us.  The protagonist, Hirayama, is a creature of routine. He gets up to the rhythmic pace of a street sweeper...

Bullet Train (2022) Director: David Leitch This movie gives a feeling of watching 'Kill Bill' or 'Pulp Fiction'. There is a Quentin Tarantino feel to it with much chaos and twists in its storyline. There are mindless fighting and meaningless killings. The storyline is so convoluted that it makes a Bollywood offering an Aesop fable with a straightforward storyline. Despite the violence and gore, the dialogue paints a picture of a dark comedy. And the scriptwriter must have been trying very hard to sound philosophical by inserting Eastern philosophy here and there. Coincidentally, the film is an adaptation of a Japanese story. The story revolves around the high-octane somersaulting and shooting action upon a speeding bullet train travelling between Tokyo and Kyoto. A self-proclaimed harbinger of bad-lucked assassin codenamed 'Lady Bug' embarks on the train with a mission to seize a particular suitcase. He is merely filling in for another hitman who is hit with a b...

Drive My Car (Japanese; 2021) Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi Based on Short Story by Haruki Murakami I have not read any of Murakami's works; I guess I should. His body of work is said to reflect the deep, dark corners of human consciousness. After watching this highly engaging movie, I think I should engage time to appreciate his writings. As in all good movies, the viewers are clueless for a good one hour into the film. I was wondering where the story was going. Why was the protagonist, Kafuku, a theatre actor, who was acting in 'Waiting for Godot', keeps driving around? Why did he not react when he caught his wife, Oto, sleeping with another man? What is this about Oto and telling stories? Then there is the history of a dead child. And then the wife dies too. Two years on, Kafuku is on a directing stint in Hiroshima. The company insists that they hire a chauffeur for him to drive his 1987 Saab Turbo. The chauffeur, Misaki, a young 20 something woman, seems to carry a massiv...