Memoirs Of Another Kind

Days like today are one of the reasons I moved back to California. Here it is, the middle of fucking December, and it was 70+ degrees and sunny and beautiful. There was no smog, just big puffy white clouds in a clear, blue sky. That's definitely my happy thing for today... On the movie front, I only got one seen. I was wide awake at like 8:00 this AM and so I got up and went and caught the early showing of "Memoirs of a Geisha." That's another great thing about LA. Weekend matinee shows start at like 10AM. If I time it right I could conceivably get 4 or even 5 movies seen in day. Today was not that day though. It was too nice to spend indoors, but Geisha was a must-see on my list. I was not wrong. It's a truly remarkable film. Spielberg planned for years to direct this movie and it may prove to be an unwise decision on his part that he never got around to making it. I think it will be the biggest competition that his film, "Munich" has come Oscar time. It's beautifully shot and the cast is amazing. I never read the book, but the story is great. It's all about sacrifice and loss and what lengths people will go to to attain what they love. Ziyi Zhang is one of my favorite actors out there and she was perfect for this role. Yes, I know she is Chinese and not Japanese and that has a lot of people up in arms over her casting, but fuck them. She's awesome and she was born to play this part. The rest of the cast is equally as good. Everything really falls into place in this movie, from costume design, to music, to make up and cinematography. Expect to see this one on a lot of "best of" lists at the end of the year. It should bring home a slew of award nominations as well. Is it the best picture of the year? I don't know. So far, I'd have to call it the front runner, but with "Munich," "Brokeback Mountain," and "King Kong" still on the horizion, the competition may still heat up.

"We create another secret world, a place only of beauty. The very word 'geisha' means artist and to be a geisha is to be judged as a moving work of art." -- Michelle Yeoh - "Memoirs of a
Geisha"