Naruto Viz-sion

Last night, we took part in an event that would have been nearly impossible before the advent of digital projection. Viz Entertainment released its American version of the first NARUTO movie --NINJA CLASH IN THE LAND OF SNOW -- in theaters across America for one night only, before the company releases it on DVD. Had the company struck that many prints of the 35mm film, it would have spent umpteen amounts of moolah for a single showing. But with digital projection, the movie just had to be downloaded (or perhaps DVD'd) to theaters nationwide.

Before-and-after promo pieces featured both the Japanese voice actors and the American ones. We could see that several of the younger Naruto fans were startled to see that the title character, a rambunctious 13-year-old boy, is played by a woman in Japan; and by Maile Flanagan, another woman, in the US of A. Believe it!

A Landmark in My Backyard

Today's LA Times featured this article about the new 12-screen Landmark Theater that's being built at the intersection of Pico and Westwood, replacing the former "Westside Two" section of the Westside Pavillion. (Angelinos might recall that the Pickwood theater used to be approximately at that point.) The theater is not literally in my backyard, but it's close enough that I can see the parking lot from my front porch.

When I heard that it would be running "independent films" only, I wondered how it could possibly find enough current indies to fill 12 screens. (I thought that it might end up with "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" running on 4 screens every month.) Apparently, I'm not the only one wondering about the programming. "Exactly what kind of movies the Landmark will play is in dispute," the article notes. The Chief Operating Officer states that, were the venue open today, "Spider-Man 3" might be playing on as many as three Landmark screens. But as the article notes, the company has repeatedly told the theater's neighbors (i.e., us) that it would not run big, wide-distribution movies like that.

The article comments that the success of theaters in Century City has threatened those in Westwood, traditionally a mecca for those who want to see movies on big screens that dwarf those in multiplexes. (Of course, there's just one theater in Century City now, the AMC Century 15 -- the theater at the former ABC Entertainment Center died with the Entertainment Center a few years ago.) Now the Landmark will have to contend with the Century 15 for bookings in the area -- a daunting prospect, given that AMC is a national chain with tremendous clout; and given that the Century 15 has a screen set aside for independent movies.

I will welcome a luxury theater (with a lower ticket price than The Bridge and the Arclight, my current favorite movie venues) within walking distance of my house. But I will not welcome it so much if it draws loud, rowdy crowds. Or if it goes out of business, leaving a multi-story abandoned hulk a couple of blocks away.

Don't Panic

Don Burr and Pam Gross, two of the friends who came to my birthday party, have posted party reports on their respective blogs. Both blog about the movie I showed at the party, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY -- a must, since the party celebrated my 42nd birthday.

Watching a 2005 HHGG movie was definitely an odd experience. Back in the early '80's, HHGG was initially a British radio show, then a series of books that everyone was reading (my sister, who was definitely not an SF fan, was reading the first book, if that gives you a clue), then a BBC TV miniseries. The miniseries was the first way I enjoyed the story; the books and radio show came later.

So a couple decades after the radio show, the books, the TV show, and even the comic book series, we have a movie that reiterates a lot of the punchlines and bits from the other media. Of course, punchlines that convulsed me with laughter 25 years ago now merely provoke a pleasant glow of nostalgia.

Apart from the recycled bits, the story has changed every time it's been told in a different medium -- even though the same writer, Douglas Adams, was behind every iteration. That's what amuses me about the folks who despised the movie, on the ground that it's not faithful to "the story." To which story should it have been faithful?

Linda Lea's New Lease on Life

When I drive to the Second District Court of Appeal (located in the Ronald Reagan State Office Building -- yes, the Ronald Reagan SOB -- on Spring Street) to argue a case, I usually park in a pay lot just north of Third Street. The lot abuts what used to be the Linda Lea Japanese Movie Theater; and I could just see the back of the theater and the sign from the lot. According to this article in today's LA Times, the theater closed in the early '80's, and has just been demolished (a good thing, too; apparently the facade crumbled when removed).

The property's owners have plans to build a new "Imaginasian Center" in the theater's stead, showing Japanese, Chinese, Hong Kong and Indian movies. They believe that the current interest in Asian pop culture is strong enough to support the venture.

I wish them luck. Although the home movie market has made a dent in art house and foreign-movie theater attendance, nothing replaces watching a terrific movie -- especially a Hong Kong martial-arts extravaganza, a samurai flick, or an anime film -- on a big screen.

Highway to Hell

The image of a damned soul, clad in biker leathers, his skin flayed away and his skeleton streaming flames, defying the Devil and roaring down dusty highways on a hellfire motorcycle hits so many American archetypes of coolness that it's a wonder Marvel's Ghost Rider hasn't been turned into a movie before. Now, 35 years after the character's creation by editor Roy Thomas, writer Gary Friedrich, and artist Mike Ploog (depicted here in a photo taken last week, shaking hands with Amy while writer J.M. DeMatteis sits in the background), The Most Supernatural Superhero of All has torn his way into America's cinema houses. And the results are . . . mixed.
Writer/director Mark Steven Johnson's movie is at its best when it shamelessly plays off the mythic vibe of the character -- like the opening, set in the old west, all desolation and flatlands and heat lightning, while an electric guitar strikes blues chords on the soundtrack. And the scenes with Ghost Rider himself are simply splendid. Few comic adaptation movies (outside of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films or Richard Donner's Superman film) have captured the over-the-top fire and beauty of comic-book mayhem like this film. When Ghost Rider burns his bike up the glossy side of a skyscraper, or smacks down fallen angel goons that have elemental powers, or hits his throttle and instantly bursts into flame, you know you're watching a particularly well-drawn comic come to life. And Sam Elliott (as a grizzled gravedigger with an eldritch past) and Peter Fonda (who played "Captain America" in EASY RIDER, and here plays Marvel's version of Satan) play their roles with just the right tone.

The rest of the movie is the problem. Nicholas Cage, as Johnny Blaze, with hair that looks like he borrowed it from GLADIATOR's Maximus, seems to have trouble figuring out how to play his brooding Evel Kneivel character whenever he isn't blazing. As for his love interest, I approve of the Marvel movies' trend of recasting white characters in the comics with actors from other races (here, the comic's extremely white Roxanne Simpson is played by Latina Eva Mendes); but alas, Ms. Mendes's perfomance falls flat. And while it's nice that the actress has a truly comic-book-like figure, did her reaction to every peril have to be showing off more cleavage?

Then there's the script. Apparently, Mr. Johnson's flair for recreating Ghost Rider's comic book visuals did not extend to snappy patter for the Spirit of Vengeance. When Ghost Rider initially faces off against his opponents, his first line -- uttered in a terrific, sepulchre growl that seems carved out of smoking brimstone -- is, "Yer goin' down!" Yeah, yeah, there's a double entendre there, since he's trying to send the blackguards back to the nether regions -- but come on.

Also [mild spoiler] the story has one of those plot tropes I could never understand: When the bad guy is demanding the magical Maguffin that will make him all-powerful, and the good guys have it in there grasp -- why do they always give it to him?! Yes, the hero always has some plan to defeat the souped-up baddie; but wouldn't it be easier to just defeat him before he becomes all-powerful?

Anyway, I doubt this film will win bouquets from critics; but it's essentially critic proof. It's a flaming skeleton on a motorcycle. Pyrotechnics look great on film. So do skeletons. So do motorcycles. Put 'em all together, and you should have a moneymaker.

The cover above is copyrighted by Marvel Enterprises (or whoever the parent company is now); and the still is from Columbia Pictures.

Yo! Jimbo!

On Wednesday, Amy and I took in a rare double-feature on a work night. The reason was a combo of Akira Kurosawa's two movies featuring Toshiro Mifune as Sanjuro: YOJIMBO and its sequel, SANJURO. We'd seen YOJIMBO on TV before (and we have it on DVD), but not SANJURO.

Seeing YOJIMBO on a big screen gave me a chance to appreciate Kurosawa's perfect screen compositions -- before I started getting into the story and forgot about such things. I didn't, however, miss the scenes that George Lucas apparently appropriated for STAR WARS. The bit near the beginning where a bunch of thugs brag to Sanjuro about how they're wanted by the law -- and then Sanjuro slices off the arm of one of them -- is a dead giveaway.

SANJURO reminded me of those Saturday Morning TV series from the '70's and '80's where they'd take some real-life celebrity (Muhammed Ali, or Mr. T, for instance) and saddle him with a bunch of teenagers for him to guide/mentor/humiliate. Here, Sanjuro helps a bunch of young and clueless clan warriors retrieve a government official from a corrupt official. Everytime the young bucks try to do something on their own, they screw up; fortunately they have Sanjuro to save their bacon.

In addition to the shoulder-rolling, self-scratching main character, the two movies have other recurring motifs, such as Sanjuro tricking stupider opponents, Tom-Sawyer-like, into doing things for him; and Sanjuro being asked his name, whereupon he will stare out a door or window (obviously enough for others in the room to follow his gaze), see some plant or field, and give the name of the vegetation as his family name.

Although the West may see Sanjuro as the ultimate movie samurai (and the basis for John Belushi's character on Saturday Night Live), he's actually more of a western character. He's an individualist in a culture that looks down on individualism; he's rude, blunt and sarcastic in a world that values subtlety and manners; and he does not fit in, a liability in Japanese society where conformity is a virtue. Further, YOJIMBO is often described as a samurai western, since Sanjuro fills the traditional role of a cowboy hero: He comes to a society torn by chaos; restores order, through violence; and cannot fit into the now-ordered society that results. It's no wonder that Sergio Leone remade YOJIMBO as A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, and modeled Eastwood's Man with No Name after the samurai.

Robert Downey Jr. = Shellhead

Marvel Comics character Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, may have started out as essentially Howard Hughes with a Clark Gable face; but newly-formed studio Marvel Entertainment may have made an inspired choice for the upcoming Iron Man movie by casting Robert Downey Jr. as ol' Shellhead. (Comics fans may recall Stan Lee's fondness for coming up with nicknames for his characters that included the word "head" -- e.g., Webhead (Spider-Man), Winghead (Captain America), Hornhead (Daredevil). For some reason, though, he never called Thor "Godhead" . . . .)

Stark's original weakness was a piece of shrapnel lodged close to his heart, requiring him to wear his chest armor/iron lung 24 hours a day (fortunately, it could be recharged from wall sockets or car cigarette lighters -- no joke). Eventually, the shrapnel was removed; so to find a new problem for the Golden Avenger, Marvel turned to substance abuse. Beset by stress he couldn't do away with by punching something, Stark turned to the bottle; and he's occasionally relapsed into it since. Substance abuse is definitely something Downey knows about.

The recreation of the "Demon in a Bottle" cover is copyright by Marvel. Downey's picture is probably copyrighted by someone, but I don't know who.