MOVIES TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE:
Being a lover of movies and a storyteller (and at some point in my life, a filmmaker), I have always had a spot in my heart for movies. Horror, documentaries, love stories, adventure, psychological thrillers, comedy, action, drama and even mock reality movies have always fascinated me and showed me the many ways (good and bad) a story can be shared. Emotions and paradigms are teased, stirred and in some cases even questioned as the movie shares its views and possible messages to the viewer.

Here is a small list of movies I am anxiously awaiting to see within the year:
SILENT HILL - Combining unsettling camera angles, beautiful use of darkness and sound, Silent Hill produces horror in a way that most survival-horror games and horror movies rely more on surprise tactics and shock. While movies like The Hills Have Eyes or Hostel rely on gore and gruesome imagery, the Silent Hill game series focused more on atmosphere and story tied to very strong characterization to deliver the fear. Screenwriter Roger Avary researched into the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania in order to develop the story of Silent Hill. Centralia was once a thriving community of over 1,000 residents back in 1981. Today, only 11 people remain in the city, as a result of a 40-year mine fire that has been burning underneath the town that began way back in 1962.

Cast includes: Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger and Kim Coates.
Directed by Christophe Gans.

KINKY BOOTS - Inspired by true events and combining the comedy born when two different worlds meet in an attempt of one man's search for a way to save a family business, Kinky Boots introduces to us Lola, a brassy female impersonator cabaret singer who becomes an unlikely ally in a bid to save a dying shoe business. This is wonderful story about people who have spent their lives trying to fit in finally deciding to take the actions necessary to finally stand out.

Cast includes: Joel Edgerton (known more as Owen Lars in Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (who makes an amazing change of image and role from his no-nonsense disciplined assassin from the Josh Whedon movie, Serenity)
Directed by: Julian Jarrold



FIND ME GUILTY - Vin Diesel reinvents himself as an effective comedy actor as he plays a mobster who defends himself in court for what would be the longest mafia trial in U.S. history. Based on the true story of Jack DiNorscio, Find Me Guilty combines snappy banter with a great set of characters into a movie that looks both fun, funny and yet heart-warming to watch. Heart-warming? Well, I do have a soft spot for underdogs, so there.

Cast includes: Vin Diesel, Peter Dinklage and Linus Roache
Directed by: Sidney Lumet (who also wrote the screenplay)

DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 - Lastly, Drawing Restraint 9 is... hard to describe. It is an art film by American artist Matthew Barney, dealing with the relationship between creativity and self-imposed resistance. Shot in Nagasaki Bay, the film is set aboard the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru. The core idea of the two hour and fifteen minute movie is the relationship between self-imposed resistance and creativity, a theme symbolically tracked through the construction, transformation, bisection and recreation of a liquid vaseline structure called "The Field".

Sounds confusing? It is.
But it looks damn good. And I truly feel that I will find myself gaining a lot of insight, ideas and inspiration while watching this movie. Though many pan it for being too much artsy tripe and all that, I have always found it best to watch a film with an open mind and to see what you can gain from it, regardless of how bad it can be.


Dear General MacArthur,

With your permission
I offer wishes of good health,
During this heat
That burns anything.

The words I slowly put together
Do not flow easily, they only fill my heart

Recently, fulfilling
Your heart’s desire
You removed the whaling
Moratorium.
Your gesture brings
A much needed food
To our community
And families,

The words I slowly put together
Do not flow easily, they only fill my heart

A million year old fossil
I send to you.
This comes from my family
And the ancient sea.
A prehistoric impression
Of the modern krill,
She feeds the noble whale,
And offers you longevity

The words I slowly put together
Do not flow easily, they only fill my heart

Finally, please take good care in the heat.

Sincerely yours,
Shizuka


Cast includes: Matthew Barney and Björk
Directed by Matthew Barney
Music by Björk