> -----Original Message-----
> From: sanada_fans@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:sanada_fans@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Tj
> Hello Lyn and all,
>
> we are indeed fortunate to have the Japan Foundation here in KL to
> have many initiatives like the monthly movie shows - may I add that
> they are offered free of charge - to the public. Of course, not many
> are aware of these projects, but there are interested members of the
> public who follow the goings-on and we are rewarded by these great
> activities. The Japan Foundation also conducts tea ceremonies (these
> are ticketed events, with a very small registration fee) especially
> during special celebrations like Hinamatsuri.

I need to fish around on the 'net and see if there is anything remotely like
that near enough to me. In the past we didn't have that big of an Asian
population in this area of the US Midwest, at least not that I know of - but
I think that is changing - I know we have quite a few Chinese Americans here
now, and a growing East Indian population; I don't know how big the local
Japanese American contingent is, though. But I can't imagine the local
university doesn't have some kind of Asian Studies program that sponsors
various events and "cultural education" opportunities. I would be interested
in learning about all kinds of different cultures that way if it's possible.

> I hope you'll watch TS again soon, Lyn. I'm looking forward to buy
> the DVD myself. I have Ringu at home but I confess I havent yet found
> the courage to watch it - even horror movies that my friends find
> amusing or 'not even scary' can sometimes give me nightmares.

I have the first Ringu on DVD too, and I think it's really well done and
worth seeing - Sanada-san is quite lovely to look at in it too and gives a
great performance IMO. I will say, though - and I don't mean to scare you
away from seeing it, really - that I rarely have scary dreams and the like
from watching a movie, and by "rarely" I mean maybe twice in my adult life
and not really anything I can remember from childhood. I grew up watching
horror films and monster/scifi films because my sister loves them but will
not watch them alone, so even when she was a teenager and I was barely out
of diapers she was already sitting me on the couch next to her for "moral
support," lol, whenever she watched a scary movie. And like I said, watching
that stuff never seemed to bother me much. But Ringu is one of the two
movies that I've watched as an adult that had an after-effect - can't
remember what or if I dreamed about, but I do know I woke up about three in
the morning absolutely terrified that... well, can't say what I
thought/imagined/dreamt because it would be a big spoiler if you haven't
seen the movie. But it did get to me that one time. Have watched it since
with no "ill effects," though. And the first time, I watched it around
lunchtime on a Saturday, in a well-lit room, sun shining in the windows and
everything, just in case. On the other hand, I've watched it with my sister
and she didn't seem to find it very scary at all, she didn't even seem to be
following the plot most of the time - maybe it was the subtitles. I don't
know. She's more into the gory/action stuff, and Ringu doesn't have a lot of
that.

In fact I think part of what was so effective about it was that so much of
the movie is very "matter of fact," a lot of the sets and lighting and even
the actor's performances are sort of every day realistic and natural, so it
doesn't hit you over the head with the "creepy" supernatural factor every
five minutes and then when something happens that is creepy it has much more
of an impact.

> I go through a lot of heart-pounding thrills at work, as a project manager

> in an engineering company, where some suprises from unavoidable
> circumstances can be as scary as a ghost appearing out of nowhere! So
> I watch only one or two movies, and my staples have been cartoons
> like 'The Emperor's New Groove' and 'Chicken Run' and 'Shrek' because
> of the advances in animation technology and because they're SO funny.
> As you can probably guess, I dont watch horror movies often ;-)

I like animation too. A couple of my recent favorites are Lilo & Stitch and
The Incredibles - the second is more interesting, I think, from an animation
technology angle, but they are both great IMO. Also I'm a huge fan of the
Samurai Jack cartoon series - just went through season one on DVD and am
hoping to pick up the season two discs soon. I think season three comes out
in May and then there's supposed to be a one year wait for season four which
I'm sure will be intolerable. :)


> BTW, there's a good interview article about TS at the UCLA
> International Institute at
> http://www.international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=10823 and
> also a link to the realvideo clip of the interview between Sanada-san
> and the institute's Carl Wakamoto. Perhaps many of us have viewed
> this, but for those who havent, the March 2, 2004 interview is in
> English and Sanada-san talks about what he liked about Seibei's
> character and the experience working on the movie. He also touched on
> Last Samurai, particularly regarding the elements that he recommended
> to inject realism into the Ujio character he played in the movie.

I've seen it, and it's great. Thanks for posting the link for anyone here
who hasn't looked at it yet- it's definitely worth watching!

Lyn