I’m sitting in a hotel in Shinagawa in Tokyo (that’s far too nice for me, really. I hate when the hotel people are really nice and I feel like a total clod. :-)
What I wanted to share were the movies I watched on the flight over.
First, there was K-20, a very fun action movie based loosely on the adventures of Ni-juu Mensou, otherwise known as 20 Faces. This movie got a thumbs up from both myself and the wife.
Then we watched Three Kingdoms, a fanfic of the Romance, following a new character, and rambling through various un-twists and radical departures from sense until everyone died. It was silly, unfocused and had Cao Cao’s evil granddaughter as the bad guy, go figure. It wasn’t that great, but Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have slightly more than a cameo, which was nice. (No subtext between Guan Yu and Liu Bei, though.) Sammo Hung played himself.
Thirdly, I watched a movie that I’m mentioning here for Serge. It was called Kung Fu Cyborg and my god it was stoopid. It was nonetheless also very funny – honest-to-god laugh out loud funny, and then it had the worst ending ever. What a load of crack.
The airport had a giant hot dog wearing an American flag and slathering itself with ketchup and mustard. I mention this not to make fun of Japan, but to point out that this could well be something you’d see at the Jersey shore. For a lot of reasons, Japan immediately outside Tokyo reminds me of New Jersey.
My wife is laughing at a prepackaged sandwich labeled “Fresh Sand.”
It’s time for sleep.
Tomorrow, the Shinkansen to Kyoto.
So… jealous… enjoy the fresh sand! I really want to go back, but the exchange rate is awful.
If you want to see another groaner, go to up the outdoor escalators outside of Isetan to the top of Kyoto Station, and you’ll see “Happy Terrace,” written with the character 葉 (pronounced “Ha”) for leaf. Get it? Ha-ppy? Leafy? Ugh. They wrote it in both languages to make sure bilingual people got the pun. Nice views of the sprawl, tho.
The visitor center on the 9th (or is it 10th?) floor there is totally worth a stop, too. Lots of great info, like “How the hell to I get to Kinkakuji by bus so I don’t get gouged by the taxis?”
I was in Kyoto for about 5 days, and I still didn’t see even close to everything I wanted to, but I still had a lot of fun. I hope y’all have a blast.
I’m sure you’ll see a lot more unusual stuff before your trip is done!
I enjoy Viz Cinema’s movies, and I was looking forward to getting K-20, so it’s a relief to hear that it’s as fun a movie as it seems.
Have a great trip in Japan!
Hi Erica, It’s Ana M. from Orlando,FL i follow your blog all the time. thats so freaking awesome you’re in Japan right now. About that inflight movie. k-20, I cant wait to see it. It will be played at the Florida Film Festival in April, so if you say its good, its def good :-)
if you guys come down to my side of the states heres the info
http://www.floridafilmfestival.com/films_events/film_guide/k-20_the_fiend_with_twenty_faces/