ctrl + f5
one of my favorite things to do when i visited japan was hanging out in the train stations. los angeles is a polar opposite to tokyo in respect to mass transit. sure i've got a red line subway station a few minutes from the crib but it's novelty far surpasses it's utility. and the architechture, while neat, really doesn't have a purpose. the utilitarian design of tokyo trainstations strikes a great balance between form and function. there's kiosks where you can buy everything from boxed lunches to whiskey and soda in a can and the clackety-clack of ticket punchers (who wear white gloves) could be a great rhythm section for even the most avant-garde of jazz musicians.
of course the highlight of any visit to a train station in japan is seeing a pack of uniformed school girls on their way to or from school. director shion sono obviously picked up on the fascination that dirty old men (like me) have with school girls in the opening scene of his movie, JISATSU CLUB (suicide club), in which 54 uniformed school girls (with leg warmers!) clasp hands and throw themselves in the path of an approaching train. throw in a bunch of angsty teenagers who are ready to off themselves at the drop of a hat, a website that tracks the suicide count, a smiles-and-giggles girl band (think: mickey mouse club), a new wave rocky horror-esque frankenfurter, and the police who want to bring an end to the suicides and you've got yourself a movie, son!
ever wake up not knowing where you are? if you're the type that gets freaked out by that, this probably ain't the movie for you. but if you wake up not knowing where you are and figure you must've had a pretty rad night, you just might be feeling this movie.
i bet sono is a huge david lynch fan.
my ears have been filled with joy division's unknown pleasures, dusty springfield's lost british recordings, chino XL, and hendrix's electricladyland. i'm hoping that explains why my writing is all-over-the-fuckin-place.
one of my favorite things to do when i visited japan was hanging out in the train stations. los angeles is a polar opposite to tokyo in respect to mass transit. sure i've got a red line subway station a few minutes from the crib but it's novelty far surpasses it's utility. and the architechture, while neat, really doesn't have a purpose. the utilitarian design of tokyo trainstations strikes a great balance between form and function. there's kiosks where you can buy everything from boxed lunches to whiskey and soda in a can and the clackety-clack of ticket punchers (who wear white gloves) could be a great rhythm section for even the most avant-garde of jazz musicians.
of course the highlight of any visit to a train station in japan is seeing a pack of uniformed school girls on their way to or from school. director shion sono obviously picked up on the fascination that dirty old men (like me) have with school girls in the opening scene of his movie, JISATSU CLUB (suicide club), in which 54 uniformed school girls (with leg warmers!) clasp hands and throw themselves in the path of an approaching train. throw in a bunch of angsty teenagers who are ready to off themselves at the drop of a hat, a website that tracks the suicide count, a smiles-and-giggles girl band (think: mickey mouse club), a new wave rocky horror-esque frankenfurter, and the police who want to bring an end to the suicides and you've got yourself a movie, son!
ever wake up not knowing where you are? if you're the type that gets freaked out by that, this probably ain't the movie for you. but if you wake up not knowing where you are and figure you must've had a pretty rad night, you just might be feeling this movie.
i bet sono is a huge david lynch fan.
my ears have been filled with joy division's unknown pleasures, dusty springfield's lost british recordings, chino XL, and hendrix's electricladyland. i'm hoping that explains why my writing is all-over-the-fuckin-place.
keep up the good work.