Monday, May 16, 2005
Been so occupied lately that I almost forgot it’s SIFF season again, one of my favorite times of year! Am only just now getting around to browsing through the listings, so already I can guess there’s no hope of getting tickets for Howl’s Moving Castle (sigh!) but already a few others are looking promising:
- Strings: because really, how can you go wrong with fantasy, puppets and Derek Jacobi?
- a Murakami double feature of Tony Takitani and Tuesday’s Women (a short film which is, as told me by Alice, based on the story later expanded into The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle)
- Asian-American director Alice Wu’s Saving Face looks like fun!
- The Syrian Bride, an Israeli-Palestinian co-production. Could be too much to handle, but I’d like to see it if I can.
That’s only a first glance; there’s a lot left to read through. Unfortunately, since I’ll be spending two of SIFF’s first three weekends out of state (in Chicago and New York/New Haven), I’m sure I won’t be able to attend every film I’d like to.
Still, what are you going to see?
Oh! If you’re stuck on the eastside and craving Thai, I totally recommend Noodle Boat in Issaquah. It’s so good! I especially liked the “volcano honey duck,” which sounds a lot kitschier than it actually was, but really, everything we tried was delicious. Lots of sweet basil, lime leaf, cilantro, and a menu that seemed just a bit off the beaten path (with evocative, engrish-esque names like “Mr. Lime,” “Whatever you called?” and my fave: “Egg! Best friend”) — one of our favorites (“kao tod”) was almost like a Vietnamese “bun,” with deep-fried chunks of curried rice instead of rice stick noodles.
A word of warning, though: keep an eye out for the sign, since it’s almost impossible to see from the road.
Comments
You’re going to be in Chicago? Any chance I could meet up and take you out to lunch or something?
To elaborate on my comment about Tuesday’s Women, the first chapter of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle was originally a short story called The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Tuesday’s Women (which also appears in one of the short story collections released in the US, I think The Elephant Vanishes).
I swear I was looking at Hana & Alice last night on YesAsia, and would definitely be interested in seeing that too (if I lived even two states within SIFF).
Will have to see, I’m there for family stuff and not sure how much free time I’ll have (that’s this weekend).
Hana & Alice looked interesting, but I really couldn’t connect at all to the last Iwai film I saw, which was All About Lily Chou-Chou (though I loved the soundtrack!) — maybe I’m not disaffected enough to relate to some of these recent Japanese teen movies. But who am I kidding? I’ll probably end up seeing it anyways. ^^
@ 06:07 PM | 2005/05/18
I will not recommend “A World Without Thieves”, my image of Andy Lau got damaged again.
Knowing your longstanding love for Andy Lau, Hong, I’ll take that to heart.
His hairstyle really is awful in that movie, isn’t it??
@ 11:23 PM | 2005/05/18
After a quick scan, I think I’d find Beneath her Window and dreamship Surprise - Period 1 interesting.
The Indian offerings seem a bit blah to me. The Journey merely transplants the plot of Fire from middle-class Delhi to rural Kerala. However, Malayalee women are always fun to ogle at. :) The Warrior might be worthwhile.
…Wish I could be there for SIFF. :(
@ 08:28 PM | 2005/05/19
Oh! Those look really good! Let me know if you end up going to any. I am also interested in checking out “5 x 2” which is by the director of “Swimming Pool” so it should be pretty interesting. And then I also might want to get to “C’est la Femme,” the collection of short films by female directors. I agree, there are so many, I’ll keep looking and let you know if I do end up going to any.