Happy New Year!
Hey, everybody! (There’s still someone out there, right?)
Anyway, you may have noticed that since I came to the realization that I wasn’t going to come close to catching up on my film reviews by year’s end, I kind of gave up writing. Not watching, mind you. I actually made it to exactly 365 feature-length made-for-theaters films in 2007. (Last film, 1939’s Made for Each Other.)
Things just got real busy at work and at home, so I could never find the time to do the reviews justice. But I intend to keep swatting away at them once things clear up a bit. I will also be keeping track of my 2008 films, but no goals or anything this time. My progress through 2008 will be interspersed through my 2007 reviews whenever I feel like I have something to say or a new film deserves a mention. In particular, I will be posting more and more about my current TV watching habits, as TV-Shows-on-DVD have become something of an obsession. (Heck, I bought The A-Team!)
So, today, I’m going to mention the two shows that have been most interesting to me over the last couple of months.
First, there’s Battlestar Galactica. Not the current, so-tied-to-today’s-politics-noone-will-care-in-ten-years series, but the original that inspired it. It all started with this past Summer, when I found myself reading a lot of different books. I had bought a few and had dug out a bunch of old ones, one of which was The Cylon Death Machine. I reviewed it for my illustrious host, theLogBook.com and it made me want to see the old series. Thankfully, it coincided with the DeepDiscount semi-annual sale, so I got the complete series (Cylon head packaging and all) for a song.
Anyway, I’m about halfway in and I can honestly say that it’s lived up to my expectations, so far. The stories were strong, the characters interesting without being too clever and the interactions seemed realistic, yet not so tied to reality that they lose their otherworldliness. Of course, a lot of the effects (particularly the practical ones) don’t hold up, but the space scenes sure do. And it’s just a great cast with a great story to tell and a striking look that not even the current series can match. (Too many normal suits.) Of course, I’m aware that the series is supposed to lose its spark as it goes along, but from what I’ve seen, it would have to *really* stink before it could make me question my purchase.
The other show that has been diverting me is Attention Please, a 2006 Japanese comedy/drama based on a popular manga of the same name. I’ve wanted to get my hands on a reasonably priced Japanese TV show for a while and when the good folks over at HKFlix had a sale a few months ago, I got this one, along with the TV special follow-up.
Attention Please tells the story of a group of young women training to become flight attendants. The focus is on Misaki Yoko (pop singer Aya Ueto), a tomboy who joins the airline because a boy she likes tells her he’d like to see her in a uniform. As you may guess, this is not really a valid reason to choose a career and Yoko soon learns this. But in the world in which she finds herself, she soon faces challenges that make her want to be more than what she is. She also makes friends (and enemies).
It’s all pretty standard stuff, but, boy is it fun. Aya Ueto literally bounces across the screen, particularly in the early parts before Yoko starts to learn decorum. As the central figure, she’s very successful at making the audience cheer her successes, pity her mistakes and hate her enemies. (I actually found myself yelling “You bitch!” at the screen after one particularly nasty thing a rival did to her.)
The rest of the cast is just as good. Nishikido Ryo is a bit sleepy as Shota, an engineer whose own struggles in life (he has a medical condition that prevents him from fulfilling his true dream of being a pilot) prove both a puzzle and an inspiration to Yoko. Ryo has real chemistry with Ueto and the nebulous nature of their relationship fuels a good portion of the show.
Also noteworthy are Misaki’s two friends, Yayoi (Aibu Saki), who harbors feeling for Shota herself, and Yuki (Otsuka Chihiro) who, in contrast to Yoko’s overconfidence, is constantly battered by her feelings of inadequacy. Then there are the three objects of Yoko’s difficulties: Saori (Uehara Misa ), a rival student who harbors her own problems, Asou Kaoru (Fueki Yuko), a senior attendant and Miss Mikami (Maya Miki). Miss Mikami is the girls’ instructor who, as a former “star” air attendant, tries to teach the girls what it takes to serve in the air.
They are balanced by just as wide a range of male characters. There’s Shozo (Asano Kazuyuki), Yayoi’s father who’s a bit too obsessed with air attendants, Tsutsumi (Koizumi Kotaro), a pilot-in-training with as many problems as the girls, and Mr. Dazai Shinichiro (Inoue Jun), the slightly off kilter head of the attendant school, who is responsible for Yoko getting into the training in the first place. (He had a good feeling about her.) But I really liked Kohinata Fumiyo as Captain Sakurada, the veteran pilot whose quiet but firm demeanor serve as an inspiration for all. His slow, deliberate attempts at romancing Miss Mikami were bits I looked forward to in every episode.
I honestly haven’t seen a television show in years that pulled me in as quickly and as fully as Attention Please did. I was looking for a quirky Japanese TV show and I got that. But there was so much more to this show than I ever expected, it’s one of the most pleasant surprises I’ve ever experienced (when it comes to television). There’s even a kick-ass rendition of “Oh Pretty Woman” by Kimura Kaela that serves as the closing credit theme.)
It’s certainly not for everyone. The lack of an English language track will deter some and the subject matter will turn away others. But for those willing to give the unconventional a try, they can’t go wrong with this one.
So, that’s it for current TV trends in me-land. Next up we pick up the 2007 film review with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Next “normal” post, I’ll discuss the glory of Russian pop music and the horrors and joys of my re-connecting with my film school days. Here’s a taste: