Sansho the Bailiff

On the other hand, we watched Kenji Mizoguchi's Sansho the Bailiff recently and were pretty much blown away. At least I know I was. I know it wouldn't impress some people out there, but if Shana and I could improvise a story as good as this one, we would be very happy. Kept me continually guessing as to where the plot was going to go, and the scene at the end is really powerful. I'm still trying to figure out why it's named after Sansho, and also what the film might have been saying to post-War Japanese audiences.

Stalag 17

Lacey and I watched Stalag 17 over the past couple of nights. It's about 60% a good movie. The stuff with William Holden and the mystery in the barracks is really compelling. Nice riveting stuff, and the resolution of who's really the stoolie is well done. But the broad overacting in the comedy bits is really really insufferable and almost ruins the film. I much prefer the "subtle" comedy in Hogan's Heroes, which obviously copped a lot from Stalag. That's not all that flattering of a comparison.

Miranda July review is up

Here's the review I wrote for the Austin Chronicle of Miranda July's book of short stories. in brief, the book is the best collection of short fiction I've read in a long time, maybe since I first read George Saunders. Very nice.