Movies for Christmas and New Year
Bad Santa US/Terry Zwigoff - 12/11~
1800(door) ¥1400(advance), Cineterrie Tenjin, 092 781 5508
Tired of a Christmas spoiled by sentimentality, religion and all that "`good will to all men` crap"? Comedy "Bad Santa" ("funny, sweary and rude" said the BBC critic) stars the ever excellent Billy Bob Thornton as a conman posing as Santa in an attempt to rob department stores at Christmas. Lots of sex and some inventively colourful bad language, it`s not for the easily offended - less Chrismas feast than a re-invigorating Christmas enema - but a gem for the rest of us. The ending is slightly compromised, but it avoids soppiness. Probably not one to take the kids to, but mummy and daddy may just laugh themselves silly...
Rhythm Is It! DE/Thomas Grube 12/23~
1800(door) ¥1400(advance), KBC Cinema, 092 751 4268
German language film about a group of 250 kids from 25 countries who, with a composer, their teachers and choreographer Royson Maldoom are taken off to prepare for a concert performing Stravinsky`s "Rites of Spring" with the Berlin Phil. under Simon Rattle. These aren`t "Fame Academy" type brats - they are insecure, not interested in education, some of them refugees and generally appallingly "normal". Their dance teachers are less concerned about dance than in giving them a sense of purpose. The movie gently explores the sometimes complex motivations and emerging characters of all involved.
Super Size Me US/Morgan Spurlock 12/25~
1800(door) ¥1400(advance) Cineterrie Tenjin, 092 781 5508
Taking bites out of Macdonald`s is all good clean fun - as long as - like Monica - you don`t actually swallow. Morgan Spurlock takes BIG bites - in both sense of the word - in this "how fat will I get if I eat at Macdonald`s for a month" voyage of selfless documentary discovery. Very fat, apparently (gosh!). Watch Morgan swell and puke as he wobbles from `burger outlet to doctor to nutritionist! It`s an agenda driven documentary with more than a whiff of David Blane style exhibiti-on(an)ism - but no cruelty to dumb animals is involved beyond that inflicted by Spurlock on himself and the Macdonald`s servers - so it`s probably worth wobbling off to see.
Pieces of April US/Peter Hodges ~12/24
1800(door) ¥1400(advance), Cine Libre Hakata, 092 434 3691
Peter Hodges is best known for the indie hit "What`s Eating Gilbert Grape" (1993) but low-fi indie Thanksgiving comedy "Pieces of April" got reviews ranging from the excellent ("raw, genuine and sincere" according to the Dallas Observer) to the downright awful ("familiar; derivative; lazy; where`s the nearest exit" according to the BBC reviewer.) Story: Young New Yorker (Katie Holmes) struggles with a broken oven, kitchen ineptitude and begrudgingly helpful neighbours as she tries to cook Thanksgiving (that`s a holiday Americans have in November, apparently) dinner for her estranged family. Patricia Clarkson, as her cancer ridden, joint smoking mom won plaudits.
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