Midnight Run: sentences and mindmap frame

Some good recent movies

Recently, I watched Deadpool 2. After enjoying Deadpool very much, I was looking forward to it. But I got tired of the metacommentary and wanted to leave early. Some better recent movies are The Shape of Water and Darkest Hour. Darkest Hour stars Gary Oldman, who is also famous for Leon, the Harry Potter movies, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and so on.

Movies

One of my favorite actors is Denzel Washington. I like his movie Training Day very much.

Forest Whitaker

One of my favorite actors is Forest Whitaker. He is best known for the Oscar that he won for The Last King of Scotland.

Alice through the looking glass, and other matters…

Today we watched two trailers for Alice Through the Looking Glass, the second Tim Burton movie based in the Alice world. Alice begins the movie in a mental hospital, suffering "a textbook case of female hysteria". She runs away from the hospital, and before long she hears a voice saying, "You've been gone too long, Alice", and she walks through a looking glass into Wonderland. As before, she finds that she sometimes becomes larger and sometimes smaller. She finds that the Hatter is ill, and she  has to try to help him. This movie is coming to Japan in July. I hope the cinemas in Kumamoto open in time to show it.

Over the weekend, the FA Cup final was held in London. Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 2–1. But I hear that the manager, Louis Van Gaal, will be fired and Jose Mourinho will come in in his place. Even though the football was not so exciting, I feel a little sorry for Van Gaal.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. This is the third or fourth (I think) movie in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. It looks very exciting. It's directed by Michael Bay, so we shouldn't expect too much, but I still want to see it. It's opening in the US in June. I'm not sure when it's coming to Japan.* Probably it will come to Kumamoto even later.

The football season in England is coming to an end. Leicester City won the Premiership a few weeks ago, but yesterday Arsenal took 2nd place, and Spurs moved down to 3rd. Manchester United and Manchester City were fighting for 4th spot, which would give them the chance to play in the Champions League. Both clubs are very rich, so not qualifying would be a bit of a shock to them.

I'm going to Okinawa later this week for a conference. It will be my first time to go there. I hope the weather won't be too rainy. Have you been to Okinawa? I will be at Meio University in Nago city. I hear that pork is very nice in Okinawa, so I hope to get the chance to eat some.

It's coming to Japan in August!

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Finding Dory, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for Finding Dory. It's a Pixar movie, and the sequel to Finding Nemo. I enjoyed Finding Nemo, though I don't think it was the best of the Pixar movies. Pixar movies as a whole have been going down in quality the last few years, so I hope they can make a good one this time.

Recently, there are fewer quakes than before, but at least one or two a day still. I hope that they stop soon. My office was super-messy after the big one but now it's almost back to normal. A few people are still living in shelters, unfortunately.

Who do you think will finish in the top 4 in the Premier League this year? My guess is that Manchester United will just make it, knocking Manchester City out.

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Finding Dory, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for Finding Dory, the new movie from Pixar and the sequel to Finding Nemo. The scene features Dory sleepswimming and worrying the family by going off somewhere and talking in her sleep. Dory seems to be scatterbrained, and when she's awake she says that she has just remembered something, but then she forgets what she remembered and gets confused. Then she dashes off because she thinks her family is in danger. It looks like a fun movie and I look forward to seeing it.

The other day, Leicester City won the title in the Premier League. It is a big achievement because the team was promoted to the Premier League very recently, and last year it seemed to be the weakest team in the league. This season, it was the favorite to be relegated. When the team's new manager, Claudio Ranieri, was appointed at the beginning of the season, many people laughed because his image was as a not very good manager, but his players seem to love him and he was very capable with tactics and with keeping a good team spirit. It looks like Spurs will be second in the league. Three teams are fighting for the 3rd and 4th spots, including Manchester United and Manchester City.

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Movies and other matters

Hello, everyone, how are things going? There have been a lot of good movies playing recently. Of course, we saw Grosse Pointe Blank in class, but in the movie theaters now lots of movies are playing: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Creed, American Ultra, Paddington, and so on. I haven't seen Creed yet, but I recommend all the others. Paddington is very cleverly made, with the bear seeming quite natural amongst the human characters. Nicole Kidman has an interesting role in the movie. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is surprisingly similar to the first Star Wars movie (Episode IV: A New Hope) but well made and a lot of fun. American Ultra is very funny but also quite exciting drama.

Have you been following the football in the Premier League? Arsenal lost to Chelsea and have lost the top spot. Manchester United also lost their most recent match, and many fans want to change the manager. I think Leicester are still top.

Hannah and her Sisters info

Hannah and her Sisters

(Director) Woody Allen: Mickey
Michael Caine: Elliot
Mia Farrow: Hannah
Carrie Fisher: April
Barbara Hershey: Lee
Dianne Wiest: Holly
Max von Sydow: Frederick


Woody Allen: Annie Hall, Manhattan, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Zelig, Sleepers, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Wimbledon

movie language

Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 movie starring John Cusack and directed by George Armitage. The movie also features John Cusack's sister, Joan Cusack, playing his secretary. The movie centers around a hitman called Martin Blank, who has to go back to his hometown for a job around the same time as a school reunion. Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd, and Alan Arkin costar.


Hannah and her Sisters

Woody Allen
Michael Caine

Movie language

Grosse Pointe Blank is a movie starring John Cusack and directed by George Armitage. John Cusack plays a hitman called Martin Blank, who is contracted to kill someone from his hometown. His
secretary is played by Cusack's real sister, Joan Cusack. Blank's ex-girlfriend is played by Minnie Driver.

Suffragette, and other matters…

Today, we watched the trailer for Suffragette, a movie starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Meryl Streep, about the fight for women's equality in early-20th-century Britain. I haven't heard so many details about the movie but the argument about whether to argue peacefully for change or to fight for it seems to be at the centre of the movie. It looks like it's a powerful movie about an important event not too long ago, and I like all three actresses, so I hope it will come to Japan before too long. Ben Whishaw also features in the movie.

Talking of movies, the final Hunger Games movie is here! And American Dreamer has also started.

Barista, The Assassin, and other matters…

Today we saw two trailers: Barista and The Assassin. Barista is a documentary about a barista competition. The contestants have to make three rounds of drinks (four cups of each one) for seven judges. As far as I remember, in addition to a head judge there are four sensory judges and two technical judges. The three drinks are espresso, cappuccino, and an original drink of the contestant's creation. For the cappuccino, it is said that the main challenge is getting the balance right, making sure that the coffee taste is at the front rather than being overwhelmed by the milk.
The Assassin has now started playing at Denkikan. It plays twice a day, at 11:10 and 16:10. It is a movie directed by the famous Taiwanese director, Hou Hsiao-Hsien. The critics I listen to most often said that it is very "cinematic" and also "painterly" at the same time, and judges at the Cannes Film Festival said it was one of the most beautiful movies they had ever seen.
Changing subjects, did you hear about Aston Villa's most recent match? Under their new manager, they drew with Manchester City, the league leaders!

The Hundred-Foot Journey and Chocolat (Lasse Hallstrom movies)

Today we watched two movie trailers: Chocolat and The Hundred-Foot Journey. Chocolat is a 2000 movie featuring Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, and Johnny Depp. The Hundred-Foot Journey is coming out soon. Like Chocolat, it is about food! Chocolat was about the power of food to make a town more vibrant. Similarly, The Hundred-Foot Journey livens up a place with only one, rather traditional restaurant that feels a bit too secure. From the trailer, it appears that the traditional restaurant views the Indian restaurant with enmity at first, but they gradually become friends.

The movie stars Helen Mirren as the French proprietor of the restaurant. It looks like it's well worth seeing! I'm not sure when it is coming to Japan.

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Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Life of a King, and other matters…

Today we watched two movie trailers. They were Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and Life of a King. I will talk about Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit first. This movie is based on a Tom Clancy book. There are several books about Jack Ryan, and some of them have been made into movies. Actors who have played Jack Ryan are Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck. This time, it's Chris Pine.

You may know Chris Pine. He's the actor from the movie that's called Black and White in Japan. It stars Chris Pine alongside Tom Hardy. They are rivals for the love of Reese Witherspoon. I think he's a good Jack Ryan, but it seems as if the series is changing into pure action rather than suspense.

The other movie, Life of a King, stars Cuba Gooding Junior. He is released from prison and ends up teaching in a high school. The students are very tough but he teaches them some new things through chess. He tells the students to focus on the "endgame" and to "think before you move". For him, chess is a metaphor for life.

Both of these movies look pretty interesting. Shadow Recruit begins on February 15th!



Keira Knightley
Kenneth Branagh
Chris Pine


Cuba Gooding Junior

Life of a King, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, and other matters…

Today, we watched two movie trailers again. The first one was Life of a King. When I saw the title, I thought it was about a foreign country's royal family, but actually it was about a man who gets out of prison and then gets a job in a school, where he teaches chess. One of his mentors in prison used to tell him to pay attention to the endgame, and that's the lesson he teaches his students. He thinks of chess as a metaphor for life, and he seems to be successful in teaching his students that. The movie stars Cuba Gooding Junior.

The second movie trailer was Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Previous actors playing Jack Ryan have been Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck. This time, it's Chris Pine. I think with him it will be more of a pure action movie, which is not necessarily a good thing, but I do like him as an actor so I'm looking forward to this film. Other actors starring in the movie are Keira Knightley and Kenneth Branagh. Keira Knightley plays Chris Pine's wife and Branagh plays the Russian villain.


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Kenneth Branagh
Keira Knightley
Chris Pine

Cuba Gooding Junior

Reminder!

Final Movie Essay Deadline: January 10th!!!

Academy Awards 2014

The 86th Academy Awards are due to be held on March 2nd, 2014. It's always fun to watch the show or read the critics' opinions, but unfortunately most of the movies have not yet been released in Japan, so we cannot really take part in the debate. At least we can watch the trailers, and today we watched three trailers of movies that are expected to be nominated for one or more awards. (Actual nominations will be announced on January 16th.) We watched one movie by an old hand, Martin Scorcese (Wolf of Wall Street, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio), and two movies by younger directors, John Wells and Alfonso Cuaron. The John Wells movie is August: Osage County and the Alfonso Cuaron movie is of course Gravity.

Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorcese)
August: Osage County (John Wells)
Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron)

Academy Awards 2014

The Academy Awards are lots of fun, but the fun is diluted in Japan because most of the nominated movies still haven't been shown here. Two exceptions this time around are Captain Phillips and Gravity. Although it's no substitute for seeing the actual movies, of course, today we watched trailers for four of the movies: the aforementioned Gravity (directed by Alfonso Cuaron), Nebraska (directed by Alexander Payne), August: Osage County (directed by John Wells), and 12 Years a Slave (directed by Steve McQueen).



Gravity: Alfonso Cuaron (George Clooney, Sandra Bullock)
Nebraska: Alexander Payne (Bruce Dern)
August: Osage County: John Wells (Meryl Streep
12 Years a Slave: Steve McQueen