Stranger than fiction | Loot

Last night I settled in with my parents to watch Stranger than fiction. We quite enjoyed it. I must say that the more I see Maggie Gyllenhaal on screen, the more I fall in love with her. She has such a different presence to most actors and as per my quirky tastes, I find her stunningly attractive. Really though, I’ve been in love with her since Secretary, but as I said, the more I see her, the more I like her.
In any case, Stranger than fiction came on the recommendation of my brother who shares a fair bit my tastes in film, and the recommendation was a good one. This would be the only thing I’ve seen Will Ferrel in that I’ve enjoyed, and his performance actually was unique and well executed. There is a charm to his character that is evident almost before the opening titles roll, and as we follow his various evolutions, he only charms more and more. Of-course this film doesn’t quite reach into the realms of Lynch or some of the other head-benders, but it doesn’t have to, and ultimately isn’t about the plot-contrivances. This film is masterfully about a handful of charming characters and their actions and responses given a highly fictitious premise.

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Loot.
Well.
Today I had two packages, one from Amazon and one from CDJapan (Neowing).
From Amazon comes David Lynch’s Inland Empire on DVD and the soundtrack which features quite a few tracks by Lynch himself.
From Japan comes the newly released Kenji Kawai live in concert, a special double DVD of the live performance of music from Ghost in the Shell, Innocence, Jin-Ro, Patlabor and a Mamoru Oshii project called Mezame no hakobune, which has an international title of Open your mind. Originally Mezame no hakobune was an installation comprising of an array of screens set up beneath a glass floor, and several projector screens around the space. The installation was on exhibition throughout 2005 and contained live-action and CG visuals directed by Mamoru Oshii. There is some Zen themed material, as well as many images much to do with science and nature. I’ve ordered the DVD but am slightly cursing my not being born in Japan to have been there to see it in 2005. In any case, Kenji Kawai’s concert should be nothing short of amazing and I can’t wait to watch it. While I love hi-fidelity and surround sound for action films and the like, I think it really comes into its own with orchestral music.