Films and Feelings

    Since this month's theme was the cinema of Japan, let's start with a way too broad overview of Japanese film.  Some of the country's most notable offerings include the works by Akira Kurosawa, who helped popularize the jidaigeki genre. These were period pieces focusing on the feudal era of Japanese history, the heyday of the samurai. These a hold a similar place in Japanese culture as Westerns hold in the culture of the U.S. Indeed, Kurosawa's Seven Samurai was even remade as an American western, The Magnificent Seven . Many American filmmakers, like John Ford and George Lucas, cite Kurosawa specifically as a creative influence. Indeed, many have noted the similarities between "Jedi" and "jidaigeki" and wondered ...      In addition to jidaigeki films, you also had gendai-geki films. These were drama pieces set contemporary to the times they were made. Ikiru , also directed by Kurosawa fell into this category. This film followed a middle-aged bu...

I don’t usually post reviews for television shows, but it feels appropriate to start today’s discussion with my reaction to Apple TV+’s series, Schmigadoon! If you’re not familiar with the series, it follows a couple who are looking to reclaim the spark of their fading romance. While hiking in the mountains, they get lost and stumble upon a cozy village, Schmigadoon, where everyone lives like they’re in the middle of an old school musical film. She’s kinda into it, he hates it, but neither of them can leave until they find true love like that in the classic movie musicals. I appreciated the series’ many homages to classical musical films. And I really loved the show rounding up musical celebrities like Aaron Tveit and Ariana Debose. Just so, I had an overall muddled response to the show. Schmigadoon! takes it as a given that this town inherits the social mores of the era in which the musicals that inspired this series were made, and that becomes the basis of not only the show...