Post 101: Extreme Makeover in Little Tokyo

The Linda Lea theatre, dubbed such by Black entrepreneurs during the wartime era when Little Tokyo was called "Bronzeville" and Black owned businesses kept things going while Japanese-Americans were in internment camps, has been vacant since the '80s. Then in a flurry of activity, the old Toei-run theatre was transformed into the sleek, dare I say sexy new space by The ImaginAsian Channel, a cable channel/film distributor based in New York. The ImaginAsian Center of Los Angeles is now running movies again, and promises to show plenty of first-run anime. With Anime Expo permanently homed at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and Little Tokyo a hotter place for the LA Otaku-zoku than ever, having a movie theatre committed to showing first-run anime and Japanese dorama (dramatic live-action) movies is a welcome thing.



Thanks to the good folks at ImaginAsian Channel, I got a pass to see Sword of the Stranger this past weekend. I wouldn't say that Stranger is a great moment in anime history, I would even rate Evangelion: 1.0 a bit above it in spite of my fondness for Samurai anime and drama. However, it's fun enough, with some really breathtaking fight sequences. Animation-wise and character design wise it reminds me of second-string Studio Ghibli. You'd be disappointed if Miyazaki-sensei's work descended to this level. But for Bones Animation, who played a major role in making Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door and the fan-fave series Fullmetal Alchemist, this is some solid work.

Stranger asks a question of its native Japanese audiences that it wouldn't dare ask of outsiders: "What makes a person Japanese?" This is something that is currently being wrestled with in Japanese society, as birth rates decline, the population greys, and the question of whether to open up immigration in one of the most closed and homogenous cultures is discussed. The eponymous hero is the classic "Man With No Name" trope which entered American film as a Japanese import, thanks to Mifune Toshiro, Kurosawa Akira, and Sergio Leone. However, he might or might not be Japanese. He speaks the language, and fights in the traditional Samurai style. But he is concealing something about himself, something which might be a mild spoiler if I reveal.

The main plotline has to do with an expedition of Ming Chinese who are in Japan to recover the most important ingredient in an alchemical recipe for the Elixir of Life. It seems that the Emperor is not content with his life's mortal splendor: he wants immortality. And those searching in Japan for the missing ingredient are more than willing to procure it. That it might be distasteful to almost any human being is an intriguing little element of the story, because the Chinese seem to not have any squeamishness about it. Do I detect a note of ambivalence about the Chinese, perhaps brought on by their current economic expansion in the face of economic stagnancy in Japan?

The Chinese expedition is guarded by a blond haired, blue eyed hulk of an Aryan uebermensch, in this case an uebermensch who can speak Chinese fluently and Japanese fairly fluently, and who also has superior Kung Fu. His ease amongst his Chinese companions is only matched by the hostility he raises among the Samurai assigned to assist (and watch) the party.

Anyway, our Stranger anti-hero finds himself having to deal with another icon of world fiction: the Boy and his Dog. The boy is a brat, the dog is a cute Shiba-inu with a singularly deadly ability to defend his companion. However, this movie does not descend into cute overload. This is a two-fisted tale of Kung Fu versus Kenjutsu, and much blood spills as the quest moves on.

Is the question answered, though? Who is Japanese? Not really. It's left open, something to chew on over an after-cinema meal and conversation. And it's really not a question meant for us: would we appreciate the question "Who is an American?" raised by Brits or Italians? It is interesting nonetheless to be a spectator at such a discussion.

One last thing: the last post, about the short "In Memory of Walt," was our 100th post. w00t. Oh yeah: we are recording tomorrow...too much has happened between when we recorded last and now to where we have to freshen up the podcast before releasing it. Hopefully we'll get it out soon. After all, we aren't going to be at Comic-Con this year....here's a little refresher about why. However, if you are going, there's lots of Animation-related panels this year just like always, and there's plenty to enjoy. Have a taco at the Tin Fish for us, please.

My take on Kung Fu Panda...

Saw Kung Fu Panda yesterday. To that end, I will first drop a little something for my homey Tom Reed...



That's how you do "Kung Fu Fighting." Fully embrace the cheese. EMBRACE THE CHEESE. The rewrite on the lyrics was totally lame...made me scan the credits afterward for a child psychologist on the payroll. It's a cheesy song, from the 1970s, the cheesiest decade ever. (The '50s might have eclipsed the '70s, but I personally experienced the '70s.) Also Jack Black should not try to sing R&B. Heavy metal? Sure. But not R&B.

Getting back to Kung Fu Panda the movie...it was good, alright, but not great. It could have been so much better. The trademark Dreamworks SKG Animation bogus physics totally made what could have been bitchen fight sequences look...well...not so bitchen. When people (and funny animals) already defy gravity and the laws of physics, wirework-style choreography doesn't look so impressive. To have gravity-defying stunts, you have to have gravity in operation. Sony Imageworks licked their physics problem with Surf's Up. Which is good, because surfing in zero-g wouldn't look nearly as impressive as the surfing sequences in that underrated gem. If Sony can do it, and they haven't produced a hit movie yet, why can't Dreamworks, which had a whole string of them?

Also, why hire on superstar voice actors when you aren't going to do anything with them? How many lines did they give Jackie Chan as Monkey? How many lines did Angelina Jolie get as Tigress? (BTW Tigress is going to get Furry obsession not seen since Minerva Mink...just watch. Or don't. I won't.) And why are most of these obviously Chinese animals not voiced by Asian actors? Where was George Takei? I'm sure that Shifu could have used a little bit of his trademark sarcatic delivery, particularly when dealing with Jack Black as Panda Po. James Hong was good as the Stork who delivers the noodles...I was hoping there would be a blooper at the end where he says, "You know what the secret ingredient is in the secret ingredient soup? Eyes. Just eyes." Of course, that might go way over the heads of all except film geeks like me, particularly film geeks with a Blade Runner obsession. Another "blooper" that would have been cool would have been to have Monkey have a stunt accident. In the classic Jackie Chan Kung Fu movies, there would always be a stunt accident during the credits. After he stopped doing stunt-heavy movies, the bloopers during the credits would inevitably revolve around flubbed lines, usually due to the difference between phonemes in Chinese and phonemes in English.

However, I was not bugged by Jack Black in the title role. This really was a Jack Black movie, when you get right down to it. Jack Black in School of Rock, not Jack Black in The Pick of Destiny...this is Jack Black being family friendly, not raunchy. Much as I like the occasional artful booger and/or fart joke, there were none here. And there was only a little bit of referential humor, mostly geared around Po's fanboyness and quotes from the canon of great chop-socky cinema.

However: there is a great deal of dubious humor surrounding big folks in this one. Great Pandas in nature are big and rounded and spend most of their time grazing on bamboo leaves and shoots. Eats, shoots, and leaves...remember? Red Pandas are not as rotund, and a bit more graceful. (And Shifu is one, BTW. He's neither a Raccoon nor a Tanuki. Thought I'd clear that up because I was confuzzled about his species.) I don't mind where Po literally throws his weight around...actually I think they should have watched some Sumo to get some ideas what his natural fighting style would be like. But the scenes where he breaks stuff because he's OMG FAT! were gratuitous and 99% of the time unfunny.

Still, if ASIFA-Hollywood doesn't bring the screener around Annie time, I will likely go out and buy a copy. But I will likely be content with the screener.