Pistol Opera

[M Arnold]

Taking a quick break from my video-watching tonight -

To bring the subject up again, Pistol Opera is opening next weekend.  
Tomorrow I plan to get a couple of advance tickets for myself, and hopefully 
I'll be able to make it to the butai aisatsu next Saturday morning.  Does 
anyone want to meet?

I picked up a copy of Parco's entertainment magazine Flyer (Oct. issue) when 
I stopped by Warszawa records in Shibuya today.  Amidst all the record 
reviews there's a two page interview/article on Suzuki Seijun that discusses 
the new film.  I didn't make the connection before, but the scriptwriter for 
Pistol Opera is Itou Kazunori, who also worked on the recent Gamera movies 
as well as a bunch of Oshii Mamoru films and cartoons, including this year's 
Avalon.  I'm even more curious about Pistol's "politics" now.

In the same Flyer magazine there's a short review of the new Jim O'Rourke 
album written by Aoyama Shinji.  Also an interview with Shinozaki Makoto, 
and another with Moriyama Daido regarding the new documentary about him (has 
anyone seen it?).

In other news, I watched Freeze Me last weekend and it was truly awful.  I 
sat through about 40 minutes and scanned through the rest... I didn't miss a 
thing.  Excuse after excuse to show another scene of the lead getting raped 
or taking a shower.  I should have just taken the tape out; I even guessed 
how it was going to end.

Speaking of "rape revenge" movies, I Spit on Your Grave, aka Day of the 
Woman, is now available on DVD here in Japan--Akuma no Ejiki.  The 20+ year 
old slasher might make an interesting contrast to Ishii's film.

Now back to Zabriskie Point...

Michael Arnold

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