re: EFNY and metaphor and all that.

I know people who object to anything remotely SF/Fantasy et al. just on the ground of "unrealistic." Some are simply offended at stories that can't be based purely in the known world, even the projections of a possible future. But I can make an argument that EFNY can be reflected in how New Orleans was dealt with post-Katrina--block it off, don't allow anyone in or out, leave it to welter in its own juices. And there were people who objected to that "Batman" comic series where Gotham had the humongous earthquake and was then cut off as unsaveable as being unrealistic.

Paging Jilli!

Gothic & Lolita Psycho.

It's a horror movie!

"A bloody adventure of an avenging Gothic Lolita girl! ¶ With an umbrella she makes pools of blood, avenging her mother! ¶ Blood sprays and flesh flies! In violence and outrageous gags! ¶ Finally an event movie that will leave the world delirious! ¶¶ I pronounce thee all innocent... so help me God. ¶¶ TOKYO, the Year 20XX A.D. ¶ Yuki (played by Rina Akiyama) lives peacefully with her father Jiro (played by Yurei Yanagi) and mother Kayako (played by Fumie Nakajima). ¶ It all ends suddenly when a 5-member assassin group slaughters Kayako and cripples Jiro. ¶ Why did they kill her mother? What did the assassins want of them? ¶ Yuki turns into a merciless, remorseless angel of vengeance, clad in Goth/Lolita fashion, seeking to uncover the mystery. ¶ One by one she kills the assassins... until she meets an imagination-defying destiny. ¶¶ Go Ohara, the man whose expertise as an action stunt choreographer was used in Chanbara Beauty and Death Trance, has pushed the boundaries of genre with his latest movie! ¶ Yoshihiro Nishimura and his team of special effects artisans were employed for the gore and special makeup effects. Here they outdo their previous international hits, Machine Girl, Tokyo Gore Police and Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl - the international film festival favorite that excited audiences in over 30 countries. Also engaged was Tsuyoshi Kazuno, a visual effects wizard who worked on genre movies such as RoboGeisha and Dogoo, the Prehistoric Girl. Gothic Lolita Psycho is non-stop with Ohara-style gut-wrenching action stunts in Japanese blood-spattering gore tradition."

Check out the killer parasol.

Hmm. The movie doesn't sound that interesting to me, but I *do* covet that parasol.

Is that from the same people who brought us that movie with the bleeding buildings? Was that RoboGeisha?

I rewatched Inception, and am now more confused. I was paying attention to the costuming, especially Arthur's, and when they go to Paris to recruit Ariadne, there's a shot of him walking in to the warehouse and pulling up a lawn chair, and he's wearing what he wore in the plane, but then when we find out that Dom and Ariadne have been dreaming and they wake up, he's in a three piece suit in the warehouse, they're on lawn chairs like the one he pulled up.

I don't get what happened there.

Other than that, I love it and want to pet it lots. It felt shorter this time through, even.

During my second viewing, I had a little bit of the Batman Begins experience where I became more aware that the first half of the movie is a little slow and exposition-heavy, but it's not as boring. There's already so much in play after the first fifteen minutes; I love how the spectre of Mal hangs over every frame, even when she's not there.

ita, I just figured that Arthur, being the point man, scouted and set up the warehouse. The shot where Cobb and Ariadne wake up in the warehouse is just later on . Or am I missing what confused you?

Smonster, I thought that Ariadne and Cobb had already started speaking before we saw Arthur go into the warehouse, hence my confusion.

I think they did, but I agree with smonster.

I finally watched Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. Man, I really wanted to like it, but it just does not work. Don't do Shakespeare again, Leo. Although, maybe you're better at it now.

How's the Ethan Hawke Hamlet in comparison?

Yeah, I think it was just a flashback.

I like some things about Luhrman's R&L. Gorgeous visuals, kickass soundtrack, Harold Perrinau in drag, the stylization. The acting didn't bother me so much back then, but it might if I watched it again. I like Luhrman's stuff, generally.