Watched the original "Firestarter" with Drew Barrymore from 1984. A good deal of drama and a marvelous ending??? Now I'm waiting to see the sequel filmed in 2002...

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The Japan Foundation has this touring film festival every year, so last night I went to see one called Under the Open Sky. It's about a former yakuza member who has finally got out of prison after 13 years for murder, and now struggles to be part of regular society. There's also a young director who wants to make his story into a TV documentary.

I thought it was interesting and quite thought-provoking, and actually a bit funnier at points than I expected too.

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Sounds interesting, just from the points that you've mentioned...

I never really thought about it until just now...
I wonder if female Yakuza (making an assumption here) are tattoo'd as I hear the male Yakuza are?

arren? Kazegami? any input? (Not that you necessarily associated with any Yakuza during your time in Japan... lol)

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Hmm, I'm not really sure about that. I think... maybe? sometimes? My sense is that their setup is quite patriarchal, with women not having the same kind of roles as the men, and that makes me think that tattoos might not have the same importance in showing affiliation.

Then again, most of my knowledge comes from fiction, so it's hard to say with much confidence.

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Understood... Toksa, kola...
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As for "Firestarter 2",

in my humble opinion, totally worthless, stilted acting and dialog on all counts... In a recap of a scene from "Firestarter", totally unrealistic... The scenes of the bad guys bursting into flame was obviously faked, even the so-called screams from the burning victims, etc NOTHING AT ALL LIKE THE FIRST FILM...

I watched 20 minutes of it and wanted to destroy the disc!!! I ejected the disc... no desire to watch any more...

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I saw another film in the festival yesterday! This one had the English title of Angry Son, and it was about a gay, half-Filipino high school boy with all kinds of issues regarding his parentage, etc. Quite a serious drama, but ultimately with some real positivity too.

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I watched "Sea Beast" last night. I was happy with the storyline that had humans dealing with a variety of giant sea monsters that had a welcome ending. I was especially taken with the depiction and the detail in the sailing ships...

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Watched the Fablemans by Steven Speilberg last night.

It was great and really nostalgic even though I was born way after the 60's.

It's autobiographical about his life and discovering his love for filmmaking.
It reminded me about my love for filmmaking too. Very inspiring.

I just finished watching a Korean made movie titled "Ode To My Father".

Amid the time of Korean War, a young boy's vow to take care of his family marked the beginning of a lifelong promise spanning 60 years.

A number of different aspects to this story, both happy and sad and at some parts brought a tear to my eyes... Starts off in B/W and later goes to color... I recommend it...

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Last night I rewatched Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse, in preparation to see the new sequel in the cinema soon. The first time around, I watched it on a flight, so it was nice to get to appreciate the animation in a more comfortable setting this time.

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Yesterday, watched the 2022 movie "Where the Crawdads Sing", it dealt with the hard life of a young girl, poignant...

"Kya is an abandoned girl who raised herself to adulthood in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" haunted Barkley Cove"

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Watched the Pixar animation "Up" and again, after so much time, thoroughly enjoyed watching it...

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I saw the new Spider-verse last night. I'm really glad I got to see it in the cinema! They really knocked it out of the park with the animation.

I also went to see a 50th anniversary screening of The Wicker Man earlier in the week!

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Started watching "M3gan" Something like a "Chucky" thing, but with a child size robot created for other purposes, but creator 'Mom' decides that this would be a perfect 'companion' for her lonely daughter...

I watched about 1/2 hour, but realized that this wasn't my cup o' tea... Almost like watching "Elfen Leid"...

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Just re-watched Terminator 2 Judgement Day. I forgot how much fun it was. I still holds up to this day. I just love James Cameron films the more I watch them over the years.

Classic! It's been years since I've seen Terminator 2. Wouldn't be a bad idea to rewatch it some time.

Last night I saw Asteroid City, the new film from Wes Anderson. It sure has a lot of what I'd expect from his films - for better or for worse, but this time mostly for the better! I really enjoyed the concept, the writing and the visuals.

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Finally watched "Avatar: Way of the Water" and enjoyed it...

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Saw the Barbie movie last night. I hadn't had any interest in it until the promotion campaign started, and I ended up being really excited for it! I found it really lived up to my hopes

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Glad that you enjoyed it, arren.

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Watched both Barbie and Oppenheimer. Enjoyed both of them a lot.
Especially Oppenheimer, I thought it was a really great movie.