Drive My Car(ドライブ・マイ・カー) Japanese Film Thoughts

 

    Drive My Car is a 2021 film that was directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and stars Hidetoshi Nishjima. The film gained the director multiple awards around the world. Most notable being, Two Oscars for best Director and Best Screenplay. Nishjima also received the best actor award in Japan for his performance. The film's screenplay is based off a short story by the same name, written by Haruki Murakami. 

   A theatre director hires a women to drive his car after he starts going blind... Both of them relate through emotional wounds that have never healed. 

   I'm going to get this thought out the way right now. Drive My Car is very long and drawn out. The film could have been shorter than two hours and some minutes, but it's amazing that a short story that only touched the surface, could be turned into a full length film.  There's high points in the drama, then there's low points where the film drags. Hamaguchi never sways away from the emotional satire that is the core of the original story. He just adds a lot of extra sauce. For example, the play scenes drag on. I can understand their connection to the story. Especially when it came to the main character's ex wife. They could have been edited out though. What really carries Drive My Car is the actual in car scenes. Many exchanges in dialogue happen in this car. These exchanges grip you as well as carry the film to it's end point. 

    Another important key factor to note is that the cast performances make this film so much. all the events that take place in the first hour of Drive My Car were enhanced by the acting. Drive My Car's message dealing with learning to forgive one's self on one hand. Then, on the other hand, learning to also forgive the people who have hurt you so bad that you can't move on is powerful. My only problem is that I wish some of the major events that happen to some of the characters didn't happen off screen. 

     Drive Your Car can be a lot to take in if you're not in the right frame of mind to watch it. Yes, the film has some extra baggage but hang in there. All the praise for this film was still well deserved overall.

One Ok Rock(ワンオクロック)- Luxury Disease Album Thoughts (J- Pop Rock)

 

Tracklist:
1. Save Yourself
2. Neon
3. Vandalize
4. When They Turn the Lights On
5. Let Me Let You Go
6. So Far Gone
7. Prove
8. Mad World
9. Free Them (feat. Teddy Swims)
10. Renegades
11. Outta Sight
12. Your Tears Are Mine
13. Wonder

Side note**** The Japanese version of this album has a track on it that's not on the American release. 

   One Ok Rock is still out there kicking. They've worked their asses off at this point to become the most popular Japanese rock band worldwide. The men announced Luxury Disease months ago where the stated that they would be going back to their old sound from when they were younger. My head space was a bit skeptical because Fueled By Ramon isn't exactly a push over when it comes to the sounds they want their artists to have. The label's sounds has infected One Ok Rock's sound since their last few albums and I don't think we will ever get old 2008 One Ok Rock back. Now, The infection has been for better and worse. Save Yourself is the new lead single that's an electro pop rock track where you get more hard hitting band instrumentation around the chorus and dark pop sync sending everything off. If we talk about all the singles for Luxury Disease, All of the tracks have a hard rock core with a bit of mainstream pop idea on the outer interior. What I think that brings the who album together however, is the dramatic traits of all the different instruments producers use to upgrade the band's sound from other Japanese bands. Such as, Orchestras, piano solos, quiet raw guitar sequences, etc. Neon sounds like a Panic at the Disco songs but Taka sings it well. Let Me Let You Go sounds too much like a sell out mainstream track for my tastes. Free Them was an excellent intro to Renegades because they both have the same musical vibe sonically. Mad World is the killer track on the who album as it's the baby birth by the band's older sound and Ramon's influence mixed together. I could tell that Taka was more opinionated in the studio this time around than he probably was when they first got signed(Language barrier problems too). He reverts to Japanese during the last lyrics of So Far Gone which I loved so much. He said fuck an international version.  Your Tears are Mine and Wonder sighs off the album. I'm not mad at it at all, Both tracks have this modern day 80s rock style. Especially Wonder. 

  Taka will always be one of the best frontman in the world. He's an actual vocalist unlike many of your favorite frontmen who can't actually sing live and need their band to back them up to stop them from sounding like shit. This album showcases Taka's vocal versatility once more. 

   Luxury Disease is nowhere near One Ok Rock's top ten best albums list. There's aspects of the album that I appreciate. Some songs will be replayed while others will be forgotten.  

Belle(竜とそばかすの姫) Japanese Film Thoughts

    

   Belle is Mamoru Hosoda's newest film. The creator is well known for his film's Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and receiving an Academy Award nomination for his film Mirai. Belle became Japan's third highest grossing film of last year with the film being nominated for several awards in Japan and abroad. 

    A shy girl who can only be herself in a virtual world. There, she is a singing superstar known as Belle..... She is used to the comfort of hiding behind an Avatar until a creature crashes her performance one day.... this is where her relationship with the Beast begins. 

    Belle is basically Beauty and the Beast with a modern day twist. We don't have a castle or a curse, just a virtual world full of people who hide who they truly are. Hosoda adds the same charm that was in his older film, Summer Wars which was a virtual world that looks pretty much the same. Some new rules are created for the this virtual world that feels more like a social media platform than anything else. A lot goes online as well as the real world. I'm not sure that this film juggles everything that happens in the plot to a firm balance however, Belle's charm in the overall message of overcoming trauma is absolute. Hosoda has this way of storytelling that always creates hardships for his characters as they use whatever medium to get over their wounds to become better or stronger people. I always say that Mamoru Hosoda's films are more about the human emotions of the characters than it is about the fantasy aspects that he creates in his films. If you don't come away from his films crying and cheering at some part of the film then, he hasn't done his job. Unplanned tears defiantly came down my face when Belle was singing for the Beast to come to her.... Speaking of the music, The singing for the English overdub was amazing. I have to give big applause to Kylie McNeill. 

   The Art looks a bit like Summer Wars only a tad bit more upgraded. There's world building through the art as you're introduced to various characters and how the world lets others communicate with one another. Belle's performance sequences were breath taking in CGI mixed into regular art. This was the star moments of the film for sure..

    Belle isn't Mamoru Hosoda's best film. In my opinion, that title still belongs to Wolf Children. I do however, think that this film has all the components that remind us why Hosoda's films are so great. Would I recommend this film? Yes. just check out his other films first.