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For this Sunday Kino Night, first up is Love Letter (1995), a Japanese drama about a woman whose fiancé dies; she sends a love letter to his childhood home on an impulse, only to receive a reply from a woman who has the exact same name as him, and was his former classmate. Bonding ensues. Friendship is therapy and all that. Maybe some secrets will come to light. I guess we’ll see. Director is Shunji Iwai, who also did the youth-ennui drama All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), which we previously watched. This is one of the highest-rated Japanese films on Letterboxd; it is currently ranked #469 on the Letterboxd Top 500.

BONUS: In between the features, we will watch the 20-minute English-language Russian cartoon The Old Man and the Sea (1999), an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s 1952 novel of the same name. An old fisherman out at sea tries to make the biggest catch of his life, but he fish won’t give up easily. Yep, that’s pretty much it, but it sure does look pretty. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for 1999, and is one of the highest-rated cartoons on Letterboxd, so let’s check it out. This is generally considered the magnum opus of director Aleksandr Petrov, who has done numerous cartoons in a similar watercolor style.

After that is Help! (1965), a musical comedy starring The Beatles, which I think were a real band at some point that decided to make a movie. Ringo receives a mysterious ring from a fan, only for it to become stuck on his finger; uh-oh, the ring belongs to a sinister cult that will stop at nothing to get it back, and a mad scientist and the police both want it, too. Hilarity ensues as the band travels across the world looking for the best way to get rid of the ring causing all their troubles. This is the follow-up to their earlier A Hard Day’s Night (1964), which we have not yet watched on the ‘tube, and dials up the wackiness to farcical levels, being akin to alive-action version of Yellow Submarine (1968), which we previous watched. Expect lots of musical numbers, too. Director is Richard Lester, who helmed the aforementioned A Hard Day’s Night, as well as Superman II (1980), which we watched on Tuesday. This is supposed to be one of his best works, so we’ll give it a shot.

We’ll start at 8PM EST on Blorptube, right here:

https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

Doesthedogdie.com links:

CWs for Love Letter:

  • Jump scares.
  • Someone struggles to breathe.
  • Broken bones.
  • Death of parent.
  • Someone is hit by a car…
  • Babies.
  • Crying baby.
  • Death by galling.
  • Hospital scene.
  • Someone leaves without saying goodbye.
  • Unconsciousness.

CWs for Help!:

  • Stalking.
  • Amputation.
  • Crying baby.
  • Kidnapping.
  • Tooth damage.
  • Needles.
  • Hanging.
  • Flashing lights.
  • Shaky cam.
  • Broken fourth wall.
  • Hate speech.
  • Gun violence.
  • Torture.

Links to movies: