the american movie..

I just got back from watching Wanted with one of my Japanese friends, after watching Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea and Paco and the Magic Book within the last two weeks. Japan's not really a good place to get back into watching lots of movies, what with a "cheap" late show ticket being 1200 yen, and the regular price being 1800 yen. But my friend (who happens to live practically next door, so we can go to late and early shows without either of us getting home too late or having to wake up too early since we live really close to the biggest movie theater 'in' the city) wanted to practice her English, and I wanted to watch more Japanese movies, so we decided that we'd alternate between Japanese and English movies, which basically means I've watched a movie a week since I've been back (although Ponyo was with a different friend).

But having the jolt of watching a Hollywood blockbuster after not really watching any American movie other than Dark Knight recently... I definitely had to get used to them again. Japanese movies tend to be a lot more minimalistic, more concerned with the scenery and the character struggle than explosions and crazy camera angles. Even Paco, which was packed with a lot of sensory information for a Japanese film, still felt like the complete opposite of Wanted. Even the use of "nothing" is different. The silent moments during an American films tend to only appear so that the next sound will seem louder, while the silences in Japanese films are there so you can think about what's going on in the story. It didn't help that the other two were "family" movies, either, although I probably wouldn't recommend Paco to young children...

I guess since I'm setting up to write for Nanowrimo, I'm paying a lot more attention to how to tell a story--the devices used, the cast of characters... once I start planning it, I'm always excited to start writing my novel, but this year, I hope I can keep the excitement through the middle of the month when I'm wondering how I got myself into this... Or at least have enough plot points and things to write about planned so that that feeling doesn't last very long...