Dead Sushi

Rina Takeda, who looks surprisingly familiar despite me never seeing any of her previous films, stars as Keiko in the latest action comedy by Japanese director Noboru Iguchi.  Raised by an overbearing father to be a sushi chef, but spurned as not capable of mastery, Keiko runs away to work at a holiday spa.  Comedy ensues as she tries to satisfy the spa owners and guests from a major corporation, but things go awry when a mysterious stranger arrives with flying, animated sushi, seeking revenge...

Dead Sushi
2012,  109 minutes, directed by Noboru Iguchi

Earlier this week I sat next to Rina Takeda at the first ABCs of Death screening, the intro of which featured Tim League and the audience downing a can of Shiner beer "high school style."  She and the other Japanese female guests didn't participate. =P So while I have no proof or record of her being there, I know that she and her friend, film stars, somewhere out there have photographs of me shotgunning a beer for what I hope is my one and only time.

That kind of random connection makes me an instant fan, and I hope to see her have continued success.

Super Size Me

I've recently started watching Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" documentary series, and found it relatively intriguing. It's a timely coincidence, though, that my Netflix DVD is Super Size Me, his documentary that launched his career, a film that I missed on its initial release.

Morgan's matter-of-fact reporting style is rather nice. Plus he knows how to mix in the right amount of back research along with his story arc.

Given the changes McDonald's "coincidentally" made after this premiered (elimination of Supersizes, flexibility in sides), this has to be one of the most influential documentaries of the decade. It's worth a viewing.

Super Size Me
2004, 100 minutes, directed by Morgan Spurlock