Takeshis' (Directed by Takeshi Kitano): So, Takeshi Kitano, well-known Japanese director, is finishing up his latest movie when he runs into an actor who looks exactly like him, has the same name, but is blonde. Just what happens from here on out, is really up for grabs. First, the second Kitano continues to audition for movies, once he gets one, he picks up a gun to practice. From there on out, all hell breaks loose. Kitano goes on a rampage, shooting everyone who has treated him poorly over the course of his life: Mahjonng parlour operators, cranky cooks, cops, and any other tormentors. He guns down a man who constanly mocks his audition failures, then takes the man's girlfriend. What's completely fascinating is that none of this takes place in any kind of reality. The woman he takes as his girlfriend, is also the girlfriend of the real Kitano, her dead boyfriend is one person to the second Kitano, and someone else to the real Kitano. It's off the wall, and often hilarious, like the gun battle where the sparks of the gunfire turn into star constellations. But, it's also surprisingly touching. The gun battle on the beach, where Kitano takes on police, swordsmen, and sumo wrestlers is wacky, but the music is sad, along with the expression on his face. It felt to me like it was a send-off, a farewell to the yakuza genre Kitano has explored througout the years. This is, by far, Kitano's most complicated movie. Most of the user comments on IMDB state that to enjoy 'Takeshis' you have to be a Kitano fan, but I think it's more than that. To enjoy 'Takeshis', you really have to be willing to let its zaniness not overwhelm you, and dig deeper into the film. It's really like a Takeshi Kitano take on a Jean-Luc Godard movie. Recent quotes seem to indicate that Kitano, himself, is unsure about this movie, that he likens it to a car that is too fast for him. But, it's an admirable film, one that gives you no answers, and let's you make your own questions.

The Squid and the Whale (directed by Noah Baumbach): It's funny to see this categorized as a comedy, because there are funny elements, but it's ultimately one of the sadder films I've seen, recently. Walt and Frank (Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline) are the sons of two intellectuals, Joan (Laura Linney) and Bernard (Jeff Daniels) who are now separating. Joan is an up and coming writer, while Bernard is on the downswing of a career that once showed limitless promise. Walt is devoted to his father, he criticizes his mother for leaving Bernard just because he's not as successful as he once was. Frank is more drawn to his mother, he swears when he's told that he looks more like his father than mother. The problem is that neither Joan or Bernard are good parents. Bernard is opinionated and blunt. He tells Walt the reason that he and his wife are separating is because of his wife's affairs, then proceeds to tell his sons all about their mother's infidelity. Joan is also hypercritical, after Walt plays her a song and says he's going to play it in front of the school, she tells him that he needs to practise. Bernard and Joan's inability to be good parents leads to problems with their children, Walt plagiarizes a song to play in front of the school and tells everyone he wrote it, Frank starts drinking (He's in elementary school) and masturbating constantly. The children are completely damaged because of their upbringing: Walt has no opinions of his own, he just regurgitates his own father's opinions, Frank looks up to the pro at the local tennis school (William Baldwin) as a father figure so much that he aspires to become one, himself. It's a sometimes funny, often heartbreaking look at a fractured family. Highly Recommended.