The Purple Pinup Guru Platform

When purple things are pulsating on your mind, I'm the one whose clock you want to clean. Aiding is Sparky, the Astral Plane Zen Pup Dog from his mountain stronghold on the Northernmost Island of the Happy Ninja Island chain, this blog will also act as a journal to my wacky antics at an entertainment company and the progress of my self published comic book, The Deposit Man which only appears when I damn well feel like it. Real Soon Now.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Sparky: Babel, and babbling

Babel (2006 film)


Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Produced by Steve Golin
Jon Kilik
Written by Guillermo Arriaga
Starring Brad Pitt
Cate Blanchett
Adriana Barraza
Gael García Bernal
Rinko Kikuchi
Kôji Yakusho
Music by Gustavo Santaolalla
Distributed by Paramount Vantage
Release date(s) United StatesMexico November 10, 2006
France November 15, 2006
United Kingdom January 5, 2007
Running time 142 min.
Country Mexico
Language English
Spanish
Arabic
French
Japanese
Japanese Sign Language
Berber
Budget $25 million USD (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Babel
is a 2006 dramatic film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Kôji Yakusho, and Gael García Bernal. The film was first screened at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The movie was also shown to audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Zagreb Film Festival, where it was met with positive reviews. The multinarrative drama will complete Iñárritu's "Death trilogy" that also consists of Amores Perros and 21 Grams. The film opened in selected cities in the United States on October 27, 2006, and went into full release on November 10, 2006.

Plot

In a remote location in the desert, in southern Morocco, Hassan sells a Winchester rifle to Abdullah, who gives it to his two teenage boys, Yussef and Ahmed, (played by the local non-professional actors Boubker Ait El Caid and Said Tarchini) who look after their family's herd of goats, to kill jackals preying on the goats. To test it out, they aim from a hill at rocks and later a bus passing below. After missing a few times they hit the bus, injuring the woman of a vacationing American couple, Richard and Susan (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett).

The police roughly question Hassan and beat him and his wife until they confess Abdullah now has the rifle. Later, the two boys confess to their father what they have done. The three flee from the police taking the rifle with them. The police shoot at them, and in ignorance Yussef shoots back. Yussef, who shot Susan earlier, eventually surrenders and confesses, and asks for medical treatment for his brother, who had been shot in the leg and back by the police while attempting to flee.

Richard and Susan were vacationing in Morocco to escape their own marital woes. It appears the sudden death of their infant son, suggested to be SIDS, has caused a strain on their marriage as they cannot communicate their frustration, guilt, and blame to each other. When Susan is hit the bus goes to the nearest village with a doctor. The bus waits some time, but the other passengers demand that it leaves, because the heat is hard to bear, and because of the danger of more attacks. Since Susan cannot travel by bus in her condition, the couple stays behind, together with the bus's tour guide Anwar, to wait for transport to a hospital. Political issues between the US and Morocco prevent quick help, but at last a helicopter arrives. The simplicity of the ordeal, Richard caring for and protecting Susan with the fear of losing her, brings them together.

In parallel, we see a rebellious deaf-mute Japanese teenage girl, Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi), who is traumatized by the recent suicide of her mother and the fact that boys treat her like a monster because of her conditions. She has started exhibiting sexually provocative behavior, such as wearing a short skirt and no underpants. She even goes so far as to try to seduce a police detective, Kenji (Satoshi Nikaido), who visits the house to question Chieko's father, Yasujiro (Kôji Yakusho), about his gun. It turns out Yasujiro is an avid hunter who once went hunting in Morocco and gave his rifle to his tour guide, Hassan.

We also see Richard and Susan's Mexican nanny, Amelia (Adriana Barraza), taking care of their two young children while the couple is stranded in Morocco. Because of the incident she is forced to take care of the children longer than anticipated. Unable to secure help to care for them, she takes them to her son's wedding in Mexico. On the way back her nephew Santiago (Gael García Bernal) drives back after having a couple of drinks. When returning and passing the border checkpoint the customs agent is rude and abusive, however between being drunk, misunderstandings due to language complications and the fact that the nanny has no permission slip, they are searched and are motioned to pull over to the next parking lot. Santiago decides to flee and later drops Amelia and the children off in the desert, so he can safely get rid of the police chasing him. He never makes it back and Amelia and children are left stranded in the desert. After a day of walking while carrying the children, out of fatigue and necessity - realizing that they all will die if she doesn't get help, Amelia leaves the children behind to find someone, telling them not to move. She finds a police officer, John, and to her horror, instead of helping her to find the kids he is more interested in arresting her. After she breaks down into tears out of love for the two children that she raised as her own, John allows her to lead him to where the children were left, but they have wandered away. She is taken back to the precinct, where she is told the children have been found, and is extradited from the US for working illegally even though she had been in the US for 16 years.

Auteur Controversy

Apparently, following completion of principal photography of Babel, director González Iñárritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga had a serious falling out. The dispute centered on the authorship of their previous film, 21 Grams. Screenwriter Arriaga argued that film was a collaborative medium, and thus both he and González Iñárritu were the authors of the films they had worked on together. Director González Iñárritu claimed sole credit as the auteur of those same films, dismissing screenwriter Arriaga's contribution to the pictures.

Because of this public controversy, director González Iñárritu banned screenwriter Arriaga from attending the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, an act for which the director was severely criticized.[1]

Observers believe it is unlikely that director and screenwriter will work together again.

Principal cast and characters

Morocco

Mexico

Japan

Awards and nominations

  • Cannes Film Festival:
    • Won: Best Director (Alejandro González Iñárritu)
    • Won: François Chalais Award (a Prize of the Ecumenical Jury)
    • Nominated: Palme d'Or (Best Film)

Box Office Performance

Within the film industry, Babel's box-office results are generally considered to have been weaker than expected.[2]

Released in seven theaters on October 27, 2006, and then released wide in 1,251 theaters on November 10, 2006, Babel has earned as of November 29, 2006, $15,633,000 in North America, and $17,294,000 in the rest of the world, for a cumulative worldwide box office total of $32,928,000.[3]

Babel is thus the lowest performing movie featuring Brad Pitt in a starring role since 1994's The Favor.[4]. It is also the worst performing wide-release movie (1,000+ theaters) starring Cate Blanchett since 1999's Pushing Tin.[5] Compared to his other films, Babel will barely equal González Iñárritu's 21 Grams for North American box office, but will be far behind that film's $60 million world-wide gross boxoffice.[6]

Grosses may also be positively affected if the film receives awards recognition.

External links


It seems Cary was smitten by Rinko ...

Rinko Kikuchi

Picture 7
Rinko Kikuchi (?? ?? Kikuchi Rinko),
known as Yuriko Kikuchi (?? ??? Kikuchi Yuriko) prior to May of 2004, is a Japanese actress. She was born on January 6, 1981 in Kanagawa Prefecture).
MW-W98-0195

Her role in Babel (2006 film) has been her breakthrough role. She won the Gotham Awards for Best Breakthrough, she was nominated for a Golden Satellite for Best Supporting Actress and she won the National Board of Review for Best Breakthrough Female (with Jennifer Hudson).
Picture 6

Filmography

  1. Warau Mikaeru (2006)
  2. Babel (2006)
  3. Warau Michael (2006)
  4. Nice no mori: The First Contact (2006)
  5. Tagatameni (2005)
  6. Riyu (2004)
  7. Survive Style5+ (2004)
  8. 69 (sixty nine) (2004)
  9. Cha no Aji (2004)
  10. Tori (2004)
  11. 17 sai (2003)
  12. DRUG (2001)
  13. Sora no Ana (2001)
  14. Paradice (2001)
  15. Akai Shibafu (2000)
  16. Sanmon Yakusha (2000)
  17. Ikitai (1999)

She also made appearances in many Japanese TV commercials.

External Links


Maybe inappropriate for the day of the Attack on Pearl Harbor? But hey -

Monday, December 04, 2006

WATCH OUT!! -

EXCLUSIVE NEW PP GURU BLOGS JUST AHEAD!!

Hey, your one and true love PP Guru here - here to tell you that he's about ready to write some new blogs on Fanboy comic book, movie, and DVD geekiness. Plus maybe a revival or two on our PenisBody Award winning series of STRANGE STIRRINGS BELOW THE PP GURU'S BELT

Here's what you'll be expecting in the near future:

The PP Guru has the first six issues of the new current Moon Knight series and he wants to talk about it. He also has the first few issues of the new Creeper mini-series- and other assorted comic books that the PP Guru has accumulated along the way over the past few months. Plus more DC Showcases and Marvel Essentials paperbacks that has jarred some loose mind shrapnel from the PP Guru's noggin.

The PP Guru wants to..by year's list his favorite Top Ten prog albums of 2006. Now he hasn't actually sat down and listen to them all yet - but he has a good direction of where he wants to go with this. Also the PP Guru is practically creaming in his tunics over the reformation of Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, & Tony Banks as.... Genesis.

The PP Guru needs Sparky to find out more info on the Japanese flower child who was constantly showing off the Bonzai tree between her legs in the film, Babel for a future Strange Stirrings column. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to comply with such a exquiste request.

Cartoon DVD box set. Can't live without them - but the PP Guru can't really afford them either. The PP Guru is on the sharp look out and is almost willing to embezzle some big wig corporation that's owned by Rupert Murdoch in order to gobble them up, otherwise Christmas is around the corner with peppermint dreams of obtaining box sets of Star Trek: The Animated Series, Aeon Flux, The Tick, or Filmation's Flash Gordon and the Defenders of the Earth. Set your Christmas gift giving list accordingly.

Watch this space - or tune click in to the PP Guru's myspace page for more tunic pulse palming excitement!!

As wired Western Union via the sinking lost continent of Atlantis..

~

Coat
And now for a slightly detoured intermission... more tales from the Cary Coatney/Rikki Lixxx edge

Originally presented on www.myspace.com/purplepinupguru August 3, 2006

Yeah folks, you see it's like this: I'm going to have to take a break this week and only give you my half assed 50 percent this week. To many crappy events have happened to me this week and rather try to superlatively pull the metaphoric wool of prose over your eyes and try to rush things through without a stroke of conscience left in my mind, I'd rather postpone the next chapter of our Melrose Hell saga and do it right instead of shooting blanks.
I mean you do want a happy ending to all this, correct?

Well - not that there is a happy ending to it. There's more turmoil ahead - I know, I can feel it.
The crappy things that happened this week doesn't have much to do with Lixi and me - it's me, actually. Monday, I was let go from Paramount Pictures- for the same old song and dance - WE JUST DON'T HAVE THE BUDGET TO KEEP YOU. So I was told to just quietly pack away my goodies and go home even before I could sit at my desk and log on to say hi to all you pretty cats and dogs.

Basically all I did this week was sit by the phone and wait for jobs to come pouring in. I almost got to work for FOX on Tuesday in their DVD department - but they only wanted someone to fill in for a couple of days. So I passed. I went to renew acquaintances with Warner Bros this morning - as per advice from my union to work as a clerk FLOATER until something better comes along - but I threw up my hands - phewww, what's the use?

Tomorrow I'm starting a two to four week gig at some public relations firm in Marina Del Rey that's working as a non-profit front to aid Israeli soldiers fight the war on terrorism. The accounting firm who is sending asked me if I had any opposing political views on accepting the assignment. I said I didn't give a shit - I got rent to pay in two weeks. Yes, I'm slightly Jewish - but none of my ancestors hail from the holy land so to speak. My family migrated from Russia trying to escape Betty Czar and her easy bake ovens during the early 20th century.

I spent money on myself for once. One thing I had to mention in the proposed blog entry that I wanted to write - but can't due to time constrictions is that last week - in order to solve neighbor problems - I had to whip out my wallet. So last week's paycheck went into me playing Santa Claus in the middle of July - and not just Lixi was the one to benefit.
So I got myself - FINALLY got myself the new FROST* debut album and the new Riverside -Voices in my Head EP - as many of you can see in my top friends list. The V for Vendetta special two disc edition which I had a friend at Warner Bros pick up for me.

And man, do I need my cartoons! Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes! The Venture Bros Season 1. What else is there to say except that I'll running out of time and I'll get to writing the next chapter on Saturday!! A special edition!! OF MY BLOG!! Whooppee. Whoopie do.

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