gurdymonkey | DVD: "Hana" aka "Hana yori mo naho"

Despite a phone call in the middle which required a significant pause, I spent the evening in a down at heels Edo slum with some engaging characters, including a samurai turned schoolmaster. Don't go to IMDB to look this up because some moron posted a HUGE spoiler filled plot summary and it's on the main page. You can, however, enjoy the trailer here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAPnbgdPNS0

This story about a reluctant young samurai and the choices he has to make about avenging his father's death was full of all sorts of wonderful surprises. As one of the characters said (in subtitles), it's about finding a way to turn crap into mochi. (Auree, you should rent it just for the privy scenes!) Written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda and starring Junichi Okada and Rie Miyazawa, this is well worth renting - and almost makes up for the one-on-one I've been forced to have with a Purveyor of Stupidity on a board I moderate this evening.