one of the most colorful movies i've ever seen, ran, this 1985 3-hour epic loosely based on lear and set in feudal japan, was one of kurosawa's last movies though proved that as he was losing his sight, he could still do fucking amazing work. i try watching it every time it's on tv, even if i just mute it and listen to music. honestly, the colors are enough.
beyonce proves that her art-pop appearance in gaga's "telephone" extravaganza wasn't a fluke in this ode to 1950/60's housewife perfection. however where cute references seem entirely natural to ms. germanotta, it seems almost too forced in b.b. homemaker's hands. it just proves kitsch (the unofficial word of 2010) is finally stepping its way over into the mainstream for better or for, gulp, worse.
even if corporate greed and degradation is not your thing, the timeless power-synth score is the best of the 80's. add retro michael douglas, sober charlie sheen, a dopey darryl hannah, metropolitan art deco, some of the best lines written about american capitalism, and you have a modern morality play that will never go out of style.
