Name/名前: Constantine / コンスタンティン / Nonstop to Tokyo
Age: 24 years old / 二十四歳
Birthday/誕生日: March 1st /1987年3月1日
Hometown/出身: Colorado Springs, CO / コロラド州、アメリカ
Occupation/今仕事: Graduate Student /大学院生
Relationship Status: Irrelevant
Contact: constantineintokyo@gmail.com
Skype: ConstantineJapan
Education: Constantine is obsessed with Japanese film in a way some might find disturbing, and most find annoying. A graduate from Boston University and former participant in the JET Program, she enjoys reading about WWII, rock climbing, and watching obscure horror movies. She occasionally dresses up like video game characters and subsists on a diet of Monster energy drinks and beef jerky. She holds a BA in Something Completely Useless and is currently pursuing an MA in Something Less Useless with a specialization in Hopefully.
I also write for the wonderful website JapanCinema.net … go check it out!
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haha, Clint Eastwood is so crazy! I love him.
He’s definitely crazy, but he is also just unbelievably cool! Have you seen Gran Torino?
Howdy- I was exploring the internet and found your blog. Over all, this journal is very nice, I, am very fond of the design. If you get a second can you shoot me an email at bobbymc@live.com and let me know who designed it or where you found it? Thank you!
Hey Chiketo!
Happy B day for the 1st of March!
great Blog!
Paulx
Thanks for the birthday wishes Paul! I feel so old… T_T
I stumbled across your blog via another blog (In the Labyrinth) I found on google doing a search on samurai films and Japanese history & cinema — a curiosity of mine at the moment having just watched my first Mizoguchi film the other night. I have Ozu and some Kurosawa queued up for the week that I’m pretty excited about. Having had a crop of modern Japanese films not doing much for me (with Miike’s Audition as one of very few exceptions), I thought I’d go through the classics. I found it interesting reading an excerpt from one of your writings on the In the Labyrinth post regarding bushido as an artificial philosophy. Makes for great cinema I suppose! I think it’s so cool that the mythology of samurai and their codes parallel the American westerns and their mythological tough guy personas, which reminds me as to why I haven’t watched Sukiyaki Western Django yet. Should I? Anyway, just wanted to comment on your fantastic blog. Your posts about JET are fascinating as well. For a time I had thought about teaching abroad, but complacency has momentarily gotten the better of me. It’s nice to see what the program is like through people who are actually doing it, especially ones who keep interesting vlogs and blogs the way you do. I should also thank Midori from In the Labyrinth. Now I know I absolutely have to have Utagawa’s “Ghost Skeleton” hanging on my wall somewhere. Ja mata!
Hahaha, I just ordered a rather large (and not inexpensive, yuck) print of Ghost Skeleton to hang on one of my walls. I am looking forward to it making people think I am even more creepy than they already do.
I’m glad you found my blog, hopefully you’ll continue to think its interesting even if it does get a bit random at times. I followed the link to yours – you’ve got a bunch of entries that I’m going to need to sit down and read. Definitely looking forward to it (Japanese cinema + film noir + Twin Peaks? Awesome!).
I have seen Sukiyaki Western Django, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I tend to be a bit hypersensitive about Tarantino (while he didn’t direct it, he certainly had an influence) and I don’t like it when people mess around with Yojimbo OR Clint Eastwood style westerns. Personally I thought it was a weird, bad ripoff of Yojimbo. But what do I know… =P
When I saw Ghost Skeleton, it was automatic that I had to have it on my wall. I don’t care if my dates take one look at it and do a 180 out the door when they see it. It’s just amazing. Now I have to do research on Japanese woodblock prints to discover more. I may be hooked!
And thank you for the nice words about my blog! It’s also, as the title suggests, just random stuff of interest. I love all things genre specific, which is why I’m on such a samurai film binge at the moment.
Per your recommendation, I won’t hurry myself to watch Sukiyaki Western Django. Hmm, now I’m interested to know what you really think about Tarantino, especially Kill Bill Vol. 1! But I agree. I don’t like it when filmmakers mess with the greats. Of course, unless you’re Leone remaking Yojimbo as A Fistful of Dollars with Eastwood as Mifune.
I can accept Leone and Eastwood’s remake of Yojimbo, though I prefer The Good The Bad and The Ugly when it comes to the Man with No Name Trilogy. But Sukiyaki WD is just doesn’t bring anything new or interesting to the story…besides hair dye and Japanese guys speaking horribly accented English.
I’m torn when it comes to Kill Bill (and a lot of Tarantino films)…where do we draw the line between homage and blatant copying?
You were right about SWD. Pretty uninspiring. I never realized just how many films (American or Foreign) rehash Yojimbo’s structure. In regards to your question about the difference between homage and copying, I don’t think there’s a better example of outright copying than Leone’s remake. I mean, the only thing missing is a shot-for-shot take, even though there are a handful of scenes that look like the exact same shot. Tarantino never goes that far, but he does borrow a lot. What he does borrow, he also subverts to create what he would call homages. Kill Bill Vol.1 is really a bad example of this though. Vol.2 is a better one. But when combined, it becomes a samurai-western. Why he decided to separate them and made the tone of each so vastly different, I have no idea but what’s there is there I suppose. The best example I think where he isn’t simply blatantly copying but also far from doing a straight homage is Death Proof. That film I don’t know what the hell it is, but I think it’s one of his better recent outputs. To gauge that film in his oeuvre, it would probably be considered a lesser film from all his others but that’s simply not true (in my opinion of course!)
Ok, but enough about Tarantino. I know that seems to be a sour subject for you. But you’re right about one thing though — Ghost Dog is indeed awesome. It’s funny because when I first watched it years ago, I failed to pay attention to the name of the book he lived by. I just bought Harakure last week and after watching one of your videos tonight where you talked about Ghost Dog, I realized that was the same book.
I can’t believe how much I’ve been missing not watching old Japanese films. They’re so transcendent and very dream-like in a way. What I’ve been watching makes me compare them to filmmakers and films today, and realizing how contemporary they really are. It’s quite amazing. I don’t know where Japanese films are going nowadays especially since a couple of the last recent Japanese films I’ve seen were The Machine Girl and Detroit Metal City.
I hope you will continue to feature more diverse and recent Japanese films for review, especially those that don’t get the kind of exposure that other more popular films do. You already do that so I guess keep up the great work!
I agree with you completely, I think that Death Proof is one of Tarantino’s recent best and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I’ll keep reviewing Japanese films, maybe we can work together sometime!
I have a question…being that you are in japan, have you checked out any puroresu matches? I bring this up only because I figured that since you have a love of zombies, Clint and Arnold you must appreciate blood and gore solely for entertainment purposes, and if you have not ever seen or heard of the “Deathmatch” you should check out BJW (Big Japan Pro Wrestling)…Now its not at all like it’s American counterparts. It’s more like watching a pretty fucked up performance or play with broken glass, thumbtacks, Kenzen, and hilarious storylines/acting, but with pro wrestling techniques. I guess you could say it’s professional Wrestling done right. All in All it is a very enjoyable, bloody good time, even if you are not a pro wrestling junkie!!
“Constantine…so hot right now!”
http://constantineintokyo.com
“Help me spread the word”
Sweet! Now if only I can get people to start doing this when I walk into a room… =P
Cute =P
Site seems slow of late :(
no new updates :(
Paul
It would be good to know if you are all right after what has been happening in Japan lately.
She is alive follower her on twitter and your see she is A* OK.
Regards
Paul(UK)
Thanks for letting people know that I am still breathing! Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. ;)
Ha! I think people had thought you had commited “Hara-kiri” This blog could of been a shrine ;).
Thanks Paul
Heya! You’re still alive – and now a grad student? Cool! What are you studying now? (one hopes its film, although I think probably not, as you specify it is less useless than the previous degree).
Yeah, I am still alive (after a long hiatus and LOTS of changes). I’m not doing film studies right now, but even if this degree is useless its also free. ;) What have you been up to? You should email me so we can catch up!
hey costantine! I just find ur blog & I wanted 2 ask u about Three..Exams?
have u seen it??? Its for now in my top 5 of asian movies!!!If u havent seen it, I strongly sugest to check it out!
btw ur so cute with the blode hair & wth the love gor horror ;)
Hey,
Whats going on with the lack of posts lately? :(?
I know you write on japancinema.net which i follow also are you moving more to post on there now?
We have netflix and lovefilm in the UK and they have a good selection of japanese filmes on there. last night watch the girl that leapt throug time the film not the anime version was good :).
But my question is where/how to do you get you japanese movies?
“She holds a BA in Something Completely Useless and is currently pursuing an MA in Something Less Useless with a specialization in Hopefully.”
I had to comment to say that made me laugh so hard because I can personally understand what you meant. BTW, thank you for making the list of questions for the JET interview. My husband and I are waiting to find out if we got interviews. Your list was very helpful.