Coffinman: The Journal Of A Buddhist Mortician

The 2008 Japanese film Departures (Okuribito) is loosely based on the novel.  In it, unemployed Orchestra cellist Daigo Koboyashi heads back to his hometown looking for a new job and answers an ad for a “Nokan Agent” unaware that the position involves the ritual preparation of the deceased for burial.

The film went on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009 and practically swept the Japanese equivalent of the Academy Awards the same year, garnering wins in the Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor categories (along with many, many more). It’s a beautiful film, funny and heartwarming, and highly recommended.

The poster for Japan's Best Film of 2009: Departures

On a related side note: kudos to the lovely people over at BCA Bookstore in Berkeley for the several personalized touches included with the shipment, namely:

The Book Itself, Carefully Wrapped And Sealed,

A Complimentary Incense Sample,

And A Handwritten Thank You On The Invoice

Nicely done!

Now if only every seller took the time to personalize their orders this way.

I’ll try to post a review of the book some time next week.

I haven’t actually seen Avatar: The Last Airbender, the animated series the film is based on.

One of my friends told me I should check it out.  That was a long, long time ago.  I fully intend to; just haven’t quite gotten around to it yet.

The trailer looks promising.  The elemental effects look pretty cool.  Also, I’m really surprised by how faithfully the Chinese martial arts are being represented in the film.

Thoughts?

Looks pretty awful (“This is Iron Fist!”), although I like the real-life “Character Select Screen.”

I’m surprised by how faithful the film is to the look of the characters, Yoshimitsu in particular.

Hiroyuki Tagawa (Shang Tsung from Mortal Kombat) looks fairly ridiculous as Heihachi.

Also, I’m not too sure about the actor playing Jin Kazama (Jon Foo, who does have a background in martial arts).

Here he is, looking a bit more Jin-like in the Japanese movie poster:

Not bad, right?

I think it’s the actor’s voice more than anything else that sort of ruins it for me; Jin has always had a pretty manly (Japanese) voice in the games.

Excellent trailer.

Much like the trailers which preceded the first Iron Man’s release in 2008, this one has me genuinely excited about the sequel’s prospects.

Here’s hoping Favreau and co. are able to pull this off.

English accents aside, the trailer does seem to capture the look and feel of the games… Thoughts?