For this Sunday Kino Night, first up is The Taste of Tea (2004), a comedy about a Japanese family in rural Japan, among whom is a mom who is a secret anime nerd, and a little girl being stalked by a giant version of herself. Just look at the picture on Letterboxd. Absurdist comedy ensues, along with some surrealism, for good measure. It is the best-known and best-regarded film of director Katsuhiro Ishii, who is otherwise not known for much in the West. High praise for this one across the board, and it’s both the length and genre (i.e., comedy) to be a good complement for the other movie tonight, so we’re watching it. After that is another entry in the God Damn the UKKK canon, with Babylon (1980), a British drama about a young black British man who has to endure poverty, family squabbles, and racism while living on the worst island on Earth. The director is Franco Rosso, who is a true one-hit wonder; none of his other films (which are mostly documentaries) have accrued any notoriety whatsoever. Great reviews for this one, so let’s check it out.

We’ll start at 9PM EST on Hextube, right here:

https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• The Taste of Tea: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-taste-of-tea/
• Babylon: https://letterboxd.com/film/babylon/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• The Taste of Tea: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413893/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg
• Babylon: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080406/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg

CWs for The Taste of Tea:

• Discussion of sex. Not depicted.
• Toilet humor.

CWs for Babylon:

• British people.
• Objectification of women.
• Racism.
• Racist slurs.
• Profanity.
• Smoking.
• Drug use.
• Child abuse.
• Swastikas.
• Stabbing.
• Interracial violence.

Links to movies:

Forthcoming. I have the files, and will upload shortly.