The first section feels visibly constructed. The choreographed movements of the actors to sculpt new compositions from the initial shots is admirable, but registers on a more intellectual level than emotional. It has the character of a stage play.

Once the police procedural begins, I was locked in. I'd watch an hour of the cops reviewing evidence and notes.

I was far more interested in the movie implied by the “Justine” chapter than by what I got.

The structural conceit had the effect of undercutting all momentum earned before chapter breaks, while also prolonging a mystery beyond the point of being mysterious. I did not need to know how Gladys weaponized the principal. I didn’t need to know more about Paul or James. A film written defensively to ward off pedants complaining online about “plot holes”.

Give me more of Justine vacillating between her various personas to survive in town. That shit was good!

It’s strange reading English language reviews of this that don’t grapple with the particularites of Japanese male adulthood and permissable interests. While working there, it was often joked that there were about 5 societally acceptable hobbies for adult men (and a different set for women).

This movie isn’t about rediscovering joy in middle age or something like that. It’s 出る釘は打たれる. He gives up dance, and there's no textual basis to believe he returns. He whiles away his time with some of the acceptable male activites before the party: solo dining/drinking and pachinko. He's been hammered down!

Something like 90% of the good jokes are exactly the kind of jokes that would have shown up in the original or in Police Squad. I don’t know if that makes this stale, or refreshing given the complete lack of that kind of humor in the last 20 years.

I’ll always be partial to to Police Squad, and so many of the good jokes here are pulled straight from the show. But this does have perhaps the single funniest line in any movie with “Hey! It’s Enrico Palazzo!”, and for that I can never be too critical.

Heartbreaking. Especially the moment of quiet confidence stating “two men can’t love eachother”.

I ultimately still don’t know what to do with it. Scott's care while cosplaying poverty wasn’t feigned, but still there was no allegiance to Mike.

Similarly with the final sequence: There are victimizers. And there are helpers. What can I do with that?

Quite the tonal shift at the end. Understands something very real about the deluge of scams we find ourselves adrift in, as well as the particular impotency of tough guys behind keyboards. Great time.

This is no Josie and the Pussycats.

There's a shallowness to the theme of being true to one's self. It’s introduced very early as the basis of “Golden” and just honestly isn’t really explored in any interesting way. How does that self-honesty intersect with the state of shame that Rumi doesn't (or does) experience? Or the parallels between Gwima and Celine? Nothing.

Also a remarkable difference in just how unendingly reverential this is about its music industry. Josie also loved the music, but distinguished art and industry. This can’t conceive the distinction.

Watched from a DVD (ick) of the American version (ick) at the Asian Art Museum. Glad they showed it, but throughout I could tell that this copy has cropped what was almost certainly filmed in Tohoscope. Multiple scenes where speaking characters are only visible by their nose poking into the frame.