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There Be Dragons: New Deep-Sea Predator Species Discovered
Scienec Daily ^ | 3-24-2004 | HBOI

Posted on 03/24/2004 3:36:36 PM PST by blam

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To: blam
Reviewed by Jasper Sharp
"If you liked Iwai's later efforts this may well be worth sniffing out, but personally I thought this particular Dragon Fish was cod-awful."

Director Shunji Iwai has an awful lot in common with his American counterpart Quentin Tarantino. Both directors exploded upon the scene with their theatrical debuts in the early 90s (Tarantino with Reservoir Dogs in 1992 and Iwai with Love Letter in 1995); both followed their first films up with even bolder, idiosyncratic works which defined a new era of 'modern' cinema and set the benchmark for the films of the 90s (Tarantino with Pulp Fiction in 1994; Iwai with Swallowtail Butterfly in 1996). Both courted the media as 'celebrity' filmmakers and by the time both directors followed up their masterpieces (with Jackie Brown and April Story directed respectively in 1998), their work was already beginning to look dated and past its sell-by date. Consequently both directors seem to have kept a rather low profile ever since.

Like Tarantino, Iwai's films are prone to a slick stylistic glibness that caters squarely for the youth market - glossy exercises in pseudo-hip which though undeniably influential, a mere five years later already look passé. What once came across as fresh and experimental opened the floodgates for a deluge of emulators and detractors. In the case of poor Quentin it seemed that every film in the two years subsequent to Pulp Fiction featured quirky gangster caricatures strutting around in suits and shades through pointlessly tricksy non-linear narratives in films of such varying quality as The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, US 1995), Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (Gary Fleder, 1995) and 2 Days in the Valley (John Herzfeld, 1996). Had he not been quite so eager to indulge his own acting fancies at the same time he might have ridden through the worst of the detritus that swished in his wake.

Likewise Iwai's personal style, wholeheartedly embracing MTV aesthetic of using heavily saturated colours, fast editing, lengthy montages set to contemporary popular music and casting his films with popular rock stars of the day (Japanese singer Chara features in both Swallowtail Butterfly and Picnic, Iwai's two 1996 films) has suffered because, well, most MTV videos from the mid-90s already look pretty dated too.

Ultimately it's true though that cinema in the early 90s, and certainly not just in Japan, desperately needed a kick up the arse to bring it in line with a new generation of viewers who had been brought up from day one being bombarded with images through the cathode ray tube. Its no surprise that Iwai cut his teeth in the media of TV advertisements and pop videos, nor that he defines himself as an 'eizo sakka', a visual artist who considers TV and video to be no different from feature film in either theory or practice. One of his first films, Fried Dragon Fish, highlights the point admirably. This 50-minute feature was originally made for television though was hoisted onto the cinemas screens of Japan subsequent to the cult success which followed Swallowtail Butterfly.

Fried Dragon Fish is a shaggy dog story if ever there was one, a rather silly tale concerning the smuggling of the Arowana, the Red Dragon Fish whose value can reach up to several thousand dollars per fish. A girl named Pooh is the wise-cracking detective hired by fish-collecting fanatic Natsuro to track down the stolen fish. A cult film in certain circles in Japan, I have to be honest that this particular viewer didn't care for it too much.

For a director so concerned with 'images', the denouement here is essentially dialogue driven, with the more exciting plot turns which arise from Pooh's detective work consisting of shots of the protagonist fiddling around on a computer screen. It also feels hemmed in by the 4:3 aspect ratio, but these are both quibbles that are symptomatic of the title's small screen origins.

What is perhaps most striking is the sheer vacuity of the exercise. Sure, a lot of effort has been put into the look of the production, and its bold flashes of colour impress far more than anything else on offer. Pooh is introduced getting off a red scooter, her shocking pink helmet and techni-coloured scarf offset against the muted suburban background. Shots of the Arowana bobbing around its fish tank to a classical soundtrack abound whilst Natsuro admires from behind, bathed in blue light. But aside from such visual set decor, there's little to keep one's mind distracted from the hideous mugging of all the cast members (especially the American ones involved in this fishy scam), and the annoying 'cutesy' overacting from Miss Yoshimoto as Pooh.

Its true, most of its supposed faults stem from the fact that Fried Dragon Fish was made for TV, but at the end of the day it is still a fairly minor offering. If you liked Iwai's later efforts this may well be worth sniffing out, but personally I thought this particular Dragon Fish was cod-awful.

21 posted on 03/24/2004 4:15:01 PM PST by theFIRMbss
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To: LibWhacker
I've always suspected that those huge fish you see at the Natural History Museum still live deep in the water to this day. This story gave me chills until I read his size....that was close.
22 posted on 03/24/2004 4:17:51 PM PST by mabelkitty (A tuning, a Vote in the topic package to the starting US presidency election fight)
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To: blam
How about this? caught this 'wolf eel?' a few weeks ago! Does qualify as a 'predator' fish? Was having trouble getting anyone to volunteer to take the hook out of his mouth, I remember that!!
23 posted on 03/24/2004 4:26:02 PM PST by AgThorn (Go go Bush!! But don't turn your back on America with "immigrant amnesty")
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To: blam
Sorry, I thought this was an article on US Navy Seals.
24 posted on 03/24/2004 4:29:27 PM PST by jwalsh07 (We're bringing it on John but you can't handle the truth!)
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To: Anoreth
Fish
25 posted on 03/24/2004 4:38:08 PM PST by Tax-chick ("Fear not, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." (2nd Kings 6:16-17)
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To: AgThorn
close to 6 inches? seems rather small!

IT'S AVERAGE, AND NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED ABOUT, DAMMIT...

first my girlfriend, then fellow freepers...geeeze.

26 posted on 03/24/2004 4:39:25 PM PST by fourdeuce82d
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To: LibWhacker; Joy Angela
God Forbid if Hillary ever enters the Oval Office---but speaking theoretically, this Discovery of the Dragonfish might very well be a forewarning as to what she could look like/turn into while ranting off her Inauguration Speech AT the nation.
27 posted on 03/24/2004 4:40:58 PM PST by Pagey (Hillary Rotten is (still ) a Smug and Holier- than- Thou Socialist)
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To: LibWhacker
LOL! I was kidding, I love it when you post a pic and it comes out Huge!
28 posted on 03/24/2004 4:43:41 PM PST by cmsgop (For Gosh Sake MCI, NO MORE JAMES TAYLOR !!!!!!!!!!!!)
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To: blam
Can't wait to see this sucker on Iron Chef.
29 posted on 03/24/2004 4:44:02 PM PST by satchmodog9 (it's coming and if you don't get off the tracks it will run you down)
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To: LibWhacker
I really hate it when I pull a fish out of the bay and it has external bones and monster teeth and a mouth the size of its head and wants to eat the boat and is otherwise non-troutlike.
30 posted on 03/24/2004 4:46:33 PM PST by RightWhale (Theorems link concepts; proofs establish links)
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To: LibWhacker
Only a mother could love ...
31 posted on 03/24/2004 4:47:10 PM PST by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
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To: LibWhacker

32 posted on 03/24/2004 4:47:53 PM PST by ChadGore (kwitchyurbellyakin or bailthehellout!)
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To: fourdeuce82d
Geez...that is small!
33 posted on 03/24/2004 4:48:16 PM PST by Thumper1960 ((Space for Rent or Lease))
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To: LibWhacker
Oh, they have teeth, just small ones. Not like their deep-sea cousins. And they're actually very docile - they don't bother the other fish.
34 posted on 03/24/2004 4:49:15 PM PST by Viking2002
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To: fourdeuce82d
Must be the cold water.
35 posted on 03/24/2004 4:50:57 PM PST by gitmo (Thanks, Mel. I needed that.)
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To: cmsgop
LOL!
36 posted on 03/24/2004 4:56:08 PM PST by RIGHT IN LAS VEGAS
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To: RightWhale
Those Alaskan lakes are really something, aren't they, lol? This reminds me, if we ever do land on a planet or moon that's teaming with life (Titan or Europa, maybe?), we're still going to have to bring our own food, because NOTHING's gonna be edible.
37 posted on 03/24/2004 5:00:45 PM PST by LibWhacker
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To: ChadGore
Perfect likeness! :-)
38 posted on 03/24/2004 5:01:17 PM PST by LibWhacker
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To: ChadGore
Re: Post 32 . . .

". . . and two there are. Master and the apprentice. But, which one is which . . ."

(comment on the Sith Lord (sp) from Yoda in Star Wars, The Phantom Menace)
39 posted on 03/24/2004 5:23:32 PM PST by BluSky (“Don’t make me come down there.”)
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40 posted on 03/24/2004 5:46:42 PM PST by UncleDick
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