RENTAL FAMILY

Rental Family (2025) directed by Hiraki. Brendan Fraser stars as a struggling actor living in Japan who finds employment with a company that rents out actors to clients. The clients use these actors to "solve" personal problems in their lives. Fraser's Philip fills a niche as the "white guy." At times the movie is a bit too cloying, especially in the final few minutes, but ultimately it works because of Philip's tender heart. It's an exploration of the fictions that we play in our personal and professional relationships. What is real? What is truth? What would we rather lie to ourselves about? Who are we?

The film also examines loss, longing, and loneliness. As one character states, "All relationships have to end." It may be a truism, but that doesn't mean it comes without pain and mourning.

Streamed on Disney+.

SITTING

fading temple bell
the fragrance of flowers strikes
at evening

—Bashō



Tonight's sit with South Sound Zen sangha was a good one. The weather was nice yet people still showed up. Sunset is later so there was still some light in our room, even at the end of sitting. I was asked to serve as doan: ringing bells, keeping time, and leading one chant. We chanted the Sandokai, which was new to me. I discovered the poetry of Korean poet Ko Un. My body felt good throughout the sit, and I left feeling calm.

THE LAMA'S SON

The Lama's Son (2025) directed by Kesang Tseten. This is a slice-of-life documentary examining life in the Mustang region of northern Nepal in the face of development and progress. Village life and the indigenous Bon religion are in jeopardy due to environmental changes, younger generations moving abroad, and the lure of money and opportunities instead of a hard life of poverty. It's a fascinating look at a culture, if not in "collapse," then definitely undergoing radical change.

Viewed as the March 2016 selection of the Tricycle Film Club.

IS THIS THING ON?

Is This Thing On? (2025) directed by Bradley Cooper. Will Arnett and Laura Dern are a couple who are both in midlife crisis and moving through separation and divorce. Alex Novak (Arnett) discovers an open mic comedian living inside him, although most of his material is melancholy at best and oftentimes downright bleak. Truth is told in the midst of various long-term relationships and reconciliation is entertained. This is a movie I went into cold and I was pleasantly surprised. Recommended.

Streaming on Hulu.

THE PENGUIN

The Penguin (2024) developed by Lauren LeFranc. This eight-episode series is a spinoff of The Batman (2022) directed by Matt Reeves. It follows the gangster-styled shenanigans of Oswald Cobb/The Penguin as he serves as driver to Sofia Falcone/The Hangman, pits the Falcone and Maroni crime families against one another, and tries to survive chaos of his own creation in an attempt to become "king of the mountain" of (drug) crime in Gotham. It's a brutal, bloody mess with a high body count. It mostly works, although I'm not sure why someone doesn't just kill Oz early on; it would have saved everyone a lot of trouble and turmoil. This is not your standard superhero/villain fare, but plays more in the realm of mob movies such as Scarface, The Godfather, and Goodfellas. I really liked it, but this won't be for everyone. Batman is my favorite comic book hero and I like the rogue's gallery of his villains. Colin Farrell as Penguin and Christina Milioti as Sofia Falcone really carry the storyline with excellent acting and delving deep into the histories/backgrounds of their characters.

Viewed on DVD from the Pierce County Library.

THERE IS BEAUTY

There is beauty in this moment. 

There is beauty in this morning. 

There is beauty in the sitting. 

There is beauty in the silence. 

There is beauty in the stillness. 

There is beauty in this small dog sitting in my lap, meditating alongside me. 

There is beauty in the chanting. 

There is beauty in the flame. 

There is beauty in the incense.

KANNON

Kannon no
iraka miyari tsu
hana no kumo

—Bashō, spring 1686

•

Goddess of Mercy
the temple roof overlooks
a cloud of blossoms

—trans. Jane Reichhold

•

Kannon's tiled temple
roof floats far away in clouds
of cherry blossoms

—trans. Sam Hamill

THE BRIDE

The Bride (2026) directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Jessie Buckley is spectacular as a woman possessed by the ghost of Mary Shelley. This film nods to every iteration of Frankenstein that precedes it, in book and film forms. It takes place in 1936 Chicago, and there are additional nods to gangster films and Bonnie and Clyde. The movie is perfection. It is so well crafted. "I would prefer not to" from Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener is at the heart of a feminist protest (and update).

Viewed at Tacoma's Grand Cinema.

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It was also the first time I took advantage of using their headphones so I didn't miss any of the dialogue or soundtrack. Diminished hearing is no fun at the movies, but the Grand makes accessibility easy!

AN APPROPRIATE RESPONSE

A monk asked Yunmen, “What is the teaching of a lifetime?"

Yunmen replied “An appropriate response.”

—Blue Cliff Record, case 14

•

After sitting zazen this evening, my Sōtō Zen sangha, engaged the above koan with "council," a group discussion technique borrowed from the Quakers.

Thinking about the current state of the world, our society, and ourselves, we answered the question, "What is an appropriate response?" The goal was to answer quickly, briefly, and with little forethought. It was amazing to hear what bubbled forth from people's minds and bodies and lives.

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What is an appropriate response?

THE TRUTH of CARCOSA

The Truth of Carcosa (2026) by Jacob Rollinson. This novel is a marriage of political thriller, dystopian hellscape, and cosmic horror taking place in a contemporary and all-too-believable United Kingdom in social collapse and turmoil. It's also an homage to The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers and 2666 by Roberto Bolaño, wrapped in an updated Lovecraftian method of presentation (reports, correspondence, videos, and the like mixed with first-person narration). We learn of the chaos caused by an evil book that may be a portal and means of summoning a malevolent alien being into our when and where of space-time. Throw in militias, invasive technologies, companies competing for control of our culture and lives, infringement of personal liberties, arrests and disappearances, and a demonic Corpse Man, and it all feels a bit too real. It's also a bit overly cinematic at times, but I can overlook that. All in all, it was a depressing yet compelling read.

 
Borrowed from the Pierce County Library System.