I watch a ton of Japanese films, and own a slew of them. While I'm not about to start a column reviewing movies anytime soon, since this one may not be hitting theaters near you, I have to at least point it out! It's also part of my own personal goal to encourage people to watch movies that inspire creativity and so often Hollywood blockbusters just don't do it for me any longer -- don't even get me started on the latest Twilight film. My gosh, what happened? But anyway, this film, Rinco's Restaurant, is a Japanese film and has lots of gorgeous scenes in it and if you love to cook and enjoy lots of eye candy, you must check it out. The story is also very inspirational about a girl who, despite a rather loony mother (to put it politely) who seems to love her pet pig more than her only daughter Rinco, launches her own business after working in a dead end job for years and finds success in it -- cooking out of her cute little shed in the back yard (which she decorated so sweetly).

There is a lot of depth in this film and loads of creative vision and fun things to look at -- each scene could be a picture, it's all quite visually stunning. I watched it on the long haul flight from Los Angeles on Monday and found myself totally lost in the sheer prettiness of it all...

You can watch a preview in Japanese on the official movie website if you'd like... It reminded me a bit of Amelie in a rather abstract way. If you watch it, you will see what I mean. It made me feel so creative and energized which is why I simply had to share it with you today!

Did you see this film? What did you think of the story? How about the set design? Wardrobe? I loved some of her crazy mother's outfits and that fabulously plump porker who was always laid out so well on the sofa (sheesh!). The best part was the facial mask scene where both mother and her pet pig had masks on - too funny. While I felt a bit lost in parts (I nearly always do in Japanese films and realize that it's usually a culture thing) it was still a darling film and I hope to own it eventually.

(images: rinco's restaurant)