Charlie Chaplin in "The Immigrant"

Nisei Week, the anual week-long Japanese festival held in downtown L.A. began today. Among the highlights were the ribbon cutting on the newly renovated Japanese village (it looks REALLY nice), the usual assortment of martial arts and anime enthusiasts and a special appearance by The Nocturnes, a kick ass surf rock band who’s origins date back to the 60’s. Check out their rendition of surf rock legend Dick Dale’s Misirlou, or for those not familiar with him, it’s the opening theme to Pulp Fiction. Right about now, the 2010 Nisei Court is being sorted out and the new queen is about to be crowned.

But I press on, with Day 8 of this journey through movie history, once again visiting the comedic genius that is Charlie Chaplin in The Immigrant. I really liked this twenty minute slapstick-fest. The sound effects are kind of annoying and there’s a major plot hole in the restaurant scene. Chaplin is afraid he’s gonna get beat up for not being able to pay the bill, but when he invites a girl he met on the ship over to NY to eat with him, the filmmakers forgot that earlier in the movie, Chaplin gave her a wad of money. That been said, the physical comedy, especially in the restaurant scene is really entertaining.

Tomorrow should be interesting as I’ll be back out at Nisei all evening, so I’ll most likely post Day 9’s review in the morning. Now… to find out who are new queen is gonna be…