Jiro Dreams of Sushi

I heard about this film months ago. I read about it in Entertainment Weekly -- and in Rolling Stone -- I saw promo posters plastered throughout the Tenderloin -- and I love sushi so it was generally brought up as a must-see. For reasons that are inconsequential, I waited until last week to finally see Jiro Dreams of Sushi and I am happy to report that it far exceeded my expectations.

First, I must mention that usually when films are hyped up - even just a little bit - the chances that I will be disappointed are huge. This unfortunate phenomenon occurs because the hopes and expectations that I have built up have simply failed to manifest. I suppose the cosmic balance of things levels everything off with the instances when I don't have any expectations for a film (i.e Tree of Life or Drive) and the film ends up being an exceptional piece of work. Ah, such is life. Which brings me

J'adore le Genre: Minimalist Disaster Film

Disaster films have the distinction of being one of the most popular film genres of all time. Starting at the beginning of the century with films like Fire! and Night and Ice, to the mid-20^th century with films like War of the Worlds and King Kong, and on to more recent titles like Independence Day, The Road, and Melancholia, this genre has done its job of captivating audiences on a global level.

But I’m not going to talk about disaster films.

Today I will tackle another lesser known genre lovingly-known as the Minimalist Disaster film. A Google search of this genre may return very few results so I guess before I go any further I should mention…I made this genre up.

My reasoning for creating this genre was two-fold.

Fold One: I got tired of people referring to certain films as disaster films and lumping them into the same category as those mentioned at the beginning of this post when they are clearly different in many ways.

Fold Two: The films included in this niche category are some of my all-time favorite films and therefore I felt a need to segregate them and honor them with their own specific genre.

I think the best way to describe these films is to name some rules that a film must adhere to in order to be considered a true Minimalist Disaster film. These rules are non-negotiable and all must apply in order for a film to be considered a true Minimalist Disaster.

Official Rules of a Minimalist Disaster Film: