I watched My Neighbour Totoro (1988) yesterday for the first time. I’m not into animé in the slightest, I actively hate most of the pop culture that surrounds it, so I was bracing for impact before starting it. But man, it’s an incredible film. The background artwork was breathtaking, every frame was literally a painting, shown for a second or two then gone forever. The level of detail was overwhelming. There was something about the way it was animated and coloured and “lit” that made it feel like my soul was being nourished.
The youngest kid was so well-written and animated, reminded me so much of my nieces and nephews at that age. The way small everyday human things were included elevated the experience hugely. Like, the way the kid clumsily walks down the stairs, or the way someone puts their shoes on (they even animated the dad slipping his shoes off from the chest up, so you just see his shoulders move in a way that makes it clear what his unseen feet are doing, really masterful stuff).
My one criticism of it - and this may be a criticism of animated films in general - is the “frame rate” of the character animations. It was bordering on being a slideshow. Hand-drawn stuff that isn’t rotoscoped tends to have this issue, even in modern video games, and in Eastern animation in particular. For example, The Simpsons never had this problem, but Dragon Ball Z and Pokémon did (it’s probably one of the things that put me off the genre). It seems to be a stylistic choice, rather than just trying to save money by skipping the creation of every second frame. If so, it’s a choice I dislike and feel hurts the experience a little. Not hugely, just a little.
The story and acting were really pitch-perfect. Certainly a nice change from the grotesque shit I usually watch.
I’m going to be checking out the rest of Studio Ghibli’s oeuvre over the coming weeks. First on the list are: Grave of the Fireflies and Spirited Away. There are a few non-Ghibli animé films I plan to watch, too. Perfect Blue is one.
I just need to ensure I precede each film with 15 minutes of chanting “I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be, a weeaboo”.
Batman Returns (1992): The scene of the cats congregating around Selina Kyle after Shreck threw her out of the office window (and before she’s reborn as Catwoman) is so iconic. I remember seeing that scene on television when I was a child. Danny DeVito’s performance as The Penguin is also mega.
Blade Runner (1982): My eyes got heavy while watching it because all of the scenes are visually dark, which is certainly intentional. The world-building is amazing.
12 Monkeys (1995): It was interesting to watch this movie after having seen the TV series when it originally aired. The TV series is my second favorite sci-fi show, but I thought the movie was fine.
Movies, sadly not much atm. Been watching shows and youtube reactions whilst travelling. That said, I’ve seen fresh reactions to greats such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and 28 Days Later.
I’m going to see, “Priscilla” by Sofia Coppola soon.
I enjoyed, “killers of the flower moon” by Scorsese and didn’t mind the length. It was a hot day outside so I appreciated the nearly 4 hours of air conditioning for the same price as 2 hours of AC. The story was good too.
Watched Renfield (2023) last night. Found it to be a bit of fun, but felt like it under delivered.
I love the premise of a disillusioned Renfield trying to take his life back from Dracula. Unfortunately, that core struggle gets lost amid a world domination plot, an absurdly well armed criminal empire, corrupt cops, a dead dad sibling justice vengeance tale, and a romance that is basically microwaved Warm Bodies (which was lukewarm on arrival to begin with!).
Idk. The more I think about it, the more disappointed I am. Some of the action set pieces are fun, and occasionally there’s a bit of effects work that grabs your attention. 2/4 stars.
Yep, agreed completely. The premise is interesting and Cage is actually pretty good without being too over the top but the rest is tonally all over the place. It tries to be serious and then Jean Ralphio comes in and is a cartoon. I left pretty disappointed at the potential.
I love Ben Schwartz. I even saw him and Thomas Middleditch do their improv show a couple years ago. But I always see Jean Ralphio when I see him. It’s just such a good character, lol.
Oh yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing against the guy, it’s just that his character arc was half baked. In theory, the secondary antagonist being a snivelly little weasel who falls for Dracula’s power as a mirror of Renfield is a fine enough concept, but, much like the other interesting ideas they had, it’s just tossed off without much of a care for exploring it.
I just think the whole script should have gone through a streamlining process. First, ditch the cop love interest It really muddies the waters on what the film is trying to say about co-dependency when the main character is rescued from their codependent relationship by, let me check my notes, getting into a relationship. Second, make the bad guys actually threatening. They tried by giving them a 3rd act level up, but it still felt like no one was challenged in the slightest. Finally, show me more of Dracula and Renfield interacting! Their relationship is the entire crux of this movie, but they only have a handful of scenes together. Which is a damn shame, because I think Hoult and Cage actually lean into the manipulative dynamic there really really well. The idea just needed to be driven home.
Between The Last Voyage of the Demeter and this, it’s been a disappointing year for Dracula movies.
Watched From Beyond and Ready or Not, I liked both. Ready or Not is a lot of fun and gave me the feelings of a Cabin in the Woods side story. Bonus points for portraying the rich people as stupid and useless.
From Beyond was exactly what I wanted it to be, weird body horror top notch 80’s B movie. A classic everyone should see if you even have a passing interest in the horror genre. It’s so gross, the grossest part isn’t even a special effect, I love it. Happy Halloween Everyone.
Yes! I’m so glad you enjoyed them. From Beyond is such an 80s treasure. If you like those weird body horror films from that era, I’d recommend a couple lesser known films: Society as one in a similar vein of weirdness and Possession as a fantastic film that will sit with you for a while.
Oh, I just realized that Society was directed by Brian Yuzna, who wrote the screenplay for From Beyond, ha.
I will definitely put them on the long list, we come together every other week and watch 2 movies, one is picked by a different person and one by me. My buddy’s next turn I think he’s doing Get Out so maybe another horror night, that’s in a couple months though. We’re watching Little Miss Sunshine and Grave of the Fireflies next.
My movie night group watched The Woman King and Us, The Woman King was ok, fairly generic besides it being lady warriors. Us I liked a lot if I don’t try to logic it out. I really liked in the beginning with the dad like being in a different movie than the rest of his brooding family. He reminded me of the Dad from Eraserhead eating his mutant chicken just trying to have a calm day after work.
On this Thursday we’re watching Ready or Not and From Beyond, both I haven’t seen before.
Us is the very epitome of explaining “suspension of disbelief” IMO. I enjoyed it but if you think about the logistics AT ALL, it all falls apart.
On this Thursday we’re watching Ready or Not and From Beyond, both I haven’t seen before.
Love both of these. Ready or not is more slasher/thriller, but it’s a fun ride. From Beyond is just weird, but I love it. It’s silly horror effects and 80s weirdness in a perfect package.
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