Movies you've just watched

[Hagane]

Satoshi Kon had a nice output in the 2000s. Sadly he died. Then there's 4ºC's stuff. Oshii does some movies from time to time too. Some people rave about Mamoru Hosoda and Makoto Shinkai but I personally can't stand them. Sword of the Stranger is good as far as action goes.

[EmperorIng]

I think the Satoshi Kon worth watching are Tokyo Godfathers, Millennium Actress, and Paprika, in that order. Everything else is middling. I wonder whatever happened to that project he was working on when he died? It looked fantastic.

[Daigohji]

Patlabor 2

Went w/ scrilla4rilla tonight and watched it raw on the big screen. I saw this when it was first released to LD in probably late 1994. As such, remember none of it. Subtitles would have helped, but I figured most of it out. Some of the conversations between the lazy eyed guy (aramaki?) and Gotou got a little abstract. The fundamental stuff I got... the crazy attention to detail about the terrorist attacks went over my head. Nonetheless, enjoyable. Something I never really appreciated but can now, was the recreation of a lot of parts of town - and not necessarily iconic ones. The other thing is recreation of the feel of winter in Tokyo. Most of the interior of the buildings simply felt cold. Until you freeze your balls off in a Japanese home, this is really hard to pick up on.

Soundtrack isn't exactly timeless, but better than most shit from the 90's. Great flick -- definitely worth purchasing.

Do they even make anime like this anymore, ones adults can enjoy, without schoolkids or power levels over 9000?

Anime with that degree of maturity always were a rarity. Don't forget that 1994 was Dragonball Z's heyday.

More recent examples I can think of: Flag, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Blue Gender, Ergo Proxy, Witch Hunter Robin (protagonist is 15, but doesn't look or act that young), Haibane Renmei, Jin-Roh, anything by Satoshi Kon, Master Keaton, Yukikaze, Yugo the Negotiator.

Less mature (but still enjoyable) shows featuring grown-up characters: Black Lagoon, Zone of the Enders: Dolores, Witchblade, Irresponsible Captain Tylor.

[system11]

Thanks, I've not seen a couple of those, I'll look into them.

[EmperorIng]

Ergo Proxy is mature in the sense that a Creative Writing class in high school produces mature literature.

[GaijinPunch]

Do they even make anime like this anymore, ones adults can enjoy, without schoolkids or power levels over 9000?

Not that I'm aware of, but only check randomly. For what it's worth, the other patrons were hardly otaku. Looked like a bunch of people on their way home from work. It didn't sell out but I would gander that they made enough to make it worth their while to do it again. The system they have isn't bad, but it's not exactly straight forward.

I imagine there is enough interest to show an older anime about once a quarter and safely make it worth your while monetarily. I've only seen two "retro" ones in the theater now after this. The other one was Akira, which my guess is you could see once every couple of years if you keep your eyes peeled. Something like Honneamise would require a certain degree of luck.

FWIW, the film print quality of both of the above aforementioned was unbelievably clean.

[rapoon]

I think the best thing out of Inception is that it got Tom Hardy recognition... a close 2nd is seeing a Japanese person actually act. As a long term resident, I can't put into words how fucking rare that is!

what about Tadanobu Asano? he's a excellent actor. and i'm really referring to his roles in japanese films, not these retarded hollywood roles he's been stuck in recently (thor, battleship)

[GaijinPunch]

Never seen him!

[Skykid]

Never seen him!

I've seen him in Ichi The Killer. He was fine. A good character more than anything (not a huge amount of acting going on, but by no means bad.)

I thought Nakatani Miki was excellent, as was most of the supporting cast in Memories of Matsuko, but then there's actually a talented director behind it, Tetsuya Nakashima, who also did Shimotsuma Monogatari (which was surprisingly good.)

I wouldn't recommend his more recent film, Confessions (2010) though. It's an angst ridden, painfully unrealistic, overlong, melodramatic Radiohead video with subtitles, and fails to summon any real statement or point whatsoever despite hours of aimless conjecture over the wallowing and misery of Japanese society and its introverted nature.

You've heard it all before: bleh.

[MX7]

Ergo Proxy is mature in the sense that a Creative Writing class in high school produces mature literature.

Very true. I hate this notion that 'maturity' in art can only come from being po-faced and utilising a muted colour palette. I find something like Ouran Kou Kou far more 'mature' than Ghost In The Shell in that the negotiation on behalf of the viewer. That it wraps up its postmodern exploration of being an archetype in day-glo colours makes actually getting to this conclusion that much more rewarding for the viewer.

When people conflate rusted gunmetal with maturity, it's essentially a very weak act of self affirmation. It's the same as a kid smoking his dad's cigarettes thinking it makes him look like an adult...

Real maturity is watching whatever you want to watch, without getting in a tizz about whether it affects your self proclaimed status as an adult

[EmperorIng]

Aesthetically speaking, Ergo Proxy is a very nice looking show. Design-wise, but you definitely won't see any vibrant splashes of color, anywhere. Its utter pretension in light of its juvenile, meandering script (Hey! I read Descartes! Look at me! Look at me!) completely unravels the momentum one-third into the show, and it basically yanks your chain in an unpleasant fashion for roughly 16 episodes straight.

[MX7]

Aesthetically speaking, Ergo Proxy is a very nice looking show. Design-wise, but you definitely won't see any vibrant splashes of color, anywhere. Its utter pretension in light of its juvenile, meandering script (Hey! I read Descartes! Look at me! Look at me!) completely unravels the momentum one-third into the show, and it basically yanks your chain in an unpleasant fashion for roughly 16 episodes straight.

When I first read about it, it sounded pretty cool, but given everything else I've heard about it since and your own appraisal, I think I'll give this one a miss, thanks

(Guessing OVAs count as films, as they're not television, and you'd have to exclude straight to video movies from the definition of 'films' also)

[Hagane]

It's been a long time since I've watched it, but Ergo Proxy was excellent from what I recall. Any significant complaints besides "they made some philosophical references"?

[EmperorIng]

Great set-up, terrible execution. Story of the entire series. After the characters leave the city, the plot grinds to a standstill. Numerous "it was all a dream" episodes. Characters stop being characters so they can just start talking about Rene Descartes. So many filler episodes that major plot points are introduced and wrapped up in final two episodes.

[Hagane]

Character development is a good thing. The characters were interesting, and so were the situations they were in. I don't get why some people call anything that "doesn't advance the plot" filler. Seirei no Moribito got that a lot too, while in fact the "filler" episodes are great and turn the characters into something other than plot devices, which is what most people seem to expect.

[Skykid]

Ergo Proxy is mature in the sense that a Creative Writing class in high school produces mature literature.

That's the most concise review for avoiding something like the plague possibly ever.

[jonny5]

It's been a long time since I've watched it, but Ergo Proxy was excellent from what I recall. Any significant complaints besides "they made some philosophical references"?

Ya, I thought it was pretty good, and the animation was awesome!

[Skykid]

So I did Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Crap, now I'm in a bind. I always stood by ToD being the unsung champion of wild Indy adventures, because it's deliciously dark, deliriously OTT, and has one of the most amazing special effects sequences ever - but damn, Raiders is so awesome. It's probably 15 years since I've sat through it, and I forgot how smart a movie it is, and how well crafted. It's pure Indiana Jones, that's for sure. I loved the stylisation, particularly the lighting, use of shadow and general cinematography. It oozes atmosphere and captures the early boys own adventure serialisations that Lucas and Spielberg were aiming for with deft accuracy, while also building a thoroughbred hero of untouchable fedora-wearing magnificence.

Now I'll need to watch ToD again...

[kamiboy]

Do they even make anime like this anymore, ones adults can enjoy, without schoolkids or power levels over 9000?

Since Satosho Kon has unfortunately passed away I'd saw if you want none pandering, well written and well animated animation movies out of Japan, outside of Studio Ghibli, then you should check out anything from Mamoru Hosoda.

Most of his stuff features high schoolers but trust me, you should not lump his works with the rubbish aimed at the Otaku crowd, his films are connoseur material.

Anyway, check out The Girl who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars and Wolf Children. If you are going to see just one I recommend going with Summer Wars.

Of course if you have not seen all of Satoshi Kon's stuff then for the love of the craft, watch all of them. The man had a perfect, absolutely perfect track record.

Perfect Blue, Tokyo God Fathers, Millenium Actress, Paranoia Agent and last but not least Paprika.

The new Evangelion movies are pretty fantastic too, whether you are familiar with the franchise or not.

Of course one must not forget the works of Watanabe such as Cowboy Bebop, The Bebop movie, Kid's on the Slope, Macross Plus etc.

Sword of the Stranger is good as far as action goes.

Sword of the stranger is the Ninja Scroll of the 2000's. I really enjoyed it although I wouldn't say it stacks up to Ninja Scroll in the classic department.

[Mischief Maker]

Do they even make anime like this anymore, ones adults can enjoy, without schoolkids or power levels over 9000?

It's not animated, but I take it you've read Buttlord GT?

[CDexWard]

I watched a lot of movies Nick Cave worked on recently:

The Proposition: 9/10
The Assassination Of Jesse James: 9/10
The Road: 8/10
Lawless: 8/10

[Skykid]

The Proposition: 9/10

Could be the most overrated film of all time

I thought it was barely watchable. Dire, in-fact.

[CDexWard]

Well, that's just my personal view. I haven't even heard of it until a while ago. I loved the desolate atmosphere and the 'Heart of Darkness'-vibe. The soundtrack worked very well with that.

[Raytrace]

Aesthetically speaking, Ergo Proxy is a very nice looking show. Design-wise, but you definitely won't see any vibrant splashes of color, anywhere. Its utter pretension in light of its juvenile, meandering script (Hey! I read Descartes! Look at me! Look at me!) completely unravels the momentum one-third into the show, and it basically yanks your chain in an unpleasant fashion for roughly 16 episodes straight.

what are you guys doin talkin bout this stuff in here :p - get into the 'Recommended Anime/Manga' thread

I watched Pulling John, documentary about arm-wrestling - pretty interesting, its on the Netflix.

[spadgy]

[CHI]

For the past 36 hours i've watched...

Dredd 2012: weirdly good
Warrior 2011: UFC with a slight twist
Jennifer's Body 2009: love Megan Fox
Taken2 2012: liked the first one, like the second one
Zombieland 2009: weirdly fun
Shinjuku Incident 2009: starring Jackie Chan, without the martial arts
Insidious 2010
Year One 2009: love Jack Black
Precious 2009: weirdly great
Mr Nobody 2009: weirdly interesting

My backlog on films is slowly decreasing...
Also i have a bad habit, once i've started on a film, whether it's good, bad or i'm ultra tired, i have to finish it!

[kamiboy]

Kin Dza Dza, an absurd Soviet science fiction comedy from 1986. The visual style reminded me of early Terry Gilliam movies, and thanks to smart use of practical effects and choice of locations the movie has aged very well, such as movies from the pre-CG era of film making usually do.

[EmperorIng]

Full Metal Ninja - starring Pierre Kirby, and is complete and in its entirety on youtube.

Directed by that master of Hong Kong trash, Godfrey Ho. This is one of the more entertaining outputs. Perfect for someone at the graveyard shift right now, heh.

The connection between Ho's filmed portion (totaling about 13 minutes) and the Asian b-movie subplot (the other 75 minutes) is so thin as to be hilarious, as are the characteristically poorly-acted and flamboyant caucasian segments.

However, the B-movie constant stream of revenge, fighting, and bad dubbing is entertaining enough to get you sucked into the lame-brain world of the whole thing, and ends up being a bunch of fun. Wait for the "child voice" to come in at the end and completely trivialize a scene that would have had some impact, even in an exploitation film such as this. It's fun.

[Skykid]

Directed by that master of Hong Kong trash, Godfrey Ho.

Dude directed 23 feature films in 1987 alone. Legendary.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Diva (1981).

Fairly young Dominique Pinon.

I am rather impressed that the soprano I heard was by the actress I saw. A bit of truth in such a dream-like film.

Also,


no less.
I can only hope the rats didn't get hurt in the process.



Does at least one thing better than Dune Warriors, but I don't wanna spoil anything.