First off, I had a ridiculous amount of downtime at work, so I made this Google document listing my favorite movie from 1930-2009, with honorable mentions in parentheses. A couple of movies from this post made it onto the list -- one even became my new favorite movie from its year! (Believe it or not, I actually still had time left over after completing this obsessive project. Man, yesterday was boring.) Every movie listed has my most sincere recommendation, of course.
Also, I started Gintama recently, but it's 201 episodes, and while amusing, it's also not the type of series I want as the only one I'm watching aside from the weekly stuff. So what should I watch next? My plan to watch list on MAL is there, but you don't have to take from there. And please convince me! None of you would be convinced by some riff-raff -- like, say, me -- throwing out a name, right? Exactly.
Anyway, onward to the actual point of this post!
Castle in the Sky (1986): You know, the one thing I appreciate most about great anime movies is that they are so detailed and fluidly animated. I love TV anime, but the shortcuts studios take to keep under budget are numerous and infamous. You don't get that with a decently budgeted movie. Castle in the Sky may be almost 25 years old, but animation-wise, it really doesn't look it at all. Hayao Miyazaki's beloved flight scenes are out in full force here -- my brother kind of goofed on the dragonfly-inspired planes used by the pirates, but I think they look pretty cool. And Laputa itself is such an imaginative world (how much of it is Miyazaki's invention, and how much is lifted from Gulliver's Travels, I don't know, since I've never read the book). As something amusing on the side, Mark Hamill voices Col. Muska in the Disney dub, and I enjoyed how Muska sort of resembles Hamill. :p
Robot Carnival (1987): Robot Carnival is a collection of nine animated shorts directed by some of the preeminent animators of anime in the 1980s. The animators all had carte blanche with their stories, with one catch: They all had to involve robots in some way. Not all of the shorts are great (the stories in "Star Light Angel" and "Deprive" are just OK), but all are gorgeously animated -- in fact, this may be the most detailed, fluidly animated anime movie I've ever seen. This is upper echelon Disney-level work here, and I don't say that without realizing the enormity of the statement.
My favorites include the intro (which is a hilarious, twisted story about a It's a Small World-esque machine -- the titular Robot Carnival -- that has long since malfunctioned and rampages wildly through the desert), "Franken's Gears" (a thrillingly animated story about a mad scientist who develops a robot that unfortunately takes the lessons learned from its master a little too close to heart), "Presence" (a beautiful short about a man who builds himself a robot companion and subsequently becomes frightened when it is a little too Raph human) and "Nightmare" (about all the machines in Tokyo coming alive for a night and going mad).
Probably the best part about this movie is that it excels at the lost art of telling a story visually. I love anime, but damn does it ever rely on expository dialogue WAY too much. It's refreshing to see a work that takes full advantage of anime being a visual medium. For more reading on the movie, check out Justin Sevakis' Buried Treasure column on the movie, along with all the other Buried Treasures (and Buried Garbage columns) he has written. There's some real gold in there.
Whisper of the Heart (1995): The story itself seems like it would be nothing special, but the movie is really carried by just how likable Shizuku and Seiji are. You get the feeling that when they are together, they can do just about anything. And Shizuku herself is an inspiring character -- what creative person doesn't feel like her when starting out on some venture receiving the heart and soul of the creator? The big mistake many people -- including myself -- make is expecting perfection that will never come. We want so much for our creations to be as wonderful as possible, and we worry that they will never live up to our lofty standards. The scene where Shizuku cries after old man Nishi's gentle critique of her story says it all: She cries not so much because she can't take the heat, but more because it's such an immense relief to finally have this idea poured out somewhere in its entirety and in the hands of someone who can enjoy it, and who can help make it better.
And as with all things Ghibli, Whisper of the Heart is beautifully detailed and animated. Air has my personal favorite anime setting, but Whisper's gentle summer suburb is up there with it. The town actually brought back a ton of memories for me, particularly when Shizuku first enters the antique shop. There used to be a large antique shop a few minutes from where I live, and it was every bit as awesome as the one in this movie. I miss that place.
On the queue for this week: Genius Party (2007), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
Updated list on the next page!
Total Movies: 47 (The Taking of Pelham 123, The Station Agent, The Final Destination, Silent Movie, The African Queen, Departures, Moon, Bound, Solaris, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rifftrax), Wristcutters: A Love Story, In the Loop, Public Enemies, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Rifftrax), Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-Hen, District 9, The Magnificent Seven, Night Moves, My Name is Bruce, Big Fan, Almost Famous, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, Drag Me to Hell, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Kara no Kyoukai 1-7, 9, Zombieland, Ninja Scroll, Primer, Re-Animator, Summer Wars, The Changeling, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Ponyo, Eden of the East: The King of Eden, Porco Rosso, Something Something Something Dark Side, Castle in the Sky, Robot Carnival, Whisper of the Heart)
