Oh man, it's Election Day here, which means only one thing -- a ton of work at the paper tonight. Oi.
Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance (2009): Evangelion 1.0 is mainly a glorified (but great looking) recap, but Evangelion 2.0 is a total game-changer. Not only does the story take a radical shift, but the tone of the characters radically shifts as well -- their motivations and feelings are no longer confused and muddled; instead, they're surprisingly clear and direct about the way they think, feel and act. That's not to say the feelings themselves have changed, because that is not the case. These are the same characters from the original Evangelion; however, they are simply much less oblique. Asuka especially is ... damn. There's one scene near the end that just had me going, "o_o" the entire time because TV Asuka would never have done that in a million years.
The changes are I think half out of storytelling necessity, and half because Hideaki Anno is a different person after 15 years. Evangelion is as harsh as ever, but it's also more confident. It's weird to watch unfold ... but it's not bad at all. Just very different, as it should be. What fun would it be to watch yet another rendition of Evangelion with just a simple shiny new coat of paint? Evangelion 2.0 is a damn good movie because it's entertaining, looks great and the story is as interesting as ever ... and because I have no idea where it is going, and how it's going to get there. It's great to feel this way about Evangelion again.
Whip It (2009): Solid movie. It's formulaic, but it uses the sports flick formula pretty well, and it's fun. Not too much more fun to say about that other than my brother and I had a good time making frequent Home Alone references whenever Daniel Stern came onscreen. :p
A Boy and His Dog (1975): A very strange post-apocalyptic movie adapted from a Harlan Ellison novella. It involves a young man (a pre-Miami Vice Don Johnson) who wanders wastelands with his genetically-engineered, telepathic dog, Blood, in constant search for food and sex. The movie (and novella) is a pitch-dark piece of Cold War comedy, and there are some funny and affecting moments in it, but as a whole I don't think it has aged particularly well. There are aspects that were undoubtedly shocking at the time, but are not really shocking now. And, really, not much happens at all in the movie; it's more something to consider than something that makes you care about what is happening onscreen. I found it pretty difficult to get into.
On the queue for this week: The Blind Side (2009), other stuff
Total Movies: 74 (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, Halloweentown, Whisper of the Heart, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Fiddler on the Roof, Kiki's Delivery Service, Genius Party, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, The Sky Crawlers, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, My Neighbors the Yamadas, THX 1138, The Stepfather, Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, Tremors, Horror of Dracula, The Brood, Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, Rabid, Inglourious Basterds, Them!, The Yakuza, Alphaville, Ghost in the Shell, Priceless, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance, Whip It, A Boy and His Dog)
