Things have been a bit hectic at work lately. After about a month-and-a-half of stability, my schedule is getting whipped around like crazy again. I was actually supposed to work today, but I guess there's a shortage of workers on Thursday, so I've got today and tomorrow off. And then my next day off comes next Thursday, so I'll be working seven days in a row. I'll be getting a good rest tomorrow! :p
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010): I already splooged all over the movie a few days ago, so no need for me to fantard again, but as a piece of entertainment, this movie is fantastic. The way it brings the novel's story to life is better than I could have imagined -- I'll probably have a heart attack when I see it in good quality! The only really bad part is that the ending does not wrap up everything, but that's how the novel ends, too, so there's nothing KyoAni could do there without compromising future stories (unless they suddenly wanted to go off in their own direction for whatever reason, haha). Still, a great movie, and the two-and-a-half hours fly by. If "Endless Eight" killed Haruhi Suzumiya for you, Disappearance is the Phoenix Down.
Fiddler on the Roof (1971): Haha, I was like, "Holy shit! This is three hours!" when I first got it from the library, but then I remembered it's a musical, so the length makes sense. And it doesn't really drag at all, so it's not a huge issue (unless you don't have three hours to dedicate to a movie :p). This is a surprisingly fun movie (I was completely unfamiliar with the story before watching this); there's a lot of humor to it, the songs are cool and the characters are almost all likable. My only issue is that the repetitive structure of the story doesn't work at the end -- during the part with the third daughter, I was basically like, "OK now, pretty sure I know how this will turn out" and it's a bit underdeveloped to boot. Now, I'm pretty sure I get why it's underdeveloped -- the audience is supposed to know as much about the guy the third daughter wants to marry as Tevye does -- but it doesn't quite work for me. Still enjoyed the movie as a whole, though; you'll never see me turn down a good musical.
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989): I like the approach Miyazaki takes with this movie -- taking a subject that is fantastic (a young witch undergoing training) and viewing it in a totally matter-of-fact way. The drama isn't really amped up until the end, and even then, the movie ends as if it is no big deal. That's funny. In a way, the feeling of the movie reminds me of My Neighbor Totoro, in that even though Kiki's growth process is a bit rough, there's still this feeling of peace that pervades everything.
Genius Party (2007): This is a group of short animated movies released by Studio 4°C. It's kind of weird watching this so soon after Robot Carnival, because the two movies are so different, aesthetically -- the latter shows the power of traditional animation (with a huge budget), and the former is much more in line with the 2D-meets-3D blend of today (although with a more "arty" bent to it). The only short I really couldn't get into is "Limit Cycle"; it's the type of anime that needs to be watched in one's own language, because it's just too difficult to take in the images and the complex dialogue at the same time if it's subbed. Of the seven shorts, my favorite is "Baby Blue", directed by Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo). The short is basically what would happen if Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a Distant Star, 5 Centimeters Per Second) randomly decided that Watanabe should direct a feature Shinkai had written. It's an interesting mix of crazy Watanabe elements and the melancholy that is in everything Shinkai.
On the queue for this week: The Sky Crawlers (2008), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson (2010)
Updated best of list on the next page!
Total Movies: 51 (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, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Fiddler on the Roof, Kiki's Delivery Service, Genius Party)
