Man, it feels like forever since I've been caught up in all things current anime. We've got a good thing going now, though: Tiger and Bunny is heating up, Steins;Gate had a fantastic recent episode, Kaiji is awesome, and there are four new series from this season that I believe are well worth watching: Usagi Drop, No. 6, Mawaru Penguindrum and Natsume Yuujinchou San. It's a good time to be an anime fan!
Ninotchka (1939): Billy Wilder, you can do no wrong in my eyes. He didn't direct this movie, but he was one of the writers, and it definitely shows: There's a quick, clever wit to the writing that is a trademark in Wilder's movies. In particular, Ninotchka makes fantastic use of Greta Garbo's notoriously serious, isolationist persona -- and to her credit, she is definitely game for everything that goes on in the movie, and proves herself to have excellent comedic timing and delivery. Also, the romance is shockingly touching too. Often I find myself rolling my eyes at old style Hollywood romance, because it's so whimsical and lacks any interesting development, but the pairing in Ninotchka actually struck me as sweet. Maybe I'm just a sucker.
Interstella 5555 (2003): Basically a feature length music video for Daft Punk's Discovery album. The story is quite strange, but it's told with an interesting visual style, and the accompanying music is of course awesome. Weirdly enough, though, I don't think the actual animation is that amazing; maybe I'm just spoiled by other anime movies that have incredible animation, but I think the visual style itself is much more distinct in this movie than the actual animation.
Hobo with a Shotgun (2011): Originally a fake trailer created for a contest related to Grindhouse, and now a movie starring Rutger Hauer as the titular hobo. It's basically what you'd expect from the title, although the movie actually goes a lot further with its violence than either of the Grindhouse titles or Machete -- not so much the actual violence, but the situations in which violence is inflicted. Honestly, it's kind of tough to watch at a couple of points, just because it goes far to a point where it's legitimately uncomfortable. But perhaps that's the point: It's trying to emulate a sleazy, filthy style, after all.
Dog Day Afternoon (1975): One of my all-time favorites and even better than the last time I watched it. Just a fantastically put together movie: The writing is clever and tight, the acting is uniformly excellent (especially Al Pacino, who should have won Best Actor that year), the directing and editing are seamless, and the whole movie really says something while still being massively entertaining. Dog Day Afternoon really is an ideal sort of movie to me; I'll never get tired of watching it.
On the queue for this week: Steamboy (2004), Redline (2009)
Total Movies: 121 (Blazing Saddles, The Descent, Gundam 00 the Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer, Village of the Damned, Children of the Damned, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, The Night of the Hunter, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st, Dawn of the Dead, Black Swan, Clue, Scarface, Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned, True Grit, Perfect Blue, The Quick and the Dead, High Sierra, Shutter Island, A Serious Man, Kite, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Broken Blade 3, Kite Liberator, Machete, The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Heathers, The Prince of Tennis: The Two Samurai, The First Game, Notes on a Scandal, The American, King of Thorn), The Expendables, Sword of the Stranger, The Hangover, Welcome to the Space Show, Broken Blade 4, The Social Network, End of Evangelion, Neo Tokyo, Red, Dreamcatcher, Jason X, Wag the Dog, The Naked Gun, Dirty Work, 8mm, The Wicker Man (2006), Blood: The Last Vampire, Winter's Bone, The Road, Heartcatch Precure! Hana no To de Fashion Show ... Desu ka?!, Broadcast News, Bulletproof, Dead Leaves, Dirty Dancing, Hot Tub Time Machine, Eureka Seven: Pocketful of Rainbows, Cloverfield, Best in Show, Play Misty for Me, Paprika, The Cat Returns, Welcome to the Dollhouse, 12 Monkeys, The Killer, Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, The Third Man, The King's Speech, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, The Abyss, The Fighter, Mega Piranha, Dumb and Dumber, The Rebirth of Buddha, 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right, The Town, Willow, Akira, Morning Glory, The Verdict, I Love You Phillip Morris, Phantasm II, American Splendor, Broken Blade 5, Tangled, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, The Rock, Wanted, Green Zone, Despicable Me, Waiting for Guffman, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, X-Men: First Class, X-Men, Hereafter, X2, Zatoichi, All About Eve, The Thing, Odin: Photon Space Sailer Starlight, City of God, Das Boot, Some Like it Hot, Downfall, X-Men: The Last Stand, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Winnie the Pooh, Bullitt, Hard Eight, Memories of Matsuko, Double Indemnity, Freaks, Break Blade 6, Key Largo, The Grand Illusion, The Seven Year Itch, Hermes: Winds of Love, To Catch a Thief, An American in Paris, Ninotchka, Interstella 5555, Hobo with a Shotgun, Dog Day Afternoon)
