“We send a reporter to the scene, he asks the transit police if he can go into the tunnel, they say no, he says okay, I go on the air every eight minutes and say, ‘Still no news on that disabled train.'”

broderic on September 17, 2013

Pulled from the Shelves: From Up on Poppy Hill

The great animation director Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement this past week. He’ll be sorely missed, but if Ghibli continues to make animated films as lovely as From Up on Poppy Hill, the studio is in good hands.

From Up on Poppy Hill is directed by Miyazaki’s son, Goro Miyazaki. The father wrote the screenplay based on a shojo manga from the early 80s. Ghibli films are known for their leading ladies. Choosing a shojo manga heroine is natural. Although, this is the first time one can say that Ghibli is doing a moe film.

Moe? Yes. It’s got plenty of tropes from anime of the last few years: twin tails, seifuku, school clubs, school setting. For a second, From Up on Poppy Hill feels almost like any anime lately. That doesn’t really detract from it. I’m only noticing because of the amount of anime I’ve been watching.

The plot revolves around young love. The heroine falls for the charismatic editor of the school newspaper. She helps him in saving the old club house building from being demolished. They are meant to be together but certain family ties stand in their way.

It’s a simple film. Girl meets boy. Girl falls for boy. Boy falls for girl. They both are in love. Plain and simple.

I bought the Blu-Ray/DVD combo and I have both discs in both TVs ready to be watched. The English dub is completely different than the original Japanese. Goro Miyazaki trusts his viewers to understand what’s showing on the screen. The English dub doesn’t; it opens with a voice over from the heroine setting the scene fro the rest of movie. The Japanese version opens with just the soundtrack playing following the heroine as she wakes up, prepares breakfast, and gets ready for the day. We are meant to infer what’s happening, let the story unfold, and figure out the setting. That’s trust by showing and not telling.

Animation is not a genre. It’s a technic. This film could easily have been live action. I’m glad that Ghibli did it animated. Animation isn’t just for kids. Plenty of stories can be animated. I wish more directors chose it. Thank you Hayao Miyazaki.

4 of 5 stars.

Link of the Day [3.13.13]

broderic on March 13, 2013

I could’ve been an animator. I would’ve loved to have been an animator. From the Loony Tunes and Merry Melodies of my youth to today’s CG spectacles, I dig animated movies. I would’ve loved to have been involved in the industry. Maybe I can make the pixels on your computer screen dance one day.

Anyway, enjoy this new Mickey Mouse short. It’s somewhat enjoyable — especially the French. It’s something new from an old franchise.

http://video.disney.com/watch/croissant-de-triomphe-4d7b3aae690a98650d776d97

Links of the Day [2.23.12]

broderic on February 23, 2012

Should there be a Best Animated Film category in the Academy Awards? I've think I've read many blog posts about this subject. Does a separate category devoted to a different medium detract from the concept of "best film?" The expanded field of films for Best Picture works fine in bringing in a nomination for an animated film as Toy Story 3 received one last year. Plus, the Academy got rid of the Best Black & White Cinematography and collapsed this particular tradecraft into one category for all films so there is a precedent.A look at this year's nominees highlight a weak bunch of films. Without Pixar, the category shows its weakness. After all, to be nominated for an Academy Award is to be recognized for some level of greatness that transcends time and place, and these nominees don't do that. It's like they are good relative to each other, but not great relative to the medium as a whole.So, should the Academy give up on the animated films category hoping that a reward of a best picture nod in the expanded field is good enough. Are there instances of animated films that can win against live action?

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/43506/oscarmetrics-the-case-for-eliminating-the-best-animated-feature-awardhttp://www.avclub.com/articles/soft-cels-how-the-academys-animation-rules-fight-t,69793/

Adventures From My Netflx Queue: L’illusionniste

broderic on October 28, 2011

Last year’s Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film went to Toy Story 3. In the Annual BrowserMetrics Oscar Pool, most everyone picked it for the winner and the other one for How To Train Your Dragon was most likely a fat finger vote. I think we all need to change our minds. I have just watched the forgotten choice, Sylvain Chomet’s L’illusionniste and couldn’t be more impressed with it. Toy Story 3 can’t compare to L’illusionniste.

The story tells the tale of a magician in 1959 whose fortunes are running out in Paris. He gets a billing in remote Scotland at a small pub wherein he meets a young lady. Impressed with his magical prowess, she follows him to Edinburgh, Scotland. The magician treats her like his daughter buying clothes and gifts for her while trying to keep up his illusionist trade. Yet, the era of magic as entertainment is dwindling and his ill fortune follows him so that it is impossible to make a living doing sleight of hand.

The film reminds me of the joie de vivre first 10 minutes of Pixar’s Up and the silent melancholia of the early part of Wall●E. It is mainly a silent movie as the film makes do with gestures to convey the emotions of the story. What little dialog there is and what little speeches there are end up sounding like Esperanto. Chomet’s animators make it all work though. The emotion of every scene is clearly conveyed in the hand drawn animation. The lack of words do not hinder such a sweet tale. It makes it all the more poignant. There is still a place for hand drawn animation.

In last year’s Oscar Pool, I rooted for L’illusionniste to pull off an upset. It didn’t but most likely because no one saw this movie. When you do, you’ll change your mind. Toy Story 3 will just be a slight cream puff of a movie while L’illusionniste will be a full banquet of delight.

5 of 5 stars

Appleseed XIII

broderic on March 30, 2011

Appleseed was my favorite manga back in the day when you could only buy manga from a comic book store. It’s had a couple of adaptations: an OVA in the 80s and those CG ones in the last few years. Here’s another version. Supposedly it will stay true to the manga. I don’t know. Plus I’m not feeling this animation style. CG? Can’t they just do it the old fashioned way? Regardless, I’m looking forward to it, because of the landmates.