The Kingdom Of Dreams And Madness

Damn, that was good.

Yeah I can't explain what hit me this month but I wanted to watch some Studio Ghibli documentaries. Taking place in late 2012 this documentary focuses on Miyazaki taking up the production for The Wind Rises, a film I haven't seen yet but hopefully there will be time in the future to do so, while also showcasing a bit of history for the studio, a concurrent release for The Tale Of Princess Kaguya (also a film I haven't seen), and the tantum work of the animators. It's a leisurely paced documentary clocking in at 2 hours but if animation is your bag and even more so seeing how animation is made, it's worth watching! It's not entirely the main focus, it centers on Miyazaki and longtime business partner Toshio Suzuki working on the art side of the studio and the business side of the studio respectively just keeping up with the tasks at hand. That's kind of the beauty of a documentary there's no real drama or story to it, you can just view it and catch a glimpse of another time, another place, another life and some may say it's boring but it all comes down to what are you looking for. I just wanted to see the behind the scenes stuff at Studio Ghibli and witness Miyazaki in his element, and I got that but I also got more. I got some truly superb instances of cinematography, a beautiful score, a true sense of community and hard work from the talented as hell animators, and even some insight into Miyazaki's past during war time. The Wind Rises is all about a young man with a great love of airplanes who is conscripted to design a new fighter plane for the second world war, and that's not only a conflicted story but also a conflicted movie to make from a japanese point of view that's endlessly fascinating to see, and on top of all of that whether the influence of the Fukushima disaster that occured just a year before this documentary takes place had any conscious or unconscious effect on the story bears some insight from far more intelligent minds than my own. And just as the cherry on top of all of that hearing Miyazaki himself say this was the only film of his he cried at is kind of a testament to art in any medium and how deeply you can get attached to something even if you're the one who made it. I was sold already on seeing the movie but it's bumped up a bit on the Ghibli watchlist at this point. Hell seeing the animation team having an emotional breakdown finally seeing all that hard work up on the big screen got me in an emotional tizzy like you wouldn't believe, and further hammers that nail that is already embedded in the coffin of the fact that animation is a gruelling industry and that you have to have patience and love for what you do if you are in that field. Even somewhat innocuous details like Miyazaki's daily routine or peppered footage throughout of basically the studio's office cat doing cat stuff has great charm and certainly held my interest, but then again I'm the biggest goddamn mark for a cat you will ever meet in your life so I'm an easy sell. I don't know if it's just the cadence or the overall sort of style for lack of a better term about how people from Japan talk but it does something for me, there's actually quite a few lines from Miyazaki that struck me even in small ways, I mean Japan has had an indelible impression on my life since I was very very young but the appeal has never waned even after all this time. I very much enjoyed this brief look into a much loved studio that deserves the accolades it has, and I give it 3 stars, 8/10! And I'll see you tomorrow friends.

Staged: Season 3

Well that was more different than I expected.

So we're back to 6 episodes again but the strangest part is there's only 2 episodes of the actual show, and the rest of the season is actually all about behind the scenes stuff and gearing up for actually filming the third season. Never have I ever seen a television show that potrays the actual show, the aftermath of the show, and the preproduction of the show. It does feel like a true peek behind the curtain with Georgia playing executive producer/sociopath, Michael and David doing a tiny bit of press and having rehearsals before filming, Simon actually isn't a spineless worm and actually directs will wonders never cease? So it's undoubtedly the black sheep of the entire run and as far as I know they had no intention to go beyond a third season so this is it for all intents and purposes, but it's still interesting to watch! It certainly posed many questions in my mind of how do you produce a television series with a skeleton crew of camera operators, audio engineers, and the director himself? It sounds almost an impossible task but they pull it off and pull it off well! I guess I was just thoroughly thrown off course because the first two episodes are business as usual for the most part and then it's all backstage stuff for the vast majority of the season, so I don't hate it by any stretch but I also certainly don't love it as much as the other two seasons. David and Michael still have moments to shine and show their humor scripted or otherwise, Georgia practically gets the same if not even slightly more screen time than our boys and she really is a ball busting producer...maybe goes a bit off the fucking deep end and crafts a Jigsaw level situation for David and Michael to get over some writing hurdles to be perfectly honest but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. Handful of cameos present including one of my all time favorite british actors, and while they aren't as prevalent because of the shorter episode count it was still nice to see them. It certainly has appeal seeing the crafting of a show even if it's not super in depth and indeed I can see many normal people who just enjoyed the first two seasons kinda get a introductory look at behind the scenes production material that people like me AKA insane cinephiles are aware of. Admittedly I would just stick to the first two seasons but there's still interesting stuff here, and I can at least recommend it halfway. 3 stars from me, 8/10, and I guess more behind the scenes stuff will come up next week with an animation company and animator legend known globally.

Staged: Season 2

Or Staged squared if you're mathematically inclined.

Okay definitely a shift from last season, picking up roughly a year later when we were oh so slowly crawling out of the pit itself this season more or less deals with the impact of the first season. If you thought it was meta before you ain't seen nothing yet! We bump up to 8 episodes now still at 22 minutes each as we follow David and Michael who are made aware of the show making a leap to the States but...without them starring. So it's this mad scramble for them to learn all the details of a production they have nothing to do with combined with actually a pretty normal thing in actor's lives: atrophy and waiting for the next part. I say this with love and enjoyment in my heart, there is somehow even less going on plot wise this time around. No really, it's mostly Michael and David getting into a bit of a rut while also trying to integrate themselves back into the show, and don't think about that too hard or you will quickly learn that time is a flat circle and that this rabbit hole is a reflection of a reflection. I mean you always hear stories about actors just kinda waiting for the phone to ring and I truthfully feel they did a brilliant job potraying that, David almost turns into a recluse and falls out a bit with Michael because of it. And you cannot tell me otherwise at this point they're basically married, I had every expectation to see a kiss or an embrace before the end! I wouldn't quite say the performances got better they more expanded for lack of a better term, filling out more of the depictions of themselves and giving new angles for us the viewer to see them, which is still great stuff! They have such a school friend energy about them at times and whether this season is improv to hell and back or not you can feel the joy they have being around each other. I also appreciate seeing more of Georgia, Anna, and Lucy kinda have their own brief little storyline as well, that was nice. Good few celebrity cameos as the first go around, don't want to spoil any of them because some were a genuine shock. The humor is still as strong also, David had me losing it a good few times mainly because I've never seen him angry or upset before so those were gold for me but the absolute biggest laugh I got wasn't even a line, but a look from Georgia in the last episode of the series literally made it to where I couldn't breathe. I don't know why, it just killed me. This was way more like what I imagined the show to be like in my head, very few instances of any kind of camera shot beyond webcam stuff and the five layer cake depths of art imitating life imitating art was almost mind boggling. It's such an interesting little show and I think that's why I love it, don't get me wrong it's great to see David and Michael kinda bounce off each other and have fun mucking about, not to get off topic but the scene where they're just doing the newspaper crossword puzzle...if that's scripted I will literally castrate myself, cook it, and eat it because that was just them being them! Not a shred of acting found in that brief moment. But anyway, it's just this oddball show that clearly is not meant for everyone but holy hot damn is it entertaining to me and clearly many more people if it got not one but a two-hoo extra seasons, and whether or not tomorrow's review will be the last for Staged it was great fun while it lasted. I give it 4 stars, 9/10!

Staged: Season 1

I knew I had to get around to this eventually one day.

How to describe the plot of Staged? Well you see, back a few years in the dark ages when the most boneheaded fucking move in health and safety where no one was supposed to be outside occured, tumulting the entertainment sector into a septic tank both in cinemas and theatrically, we follow one such particular case of Six Characters In Search Of An Author being crafted and rehearsed almost entirely through webcams. Starring Michael/David Tennant/Sheen! For as dirt simple as a premise like watching two great actors just lolligag about and converse on a Zoom call, barely even rehearsing for a play, it's fantastic entertainment! I was almost hacking up my lungs from laughing so damn hard throughout the shockingly short first series, only six episodes at 22 minutes a piece! It's about as experimental a show as I've ever seen in certainly the most unprecedented time I've encountered in my life, to the point where I desperately need to know exactly how much of this was scripted because aside from a few normal camera shots it's beyond candid and effortlessly real. Obviously the comedy is played up with David and Michael acting like the most bickering married couple you've ever seen in all your days, but it all just seems too real. Nary a drop of escapism found here and yet still is fun to watch. I can't say that about...any other show honestly. Though I'll be up front and say when I heard the premise and caught brief glimpses of clips, I thought the whole programme was going to be viewed through a computer screen just seeing the director and the actors on their video conference doing whatever and I'm almost disappointed it wasn't. They have very simple camera set ups where you see everybody, except for now that I think about it Michael, in their kitchen or dining room chitchatting. I don't at all hate it but I thought wow, what a fascinating television production and would almost be fourth wall breaking if you were streaming this on your laptop or home computer. So obviously most production details I cover are almost obsolete for lack of a better term, it's hard to get a Goodfellas type shot with a webcam, so all I can work with are the actors. I wholeheartedly adore Michael and David so I was pretty much sold on this series and it was just as grand as I thought it was going to be, and I love seeing Georgia and Anna in the fray as well, they really have a sweet relationship and I'll admit even I'm slightly jealous of them, even the less than effectual director Simon isn't a total wet blanket on the proceedings though I personally was almost entirely locked in on Lucy Eaton who plays his sister she was absolutely class! There's even some surprise guest stars which I shall not give away, cause where's the fun in that? Go watch it! It's no masterclass of TV but for me it was firmly in my wheelhouse and I loved every second of it. If regular televised productions are getting old for you this is different enough, if you want a good laugh sign up immediately, even if you just wanted almost this time capsule of a severely shit situation that humanity got shoved into without knowledge or consent (no idea why anyone would want that but hey history is history) then yeah sure go for it. 4 stars from me, 9/10, take from that what you will and I'm gonna have to see the further misadventures of this cast of characters.

Over The Garden Wall

I don't know what I just watched. I loved it though!

What even in the hell is this? It might be the strangest show I've ever known and if you've stuck around long enough with me I have seen some weird shit man. It's the most barebones synopsis in the world but the progression and details of the story are the interesting parts, two brothers Wirt and Greg are lost in the woods and have to find their way back home. Simple and easy to understand....annnnd then we meet pumpkin people, frogs attending a swanky party on a paddle steamer, and some eldritch horror known only as The Beast. What the actual fuck have I been doing with my life?? Yeah I'm late to the party on this one big time with the mini-series being broadcasted back in 2014 so hey 10 year anniversary woohoo, but it's always been on the outskirts of my radar and on Halloween no less this year Cartoon Network played it in full. 10 episodes, pretty much ten minutes each, so feature film length by the skin of it's teeth. Granted I knew precisely zilch about it other than it was pretty damn good from various people throughout the years. I barely know where to start but all I'll say is I'm kinda pissed at myself not watching this in senior year of high school. You know how I always talk about that "exquisite fall atmosphere", well this is the gold standard that probably will never be matched again, this is the autumn of my dreams with grey skies, colorful leaves, and old trails to wander. Visuals alone, 20/10! But I greatly enjoyed the odyssey these two brothers went on, it's offbeat entirely but still has a certain charm about it that makes you not want to put it down until it's done. Wirt is a much older kid in high school with all the growing maturity, logic, and even depression that sets in around that time, and Elijah Wood who I didn't even recognize until end credits popped up does a very good job giving a lot of character to a very white bread protagonist. Collin Dean as Greg is my highlight of the whole show catalyzing exactly what young kids are like, they are friggin' little oddballs with no sense of focus or tact and it's marvellous how real it feels, hilarious and endearing to watch. Melanie Lynskye as Beatrice a talking bluebird that acts as a guide through the woods actually had a very good backstory that gets revealed later and her sassy attitude was a joy to watch, nothing super deep but effortlessly engrossing. It was wild to hear Christopher Lloyd as a returning character of the Woodsman, he does fine work with the material but there clearly is more to this guy's past than the show lets on and while you wish to know more wraps everything up in a nice bow. And last bit far far from least as the Beast we have Samuel Ramey, who creeped the ever living shit out of me from first appearance to last appearance tapping into that fear of unearthly glowing eyes, and although it doesn't honestly have that much screentime or do that much the way the world reacts around it is what gives it presence and gravity. In fact there were a few moments in this show where for just a single solitary second fear gripped my heart, it can be horrific even for adults and definitely scary to younger kids but the show has a good balance. The fantasy element is high and the best way I can sum it all up is there's a shot of a wooden boat on a lake with a fish sitting in it with a lure cast into the water, undeniably distinct and imaginative and when coupled with the atmosphere and scenery you have yourself an unforgettable thing. It's even kind of a musical somehow? There's a good few vocal performances that range from silly made up kid songs to stunning soaring serenades, and it wouldn't surprise me for a second if there indeed was a soundtrack available online. I'm almost speechless at this, I will go out of my way to buy this show and you can bet your ass it is going to be a staple of October viewing for years to come. Simplicity goes a long way, anyone can watch it and enjoy it whether it's immersed fully or just leisurly viewing, admittedly if you're a lover of fun and fancy free entertainment this is gonna hit more your stride but I still say watch it and make up your own mind. It could do something for you. I walked into the unknown as much as Wirt and Greg did but coming out on the other side made me realize how amazing the trip was. 4 stars easily, 9.5/10, and now comes the part where the seasons relieve me of the joy of autumn and non-christmasy things but why should that stop me from denying the holiday cheer?

Wicked

Well that kinda ruins Wizard Of Oz for me.

Not even because it's bad, far from it but this story does indeed take things from a certain point of view. Now I haven't seen the musical, frankly I feel like I should after seeing the movie, so we just gotta go off the movie as gospel. I bet most people didn't know the musical itself is based off a book painting the Wicked Witch as a more sympathetic character and is one of the few villain origin stories I know of. So we follow the life of Elphaba from childhood transitioning into her magic school years where she's horribly ostricized by her peers but makes an unlikely friend in the most popular witch Glinda before getting swept up in this plot that I just can't fully divulge into. For a film pushing nearly 3 hours with credits it breezed by and I like the pace of it, presumably this is act 1 before the intermission on stage so it doesn't have to rush anything. Granted I wasn't that big a fan of how they potray the denizens of Oz, I mean I get it we have to score sympathy points for Elphaba somehow, but I can't decide if this is terrible screen writing or just shitty character writing, but everybody save for like 5 characters are the biggest biased bitches who treat Elphaba like she's the walking plague, constantly giving her good grief to the point where we just cross over into Mean Girls territory and I hate that movie with my entire soul, it's just grating. And even Glinda takes a minute to warm up to her, thank God she actually grew a spine or I'd want to shove the silver slippers straight up her tightwad ass. Now the acting from Cynthia and Arianna is actually really good, perfectly embedding themselves in these characters, stage differences be damned. Cynthia easily has the most emotional performance and indeed I had at least two or three moments where the waterworks were welling up, obviously she's our main character so we get the most insight into Elphaba's character as a ultimately good willed and kind spirit and I think she did a marvellous job bringing the heart and vocals big time. Arianna truthfully made me laugh my ass off despite the valley girl ditz and rudeness, she still has those pipes, and while it took a hot minute for Glinda to make friends with Elphaba I did buy the friendship between the two a good deal. Jonathan Bailey as a quasi-love interest between Elphy and Glinda, Fiyero is a self proclaimed shallow and self centered man and yet somehow is charming and a joy to watch. Now that's gotta be witchcraft. He may even have my favorite song number, he's just a shameless flirt and kind of a big dumb hunk, I have no idea what happened but I rather like him! Michelle Yeoh hell yeah, get to see my lady woman in another role as the most prolific professor of the magic university Madame Morrible was a treat to watch and she had more to do than just be a mentor figure so that was nice. Jeff Goldblum, I don't know whose call this was to get him as the Wizard but I strongly applaud that person because it is about as strange as you would expect but is so fun to just see him kinda screw around and just have a fun time performing so that was excellent. The set design and costuming is practically a character in and of itself, they spared no expense in this production showing a good scale of familair and new Oz locations with stellar and I do mean stellar costuming. Probably gonna be the easiest Oscar snag we've seen in recent memory to be honest! As for the musical numbers, though I didn't have any I absolutely adored or feverishly abhorred they were decent songs with full fledged choreographed dances included most times, yeah it's an actual lavish musical, but the vocal performances were spot on throughout! Had no friggin' clue this was part one so I felt slightly baited and switched but that also means I can't judge it because it isn't fully out yet! It's Dune all over again. So as a placeholder score I give it 3 stars, 8/10! I enjoyed it a good deal and can recommend it whether you've seen the stage show or not, and it was fun to waffle on about Wizard Of Oz for a week. Sadly I don't have much planned for next week due to the holiday and I was trying to find something fitting that exquisite fall atmosphere so join me next week for a very overlooked Cartoon Network series.

Oz The Great And Powerful

I have notes.

Yes the Oz adaptation precisely zero people have talked about for over a decade now, so what did I think? I'll disclaimer this upfront, I don't think an origin for the Wizard is a bad idea really I don't, because it's been a question I'm sure many people have had and this is still during a time when prequels were frowned upon. It's really not bad crafting it's own mythos while taking a fair bit from the books and the 1939 film, with a circus magician getting whisked away in a twister and finds himself embroiled in a three way power struggle between witches as he is hailed as the Lisan al-Gaib despite multiple instances to the contrary. That's kind of an interesting premise seeing this conman get hip deep in this fantasy world between warring factions, and I do truly feel that while James Franco wasn't exactly a no brainer pick for Oz his charm and humor carried this film tremendously. He was a joy to watch and I appreciate the fact they don't go down some typical lame ass liar revealed trope, as he actually does let people peak behind the curtain to see his true self, it adds dynamic and even a sweet moment or two because of it. He's truly a great lead through and through. Also just need to shoutout Joey King as the China Girl, hands down my favorite character, would easily die for her, my heart and soul in this movie! This fairly hurts to say because we do have talented people on this cast, and it's not even that they did a bad job but it just missed something extra to make it come together. Rachel Weisz you rock, I'll never say a bad thing about your acting but I feel the script is at fault with most of the other characters not giving much for them to do cause she's one of the witches and has a semi-important role to play but the poor lady just has nothing to grasp onto. Michelle Williams as Glenda has a little bit to work off of, the dynamic with Oz and his lack of magic, the death of her father who was the last king of Ozdom, she at least has a direction to go in. And Mila Kunis as Theodora, this gets into spoilers but it's important to talk about, again not a first choice candidate to play the Wicked Witch but...oof. Okay I don't ever like doing this, I got nothing from her performance and feel this is where the writing took a horrid nose dive, essentially making one of the most iconic villains in cinema a spiteful ex-girlfriend who gets tricked into becoming the green skinned pyro thrower we know, and this is pure subjective taste by the way when I say her design was so not it looking more akin to The Mask than the Wicked Witch. Big letdown in my opinion overall for her character but you know what? It gave me a negative so I can walk into Wicked looking for a positive so even then it has a greater purpose. I was rather shocked to say the least knowing Sam Raimi directed this movie but I applaud him for wanting to put as much practical sets in as possible, it's a heavy ass CG movie because of the outlandish terrain of the world of Oz and indeed has moments of beauty to it yet I still strongly appreciate giving the actors something to work with. It also was made during that mini 3D craze so you get those certain shots that are noticeable but aren't completely egregious. And for a over 2 hour movie it doesn't feel that long yet simultaneously feels like it should be longer to get more connection to the characters which I feel is the Achille's heel of it all. The visuals are okay, the story has some intrigue, but I couldn't get completely invested. But hey, if something doesn't work for me it can work for someone! I liked seeing a different iteration of the land of Oz, I liked seeing James play this charming charlatan, the little China Girl is treasured and I will not hear slander against her or I will smite you, even the majority of the humor got me rolling! It's far from a waste even if not everything landed just right and it makes me all the more curious to see Wicked! Know next door to nothing about it aside from trailers, yet I'm walking in with an open mind. As for this I give it 2 stars, 6/10!