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.

In Retrospect: Shin-Gojira

Jesus, that's an unsettling ending isn't it?

So the newest Godzilla movie from Japan just hit video here in the States, so of course I'm gonna talk about it! It's been almost a whole year since I saw this in theaters, so it's high time we discuss this movie more. So this is a full fledged reboot, dealing with Godzilla's first appearance in modern day Japan, and just how they can stop an invincible, terrifying force such as Godzilla. And this movies in my opinion, is 110% accurate how all this would go down if this was a real event. I really have to commend the film on this, because it takes real Japanese government actions and regulations, as well as relations with other countries and uses them realistically due to a giant radioactive monster trampling through the city. It happens. But the real genius of the movie is how it's basically a satire and all around punch to the Japanese government. It IS way too official, it IS ridiculously drawn out just to do one simple thing whether it's evacuating a city or creating military strategies. Japan really does see the flaws in it's government, and it's not just in this movie where you see the satire, the entire Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney games are a satire of the Japanese legal system like almost down to the letter, albeit with less colorful and ridiculous characters, but I digress. So this movie really does speak volumes much like the original 1954 version, dare I say even more so. So it's a very succesful film in my mind, and not just due to the fact that Toho made a new Godzilla film. But it does work both ways, you can enjoy the destruction and raw awesome power of the Big G, but you can also appreciate the film for it's realism and satire. Yes, the movie deals with the human characters vastly more than when you see Godzilla, but he does have his presence there. People are always talking about his abilities, his power, his physiology, and how he could possibly evolve in the future. Now I have to admit I hated the idea of Godzilla evolving through the film, but honestly after a year I've come to realize there is a lot more to the evolution than just seeing new monsters. There is a clear logic to it, from him being an aquatic sea creature, to an amphibious creature, to a fully adapted land creature. Even his powers are logically explained, like his atomic breath being brought on due to massive trauma and the ability to shoot photons out of his dorsal fins. I originally said you can see severe anime connections to the Godzilla scenes and I still stand by that, but it's not in your face as I might have suggested. It's a damn good movie, and certainly can't be labelled as just another monster movie, there was effort and thought put into it, not to say that other Godzilla movies didn't have time and effort put into them but something about this movie really works incredibly well. Is it because of how realistic it potrays such an outlandish event? Is it because of the satire of the overcomplicated government system of Japan? Or is it just because it has effective and well done destruction and action scenes? The world may never know....

BONUS: Shin-Godzilla

Well that was unexpected.

Wow...my first Godzilla movie ever seen in theaters. No joke, every time I have seen any Godzilla movie it has been on either satellite tv or home video. So how does this Godzilla movie hold up? It was great, albeit slightly odd at points. Allow me to elaborate. Okay Sherman set the way-back machine to when the first trailer hit. I liked the tone, the visuals, and the music...until Godzilla showed up. He looked cool, glowing red, slightly decaying look but the eyes looked like googly eyes, and his tail was too long, it was bigger than he was! And this particular Godzilla stunts the 2014 Godzilla, and that's a big dude. And later on down the road, I heard rumors about Godzilla well, not looking like Godzilla. That he actually evolves throughout the movie. This worried me a lot. And it's true. When you see him at first he looks like this friggin' tadpole...thing, he's got no arms and really looks like if you cut off a stegosauraus' front legs. It's so odd. But then he changes and looks a bit more like he usually does. He looks like he came from Hell, and that fits perfectly with the movie, Godzilla is supposed to look terrifying. Now we touch on the last aspect worthy of note, Godzilla's atomic breath is bizzare. It's purple but not, and I can roll with that, I got used to how he looked, and his atomic breath looks awesome in purple but it's not straight up like that. I'll try to explain, it starts off like just red fire but then transforms into atomic breath, but not only that it turns into a fracking lazer beam! It doesn't look like fire it looks like lazers! But wait, there's more! It comes out of his mouth, it comes out of his tail (I swear to God above.), it comes out of his fin's. Yeah. Now, Hideaki Anno created Neon Genesis Evangelion, a confusing show about giant robots fighting, kinda like with Gundam but with a paradoxical plot but I digress. He wrote and directed the movie, so you see the inspiration from that show bleed through into this movie, Godzilla shoots like a hundred lazer beams out of his fin's at enemy planes and missiles. It's very anime. Whoa, I've went on this long and I haven't touched base on the actual movie.......let's roll that review! The plot is basic like other Godzilla movies, Godzilla rises out of Tokyo Bay and the Japanese government must find a way to stop this fearsome beast. Now there are many excellent things about this film, first of all the editing. It is so slick, and so well done, they know exactly when to cut. It is fast paced, but knows when to linger on a moment, it really helps with the humor of which there is a bit, and drives the story at a satisfactory pace clocking in at roughly two hours. Next is the acting, the cast is great although the film is subtitled all the way through, there is no dub yet but there will be. So seeing the real Japanese actors working their craft was a real treat. Lastly is the mood, the tone of the story, and it is highly realistic. This feels real in every sense of the word. This is what would happen if such a creature appeared in Japan and the government had to deal with it. Bravo movie, bravo. Flying colors in this respect. Godzilla is in the movie a bit, but the focus is on the humans trying to cope with such a presence, in fact dare I say, it does it exponentially better than the original 1954 version. That is how good they nailed the realistic edge of this film. You know, for the first Godzilla movie I have ever seen in theaters, this did not disappoint. The film is in theaters nationwide until the end of this week, so if you're a big G fan go see this movie. Well worth your time and money.

You know, for this week I had several science fiction classics to review, but now I'm kind of tempted to do a handful of Godzilla reviews instead. I certainly have a few to review, and I'm happy I reviewed the original because this movie has a few nods to it. I might change it, I may hold off on it. Hell, maybe I'll even start November with a monster mash in Tokyo...