Ikiru

Ikiru was aweessoommmee. I felt the plot to be kind of cliche, but then I remembered how old the movie is, and it was possibly one of the first to start the cliche. That cliche being the main character is set to die soon and realizes they've been wasting their life so they do something big or start living their full life.

It made a very fascinating point to think about: Was it really Watanabe who should be given the praise of the park, or those who actually built it. I personally was on Watanabe's side. He didn't build the park, but he was the only one who cared enough and really pushed to get the actual forms signed and get the process moving. Had Watanabe not done this, the park may never have been built at all.

The business men felt so very pompous and it was enraging. I have not realized how much I hate bureaucracy until this year of college xD the paperwork, how long it takes for things to get approved, or at least for you to get the next step. It's all so tedious, time-consuming, and miserable.

Gojira

My brothers and I have always been fans of Godzilla since we were young. We had a Godzilla video game, we watched as many of the movies as we could, and collected numerous figurines and action figures of Godzilla and various monsters from the series.

It's been a long time since I've seen the original film that started it all, so it was nice to get a refresher. The film is certainly interesting, it's old for one thing, and Japanese. I still think that despite the corniness and the difficult to oversee affects like the miniature cars, it was entertaining and convincing.

I saw the newest Godzilla when it came out in theaters, we've certainly come a long way from a guy in a suit on a miniature set. The newest Godzilla was a lot more violent. I think Godzilla movies went in a certain direction. It started with the people's plot and the mere fact of Godzilla being there, then in later movies it developed more into less of the people and more of Godzilla fighting other monsters. In the latest Godzilla movie they returned to the people plot with the mere fact of Godzilla, the entire 2 hour or so movie leading up to only a barely 20 minute action scene between Godzilla and the new monster. This was a disappointment to many fans, but I say it was well worth the wait of the movie, and it was an epic fight even if it was short lived.

Letter to Momo

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It had a very Miyazaki feel to it. I enjoyed the three youkai, they were entertaining despite being total jerks at first. The film was entertaining and had it's levels of comedy and overall silliness to it that made it fun to watch.

The story was very enjoyable as well. There was a bit of that bratty kid turned into an inspired and more well-mannered kid similar to Spirited Away. Although Momo wasn't as bratty as Chiharu was at the start of Spirited Away. Momo seemed more like a child who was just broken hearted and trying to work through very hurt feelings; and in the process she lashed out and said things she regretted without understanding the goings-on of the adult world.

A very fun very cute little film, I would totally recommend it to others and probably have my children watch it one day.

Book of Life

Was amazziiinnng. The animation was simply stunning.

I overheard others making remarks about the plot, but none that I think lessened the experience for me. I do think that the female lead, although strong and independent, had some minor short-comings to that. And the fact that the main male lead kind of fell in and out of the hispanic accent was a little off-putting but again it didn't distract me from the overall movie and I didn't really think about it or notice until afterwards. 

The character designs I was most enthralled with. I especially loved the twins and La Muerte. I did see it coming that the tour guide lady was La Muerte. 

The whole land of the remembered concept was quite enjoyable. It had it's air of Heaven to it, although the thought of people have to remember you in order for you to continue living in the afterlife is a little scary. And how long does someone wallow in the land of the forgotten before they wither away into dust?

Anyway, overall a wonderful and entertaining movie, I thoroughly enjoyed it beginning to end.

Ballinger's Rad Music Video Night

It was the most awesome thing ever. I enjoy the weird stuff, sometimes I don't even find it entertaining, I just like to watch it for the sake of experiencing weirdness.

Speaking of weirdness, why is it the Japanese are so strange? Or at least, strange to us? What is it in our cultures that makes us so different, and the Japanese so "weird" to us, mostly in their strange commercials, and the music videos we saw. Honestly I don't have the answer to this question, I'm not sure why we find the Japanese so bizarre. I also wish I had more to say on Ballinger's movie night but I can't think of anything else. It was entertaining and fun, a true adventure into the weirdness of both Japanese and American productions.

Like Parent Like not-so-much Child?

I personally could not emotionally handle watching the movie, but it is a concept worth blogging about.

Raising a child you thought was your own only to discover they aren't. I explained the movie concept to a friend and her first reaction was YOU KEEP THE ONE YOU RAISED DUH. What would you do in that situation? Thinking about it, I can understand both sides, but I think I personally would still want to keep the child I'd raised, after all I'd raised them this far, I love them and they love me as well, I'm not going to ship them back to their real parents just because they aren't my blood. I'd be willing to try it, to see if the child wants to "trial-run" their real parents or vice versa, but I think you should keep the one you've built the bond with.

I think whether or not you're biologically connected to a child, there is still the "like parent like child" factor in hand. The child might have some basic personality traits that don't match up with yours, but they're still going to be molded after you if they are raised by you regardless of blood-relation.

I find it rather ironic that while I've never experienced any drama with not being biologically related to someone, I'm not adopted nor was I accidentally switched, but ironically a lot of my stories surrounding my characters deal with just that, being family with others who aren't your family. Or friends being the family because the real family sucks, or losing your family and gaining a new one from strangers whether you lost by death or by abandonment.

It begs the question of, what really is family? Is family what your born into? Or is family those who unconditionally love and support you through thick and thin? What is more important, friends or family? Perhaps it is your friends, after all friends can sometimes be more of a family to you than your biological relatives. I am personally more connected with my family than my friends. This coming family weekend I wont be spending with friends, my parents tried to ask me what time I'd like them to leave and what time I'd like to put aside for friends this weekend and my response was "Are you kidding? It's family weekend not friend weekend." I love my family deeply, they mean more to me than anything else. If I went to a friend's party and my brothers came with I'd rather hang out around my brothers than my friends.

After Life

For me, this movie was so very hard to sit through. It was slow, didn't really keep my attention, and I never knew when or how it was going to end, I had no aim or idea of where they were trying to take us.

The concept of having just one memory to take with you and relive forever is quite an unsatisfying thought. No matter what memory you choose you'd probably get bored of it eventually. Of course it begs the question, if you had to choose what would you choose? A childhood memory? But then you'd forget all of your high school and college friends, if your younger sibling wasn't born yet you wouldn't know them either, you wouldn't know their grown-up self. Would you choose your wedding? Your first love? There are countless choices stuffed up in our brains.

I think I personally would have to ask to look over the tapes of my life, because I have an awful memory and more than anything even if everything's going to be erased I'd like to look at all these memories that I haven't seen because I don't remember them. I want to remember more about my childhood, and other things later on that I may have forgotten.

Movies like After Life present you with an almost impossible or just overall unsettling question that makes you not want to answer, but also provokes thought at the same time. That sounds like it sucks but I wonder what I WOULD choose in that situation...

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

I absolutely loved this movie. Everything from the story to the way it was shot was beautiful and entertaining. 

It's one heckuva thought, to discipline yourself that deeply into something for so long, and to keep doing it. I don't know that I'd be able to. I've always been jealous of how hard working and committed the Japanese are. Hard work and commitment have been things that are very hard for me to reach and I greatly envy those who can do so well for so long.

I felt sorry for Jiro's son, who'd have to greatly surpass his father's ability to amount to anything when Jiro passes, especially with Jiro continuing to improve his technique even now. Jiro Dreams of Sushi was a beautifully shot and very interesting story, learning about all the factors and everything that goes on was such a fun experience and I'd recommend this movie to anyone.

Dearly Departed

Departures was a totally emotional film, at least for me, I cried many times throughout. It had some great comedic moments sprinkled in that were amusing.

My favorite parts of the movie were probably two moments where the families of the departed were joyful despite the sorrow of the departure. One moment where the granddaughter of the deceased offered socks to put on her body commenting that their grandma always wanted to wear socks like theirs, and they cheerily said goodbye to her, there was no intense heartbreak, but a joyful send off. The other moment was when the daughter gave her father a kiss, leaving her lipstick mark on his forehead, causing the granddaughter and mother to laugh and all give him lipstick kisses as well.

I've always thought that death should be experienced in this way, sorrowful of the leave, but joyful in what was. I've always said I don't want people to have a funeral when I die, I want them to have a joyous celebration. I can't say I can speak clearly on how death should be celebrated, many people experience these emotions differently, and since I've never experienced the death of someone close to me I can't really speak truly on the matter.

My great-grandmother died this past year (or perhaps it was the year before that) and it did not affect me, but I had time to come to terms with any little sorrow I might've had on the matter when we visited her during her final days at the old folks home, and I didn't actually experience the service as I was sick the entire time. A part of me feels I wouldn't've been too upset over the matter, my great-grandmother was a very compassionate Christ-follower, and I know I'll meet her in Heaven when the time comes.

I've always felt death should not just be sadness and pain, we'll miss them, but we should also celebrate the life they had, the memories, and the fact that they're joining our Father in Heaven, and we will one day meet again.

As far as the movie, there was a mention by the cremator, of death being a "Gateway" and just another part of life, and once you pass through death you move onto the next thing. He said he liked to say "Goodbye, I'll see you again one day" to those being cremated. This was a nice echo of a somewhat Christian view-point.

Delayed Spirited Away Blog

I love Miyazaki films. My very first Miyazaki was when I was only like 6 years old and watched My Neighbor Totoro at a friends house. I remember getting older and watching Totoro and being very confused because somehow it wasn't the same from when I was a kid, I found out later that it was because Disney decided to just up and re-dub the movie themselves even though it'd already been dubbed in english. The one I'd seen as a kid wasn't the Disney version, the new one was, so I hunted down the original english dub to truly relive it. (it was much better than the Disney dub) Now granted I love Miyazaki but I haven't loved every Miyazaki film, some of the stories fall a little flat for me such as Arriety, but you can always expect the animation to be stellar and beautiful.

But getting back to Spirited Away. Spirited Away was also one of my first Miyazaki movies from when I was young, and I loved it as a child. When I got older I re-watched it now and then and was able to understand more and more of it. I love everything about it from the story to the animation to the characters. Being someone who is a character designing nut job I go crazy over character designs and their personalities. I loved hearing the bit of trivia about how Miyazaki made the movie because all these modern animes and mangas were about crushes and all that stuff and he wanted to make a movie that was more integrity driven and encouraged girls to be more than just a stereotype.

I do think media nowadays needs more encouragement of integrity, there's too much focus on sexuality and masculinity and stereotypes; and kids just live up to the low expectations of them and it's very discouraging and sad to see it happen. It seems all kids are concerned about these days are having sex doing drugs and recording themselves twerking on Vine. Makes me feel old to recollect more innocent times when none of that stuff was even on our minds as kids.