Ikiru

So the film is about an old man who learns that he has stomach cancer.  The man works at a public affairs office in Japan.  When he finds out about the cancer he decides to truly start living life.  So what he does is goes out and get drunk at the bars and party with a cheap novel writer.  They hit some clubs up and live it up.  Later he starts hanging with a girl who just quite working at the office.  Some misunderstandings happen and they stop hanging with each other.
After this he decides to dedicate his life to doing something good.  So he decides to make a park in a neighborhood.  This helps with the sewage problem they had been having.  At the half way point the main character dies.  The rest is the people at his funeral talking about him leading the park creation.  That is really boring.  The movie really died there for me.  So the movie was bad and I do not feel is worth another watch and could of lived without.

Sansho lord of the boring

So this post is a little late.  Sorry about that.  So the movie is about a family that is exiled from there homeland and then sold into slavery.  So the movie from there is just trying to be as sad as possible.  So the movie follows two siblings, a brother and a sister as they work on a plantation.  So one day they are out to bury a friend and they decide to make an escape form the plantation.  The stupid thing is that the sister tells the brother to leave without her cause she will slow him down but take the friend  he needs to carry.  So the sister stays and commits suicide so she doesn't get tortured.  The brother survives the journey and restores his families honor and becomes governor.  He outlaws slavery and destroys the plantation he worked at.
After that decree he quits and goes to look for his mother.  He goes to where he heard his mother was.  There is a fake out where he thinks she dead.  Then finds out she is alive and must convince her he is her child.  So that's how it ends.  The movie was slow and kind of boring.  I did not quite enjoy it

GODZILLA!!!

So we watched the king of all monsters this Thursday, Godzilla!  So Godzilla is to all you people who do not know culture or live in a box, Godzilla is a Dinosaur with super powers.  He was a waken when the nuclear bombs were dropped in Japan.  So he is highly radioactive.  The plot is that Godzilla is destroying the coast cities of Japan and the government is trying to stop him.
The big deal is that this is the first Kaiju movie.  This also means that not everything is the best in the special effects department.  Thought the buildings being destroyed look pretty good.  The actual suit of Godzilla is though a little needing in work because he has a lack of facial movements so he looks more cute then scary.  But the scene where he destroys the one city is awesome.
Now Godzilla has a message which is about nuclear weapons.  Mostly that they are bad and should not be used.  As one of the end quotes is about using nuclear weapons which could cause another Godzilla.  All together the movie is a little boring especially if you are there for Godzilla since he is not in it that much.  I recommend if you want more Godzilla see one of the sequels but I am glad I saw it since I love Godzilla.

Letters to Momo

So on Thursday we were shown Letters to Momo.  This was also at the Chicago kids film festival I got to attend this year.  So I was hoping that this would be one of those films that would be great but was not quite so.  It is about a little girl and her mother who moves back to an island where her mother lived with her parents.  This happens when her father dies.  So at her grandparents house that she is living at now she accidentally unleashes demons.  They follow her and her family around but no one sees them except another kid.  Also Momo must learn to fit in with the other kids.
So the films mostly includes the antics of Momo and the demons.  There are some funny moments such as the demons stealing the boars children.  Also the end sequence with all the demons and spirits helping Momo get to the doctor is pretty cool.  Other than that the movie was kind of boring.  Not much happens and I did not care really about the characters.  The only one I cared about was the one I thought of as Smegal.  I liked him and he was funny.  So the only thing that made it worth it was that guy so I would not see it if you were thinking about it.

The Book of Life

Sorry this post is very late and I have been very busy.  So the book of life is about two young boys Joaquin and Manolo who are fighting to win the heart of their childhood friend Maria.  Two gods see them and place a bet on them.  Xibalba picks Joaquin because he is less caring and sympathetic to other people.   La Muerte the goddess picks Manolo because he is more generous and selfless.  The bet is on who rules the land of the remembered which is currently ruled by La Muerte.  Due to a prank gone wrong Maria is sent away and the boys are sent down there own paths.  Manolo is forced into being a bullfighter but does not want to kill the bull but would rather play music.  Joaquin is now the village defender and has to hide a metal that makes him invincible in fear of being attacked by the previous owner.  When Maria comes back she appears to be what this generation needs for strong female characters but unfortunately falls a little flat as she is more of a plot convenience and caricature.  So when she arrives both Manolo and Joaquin fight to win her heart with Manolo getting somewhere on that front.  When Manolo and Maria are together Xibalba sends a snake to bite Maria to make Manolo think she is dead so he will die to be with her.  Later he finds out that he pulled a Romeo to soon for she was not dead by simply knocked out.  She he traverses the world of the dead to come back to life and be with Maria.  There is also a plot were he must come back to life to help the town be saved from the bandits that want the metal from Joaquin.  Also if everyone dies from the town everyone from there will go to the land of the forgotten which is sort of like a purgatory.
The animation in this film is amazing!! I can not stress this enough.  The aesthetic choice of making everything in the style of the day of the dead was a great one.  The colors are bright and fun and how I like it.
The complaint I have are with this film is that when Maria "dies" they keep pulling you out of that scene for the kids to comment and be goofy.  Let us feel the emotions of the scene.  Also the story was a little week with some cliches but it is redeemed for doing it in a unique way.  Another complaint is Maria.  I wish she was a stronger character.  She is so close to being something great and a strong female character but never truly lives it.  In the end you know she is just going to run off with Manolo.  Though overall the film is great and I hope to see things like it and improve it.  This film as of now in terms of box office has almost made back its budget of $50 million.   So that means studios might see we want these kinds of films and will make it.  So to the future of cool kid's films.

Hahahaha Fish Fight!!!

So this week was interesting to say the least.  We saw some interesting videos.  Some of the most interesting videos are from the Japanese part of the night.  Some of the ones that I have been watching a lot of have been the Drinkin boys.  That is a very funny video and well done.  To do the choreography for that dance must of been crazy.  All the work on moving the paddles so to cover everything.  That is time and skill.  Also very funny.
The other group that was shown was world order.  I have been watching now the world order.  It is pretty cool.  I like their robotic slow moves that they do.  It is pretty cool.  Also wearing suits are only a plus.
The other videos of course were very funny and enjoyable.  but those are just somethings I felt like mentioning because I like them.  So to leave you all with something Pon Pon Pon way way!!

Like Father, Like son

This movie in our series of films relating to Japan is very interesting.  First lets talk about the Plot though.  The movie starts out with a family living in the city that seems to have it all.  Except a good father to son relationship.  The two are very separated in terms of parental bonding.  A little bit later in the film there is some evidence to prove that the son Ryusei isn't related to his parents Ryota and Midori.  So they have them tested and find out it is true.  So they meet their real son named Keita and he has been raised by another family also.   The two families are very different especially in father figures.  So they meet up and eventually they swap kids to only realize the kid they raised feels more like their real child then their blood related child.
This movie is interesting in the topic it is dealing with and the emotions this plays with.  For me I didn't feel all that invested in the movie but as soon as Ryota said to Ryusei about the other family loving him more you felt hurt for little Ryusei.  There are also other areas where you feel for them but that one sticks out as the low blow.  Of course though in the end you know what will happen but you still feel the journey they go through so for that the movie is pretty good!
 

After Life

The premise of the After Life is that when you die you go to a building where you have to choose a memory of when you were alive to keep with you forever when you die.  You have three days to choose your memory and then they film it.  Now the premise is interesting but the movie really isn't.  It isn't bad but there isn't really anything that makes me feel the need to see it again.  The movie had some great moments as you here their stories which are funny in some and others less so.  Most of the film you follow the workers in the after life.  The two main workers are Takashi and Shiori who are seen the most.  The other workers have a little development but not to much.  Their is a little love triangle thing that Takashi's fiancee married one of the guys who is going through currently.  It is nice though to see the sets and them filming the memories.  Though for the movie it reminds me of most Oscar movies that are running for film of the year.  It's good but I don't feel the need to see it again.

Feeling a little spirited away by this

So after having had some time to sit down and digest this film in the best way a non anime watcher can I decided this film is pretty good.  So the basic premise is that a little girl Chihiro and her parents go into what they believe is an abandoned amusement park to find what appears to be an all you can eat buffet.  Little did the parents know that the food would turn them into pigs.  At this point the topic of cannibalism could pop up if there was bacon or sausage there since the pigs could be other people who stumbled in but the movie does not address that.  So in order to survive in the spirit world she must take a job at the local bathhouse.  From there on it is various subplots.  
The parts I want to talk about the most are some of the reasons why I hate anime.  The first is fluid animation and the lack of blinking in characters.  Luckily I didn't have this problem (Well blinking could be better) for the animation it is pretty solid.  Especially with some of the creatures which are pretty cool.  The character which I want to note the most which I think is everyone's favorite or 2nd after the baby turned rat is No face.  I'm gonna skip the part where he has a mask as his face since that really isn't his face.  His animation of being slightly transparent is pretty cool  and the expression and feeling are amazing especially cause his "face" does not move.  It is all sounds or body gestures which is pretty cool to have a character that does not talk or visually show emotions through his face.  Well he talks but that is when he eats people and it is their voice.  
Another aspect that was cool mostly because of my film background that the hero was a girl and was independent.  I bring this up because I have watched things about the Bechtel test and the Anita Sarkesen(I think I spelled that right) feminist frequency videos about a lack of good female characters out there.  Though I think the use of "Love" in the movie seemed weird.  I guess it works but I think I would of used friendship instead since both the characters are young and it never advances into anything serious.  
Overall this film it is pretty good.  The characters are all likable even the villain.  The story can be confusing but it never gets so confusing you give it up or can't remember what you have seen.  The animation is Beautiful even next to some of the big Disney movies.  This film as does make me curious to watch some other films by Hayao Miyazaki so that's pretty good!