Mad Dog wrote:




I truly enjoyed the Watchmen movie and was surprised to find I enjoyed it even more the second time.

will go see Note by Note: The Making of that Steinway piano thingie this weekend.

Next week I'll see:

The Cove (omg, it's gonna be amazing)
In the Loop (same)
Inglorious Basterds (I expect to be disappointed)

speaking of which, i watched Air Force One last night for some unknown reason. If I'm attracted to the president's daughter is that bad?

I think some of you know by now that I'm a stay-at-home dad for my two boys. (7 and 5) So now that this is the last week of Summer vacation, I took them out to see Ponyo. We all really liked Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" so I figured it was worth a shot. It's a little wierd and the best way I can describe it is it's a Japanese fairytale. I think the animation in Spirited Away was better. If you have kids, I'd rent it when it comes out on DVD.


Oh and as for Watchmen, I think the best part of that movie was the opening title sequence.

-Will

I came out of spirited away thinking that it was OK. However it would have really shined if in addition to all the animal and nature spirits they had a giant transforming robot spirit.

Guys, it really breaks my heart to say this, but PONYO was _awful_.

I'm the guy here with the Miyazaki tattoo, so rest assured that I've _never_ felt this way about any of his films before PONYO. I love everything the man has ever touched deeply, except for this film. I feel like it was built on a couple of half-formed ideas that he was not committed to emotionally or creatively, and I think it _really_ shows in the art and animation- it's the crudest looking film he's ever made. I seriously can't believe Ghibli made a film that looked this poor- even the pictures they've put out from other directors like Isao Takahata looked better than this, and some of those are 20 years old.

The whole thing with the undersea transvestite wizard (really a variation on HOWL'S transvestite wizard) was _almost_ a good idea, but it wound up being a really boring and strangely cynical plot point. The COCCOON bit with the old people was embarassingly bad, and there was a lack of cohesion throughout the whole film. Worse, there was nothing of the depth of PRINCESS MONONOKE, the wonder of SPIRITED AWAY, or the simple, everyday magic of TOTORO. There's not a single scene where I felt like Miyazaki really had his heart in it. Yeah, I know this is more of a kid's film, but TOTORO was too. This is like a bad kid's film, not a Miyazaki kid's film.

He's been making his last film ever since PRINCESS MONONOKE...SPIRITED AWAY was supposed to be it too, as was HOWL'S...and every time I hoped that it wouldn't be. I still hope PONYO isn't his last, but I think that it's the first time where I felt like maybe he's ready to retire.

INGLOURIOUS BASTEREDS, however...I'll make another thread.

LOCKWOOD DESERT, NEVADA
A very stupid German artsy movie.

POPULÄRMUSIK FRÅN VITTULA
Actually pretty good. Many disturbing, but hilarious scenes. Swedish movie.

PLOTS WITH A VIEW
Funny love story. Not particularly suited for my age group, though.

KILL BILL
A disappointment. I liked the wake up scene but that's about it.

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1979)
Excellent (anti-)war movie.

I just Ponyo this weekend, and I thought it was full of adorable. On the list of the Miyazaki movies I've seen, I'd put it below Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, and about on par with My Neighbor Totoro.

I watched Repo! The Genetic Opera! this weekend.

What a weird movie. It didn't really make sense but for some reason was entertaining.

Ponyo is totally a 9/10. Great kids movie. Obviously not as good as Spirited Away but that's fine. I liked it better than Howl's Moving Castle.

I saw Note by Note: The Making of the Steinway L1037 on the weekend. 9/10, good flick.

Tomorrow double feature of Inglorious Basterds and The Cove. Can't wait.

Watched Starship Troopers 2. A complete piece of shit in just about every way.