Pacific Rim- What do you get when you mix Guillermo Del Toro and giant mechs going toe to toe with kaiju? One of the best action movies I’ve seen in years, that’s what. Del Toro has always been known for his creativity and while he borrowed plenty from anime and other forms of fiction, Pacific Rim never felt too derivative. The world wasn’t some cookie-cutter futuristic Earth melded with woefully unoriginal mech and kaiju designs. No, it was a truly glorious experience. Many well made action films are often praised as “big dumb spectacle,” this is something I find to be miles from the truth in Pacific Rim’s case. Sure it’s an action heavy film but there are plenty of interesting little details such as Hannibal Chau’s black market trading of kaiju remains. Or even the briefly mentioned religion which views the giant beasts as gods.
But back to the action. To an unawares viewer, the big robots may give off the sense of Transformers. Whether you love or hate Michael Bay’s movies, praising the action of those films as anything more than dumb spectacle, is a fool’s errand. Slow motion and gigantic explosions are overused in an attempt to please the viewer on very basic level. Often times the sense of scale of the Transformers themselves is menial at best. In Pacific Rim however, fights don’t just looks big, they feel big. Each and every kaiju is an entirely different encounter and the stakes rise with every subsequent fight.
I don’t care what you’re a fan of, be it Tranformers, mecha animes such as Evangelion, or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic; Pacific Rim is a blast for everyone. Unfortunately, the theatre going crowd were not overly zealous at eh box office. So I’m telling you know, take a shot on Pacific Rim, you won’t regret it.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica-Yes, this is a thing that I watched. No, it’s not what you may be thinking. I know I’m not the first to say this, but I’m going to anyway in a desperate attempt to appear intelligent. Madoka Magica does to the magical girl genre what Evangelion and Attack on Titan did to theirs. To the unawares, initially appearing as nothing more than an example of a dead genre unwelcomely coming into the world of anime once more, you would think Madoka Magica would be a shallow piece of pandering drivel. However, when it comes to flipping preconceived notions on their collective heads, the job is more than adequately done. I find it difficult to really discuss how this is done about without divulging significant spoilers, but I’ll do my best.
High school setting? Check. Giddy Japanese school girls? Check. A seemingly overwrought plot? Check. So what’s so awesome? Or maybe I’ve just gone off the deep end. Maybe I think girls saving the world from witches, with powers gifted to them by some cutesy little animal is the best thing ever.No, I assure you, I’ve not yet taken the plunge into insanity.
So what made me enjoy Madoka Magica? Well, for starters the story takes more than a few unpredictable turns into some rather dark and depressing places. And no, simply being morose isn’t enough to warrant praise, but it’s the gifted writing which really sells it. Alas, this is where spoilers would be needed to fully explain anything, so I’ll just leave it up to you find out what I mean. One gripe I do have with the narrative is its ambition. When dealing with the concept of wishes with no boundaries, you open up a portal of potentially story-shattering plot holes. While loose ends were tied up the best they could have possibly been, that didn’t stop me from noticing a few missteps along the way.
How about something I can openly talk about, like art style and animation? The surrealistic design of the witch labyrinths are absolutely stunning. Mixing concepts from Alice in Wonderland with a vibrant, yet foreboding color scheme gives a true sense of individualism to each and every witch and their layers. In fact, I dare say it’s the best looking anime out there.
Considering there are only 12 episodes in all-not due to cancellation, it’s just an especially short show even by anime standards- Madoka Magica is certainly worth your time. Most importantly, be willing to give it at least three or four episodes to grow on you. Once you do so, I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results.
Mad Men- Well, I had my doubts about the longevity of Mad Men’s plots and now it’s safe to say I’ve been proven wrong...sort of. Seasons two through four are top-notch examples of how to write interesting characters. Don’s struggle to handle his not so pleasant past and desire to run away, starting anew is something we all can relate to. Other characters such as Pete, Roger, Peggy, and Joan were all vastly improved and diversified. The constant moral and social dilemmas create for plenty of enthralling stories without violence, and there you have Mad Men’s most interesting aspect. It’s a drama following a group of office workers during the 1960’s. While this doesn’t always provide for easily engageable drama, it’s well done nonetheless.
My one major gripe is the amount of conflict that revolves around adultery. After the third or fourth time of nearly every character cheating on their significant other, I have to wonder if some sort of pheromones are being pumped into their offices. That or they're all secretly rabbits.
As for the fifth season, it certainly suffered from the same problems as the previous four seasons only amplified because nothing felt new. What’s that? Someone is cheating on their spouse for the seventh time? Oh, Don is taking credit for the work of his underlings? See what I mean? This is not to say the entire season is terrible, it’s just a step back after three remarkable ones.
All in all, Mad Men is quite the show. Miller’s top 10 material? No, but I’d still wholeheartedly recommend it.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters- As a young lad I was awfully fond of Godzilla. Whenever I went to the rental store around the corner, chances are I’d walk out with a couple of VHS tapes featuring the king of kaijus.
With the upcoming 2014 film looking great, I’ve decided to try and relive my childhood in preparation for the upcoming second American take on the infamous lizard.
Many may remember the Godzilla films for their laugh-worthy dubbing or all around goofiness, but King of the Monsters packs quite the punch, even by today’s standards. Don’t go in expecting Oscar winning acting by today’s standard or the aged practical effects to wow you, and you’ll surely enjoy it. The subsequent films from the Showa series, 1954-1975, took on a campy persona. The films were certainly enjoyable, but possessed far less depth than the nuclear war allegory of the original. Much of the film focuses on Steve Martin, an American reporter, who just so happens to be in Tokyo when Godzilla strikes. His reaction to the tragic destruction of Tokyo is strangely dark for films of the era, but at the same time incredibly relevant. The feelings he conveyed could be compared to any who saw the effects of the two atomic strikes Japan suffered only a little over a decade before and because of that, I was shocked to see how poignant and powerful Godzilla: KotM still is roughly 70 years later.
Carrie(1976)-After hearing so many compare Beyond: Two Souls’ revenge scene to Carrie’s, I figured it was high-time I finally got around to this beloved film. And you know what, those people were right. David Cage did try to emulate some of the theme’s and scenes of Carrie and he did so very poorly.
Oh, well. How about I discuss the actual movie, shall I?
The horror genre has never been a favorite of mine, and that’s mostly thanks to the modern day films we see verging on nothing more than torture porn and mindless blood baths. While Carrie isn’t modern, at least not the version I watched, it certainly falls in with my favorites of the genre. Awkward teen picked on at high school by the “in-crowd” and a religious zealot of a mother mistreating her child isn’t exactly treading new ground, even by 1970’s standards, but it’s for the best that the audience isn’t slapped over the head with too much exposition.
Carrie’s strongest feature is by the far the excellent use of foreshadowing. After suffering a traumatizing amount of harassment from her fellow students, the innocently ignorant young girl is sent home and two separate plans are hatched. One aiming to help her become more social and the other rearing to kick her while she’s down. The remainder of the film is spent anticipating. Anticipating who will win. Anticipating if and how will Carrie use her telekinesis. The result is a highly satisfying 15 minute stretch near the end. Though the ending may taper of in terms of quality, what with some cheap scares and tacky scenes, I still rather enjoyed it all. Carrie never floored me, but it certainly kept me entertained.
No comments:
Post a Comment