Are You Planning To Step On Us?

What is it about watching a team come together that is so satisfying? It’s been done again and again in heist movies, secret agent movies, sports movies, Pokémon movies, and it never gets old. (Well, maybe the last one does.) The Avengers is Marvel Studios’ latest production of visual overstimulation, and I think Joss Whedon does a good job of giving the characters a balanced amount of screen time while keeping the film from toppling under the weight of superhero clichés.

As you should already know, Thor‘s jilted adopted brother Loki is leading an evil alien army to conquer Earth. The aliens, of course, are ugly creatures only one step above Power Rangers villains, and we get very little hint of their motive except that Earth is probably a more pleasant place to live than the dank, light-less planet from which they appear to come. I’m not saying that I wanted a half hour of heartfelt alien backstory, and fighting aliens is at least better than casting the Russians, Persians or Chinese as the enemy, but it almost seemed like another installment of the Transformers series.

“Just be your sexy self.”

Like most superhero movies, Avengers very briefly deals with some deeper moral issues. We’re asked if humans will kneel just because they’re ordered to do so by a guy with a stick that shoots energy balls (mostly yes, sometimes no), whether one should have guilt over the privilege of power (I could see Thor’s sparkling blue eyes trying and failing to come to a conclusion), what makes some people better than others (outside of having awesome superpowers, obviously), and most importantly, whether we as humans should respect or challenge our own limitations (in light of superpowered extraterrestrial forces). However, very few people watch this film to explore the relationship between freedom and power (myself included), so I won’t go any further with that.

I was afraid that Scarlet Johansson‘s Black Widow would be a mere pity character for those sorely feeling the lack of a main female character (I mean, what was the point of her being in Iron Man 2?). Thankfully, Johansson makes a pretty great action star. I wasn’t won over by her red bob, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a Black Widow feature film to get to the bottom of her Russian roots.

How do archers not run out of arrows during battle, like seriously?

Speaking of the male-dominated cast, I found it kind of weird to watch certain male characters greet one another by pounding each other’s faces in. People say that there would be less wars if women ran the world, and this film certainly wasn’t an argument against that. Watching this kind of violent reactionary power play is about as productive as watching a circle jerk, if you’ll excuse the crude metaphor — only when everybody has expended all his energy can they settle down to talk and maybe try to get along.

On the more superficial side, I’d like to first point out the obvious, which is that Chris Evans has a flawless body — so perfect I could cry — and I fell in love with him even more after reading last year’s GQ piece about him. Chris Hemsworth is as devastatingly attractive as always, and the way he pulls off that long, silky blonde hair is still mind-boggling. I don’t find Tom Hiddleston to be my type, but he does have huge blue eyes that I could drown in when they’re not dementedly crazed, which they are for most of the film. I didn’t understand Loki’s seemingly random costume changes (why not stay in his more powerful form permanently?), though maybe it would help if I read the comic books (not going to happen). Newcomer Cobie Smulders, playing one of Nick Fury‘s head lackeys, has simply amazing facial bone structure. Just wow. People who watch HIMYM are no doubt familiar with her already, but I hope she gets more time on the big screen! Additionally, I found it quite interesting that the majority of S.H.I.E.L.D’s employees — that is, all the nerds in charge of communications and intelligence — are youthful, attractive and wear skin-tight bodysuits to highlight their youthful attractiveness. I tried to imagine what it would look like if any actual workplace had that as a work uniform, and it’s a terrible and hilarious vision.

Mmmmm….more please!!!!!

I watched Avengers in 3D because I forgot to tell my friend who booked the tickets that I detest 3D (the only times it has been worth it were Avatar and Tangled), but the effect enhanced the experience instead of distracting from it, though I maintain that watching it in 2D would be just as fine and less headache-inducing afterward. Also, I think the theater we went to had some sort of special seats (there was an ad about it before the movie played, but I couldn’t really understand it) that kind of rumbled during certain explosive scenes (it wasn’t just the bass rumbling, I swear), which was neat. Overall, this was a solid blockbuster movie, and I only hope that it doesn’t go the way of Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean in iteration after iteration until we start to pity ourselves for not being able to stop watching its crappy sequels.

And What Kind Of Freedom Is That?

For Valentine’s Day, a couple of friends and I decided to go watch The Lady, a movie based on the life of Nobel Peace Prize recipient and Burmese democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, starring Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis [AKA Professor Lupin]. It wasn’t my first choice, honestly; while I didn’t doubt that it would be good, I figured a low-key film like that could be equally enjoyed on my laptop without paying for the $11US ticket. In the end, it turned out to be a highly appropriate choice for the holiday. If it were still out in US theaters, I would urge you to skip The Vow or Beauty and the Beast 3D or [heaven forbid] This Means War — if you want a story about the depths of true love, watch The Lady instead.

Some of you might not know who she is. I admit that despite having watched the documentary Burma VJ last year in my capstone class and having read about the country once in an Amy Tan novel, I still get Burma mixed up with Tibet sometimes. I mean, these small, oppressed Asian countries — who can keep track of them, right? Wrong. Irresponsible, even. Some of you [and by you I mean me] might only know her as the woman who was kept under house arrest for years, which sounds like the most boring way to lead a revolution if you ask me. Yawn. [/sarcasm] Some of you might even know that Burma is also sometimes referred to as Myanmar, and its naming appears to be quite confused though I like to think of the latter as its slave name. Anyway, my point is that most people in America [I can only speak for us, but the range is probably more like everywhere] know nothing about the country or its present-day politics, so do yourself a favor and get educated. It’s as easy as watching a movie [or two: Burma VJ could be considered a solid chronological epilogue to The Lady and the whole thing is on Youtube!!].

The film follows Suu Kyi and her husband Michael from the beginning of her inadvertent political career to more recent times. It had two major themes: her love for her country and her love for her husband [& children]. I found the movie riveting because I was only expecting the first one. But the movie showed a great deal of Michael’s side as well, which I felt was effective and relevant in drawing a more comprehensive portrait of Suu Kyi’s internal turmoil. Out of the total of the past 21 years she has spent in Burma, 15 of which were spent in strict house arrest [15 entire years in one house 24/7!!!], she and her husband could only meet a handful of times. The Burmese government only sometimes granted him a visa to enter Burma, and everybody knew that if Suu Kyi were to ever set foot outside of the country, they would never let her back in. Everything she had fought for, had sacrificed for, would be laid to waste. They didn’t have Skype. Internet. Cell phones. Only snail mail and the enduring hope that one day, all their suffering would come to fruition.

As someone currently dealing with the struggles of being in a long-distance relationship, I feel particularly sensitive to stories about long-distance love. And theirs is incredibly inspiring. [I would advise you to watch the movie and not read all the details on Wikipedia beforehand for the full effect of seeing whether they end up together. DUN DUN DUN.] The differences, of course, are vast. For one, I’m in Hong Kong because I chose to be. I could very well have stayed in the States if I wanted to, though of course it would still be long distance to some extent because there’s no way I’m going back to live in Columbia LOL. One could argue that, yes, Suu Kyi did have the choice to return to England; in fact, the Burmese government would have been more than happy to accommodate that request. But it was a choice she could not make. [The dialogue from that situation is the source of the title of this post.] She couldn’t simply go home and leave her country in tatters. She couldn’t give up and relinquish all the years she had already spent as the face of a revolution. She couldn’t do it even to watch her two sons grow up, to accept her Nobel Peace Prize, or to be there for Michael as he battled cancer. She and Michael both knew that she was doing something far greater than their desire to be together, and she couldn’t just leave. So she chose to stay.

The movie elicited quite a few tears. It invited them, really; there’s no shame in crying over genuine human atrocities. Indeed, at a few points throughout the film, I wondered what drove the leaders of the Burmese military government to do what they did [last plug: Burma VJ deals primarily with the "Saffron Revolution," named so because it was largely led by the country's many saffron-robed monks, who were beaten, murdered and arrested with all the other protesting citizens. Killing monks!! That is damn low]. I mean, how much evil must they have inside to be impervious to the suffering that they forcefully brought upon their own people? Why is it so hard to let go of power? Is it really that irresistible? What…what fuels these people, and where does their enjoyment lie?

Anyway, I could probably keep writing about this topic [must be the INFJ in me], but I have to go to sleep, so I’ll leave with a few superfluous observations.

1. Suu Kyi & Michael’s older son looked like Drake.
2. Their younger son looked like my friend Jack.
3. Speaking of their kids, it was hard to believe that two teenage boys could be so sensitive and well-behaved. I mean, sure, they bickered with each other, but every time they were reunited with their parents, they ran in for hugs and snuggles. The 13-ish-year-old continuously called his parents “mommy” and “daddy” without any sense of teenage rebellion — um, someone please tell me how to raise kids like that?!?
4. This movie makes me want to wear flowers in my hair forever & ever.
5. The Lady is beautifully produced story of true love. I urge you to give it a try if only to educate yourself on international issues.

Is It Stealing If It’s Already Stolen?

You literally only have those 2 options.

Yes. The answer in most cases is yes. Yet, Amanda Seyfried‘s character felt convicted enough about that question to have the gall to ask it at two different points during the movie. Unless you’re a superhero with a catchphrase, that’s not acceptable. Then again, she and Justin Timberlake‘s character pretty much thought of themselves as Robin-Hood-esque vigilantes, so I don’t doubt that she would’ve uttered that line more than twice if given the chance.

In the movie In Time, we’re dropped in the middle of this post-industrialized society where people have one year to live after turning 25, and they use their time as currency, dropping dead when the clock on their arm reaches zero. Apparently this is an attempt to fight overpopulation, though I guess I missed that part of the exposition. There are so many questions I had about this society: How could the beauty/anti-aging and pharmaceutical companies let this happen?? Who runs the government, and how the hell did they implement this universal biological clock? Have hospitals become obsolete because people [ostensibly] tend to die of being robbed of time as opposed to ailments from which they can be resuscitated? Did minorities get eradicated early on in this anti-population process? We’re thrown in with little context, but with movies like this, we’re just supposed to accept what we’re told to be reality. Just like when you’re playing Pokémon, it’s better not to ask questions.

For full disclosure, the reason I wanted to watch this movie because one of my favorite actors, Matt Bomer, is in it. Yes, he dies rather early on in the film [it's not a spoiler if it happened in the trailer!], but seeing him on the big screen was like a dream come true. I almost fainted with glee. His character philosophizes about life and death before “timing himself out ” [ie. suicide], which opens Timberlake’s eyes to the injustice around him.

In fact, there’s quite a bit of philosophizing in this movie. It comes out at an opportune time because the similarities to the Occupy Wall Street movement are easy to draw. The In Time society is separated into “time zones,” and only those rich with time are allowed out of the ghetto and into New Greenwich, which is one of those words [like Newfoundland] that should just be pronounced the way it’s spelled. Naturally, all the poor people in the ghetto rob each other and are themselves robbed by the powerful few, who control the markets and get to live forever. [They are the 1%!!!] It’s not hard to see the undertaking of a political message, but the film takes itself so seriously that the audience occasionally laughed when we weren’t supposed to. Oops.

Also, immortality seems like a throwback to villains of my childhood. Maybe it’s because I don’t watch cartoons anymore, but does anybody really want to live forever anymore?

[SPOILER]

At some point during In Time, the movie jumps on the crazy train and derails itself. For example, Timberlake and Seyfried concoct the brilliant plan to rob a bank that magically leaves its vault open and uses no guards. They do this successfully multiple times. In fact, the only times they get caught are when they’re in the street and not brazenly stealing from a vault. They make a sexy Bonnie-and-Clyde-esque couple, but there’s very little substance to their relationship, so it ends up being cringe-inducing. [I wanted to die during the strip poker scene.]

And who else expected “fighting” to mean “intense arm-wrestling”??

[END SPOILER]

Some brief character comments:

Justin Timberlake: Is he just a good citizen for the hell of it? Why does he feel obligated to rescue Henry Hamilton? Why don’t we get to learn more about his father? The character development is lacking.
Best quote: “No one should be immortal if even one person has to die.”

Watching. Waiting. Watching.

Amanda Seyfried:  She spends most of the movie in 5 inch heels, an impressive feat considering the sheer amount of sprinting she has to do. Kudos! Her character is introduced to us as a super creeper who just stares at Timberlake wordlessly from a distance for quite some time. It reminded me of Olivia Wilde‘s character from Tron. She’s reckless without much reason, and the way she falls for Timberlake after being held for ransom by him is nothing short of desperate.
Worst quote: “You talk like someone who comes from the ghetto. Sometimes I envy them.” Spoken like a truly out-of-touch 1%!

Cillian Murphy: His wardrobe, according to LC, comes straight out of The Matrix. I have to agree. I guess it’s always a challenge to dress these futuristic societies, eh? Somehow, I don’t expect knee-length leather jackets to come back in style at any point in the future, but I guess I could be wrong.

Vincent Kartheiser: As Amanda Seyfried’s father, he served his role as the insecure time tycoon very well. Maybe it’s because the villains get better material to work with, but his acting was the best, in my opinion.

Alex Pettyfer: I can’t believe he’s actually younger than me. Are minutemen like gangsters? Where do they get so much power? Do they work for the rich?

In the end, I’m glad that we don’t have to live like this — literally living day to day, with death looming as palpably as the green neon numbers on our arms. Writer/director Andrew Niccol is behind classics such as the Truman Show and Gattaca, but In Time isn’t his strongest work. He highlights a very real problem, but his solution is a bit too extreme and simplistic.

A Miyazaki-Ghibli Sampler

I’ve taken it upon myself to watch all of Hayao Miyazaki‘s feature films [and by extension, all Studio Ghibli films]. The first one I ever watched was Spirited Away (2001), in high school [or was it middle school], which introduced me to the magical world of Miyazaki’s animation. Some people began with My Neighbor Totoro, but I was a latecomer.

I had watched anime before, but it had never felt so…deep. [Arguably I had only watched questionable anime series that I don't even remember anymore.] Next was Princess Mononoke (1997), which I barely remember but for the wolf and the forest and the lake. Then, when Howl’s Moving Castle was released in 2004, I watched that one online too. Miyazaki didn’t create another feature film until I was in college, so in 2008, I was delighted to watch Ponyo. It didn’t seem as well-received among my friends, who deemed it weird and childish, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. After that, I waited until this summer to watch The Secret World of Arrietty (2010), which was beautiful to watch even though the storyline didn’t really go anywhere.

Now, I’m going through the archives, digging for films that were released before I was even born. I’m normally apathetic about watching old movies [there's barely enough time to watch all the new ones!], but I love animated films, and these are undoubtedly some of the world’s best. Besides, all the movies currently in theaters are mind-numbingly unappealing, so the choice was pretty easy. It doesn’t hurt that Miyazaki’s bio mentions a few times that he explores feminist themes by casting female characters as leads in his films. Could he be any more perfect and wonderful? Apart from that, some of Miyazaki’s expressed viewpoints remind me of Shel Silverstein, who also produced pieces for children in a deliberately non-condescending and non-patronizing way.

First on my list was Laputa: Castle In The Sky (1986). It came up in a Gchat conversation with VY, and I was all “what is this laputa, sounds like a spanish curse word” [those were my exact words], so I looked it up and decided to watch it. It’s weird to watch old-school animation that isn’t all slick like modern anime, but the hand-drawn style is one of Miyazaki’s many distinct charms, from the way food looks so freaking plump and delicious to the way a character’s facial expression and hair rises when he or she is alarmed.

FEED ME!!!!!!!

If people really looked like this…

Unfortunately, I had to watch Castle In The Sky dubbed in English instead of subbed because it’s just easier to find good downloads of the former. One of the joys of watching a Japanese movie is to hear an hour and a half of Japanese, which I consider to be a beautiful language. On the other hand, not having to read subtitles means getting to focus more on the visuals. I suppose for the full experience, I should watch both versions of the movie or simply learn Japanese.

Pikachu in the sky? (Not from the actual movie.)

Best character in the movie IMO

As an ardent cloud enthusiast, I fully appreciate Miyazaki’s preoccupation with flight and the sky. I’ve always wanted to learn how to paint so that I could paint clouds…maybe my artist boyfriend will do it for me hehehe ahem anyway. It’s interesting to see a world where people live rather primitively, yet they have airships and floating islands and sentient robots.

This scenario also appeared in the next film I watched, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984). Kingdoms do battle with tanks and suppress peasants while princesses ride mysteriously-powered gliders to fend against huge armored insects. It’s a mish-mash of history and science fiction that becomes an authentic world for just a little while. I also had to watch the English dubbed version of this, and because I saw Shia LaBeouf’s name in the opening credits, I just couldn’t take any of his lines seriously.

More hair-raising hijinks.

Armor & guns what what? (Voiced by Uma Thurman)

After that, I proceeded to watch My Neighbor Totoro (1988). I had high expectations for this one because there’s quite a bit of hype with the Totoro-loving culture and whatnot. I found it to be incredibly cute thought rather simplistic. It didn’t explore any grandiose nature or war themes, so I guess it’d be a better film for children than adults. I do love the family in the movie; each of them were perfectly nurturing and helpful. I think I’d like to encourage my future children to believe in fantastical things, though there’s always a debate these days over any aspect of raising your children…

The clouds! The clouds!

Perfectly capturing a child’s petulant pout.

I suppose the Pokémon/Ghibli mash-ups are inevitable.

I watched Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) on a night when I was in a bad mood, and it cheered me up significantly. I had no idea what it was going to be about and imagined a girl riding her bicycle around town, so the whole witch thing was a neat surprise. After all the drama in the Harry Potter series, it’s nice to see witches and humans getting along so well.

I loved everything about the movie. The flying, the cat, the beautiful German(?) town, the story of a 13-year-old girl bravely setting off to find her place in the world and do something useful. Most importantly, I think Miyazaki perfectly captured the internal struggles of an adolescent girl — one minute she’s laughing, the next minute she can’t find words to express her angst, she jokes about pancakes making her fat, and she worries about her appearance. These flaws make an otherwise faultless character relatable and endearing.

Adorable kitty ><

Awwww…perfect words from a perfect mother.

What, you didn’t see this part of the movie?

Unfortunately, the copy I downloaded had part of the end cut off, so perhaps I’ll never know whether Kiki and Jiji were able to communicate ever again…

After a long day, I wanted to watch something that wouldn’t require too much brainpower, so I chose Pom Poko (1994). I had read about it before on Cracked— yes, it’s the movie with raccoon testicles. I’ve seen a lot of weird cartoons, but this one probably tops them all for having such ridiculous characters yet harping on a “save the environment” motif. It’s been the only film so far during which I paused to note its weirdness instead of sitting through the entire thing. Of course, such weirdness lends itself well to humor, and this movie was hilarious. I was tempted to screencap all of the jokes but obviously that would ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. Pom Poko’s straightforward style makes it almost seem like a parody of Japanese folklore and modern society. In fact, by the end, it pretty much becomes blatant social commentary.

I believe that is Buddha watching his monks develop the land.

No comment.

Just two ladybugs….Must be springtime!

I watched Whisper of the Heart (1995) on a relaxing Sunday afternoon. The song “Country Roads” played during the opening credits, and I texted B to tell him that I was watching a movie that featured that song in the beginning. [We have a random and brief history with that song.] He immediately guessed “anime?” which surprised me because Country Roads is not a typical anime song whatsoever. I told him the name of the movie and he said he had seen it before. I was amazed that he could recall the film from just the opening song, though later I realized  that the song shows up a few times throughout the story. Of the movie, B remembered that it was “very calm.”

Indeed: the story starts during a middle school girl’s summer break. Sure, there are high school entrance exams to worry about, but Shizuku spends most of her time reading library books, avoiding chores and chasing stray cats. Sounds like my kind of summer! She even writes song parodies! Obviously this girl and I need to be friends. Or are the same person.

Anyhow, “calm” can be another way of saying “dull” because unlike the charming, magical world of Kiki’s Delivery Service, Whisper of the Heart features Japanese adolescents in a typical Japanese town living out unremarkable lives and reacting to trivial matters such as love triangles [or pentagons]. Their cheeks turn pink when such matters arise, which is adorable. There are some genuinely hilarious parts in the movie, and I suppose that even the tedious parts reveal life-shaping experiences. The film reminded me of the first guy I “dated.” We were both 13. His family had to move to California, and I struggled with the unfairness of it all — two people who are finally together, then torn apart! — but eventually got over it.

Just look at those cheeks. D’awwwwww.

A subtle reference to Miyazaki’s previous film (Porco Rosso). Smooth.

Something about the art style of the film threw me off. Miyazaki characters tend to look pretty similar, but the ones in this movie were slightly different — bigger eyes and none of the dramatic hair-raising. Also, and I don’t know if it’s simply because none of the other characters I’ve seen have worn modern schoolgirl uniforms, but Shizuku’s legs looked severely awkward and disproportionate, which was rare for Miyazaki, who is usually quite precise in his portrayal of the human body and its movements. [I have a thing for legs.]

It looks weird y/y?

Amen, girl. Get it.

After seeing it alluded to in Whisper of the Heart, I naturally wanted to watch Porco Rosso (1992) next. It was the dubbed version, and at first I thought the main character sounded like George Clooney, but turns out it was Michael Keaton. He has a nice voice. I thought the dubs were going quite well until I realized that the setting was in the Adriatic Sea. Most of the characters speak with typical American accents, while the one prominently American character speaks with a severe southern drawl. On one hand, it’s annoying when movies get non-American accents wrong, but it’s also exasperating when they don’t even try. Oh Disney…

I love the way they drew Gina. So gorgeous.

Once again, the clouds!

By now, it comes as no surprise that this movie is about flying. Unlike other Miyazaki films, this one has a substantial amount of adult-oriented content. There’s the serious tone of a very real war, obviously, plus the protagonist’s rather realistic sexist attitude and philandering habits [he actually refers to himself as a "womanizer"]. Despite the ending, Porco Rosso is one of my favorite movies of the Ghibli ones I’ve seen so far.

Flamboyant pirate planes lol

Studio Ghibli name-checks itself if you look closely.

When a sunrise looks just like a painting, it looks just like this.

On a day when my Internet connection was refusing to work properly, I settled down to watch The Cat Returns (2002). Though produced by Studio Ghibli, it wasn’t a Miyazaki creation. The difference is almost immediately apparent: Though the artistic style is similar, the characters are drawn to more conventional anime proportions, with impossibly lanky legs and large pupils. The action also unfolds rapidly, whereas Miyazaki tends to take his time in setting up expository elements.

Cats are my favorite animal, so I’m pretty picky about the way they’re drawn and represented. Many animations fail to capture the infinite cuteness of cats, from the nuances of their movements to the sounds that they make. A movie about cats, however, is obligated to get it right, and The Cat Returns does cats justice. Interestingly, the Baron figurine from Whisper of the Heart makes a reappearance in this film.

The parts that take place in the Cat Kingdom are quite surreal and remind me of one of my favorite movies, The Fall. This movie is really short — only a little longer than an hour. If you read the history of the film, everything makes sense: the title, the familiar characters, the length of the film. The story is simple, but the message is strong for those who need to hear it: Believe in who you are. Sounds trite, but it’s exactly what I needed to hear at that moment. Amazing.

KITTY!!!!11!!1!

Cats like to play golf, didn’t you know?

The best friend looks like a doll — so cute!

I started Tales From Earthsea (2006) one night when I was in need of something comforting to help me sleep. Unlike the majority of Studio Ghibli’s films, this one is about a boy. Although Miyazaki wanted to make Tales From Earthsea and even obtained hard-earned approval from the author of the book series to make the film, he was busy directing Howl’s Moving Castle and so passed it off to his son.

The sky is just as beautiful in Goyo Miyazaki’s world.

The plot of this one starts off somewhat convoluted, like something you’d expect from a typical life-action historical-fantasy film in the vein of Prince of Persia or Scorpion King. Or maybe I was just being extra critical due to my bad mood. Or maybe it’s because one of the main characters is named Sparrowhawk [I was watching the dubbed version]. You just can’t take a man named Sparrowhawk seriously. There’s also a girl in the movie, Theru. The voice acting for her character was so bad that I couldn’t even bring myself to like her — she doesn’t have many lines in the first half of the film, but the ones she has are uttered in Christian Bale’s Batman voice.

Also, she might be related to Prince Zuko.

Actually, though, it’s probably because the story was adapted from a novel and wasn’t an original screenplay. Still, book-based movies still need to be able to stand alone as creative works. I’m not convinced that Tales From Earthsea does this successfully. The visuals were quite beautiful [sunsets galore!], but there were plot holes and inexplicable character behavior and important-seeming characters that are introduced and then cast aside. The ending isn’t very satisfying either. If this were a live-action film, it would probably be like Eragon, which I haven’t seen and wouldn’t want to.

The boy is handsome!

The villian is pretty much the pretty-boy version of Lord Voldemort.

It looks just like a photograph…so beautiful.

Next, I tackled Only Yesterday (1991), which was neither directed nor written by Miyazaki. I found it to be rather dull, and it didn’t help that at first, I was confused by the time jumps. I was surprised to learn that this movie was quite successful in Japan, though it was no surprise that Only Yesterday “remains the only theatrical Studio Ghibli feature not yet released on home video in the United States.” I can’t imagine Americans being very entertained by the minutiae of an old-school Japanese childhood or a trip to the Japanese countryside that gives rise to reminiscing on those minutiae.

Just look at the way the watercolors fade — the subtle beauty is remarkable..

This is how I look every time someone offers to buy me ice cream.

I suppose that the point of a banal movie is to say something about quotidian life. The flashbacks to Taeko’s childhood often realistically portray the dynamics of a [1960s] family, from the bickering among sisters to the father’s cold and impenetrable attitude.

Apparently, both the genre ["progressive realistic drama written for adults"] and the art style ["realistic facial muscles and expressions"] made Only Yesterday an atypical anime film. Unfortunately, neither of these really worked for me. Young Taeko is extremely cute [and weird], but grown-up Taeko is just…boring. I suppose the art style has its subtle charms [ie. their shapely noses, jawlines and eyebrows] after watching for a while, but my first impression wasn’t positive.

Some facial expressions were downright hilarious.

Also hilarious, but is it “realistic”?

Adult Taeko was just…not attractive or appealing to me :(

The final film I watched was Grave of the Fireflies (1988); it was produced by Studio Ghibli without any [credited] input from Miyazaki. I think I saved this one for last because I expected it to be depressing, and I watch movies to be inspired or entertained, not saddened.

The beginning of this movie doesn’t give much context — a homeless boy is resurrected by a tin of candy, and then we get an apparent flashback to some WWII air raid, during which the mother leaves her teenage son and toddler daughter to fend for themselves at home while she flees to a shelter. Okay…maybe I have to be a Japanese person to truly appreciate this.

There are some relatively gruesome scenes of charred and wounded bodies; the movie is unrated and it’s definitely not kid-oriented. A story like this puts into perspective that no matter how impatient I am with my current situation, it could always be worse. The deceased mother and absent father motif is rather Disney-esque, though this film is much more poignant than that, with a realism that is almost excruciating.

Mom…is that you? ;_;

Grave of the Fireflies is heartbreaking. It’s not easy to watch in any capacity. While watching it, I just wanted to stop. When it ended, I didn’t want it to end — it couldn’t end like this; it was too tragic, too hopeless. It’s not the kind of ending somebody raised on the Hollywood happily-ever-after can easily accept. Also, I binged on rice the next day because rice has never looked as preciously delicious as in this movie.

Zing. Ouch.

I plan to watch From Up On Poppy Hill next, as soon as I can find it.

Now, after watching all these films, I can more fully appreciate the work that Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli create. These stories and animations were uniquely beautiful and inspiring, and not one of them would be considered a waste of time.