KIZUMONOGATARI -KOYOMI VAMP-(2024) Fantasia 2024

KIZUMONOGATARI -KOYOMI VAMP is a prequel to the series MONOGATARI containing three early stories for the characters that were cut together from three unavailable in North America feature films.

This is more a pointer than a review. The problem is that while very often prequel stories are good starting places for a film or series, this one doesn’t function all that well. There is an assumption that you know the characters and their world and if you don’t you are going to feel lost. I did.

While I liked the visuals, not connecting to the characters and the world made this a very long two and half hours.

Recommended for fans only.

Look Back (2024) Japan Cuts

Two young women meet in school and bond over a love of drawing comics. Over the course of the film we watch as the pair are shaped by their relationship and their art.

Tatsuki Fujimoto, creator Chainsaw Man goes in another direction in a story about friendship, creation, finding someone who shares your passion, and how our lives go in unexpected ways. It is also a wicked exploration of what if we don't do what we love.

In one way or another this is my life. I lived almost every god damned moment of this film. From being king, to finding out you may not be, to giving up what you love, to returning to it, to finding people you can create with and then having life intervene. I lived some form of this, and I sobbed ugly repeatedly a I connected to the tale of the need to create at all costs played out. For  me this wasn't a drama but a waking memory

This is the cinematic version of the the song from A Chorus Line, What I Did For Love. The song is not about romance with another person, but the love of the things we do, and what happens when we can't do it any more. (It's sung after an injury has a dancer leave after a probable career ending injury occurs). This film is a look at what we all do so we can do the thing we love.

I have no words. I suspect that if you create, especially if you do it with friends you too will have no words - other than to express how the film will make you feel seen. 

As a straight forward film it's a very good film. Yes, the narrative is bumpy with some links missing, but at the same time, it's not the literal narrative that's important. It's the emotional journey. Its that journey that will kick your ass to the curb.

This was an unexpected treasure. It is a film I will forever hold tightly to and press closely to my heart.

LOOK BACK is currently sold out at Japan Cuts. Keep checking the website to see if they release more tickets because you need to see this.

Magic Candies/ Klutzy Witch Double Feature at NYICFF 2024

MAGIC CANDIES
World premiering at NYICFF this short film from TOEI Animation is based up upon Heena Baek‘s picture book, The film tells the story of a young lonely boy who loves marbles. Buying a cool bag of them he finds they are actually candy, magic candy. Each candy will give him the ability to speak to or hear something hidden. First his couch talks to him, then his dog… and then… well that would be telling.

Photo realistic backgrounds are mixed with a stylized animation in a little film that may have you tearing up. This is a lovely tale that reals the connections we have to each other, even if they aren’t readily apparent.  I smiled and laughed… and teared up.

The screening was attended by a lot of people connected to the film including director Daisuke Nishio and author Heena Baek who wrote the book.  The Q&A was a joyous event and the kids asked some good questions (see it here - though I bounced my camera, again, so it's better as radio).

They also brought along a lot of goodies, bags, paper hats and other things for the kids. They even had  cut outs that the kids could use to enhance photos of themselves on the red carpet.

It was, as most NYICFF special events are, truly special

KLUTZY WITCH
Hour long tale of the daughter of a white witch who is a bit of a klutz. She ends up a pawn in the plans of a banished dark witch who wants to escape her imprisonment and get revenge on those who locked her away.

This is an hour long short feature should have been turned into a series. While the film covers a lot of familiar territory (no doubt the result of it’s short length) there is enough here that it’s clear this could have been expanded. While what here is really good, I would have loved to see more with all of the characters. Back stories are hinted at that would make for fantastic little films/episodes.  That is not a knock at the film, rather an explanation that this film is so rich material you’ll want to revisit.

If there is any real flaw it’s that the short run time causes a bit of friction in the telling between the klutziness of the early part of our heroines tale and the serious of the second.  Things don’t blend as well as they would have in a longer telling.

Regardless this was a delight and I would happily line up for a sequel.

The Concierge (2023) (aka The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store ) NYICFF 2024

 

A young woman takes a job working as a concierge at department store that serves animals. 

Episodic tale feels more like the manga that it  is sourced from. It feels like three episodes of a TV show more than a feature film. The first is her first day of work, the second is her involvement in several stories of romance and the final is a number of Christmas stories.

This is a wildly uneven and very messy film that wanders all over the place. At  times it feels like it is juggling way to much. There are so many idea in this film, from the basic tale of finding your place in the world to serious pondering of how humanity is destroying environment and killing off species.  It was such a mess that I thought I was going to write a review trashing the film. However by the time the film ended the film had pulled it all together and I was getting misty. 

What a joy. Sure it's messy, but it's a joy.

Recommended

Suzume (2023)

SUZUME tells the story of a 17 year old girl who ends up on a quest to lock the doors between dimensions so that a giant worm can’t escape and destroy the world.

SUZUME is a very good film. It’s a grand romantic adventure that pulls us in and drags us along. It has arresting visuals, magnificent set pieces and a score I need to run down and add to my collection. It’s a film that looks spectacular especially on a big screen where the sound and image will make you audibly gasp.

And as good as the film is, it’s kind of disappointing. I say this as an earlier adopter of director Makoto Shinkai, whose films VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR and 5 CENTMETERS PERS SECOND are among the greatest films ever made. (They are and this is absolutely not open for discussion), The problem is that Shinkai’s films have gone from glorious masterpieces  to variations on a theme, namely a young girl at the center of some mystical experience that puts her in contact with a cute guy. His last three films, SUZUME, WEATHERING WITH YOU and YOUR NAME kind of the same story with different details. Even his GARDEN OF WORDS is related. His story telling has become derivative with Shinkai lifting bits from other films, which is odd because his first few films were nothing if not brilliant original.  As much as I enjoy Shinkai’s films, and I do, I just wish he would get back to making a film where I haven’t felt I’ve seen the tale before. Basically I want a story as magical as the visually we get every time out of the box.

Does the repetition mean that SUZUME is bad? No, it’s not. It just means that when you see it it may seem familiar, though you may not care. The fact it is one of the highest grossing animated films of all time suggests that other people don’t care either. It’s good enough that the film is in some talk for an Oscar nomination this year (Shinkai’s films are always in the Oscar talk)

SUZUNE is a good fantastical romance that’s worth a look.

Take 2: The Boy And The Heron (2023) NYFF 2023

I  have seen THE BOY AND THE HERON a second time. I went to the first public screening. 

Actually I took my niece to the film. It was her first film festival screening and her first Ghibli film on the big screen.

For me the film the second time the film was much deeper. It plays very much like a novel. There is a complexity there that you only realize on a repeated viewing. Yes I know in my original review that it was dense, but there is even more there than I thought.

What amazed me was that on this second time through how much the film was now part of my DNA. I watched it the way I watch films I've seen dozens of times.

May god is it good.

But what I think doesn't matter. The real question is what did my 13 year old niece think?

Her one word review " AWESOME"

She would gladly go back if I could score tickets(assuming the Parakeets don't stop me.)

My brother said that she was leaning forward, eyes wide and staring. 

You all need to see this.

Thoughts on THE BOY AND THE HERON (2023) NYFF 2023

When THE BOY AND THE HERON was opening in Japan no images other than a single one of the heron was release and there was no effort to explain the plot. Everyone thought it was a brilliant marketing move, but having seen the film I completely understand why it was done- the plot is ever changing and the fantastical images from the second half  are misleading as to what the film is. Ultimately you have to just see the film to really know what the film is.

That is not hyperbole, that is the truth. Nothing I can tell you is going to prepare you for what you see and until you see it it’s kind of pointless to discuss the plot.

If you what to know what the film is, it’s the story of a young boy, who moves with his father to the country after his mother is killed when the hospital she is in is bombed. However the film is so much more than that.

It is not hyperbole to say this is the greatest film that Hayao Miyazaki has ever made. It is the work of a master animator operating at the highest level, making a film about life and death and kicking the ass of the audience.

And when I say the film will kick your ass I wasn’t kidding. It’s a heady and emotional roller-coaster that starts in one place and ends somewhere else. It’s a film that is full of wonder that over whelms you with ideas and images that leave you emotional moved at the end. Indeed, about a minute into the end credits I suddenly began to sob uncontrollably. I can not tell you what did it or why, I just know that I suddenly needed a box of tissues I did not have with me.

When you see the film you have to go with it. The construction is something special. It begins as a conventional narrative, slips into dream logic, then abandons that for pure emotional ramblings. I can’t discuss what happens because until you pass through it you won’t understand it.

Visually it is largely unlike anything Miyazaki has done. Yes, we have his images, but he goes outside of that into the realm of the surreal. He is operating in the realm of his friend and partner Isao Takahata who created images to match his story, hence POM POKO  doesn’t look like GRAVE OF FIREFLIES nor like the TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA. Indeed this film seems to be the next film Takahata would have made if he were alive. It is in a way it’s a huge tribute to the late master.

I really need to see this film again to truly discuss it. I knew that twenty minutes in. There is so much to contemplate from the place herons hold in Japanese culture, to seeming riffs on things like the work of Kenji Miyazawa and NIGHT ON THE GALACTIC RAILWAY, Michael Moorcock's Eternal Hero, to the films notions of life and life after death, of what makes a family and several dozen other things. I need to see the film again because the denseness of the narrative has me certain things that I missed things. What I mean by this is that events early in the film that you would think should lead to something, don’t seem to for a good while, until an hour or more of screen time passes and a line or an action that we thought was a lost thread back snaps into sharp context., 

Yes, I’m being vague- but I have to because for any points I want to make require a context you can only get from seeing the film so I need to wait until everyone sees the film when it releases to fully discuss my thoughts. I will be writing more after by second pass through, but for now this should get you going. Until then know that this is one of the best and most thought provoking films of the year and quite possibly the best film that Studio Ghibli has ever made.

This film will rock your world.

And try to see it knowing as little as possible.

The First Slam Dunk (2022) Fantasia 2023 Japan Cuts 2023

With THE FIRST SLAM DUNK Takehiko Inoue has turned his legendary manga into one of the biggest films in Japanese history. Its the story of a high school basketball team battling their way into the the big game. They are led by Ryota, a point guard who learned to love the game from his older brother. Beginning in the big game, the film then flashes back to show us the guys and how they came together.

On the face of it the film shouldn't be as moving as it is. Its a mix of well worn cliches mixed with driving score and gorgeous animation, and normally that would be a sure sign that the film was trying to distract us from any flaws. But the truth is Inoue isn't interested in the flash, but the human. He's crafted a very real and very moving group of guys who we pull for. While the film is mostly focused on Ryota, the truth is everyone is beautifully drawn. We get a sense of them beyond the screen. This is clearly the result of the film coming from a 31 volume manga series, an earlier TV adaption, and several earlier films. The result is a film that moves us and makes us feel well earned emotion.

The animation is impressive. Using a variety of subtle palettes for the different part of the film, the animation adds to the story telling in ways we could never have gotten if this were live action.  For example look at the rich details in the flash back sequences and contrast it with the hard edged game sequences, Yes it all looks essentially the same, but at the same time the differing pen and brush strokes entirely alter our feeling. You can't get that level of image change in anything live action. This is why some films need to be animated.

This film is awesome.  It's a wonderful human tale you need to see on a big screen at Fantasia or Japan Cuts or where ever you can.

Recommended.

Knights of the Zodiac (aka Saint Seiya: The Beginning) (2023)

I need to say right at the top that I enjoyed the hell out of KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC, but at the same time it proves a maxim  that is almost always true, which is that the vast majority of manga and anime probably should not be turned into a live action film. It's not that the stories are bad, more that what we accept animated or in a few pen and ink lines really pushes the boundaries of what we are willing to believe in a real world setting.

The film is loosely based on the classic manga Saint Seiya by Masami Kurumada. It ran for 28 manga volumes and 114 TV episodes. It follows Seiya, a young man who is tapped to become a knight to help protect a reincarnated goddess Athena who is going to wage a war against the other gods who want to take over earth. I read some of the early chapters back in my mad manga/anime days but it never clicked with me enough to stick. On the other hand it is considered of of the most successful manga/anime stories there is.

The current feature simplifies things down a great deal. Focusing just on Seiya who is  surprisingly good fighter, who is unaware of his supernatural abilities. When he  kicks the ass of a cage fighter he is put on the radar of a named Guraad (Framke Jensen) who wants his abilities for her own. Seiya is rescued by Alman (Sean Bean) and his right hand man, Mylock (Mark Dacascos) and brought to his secret mansion where his adopted daughter, and reincarnated Athena is kept safe. Guraad and Alman were once married but an accident involving the infant goddess' powers left her convinced that she must die. Some good set action set pieces happen in what is clearly intended to be the first of (now never happening) series.

Once I realized that this was going to be a simplified manga adaption I was pretty much fine with the film. I realized this was going to be an arc or two of the story, and I realized there was going to be a lot of mumbo jumbo that would only make sense if I was fluent in the source or if we had more films to lay more ground work. The action sequences were pretty good. The character arcs were fine, with a wonderful dark gray to both Bean and Jensen's characters (I mean they were married and they did do a lot of bad things as well as good things). Every one sells their role, and it was a joy to see Mark Dacascos being a cool bad ass good guy. On its own terms it's a lot of fun.

Okay yes the condensing of the plot can be wonky, the visual effects are sometimes uneven and it has a really bad training sequence that should have been rewritten or done away with, but if you want a popcorn film to pass the time there are a lot worse than this.

Honestly I expect this film to get a fan following once it hits streaming/cable and people can just pop in and see it.

The real question that I have concerning the film is how did it get made and who thought they had a shot at a series? Leaving changes to the source alone, the real problem is that a large number of fantastical manga live action films don't work. It's not that the films are bad as such, but more that seeing characters as living breathing characters in the real world doesn't usually work. If you need proof look at the design of the Knights' battle armor, it looks silly. Guraad's storm-troopers look better, but even some of their abilities look laughable. As for the image of the reincarnated Athena floating with her staff, it looks less real and more like really good cosplay. In context it's fine, but at the same time we never buy it to consider it real. 

Additionally the plots of so many manga/anime are so complicated that there is no real way to get them into a two hour movie. It always just the plot, but the world creation. All comics and animated series and films work because they are inherently of another world. We are open to whatever we are told about this new world because we have not been there before. With anything real world there is the basic problem of it looks real so we have to apply what we know of this world to that. Going into a live action world created from a piece of art we are less open. In someways watching animated feature film based on anime or manga, or comic property is easier because we are willing to give that film a slight pass. For example  m brother has loved several features based on material my niece loved because he just went with it. He never tried to make sense simply because he knew it was another world.

I never bought much of this as real, even if I enjoyed the ride.

But getting back to  the question of who did Sony decide this was a good idea? I don't know. Did they think the source fans would turn out? If so I'm even more confused since there is zero attempt to connect it to the manga/anime while outside of the US the film is branded as SAINT SEIYA: THE BEGINNING. I had no idea what the film was until I looked it up on-line.

Frankly Sony and their PR people set this up for failure in the US- and that's a huge sin, because frankly, this is better than a lot of the big studio releases. 

If you can go with it and if you can just let the film be what it is, with no expectations, I think you will be entertained. (Not sure I can say so for 20 bucks a seat but for the 12 I paid I had a good time).

Metropolis (2001) plays the Japan Society December 16

With METROPOLIS playing the Japan Society on Friday here is a post from 2012 that  is based upon a journal entry I made after seeing Metropolis for the first time in 2001. If you've never seen this on a big screen you MUST go see it.

I saw the animated Metropolis which is based on Osamu Tezuka's comic inspired by the Fritz Lang film.

Visually its one of those ground breaking animated films that the Disney Studio thinks they've been doing for years, but haven't been.

Visually its a masterpiece, on odd mix of cell and computer animation. It's incredible.....

Storywise...its good. not great. I wanted to jump ship after twenty minutes of visuals overwhelming the story,but I'm glad I didn't, suddenly it kicks in and well its not perfect but it has neat little things in it. Its like the characters and the city-the plot gets lost in this vast maze. I honestly don't know what to say, about it beyond that...

The use of music is beyond masterful, so much so that at one moment toward the end (Ray Charles) I suddenly found myself siting up and going, "holy shit, there's a hell of alot more going on here then I thought" I wasn't certain what it was but it was going on....

Yes, its a masterpiece, yes it takes things to the next step...I'm not certain what to make of it wholly, its better than Akira for certain...

Watching this in the theater for the first time I keep asking when, if ever will American films be as daring and as technically brillant as what the Japanese were doing. I know that part of my uncertainty was the result of simply knowing what I was going to see in advance...of course it was the next step in animation, I saw that in the trailer...

The things that are being done in Japan are light years ahead of whats being done here....

This, along with Escaflowne (which was playing down the hall when I saw Metropolis) are pushing the visual medium farther than ever before....these are films which could never be done live action, who's stories need the medium of animation to be told visually....

The movie started and my first emotion was Disney is f***d. I know I harp on Disney but they have not done anything ground breaking in years-their idea of pushing the envelope is to release a feature in Imax 3D. Atlantis was a half an attempt. Its bold daring story was hampered by the Disney need to be family friendly. Family friendly is good for the pocket book but stagnates the medium, and will kill them in the end. Why are Pixar and Dreamwork films big hits? Because they aren't Disney.

The last daring thing that Disney did was Nightmare before Christmas, but they at first distanced themselves from, lest it blow up in their faces.

As uneven as Metropolis is , its still more daring in what it does than anything Disney has done... Which is why Columbia Tristar has released it.

Kudos to them for letting us see, on a big screen a landmark in the history of animation.

Out on DVD

Tekkonkinkreet plays Friday at the Japan Society

This is a repost of the review that I ran a couple of years ago on the truly mind blowing Tekkonkinkreet. This is one of the touchstone films i my love of animation because there is nothing like it which is why you should see it.

Tekkonkinkreet is the story of two kids named Black and White. They are known as the Cats and are considered by some to be the protectors of a part of the city known as Treasure Town. As a year goes by a yakuza captain returns to the city and a man named Snake appears with his eye on turning that part of the city into an amusement park.

I'm explaining it badly, forgive me, since this is a film thats better to experience than to hear about. Using a mix of 2D and 3D CGI this is a film that is vibrantly alive. There is a real sense of place that is missing from many animated films. The world bleeds off the screen. The film rarely sits still its constantly in motion as characters go from place to place or engage in battles for life and death. Its an amazing thing to watch.

The characters are very real. The voices of the kids were kids and seemed to perfectly match their personalities. The same goes for the other characters as well. What I liked was that the kids were kids. They seemed to be real kids behaving in the situations presented. Granted the film is wildly fantastical but the personalities and behaviors outside of the running and jumping and beating people up was real.

A word of warning, this is a dark film at times. There is a great deal of violence, which despite being animated is very nasty and bloody. The film also has some dark undertones as some of the characters slip into the darkness of their souls. Its disturbing enough to get an R rating.

On the down side the film takes a while to get going. I was about a third of the way in before it started to click with me. No doubt it was due in part to the very large cast of characters. (I'm certain this is going to play better on a second viewing). My other problem with the film was a shift towards the end which makes me think I may have missed something along the way. I feel as though I missed the climax of somethings. (Again this will probably be better on the next viewing)

Over all worth a shot. definitely see this in widescreen since the compositions are geared to that.

Inu-oh (2022) Fantasia 2022

 Masaaki Yuasa (MIND GAME) returns with a film that completely blew me away. A film of great beauty and complexity Inu-oh rocked my world.

Structured as a musical story performance the film tells the story of a musician who was blinded years when he and his father had attempted to retrieve a legendary sword from the bottom of the sea. While they found the sword, unsheathing it killed the boys father and left him blind. He then set off on a quest to find a hidden city and the stories that lie there. Along the way he takes up music and makes friends with a deformed young man who wears a mask made from a gourd. All around them is magic and spirits.

I am in total awe of this film. From the beauty of the art, to the amazing choices of the animation and the complexity of the story telling this is as good as filmmaking, of any sort gets.

Yuasa’s animation is perfect. The images are truly beautiful and they made me tear up. However they don’t exist to just be beautiful but to drive the story forward. Everything is done for maximum effect. Styles change with in a scene because the shot has to be a certain way to say something about what we are seeing. The images are not just telling the story, but the styles and inclusions and deletions add coloring to everything we are seeing. They are so vital to the success of the film that I don’t think the story would have worked if it was told in any other way.

The story construction is spot on. Nothing is extraneous. Every word we hear, every note that is played and every shot we see moves things forward. Everything that happens builds toward the next turn. I love how little throw away notations  echo later on in the film. Best of all the construction feels completely natural, with the result being that we care about the characters and are moved when things happen to them.

I am in genuine awe of his film. In all of the hundreds of animated films I’ve seen over the year, nay, in all of the tens of thousands of motion pictures, and a similar number of works of art that I’ve seen over the years almost no film has left me this gob smacked tearing up staring in jaw hanging awe.  This not only a great cinematic achievement but also a true work of art.

Highly recommended.

Summer Ghost (2022) Fantasia 2022

Three friends try to make contact with The Summer Ghost who is supposed to appear on an old airport on a summer's evening. To call her they must use fireworks. Then they make contact....

Magnificent long short film, it runs 40 minutes,  is not a film I can easily discuss. The problem with talking about it is that where the film goes is the whole film.  I say that because the film turns several times that change everything you think you know. If I discuss the turns I ruin the magic. 

What I will say is that you really need to see this... with tissues.  Its a wonderful exploration of life and friendship.

Recommended.

Princess Mononoke (1997) Plays the Japan Society Friday

 

Hiyao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke is a masterpiece. It’s a glorious fantasy about the fight against a monster that is devouring the forest and the people who fight to protect it.

Yes I know this an over simplification on what the film is, but it’s enough to get you started.

This is the film that got me hooked on Studio Ghibli. Seeing the film in a wonderfully subtitled version I was in awe of the epic scope of the film and the depth of the emotion. It was a hell of an experience. If you can you need to see the film subtitled.

I say this because when the film played the New York Film Festival in a dubbed version “written by” Neil Gaiman, it was a version that no one was happy. Miramax who paid for the dub tinkered with a script that Gaiman wasn’t happy with since what was said in Japanese simply couldn’t be said simply in English. Yes the film has a great voice cast but the script is a pale reflection of the original. (Even the Ghibli dub, they always did their own English dubs never surfaced in the US)

As the final film in their summer Anime series the Japan Society is running MONOKE in the right subtitled version. If you’ve never seen the film  or you’ve only seen it dubbed (or in a subtitled version based on the Gaiman dub) you need to see this. It will move you. It's visually over powering  emotionally moving story that is considered to be one of the greatest films ever made (full stop).

Go see it.

THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE (2022) Fantasia 2022

 

THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE is one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen this year. I really hope to get a chance to see it on the big screen.

Set in an other time and place. The film concerns a young girl named Shiva who wakes up in a forest. It is outside a village which fears outsiders who maybe cursed. If you touch them you will become cursed yourself.  This involves becoming some sort of monster.

One of the cursed finds Shiva and takes her to a house where they begin to spend time together. She takes to calling him teacher and becomes a father figure to her.

This is a gloriously lyric film. Its quiet and gentle and probably not what anyone looking for ray guns and car crashes will like. On the other hands those who want a beautiful tale of characters and emotions are going to be moved. All I wanted to do was tell all of my friends that they had to see this glorious gem of a film.

No it doesn’t rattle the pillars of heaven, however it rattles the pillars of our hearts which is something so much more special.

This is true cinematic.

Highly recommended.

GOODBYE DON GLEES:(2022) Fantasia 2022

 

The official  synopsis of the film says its about three friends who go into the woods in order to find a drone that will clear them of setting a fire. The reality is that the film is a complex look at friendship and our place in the world and each other's lives

This is a lovely memory tale. Its a tale that gets all of the little bits of being a geeky teen friend right. There was so much I could relate to from when I was geeky teen.

If you ever want to know what animation can do to enhance a story consider that this is pretty much a straight forward drama  However the created images and color palette, things not possible in the real world with out looking wrong, here add emotional depth. The hand drawn world trumps the real and instantly puts us in a head space from frame one.

I was stunned.

As good as much of this film is I don't know if it all works. The structure of a memory play doesn't always hold together. The problem isn't the structure at self rather it's that early on director Atseuko Ishizuka can be felt manipulating things.  You feel her angling for the end game, and while it did make me misty, I kind of felt it wasn't wholly earned. I don't want to feel manipulated.

Still outside of that this is a really cool film and I for one can't wait until it's done with the festival run and I can see it in theater with my niece.

Recommended

FORTUNE FAVORS LADY NIKUKO (2022) starts Thursday

With GKids releasing FORTUNE FAVORS... this week here is a repost of my Fantasia review from last year

If you can see FORTUNE FAVORS LADY NIKUKO do so. This gentle loving slice of life is an absolutely beautiful film about life as it is lived. It is wise and warm…. Which makes it a film that most companies releasing animated films outside of Japan may not touch because they simply won’t know how to market it.

Told from the point of view of Kiku the daughter of the title character, the film tells the tale of the pair as they live their lives in a coastal town. Kiku goes to school while her mom works in a local café. Life is a struggle but Nikuko will never allow the world to get her down.

Not much happens, and yet everything does. We watch a woman struggle to find happiness and not let life get her down. We also watch a well read preteen try and navigate being a kid, sorting out  what it means to be a friend, boys and the first throws of puberty.  There are no super battles or wickedly cool spectacular sequences of aliens, just the beauty of real life. And if there is a late in the game bump I didn't mind.

I was moved.

Full confession- one of the things that moved me about the film was the character of Nikuko. She reminded me of my mom in the best sort of way. Despite having lost her some 15 years ago watching the film I found that I was watching her running around trying to turn a bittersweet life into something happier and at the same time bring joy to her kid. Watching Nikuko I was watching my mom when she was reconnecting with her inner kid and being alive and enjoying life. That may not mean anything to you, but if you were lucky enough to have ever met my mom you’d know I was right,

FORTUNE FAVORS LADY NIKUKO is a great film. It is a deeply moving slice of life. It’s a gem that will be treasured by those who realize that animation isn’t always for kids, rather it is a way of telling a story you couldn’t tell any other way.

Highly recommended

Pompo The CInephile (2021) NYICFF 2022

The great producer Pompo tasks he harried assistant with turning her deeply meaningful movie script into an award winning film.

While named for Pompo and while her presence hangs over the film, the reality is she is a secondary character to Gene, the assistant who is tasked with directing the film. This is Gene's story about getting to do the think you always wanting to do and following it to the end.

This is a really good film. For those that love the movies it is full of movie references from start to finish. Everything is seems to refer to some other film. I spent half of my time watching the film and half the time scanning for some film reference. For those who are less knowledgeable this film is still a blast, with the crazy happenings and compelling story line.

While I really liked the film a great deal I'm not going to pretend there aren't problems. The structure of the film feels odd at times as it throws down a lot of plot threads and seeming leaves them alone until picking them up at the end in order to get the perfect ending. On some level there is too much going on with the result that there are things that could have been cut out. Its not fatal it just makes the film feel less tight than it probably should.

This is a good film and definitely worth a look when it hits theaters in late April

LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE:The Age of Elohim (2021)

 

Long ago when Lord Elohim was on earth a dark force traveled across the universe to destroy him and the world.

This visually gorgeous film has stunning images and mind blowing sequences from start to finish. This is a film I would have loved to have seen on a big screen simply because it looks so good...

However the plot, the dialog and the songs are so gawd awful that this is easily one of the worst and silliest films of the year. I can't believe that adults made this thing.

The film is a weird riff on religion mashed with creatures from space. Names are all from the various religious texts, with a heavy reliance on Judeo-Christian myths and legends. Everything is declared as if it has some deep meaning. While the songs sound lovely the translations caused me to double over in pained laughter.

This is every bad anime cliché in one place.

Belle (2021) NYFF 2021

Mamoru Hosoda's BELLE is his messiest film narratively. There are really problems with how things play out. That said the film absolutely reduced me me to a sobbing mess at times. Intellectually I am not a fan, emotionally I want to disappear into it and never come back.

The plot involves a young girl named Suzu who signs up with an on-line world called "U". The program creates an avatar for you in the world. Hidden behind her avatar Belle, Suzu begins to sing, something she has not been able to do since her mother died. Becoming a superstar she is drama to a super fighter called Beast. As the film goes on Suzu has to navigate the real world and the on-line.

The look of the film is stunning. Its one of the few recent films I have seen that MUST be seen on a big screen. I say this because much of the on line  world is so jam packed with details you can only see it all on a big screen. Trust me seeing this really big will blow you mind.

The music, especially the songs, is Some of the best I've ever heard in a film. The music carries a great deal of weight and drive the emotion. The marriage of song and image crushed me to the point of tears. The best thing I can say is it is as good as anything that Yoko Kano has ever written.(Kano is the greatest writer of cinema songs in my book)

The problem with the film is that the narrative  is too complicated. There is way too much  going on and things are not always explained. Really for the first time in his career Hosoda is asking us to just go with him and not ask questions. But as magnificent as the film is when its firing, somethings can't be over looked, and questions remain.

It begins with the computer world "U". Its not really thought out. It just sort of is there. What is it exactly? We really don't know. We don't know the rules. There is talk of being able to make money fleetingly, but it never really comes into play. We don't know how it works since there are ear pod like things, but there is also the use of typical screens. There is talk of  people being able to do things, say fighting but there is no sense of what that is.

A number of plot threads are tangled. Within the whole Suzu real world story where so much is hinted at but not explained. We have the "U" plot line of Belle becoming a superstar suddenly its not really explained. The the Beauty and the Beast plot line isn't seamlessly integrated (despite bringing us to tears). Themes of loss, child abuse,  what its like to be a teen, friendship , families and a dozen other things are all there but dealt with in various degrees of success. 

Walking out of the NYFF screening I told Hubert Vigilla that as much as I love the film I can rip it apart because there are so many problems.

And despite the problems I loved this film. 

The film is beautiful beyond words.  There are moments that are truly wondrous. 

Sequences move you. The song sequences are pure emotion. Only an insane man would dare take on Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast, but some how Hosoda's take is even more glorious than the original. 

There are little bits of animated acting that are as good as real actors. Watch the facial expressions of Beast when he hugs Belle. at the end of the "dance". Another glorious piece in the train station confession scene. Yes its a bit goody but it is so on point you will want to scream "YES!" reaptedly

The film's portrait of love and longing is magnificent. We feel everyone's longing, Couple it with the songs and music and you have a deeply moving film... that is flipped becase you realize in the end this is not a love story but a quest for self and human connection.

On a technical level this is one of the most amazing animated films I've ever seen. Until you see this on a big screen and see the depth and detail of all the images in both the on line and real world you will not see a film that is one of the great films of the last few decades, if not ever.

I know the film is flawed but what worked distracted me and I ended up a big huge ball of mush. I cried multiple times because I could see what the film as going for and went with it, because the emotional truth the film was portraying was greater than any flaw.  

Frankly I don't care what this film does wrong when it makes me feel this good.

If you can accept this film for what it is, you will have a new favorite film that will make you feel glorious.

Highly recommended.