Ponyo

“Ponyo” is the latest film by animation genius Hayao Miyazaki. The same cat who brought us “Princess Mononoke” and “Spirited Away” has done a pretty cool movie about an adorable, magical goldfish who turns into a human girl.

Now, as a general rule, I’m not a fan of fantasy. Miyazaki, however, is a master of the genre and usually wins me over. I did enjoy “Ponyo”, but I don’t think it’s the masterpiece that most people are making it out to be. That said, I’m not sure if any of the Studio Ghibli films is better than the next, but personal preference winds up playing a big part in enjoyment of each film. I prefer the R-rated “Princess Mononoke” that contains violence and action and adults driving the plot over the G-rated “Ponyo” (the English version being about the love between the youngest Jonas brother and Hannah Montana’s sister).

I really enjoyed the action-y part in which Ponyo is running on the fish-waves (you’d have to see it to know what the hell I’m talking about). This part actually made me really want to see a Flash movie, and some of the underwater stuff made me want to see at least an animated Aquaman movie.

The other day in Japanese class, I overheard a girl talking about seeing the movie with a friend. Her friend was apparently like “This is dumb. I don’t get it. What the hell?!?” and she responded with “Just go with it. Let go of your expectations. You just have to sit back and watch.” I felt like this friend of my classmate had some fair criticism. There’s nothing wrong with you if you don’t like fantasy and want a movie to make sense.

Now, I was able to “let go” and just enjoy a kiddy fantasy movie, but it certainly wasn’t without its flaws. The number one rule for movies is that they shouldn’t break their own rules. A problem with this movie is that the rules aren’t very clearly established, so by the end I’m not entirely sure whether the rules are strictly followed or not. The end, unfortunately, is a bit anti-climactic.

The English voice cast is pretty good. I was originally a bit ticked that Disney went to such in-house pandering lengths as to cast Frankie Jonas (the little brother to the tween-oriented band the Jonas Brothers) and Noah Cyrus (the little sister of Miley Cyrus) in the lead roles. Surprisingly, the kids did well, though I think Disney should have gone with seasoned (adult) vets like Tress Macneille, Pamela Hayden, and Bumper Robinson (to name only a few). Tina Fey did alright. So did Betty White, Cloris Leachman, and Cate Blanchett. Liam Neeson was excellent as usual. Matt Damon was unnecessarily cast (his character had only a handful of lines! Why cast a big-name for that when you could get Billy West or someone like that for much cheaper?).
A problem was that the original dialogue doesn’t seem to translate well, so some of the actors are stifled by what seems to be bad writing.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get the DVD. We’ll see. “Spirited Away” had to grow on me over time.

Is anyone out there?

I know it's been a long time. This has been because of a mixture of laziness and lack of money (if I can't see movies or buy comics, what will I review or talk about?).

However, if I have just ONE reader, I will keep posting!

So, if you're a reader, please post a comment to let me know!!!!

"Futurama" renewal

Best news ever (even with a near-revolution occurring in Iran):

FUTURAMA IS RENEWED!!!

It's about goddamned time!

Finally, someone has had enough sense to bring back one of the funniest, smartest, best shows ever (sometimes I think it may even be better than "The Simpsons").

Check out the news at Entertainment Weekly:

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/06/its-official-futurama-returns.html

And check out the official site/forum of Billy West (today's Mel Blanc and more):

http://www.billywest.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4862&PN=1

This is truly a glorious day.

The State of Comics

I am afraid.
I am afraid of becoming one of those people who loved comic books for a time but eventually couldn’t take all of the changes and quit reading new stuff.

Every time there are major changes across the board in comic books, there are many people who quit reading, while new readers pick up the slack. There are people who decry the “grittiness” that came about in the 1980s. There are people who stopped reading in the 1990s because of the proliferation of X-titles and the superficial focus one the artists and splash-pages. A lot of people who had quit reading were brought back in with the Ultimate line.

Comics have now come to a point that I almost can’t stand reading most of them. Every year, there is at least one big event that’s supposed to rock the universe of each of the Big Two. One is the minimum. There are usually a few crises or wars that are supposed to change things forever. And it’s not artistic. It’s commercial. Purely commercial. And it ruins things for anyone who doesn’t want to buy 20 titles per company per month just to be able to keep up.

Aside from that, I think many comic writers have run out of good ideas. Or, at least, ideas I enjoy. A while back, I dropped “Ultimate X-Men” and “Ultimates” from my pull because of declining quality and terrible convolution. I’ve only kept “Ultimate Spider-Man” because Bendis has stayed on, though it has declined a bit. I stopped reading “Daredevil” shortly after Bendis stopped writing it. I may soon drop “Punisher” because it seems that no one can compare to Garth Ennis.
It was difficult enough to keep up with what was happening to Batman when I only bought “Batman” and none of the other Bat-titles or miniseries. Now, this whole “death” thing is just pissing me off. Morrison’s “R.I.P.” was terrible. I read some good things about Morrison and Quitely’s “Batman and Robin” over at http://buildingbatman.blogspot.com/ but I don’t really like the idea of anyone but Wayne behind the cowl.

Nothing that I read or hear about in comics really captures my interest anymore. Maybe I’m just being old-fashioned, like the people who miss the Silver Age. Maybe I can’t change with the times. Still, I have to wonder if people are really happy with stories like “R.I.P” and “Brand New Day” or if comic book fans are simply resigned to accept whatever they’re given because they have nowhere else to go for stories featuring their favorite heroes.

If more people feel like I do, I hope that we can come together to demand more from the Big Two. The first step is to stop buying the crap.

Terminator Salvation

This movie is amazing. It’s a fantastic war movie and a great story about underdogs fighting their oppressors.
I had some reservations about McG directing, but I figured he couldn’t do any worse than “T3”. Luckily, he did a great job and I think this movie stands well with the first two.
It’s filled with delightful little references and the look of it is fantastic.
This is the closest that Christian Bale has ever come to one-note acting, but he is great as John Connor.

I’m definitely looking forward to the DVD.

Star Trek

The new flick is pretty fantastic. While I’m a casual fan of the old cast, I think that these new guys do a great job.
This movie has great action and decent characterization, but it does lack the scientific and philosophical depth of some of the original episodes/movies.

I’m definitely looking forward to whatever else J.J. Abrams and the new cast and writers bring on.

(P.S. I intended to write a review after seeing it opening night, but I have definitely let the blog slip. So long as somebody’s reading it, though, I’ll keep it up.)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

It was alright. Certainly not the worst comic book movie out there, but not the best. There are some stupid, unnecessary shots and some lousy lines, but it’s still good that they made a solo Wolverine flick.

The first scene is rushed and WAY too melodramatic. After that, there’s a pretty kick-ass montage over the credits. Wolverine’s characterization is mostly solid, and most of the characters are presented fairly well. A big complaint I have is that there are about twelve back-flips in every fight. Also, some of the CGI looks really cartoonish. Wolverine’s claws looked great in the first three movies, but for some reason they’re pretty lousy and foolishly used in most of this movie.

While most of the actors do their jobs admirably, Hugh Jackman is certainly the best aspect of this movie. His acting is spot on. There’s a scene in which he gets his heart broken, and it is perfectly played. Hugh Jackman’s physique is impressive as well, though this is nothing new. Weak-ass pussies who never hit the gym should be inspired by this man who trained like an animal.

I read an interview in with the director in an issue of Wizard Magazine, and it was apparent that the director didn’t really care about the character. The movie shows that he doesn’t really do action well, and he should stick with drama/art films. If there is a sequel, I hope the producers go with a better, somewhat subtler action director than Gavin Hood.

If I go see it a second time in theaters, it will be because of Jackman’s great performance. Still, you should see it once. I know I’ll buy the DVD because I love Wolverine. If you do see it, make sure you sit ALL the way through the credits.