Author Topic: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation  (Read 18350 times)

FLYmeatwad

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #10 on: May 18, 2009, 01:01:46 PM »
Howl's is one of Miyazaki's better films. It elevates beyond good and almost reaches great.

Melvil

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #11 on: May 18, 2009, 01:20:39 PM »
I love the fantasy aspect of Howl's and I think most of the backlash against it was from people not willing to let go of convention like fantasy requires.

I haven't followed the discussion about Howl's at all, so I have no idea what reasons people gave for not liking it. It would be quite ridiculous if it was about the suspension of disbelief required for fantasy. I mean, the world in the film does initially look like reality, but the creatures, curses and such appear so early and with such force that it should be crystal-clear that we are in a fantastical world.

And if the problem was the difference between the fantastical world depicted here and those worlds that western audiences are more familiar with, then that's a little sad. With a film like this, you just buy into whatever the rules of the world are, and it is all the more exciting if these rules are different from anything you've seen before.

Yeah, I can't understand that argument either, the fantasy world is one of the great joys of the film. I think the magic-door sequence is where I first fell in love with the movie, and where else can you see characters like Turnip and Calcifer? ;D

THATguy

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #12 on: June 01, 2009, 01:01:01 AM »
I guess a second MDC didn't seem to work out that well... hmm.

Bill Thompson

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #13 on: June 01, 2009, 07:33:15 AM »
I guess a second MDC didn't seem to work out that well... hmm.

It's moving at the same pace as the regular one, so I'm not disappointed. I know I will be getting to mine later this week, and hopefully some others will get to theirs at some point, really, even if it's two years from now, as long as they finally write about their dictation I'm happy.

Melvil

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #14 on: June 01, 2009, 04:52:03 PM »
Wow, I totally thought I already wrote about mine. I watched it at the beginning of the month. I promise I'll get to writing about it soon.

oldkid

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #15 on: June 02, 2009, 02:30:05 PM »
Howl's was a good film, but not great, in my opinion.  Perhaps it was the fault of my having read the book first, but it just didn't have the depth of some other Miyazaki films.  I'd put it above Totoro, below Naussica, about the same level as Porco Rosso.  Which puts it high above most animated movies.
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Bill Thompson

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #16 on: June 03, 2009, 09:15:55 AM »
Les Triplettes De Belleville (The Triplets Of Belleville, 2003)

Unique may not be the best word to describe Les Triplettes De Belleville, maybe interesting or jumbled would be better, but unique is most in my minds eye. The presentation is certainly unique, there’s no two ways around that. Not only is it unique from a sound perspective, outside of a few unintelligible lines and songs the film is silent, it’s also unique from a visual perspective. I’ve heard others describe the visuals of Les Triplettes De Belleville as scary, and while I’m not completely on board with that I can see where those people are coming from. I didn’t find the visual world scary, but I did find it to be more in line with a horror style world envisioned. I don’t know if my point made much sense, but what I’m getting at is that the world wasn’t scary, but it did manage to be more along the line of a human horror world.

Either way, the uniqueness of the visual world in Les Triplettes De Belleville is important because it keeps the audience interested in what they are seeing. I say this because there are moments when the film does stall a bit in its lack of a real narrative, or in its lack of developed characters. However, even in those moments the odd, almost horrific, nature of the visual world keeps the viewer interested in where the story is going. Another factor in the freshness of Les Triplettes De Belleville is its humor, or brand of humor to put it more succinctly. It’s reminiscent of Jacques Tati in that the humor is based on observational moments. Take the funniest running gag in the movie, Bruno’s hatred of trains. Early on we see his tail get run over by a toy train, and this instills in him a life long hatred of trains. He has nightmares about them, he times their trek past his house just so that he can bark at the train on schedule. This is funny, but it isn’t uproarious humor, it’s sly, observational humor, and that humor works in Les Triplettes De Belleville.

As I mentioned earlier in passing, Les Triplettes De Belleville does falter when it comes to its lack of a real narrative structure as well as its lack of developed characters. I don’t want to say that they were major detriments to the film, but, well, they were. The lack of depth in both fields created a scenario where I didn’t feel like a whole story was being told. It felt more like interesting visuals with a story and characters as a mere backdrop, and while that sometimes appeals to me, it didn’t in Les Triplettes De Belleville.

Les Triplettes De Belleville is certainly interesting and unique, as I have repeatedly said, probably to the point of annoyance. I do recommend it for others, but I don’t think it is a repeat viewing type of film. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty to discover in the visual realm, but I need a bit more than that to bring me back to a film for repeated viewings. I’m happy I finally got around to watching Les Triplettes De Belleville, once again thanks go out to that lovely lass Worm@Work, and it is a good movie, but I was left with a somewhat hollow feeling upon finishing it.

worm@work

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #17 on: June 03, 2009, 10:03:13 AM »
I'll get to mine over the next couple of days for sure.

Thor

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #18 on: June 03, 2009, 12:05:57 PM »
How can you write a review of Belleville and not mention the music?
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Bill Thompson

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #19 on: June 03, 2009, 12:49:05 PM »
How can you write a review of Belleville and not mention the music?

You write, and don't mention the music?

I don't know, it was interesting, but I thought I already went too much into the "This was interesting, but" range, and that was my thought on the music as well.