Author Topic: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation  (Read 18349 times)

roujin

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #20 on: June 03, 2009, 01:00:58 PM »
I have watched mine.

oldkid

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #21 on: June 05, 2009, 11:15:02 AM »
As you say, Triplets of Bellville was "interesting", but ultimately too ugly and confused for my taste.  The animation was unpleasant-- not in a real way, like City of God, but just as a style.  I didn't care for that.  And the subject matter and plot were forgettable, at least for me.  I can see why others would like it, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

The music WAS nice, though.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Melvil

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #22 on: June 06, 2009, 02:38:39 PM »
Ghost in the Shell

I actually watched this early in May, so my apologies for not writing about it sooner, it's not as fresh in my mind as I would have liked.

I did enjoy finally watching this, but didn't love it. The best part about it is probably how well imagined the futuristic world is, the design is consistently nice and beautifully realized. There are a lot of ideas in the story that I generally like, but it felt somewhat incomplete. I'm not sure if it's just the short length, but I felt like the movie ended just when the story was picking up. The mystery too, I liked, but dealt with too many concepts that weren't fully explained (or perhaps just not fully understood by me) to be very effective.

I think it might work better for me on a second viewing, but either way I was glad to finally catch up with this, so thanks THATguy!

worm@work

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #23 on: June 28, 2009, 11:11:33 AM »

My Neighbors the Yamadas (Isao Takahata, 1999)

I've said this before but I'll say it again. As much as I love Miyazaki's magical worlds and his brave, heroic characters, it's possible that I love Takahata's sweet and simple universe populated by mostly ordinary characters even more. His films are full of a genuine affection for these everyman characters and somehow by the end of the film, they seem heroic even when they aren't fighting any real wizards or demons, but simply dealing with regular life.

I read somewhere that this is based off a comic strip. This makes complete sense because this film is just like a series of comic strips come to life. It's these short episodes in the life of the Yamada family. Some funny, some serious, some sentimental, some cynical and some which manage to be all of the above at once. It is these tonal shifts that are most impressive to me about this film. Somehow Takahata manages to go from sweet but mostly silly comedy involving the husband and wife sparring over the TV remote to these scenes that have all the pathos and gravitas of something like Tokyo Story or Ikiru. Suddenly it's a film about aging and family and expectations that end up being unmet (kinda like that awesome opening sequence in Up).

One more thing I've learnt about Takahata's films is that there's no fixed animation style. Only Yesterday switches between two rather different sorts of animation and this one is totally different from all the other Takahata films I've watched before. The entire film looks like these really simple, almost crude watercolor paintings and there's not a whole lot of detail on screen. Somehow this style of animation totally matches the simple, zen nature of the film. Plus it lends itself really beautifully to my two favorite sequences from the film - the beginning montage of the wedding with the sledding analogy and the storks and the sharks and the grandmother on a tricycle (yes, it's that insane and awesome) and the ending karaoke montage with the crazy dancing and the balloons. Those two montages are simply brilliant and the two moments where Takahata just quietly sneaks in some magic into an otherwise super-realistic film.

Thanks Bill T for giving me another film to love and put on my Top Animated Films list :).

Note: One minor gripe, I didn't care so much for the pop music in the film.

roujin

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #24 on: June 28, 2009, 11:29:37 AM »
I remember really liking the music. I think it's a pretty good film, maybe slightly overlong but those wonderful moments make it all good by me.

worm@work

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #25 on: June 28, 2009, 11:35:53 AM »
I remember really liking the music.
It annoyed me after a while (there's a lot of it).


I think it's a pretty good film, maybe slightly overlong but those wonderful moments make it all good by me.

I agree on the overlong thing... but every time I started to get bored, something would happen that would make me smile and get interested in the whole thing again. And now, in retrospect, only the good moments stick out in my head.

Bill Thompson

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #26 on: June 28, 2009, 12:35:37 PM »
Thanks Bill T for giving me another film to love and put on my Top Animated Films list :).

Glad you liked it. My only gripe with the film was that I thought the whole Father dream sequence where he's a hero racer, or something like that, could have been dropped, it didn't work for me at all. But, you are right that when looking back at the film all I remember are the good moments, and that's most of the film for me.

One note on the comic strip style, Takahata wanted the film to look like the comic strip and that's why he went with a water color style of animation. The thing that Takahata discovered was that water color can't be done effectively in traditional hand drawn cel style, so Yamadas was the first all digital movie from Ghibli.

Melvil

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #27 on: June 28, 2009, 08:50:16 PM »
*adds to must-watch list*

smirnoff

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #28 on: June 28, 2009, 10:15:52 PM »
*adds to the should-watch-but-will-put-it-off-for-a-long-ass-time list* :)

duder

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Re: May MDC Write-Ups: Animation
« Reply #29 on: June 28, 2009, 10:17:31 PM »
That's the only kind of list I have.
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