Summer Wars

I'm continuing this week with my movie reviews for people who donated to the Periscope Studio art books Kickstarter.  A big thanks to Jacob, who requested Summer Wars!  Read on for some spoiler-filled reaction comics!

So here's the thing: I've already seen this movie a few times.  I love it.  It's fantastic.  It's one of those movies I wish I could make everyone I know watch.  It has a little bit of everything--comedy, romance, action, drama...a surprising and amazing film.  The storytelling is fresh and clever.  And the animation is GORGEOUS!  I think the word I used the most in this review was "love".

Basically, just go see this movie if you haven't yet.

I looooooove the big cast, and how well everyone is characterized.  They can have over-the-top slapstick moments, and maybe you could sum each character up in a couple words, but each plays an integral role in the plot, too (I see a lot of similarities with Dickens).  Nana being new to the family means she doesn't know who Wabisuke is, and it's a GREAT excuse to invite the other characters to explain.
The characters interact with one another in many interesting ways, forming different groups at different times the way that real people do (by family, by gender, by opinion, by task).  Nobody is a "good guy" or "bad guy"; they take on protagonist and antagonist roles depending on the situation.  It could have been so easy to fill out the big family with generic characters, but everyone really feels real.  The chaos of the big household is totally believable.  Somehow, the creators manage to keep over 20 characters in character AND keep the plot moving forward.

I loooooove the avatar designs.  They're so personalized and different, I wouldn't be surprised if the film invited a bunch of real people to design their own avatars for the movie to use.  The world of OZ is a delightful tool for the storytelling.  We get to have our real-world story, but also watch fantastic action sequences in a world with anime physics.  And I LOVE when we come back into the real world and see those fights on character's cell phone screens -- how it just looks like normal cell phone game graphics!! xD The visual metaphors for Love Machine messing up the world's systems are GENIUS.  I love the sliding tiles effect when it mixes up the highway system.  GAH.

Kazuma is such a teenage wish fulfillment character.  He games ALL THE TIME uninterrupted by his mother, is the best fighter in the world, has global star status for his character's success...and his gaming ends up saving the world.  Plus, awesome emo hair.

Pretty much xD

Sniff!  Universal cooperation and self-sacrifice....you hit me in the soft spot, Summer Wars.


I haven't even mentioned Sakae Jinnouchi, who is maybe the most interesting character.  I love seeing a matriarch like this.  She can wield a yari, sure, but her greatest strength as demonstrated in the movie is her prowess in conversation, her network of friends/family, and her ability to get people to work together and support one another.  There's a lot of good stuff happening in Summer Wars in terms of what makes characters heroic.  Kenji is smart and willing to stay in harm's way to protect others.  Wabisuke asks for forgiveness and tries to make amends for the damage he's caused.  Everyone seems at their best when they do their duty to serve others and cooperate.

2001: A Space Odyssey

I just watched the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey for Bo, who pledged in my studio's Kickstarter to raise money for a series of art books.  Thank you, Bo!

Read on for some spoiler-filled reaction comics!

I got online after finishing the film to read interpretations/theories, and I like the idea that this is actually a 3-minute close-up with the monolith.  The monolith's score is playing, after all, and a visitation from the monolith, which seems to usher in major developments, would be a fitting beginning for us as we move from nothing into the universe of this film.

 COME ON.

Oh, my poor 7th grade science teacher...are you guys ready to go to the sad place?  I have a sad story.  When I was in 7th grade, there was an initiative to re-energize (so to speak) science classrooms in my school district by plucking working scientists out of their labs and dropping them off into middle school classrooms with little-to-no training on how to teach (or control a room full of pubescent hellspawn).  This poor guy--I can't even remember his name--sat in something brown at lunch on his first day, and it only got worse from there.  He lasted 3 months before he was replaced, and his last act in our classroom was showing us 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I'm pretty sure he didn't give enough fucks at that point to even ask for permission.

I was frustrated that after investing two and a half hours in a slow movie I was left with a trippy star baby scene I didn't understand, but it's okay for a film to be ambiguous or complex, and unfold more upon multiple viewings and reading multiple theories from others.  I think Kubrick himself stated that he didn't want to spell it out for people, and was happy that people wrestled with the film's meaning and came to their own conclusions.

Brazil

I watched the 1985 Terry Gilliam film Brazil this weekend for another Kickstarter backer -- my fantastic publisher Oni Press!! :D Editor Charlie Chu has given me many movie recommendations over the years, and he hasn't steered me wrong yet.  This movie was great!!  If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and go watch it before I spoil it for you here.

Read on for some spoiler-filled reaction comics!

Uuuuuuugh....some of the satire was too close for comfort.  The cosmetic surgery stuff was....unsettling.  Same goes for the ugly highway lined with ads depicting gorgeous landscapes, and the "Consumers for Christ" group in the shopping mall scene.  It was all in that suuuuper uncomfortable space of funny and dark/disturbing at the same time.  Well done, movie.

Easy joke, sorry.

 I loved the bureaucratic satire, especially uniforms like this character's!  All of the official pins and patches and badges and pads and caps.

 WHEN HE'S LEANING IN AND OUT AND UGHHHHH COME ON SAM

 Nooooooo....!

 Lot of WHAT in my first viewing of this film.

The sets and the framing of the shots in Brazil were SO uncomfortable and cramped!  It was really effective but it made me squirm in my seat.  I was dying for a shot of the sky or any open space or green.

UGH.  That was a great ending but UGHHHHHHH.  I wanted Sam to be happy with magically-alive badass Jill in a pretty country home. :( Humph.

I love the song Brazil, and it was a treat hearing so many variations on it throughout the film.  My favorite version will always be Pink Martini's cover, though!  ;)

The Thing (1982)

I watched The Thing (the 1982 version) yesterday for another Kickstarter backer -- the lovely David Harper of Multiversity Comics! :D I've wanted to watch this movie for a long time.  I remember once being on vacation in a cabin with my family and friends of the family.  Our dads and teenage brothers watched The Thing together, but advised me not to since it was pretty scary (good call, honestly).  I missed my chance and didn't get around to seeing the film until now.

Read on for some spoiler-filled reaction comics!

Aaaaand I would be the first one to die. xD

I felt so bad for Dog Guy!  I was totally sympathizing...poor puppies. :(

*His name is "Childs", not "Giles" xD

This movie was great but it was SO SCARY to me.  Something about the suspense coupled with the gruesome, CGI-free special effects just struck a chord with me.  And that simple soundtrack with the "bump bump...bump bump"--so effective!

At the same time, it was funny how I knew what was coming, because so many subsequent works have borrowed from The Thing.  I was flashing back in particular to episodes of South Park and The X-Files.

The tropes of a quarantine situation / witch hunt work so well for developing dread...and then you've got the added time limit with the storm moving in, the communications going out, and the much larger picture of springtime taking the infection global if they don't kill the thing before it kills all of them or freezes itself...so tense!
It was dreadful watching characters turn on one another and give into their worst and most basic instincts...even our hero commits murder out of fear and self-preservation blown out of perspective.  I loved how the movie made you doubt EVERYONE--the dog sneaking up on Nauls in the kitchen fades to black rather than showing what happened, the temporary loss of lights puts everyone in the gray, Windows cuts his finger just out of view, Dr. Blair is alone in his hut unsupervised, Childs goes missing from his post and runs into the storm for some reason...we have to take people at their word, and end up trusting no one.  It's terrifying!

I'm reading the Wikipedia entry for the film, and laughing in horror at the "Annual viewings" section, which claims that The Thing and The Shining are regularly viewed by the winter crew at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.

Godzilla (2014)

I got to attend a screening of Godzilla at the Grand REX theater with Boulet on Saturday night.  Three special guests, including director Gareth Edwards, gave short interviews for the room before the screening.  The crowd was amped and showed un-Parisian levels of enthusiasm.  It was a REALLY fun atmosphere, and felt like the perfect way to view this film.

Read on for some spoiler-filled reaction comics!

 ^So good!!

(I also hate them because I have to cheat in my reaction comics and draw myself bare-faced to show my reactions!)

Here's a nice list of ten.  (After reading that list, I'm really stoked that Dredd is up soon in my review queue) But....more.  All the time.  Forever.

 

 

I loved that ending.

The acting and the effects were FANTASTIC in this movie.  I saw so many faces I love from other movies and shows. :D And there were genuinely delightful moments where my inner 7-year-old was like, "OMG IS IT MOTHRA?!" or "IS GODZILLA FERREALS ABOUT TO BREATHE FIRE?!"