Metropolis (2001), the fictional future of many pasts

Directed by: Rintaro | Written by: Katsuhiro Otomo
Produced by: Madhouse

Award(s)

• Best Animation Film - 2nd Place;  5th Fant-Asia Film Festival
• (None out of 3 Nominations)

"Playing like a candy-colored hybrid of Fritz Lang's film of the same name and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis borrows its plot liberally from numerous legendary sci-fi sources (despite the fact that the original manga was released in 1945, certain cinematic aspects can't help but appearing overly familiar), all the while dazzling viewers on the same cutting-edge visual level as suchanime classics as Akira and Ghost in the Shell. "-JASON BUCHANAN, Rovi (Allmovie) 

Fritz Lang and Osamu Tezuka 

The 2001 adaptation of the 1949 manga of the same name by no other than the godfather of manga himself, Osamu Tezuka which in turn is inspired on the innovative 1927 silent film Metropolis by Fritz Lang. This movie shows it's worth as a piece written by the man behind the acclaimed cyber-punk manga Akira.
The filtering process from genius silent film and sci-fi predecessor to many great films in hollywood's golden age of cinema to a memorable manga brought forth by one of it's pioneers and all time legends who also claimed that he based his work of a single still image of its name sake is a remarkable homage,marvelous and a debate starter of preferences between the above-mentioned works .Be that as it may, the name and premise of this movie spans generations of great minds and great screenplay.

Now I admit that I never saw the original motion picture, therefore not being able to discuss which version is undeniably better. But I can however, compliment this films stunning visuals and accurate recreation of Tezuka's art style while enhancing the monumental posture that is Metropolis and its heaven-reaching tower.I'd also state that the film and animated film both posses an element of originality of it's own cancelling the thoughts that this movie is a copy or a cheap homage. It is not...

This movie is a colorful blend of animation and futuristic technology while preserving aspects of the presumed year the manga was made, probably due to the accurate adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's work (with the exception of some character changes).
While the animated feature and character development fair well in this movie, some turns of events do not and linger in my mind even after I finished this movie...twice.
 For example:

1. The japanese Detective Ban Shinsaku (Kôsei Tomita) who -together with his nephew Kenichi (Kei Kobayashi)- is the main protagonist who came to metropolis to arrest Dr. Laughton for the crime of human Organ-trafficking. Due to unfortunate events they find themselve separated: The detective with it's robot guide (with a serial number as name I won't even try to write that...) and Kenichi with the Tima  (unbeknownst to both of them that she is a robot made for a destructive purpose). Logic has it that the detective will search for his lost nephew who could be dead for all he knows.Well...he does not. While he shows faint signs of concern he does not search thoroughly for his nephew to the point that 5 minutes inward in the movie you can see him eat a hot dog like their is no problem in the world. It's an insignificant flaw but it does raise some moral questions.
2. There is an escape scene where Kenichi has to run away and hide with Tima for safety while being shot at repeatedly. It isn't exactly news that antagonists are horrible at aiming. But to miss 5 shots at two people standing still? That's pushing it... I know that it would have crippled the chasing scene and important turn of events but he could've at least scraped him.

The turn of events and cruel human-to-robot violence fuel the main thoughts that robots are abused and misunderstood as one of it's biggest enigma struggle to understand that she is not human and is destined for great destruction. That concept is constantly pulled back and forth in terms of importance in the movie it didn't quite stick, it was a mere reminder of interaction between humans and the machines much like The Animatrix portrayed  but less impressive. They should have worked on it more is what I'm getting at. Some bonds like the detective and his appointed robot partner where hardly credible and forced. I often found myself not believing them.
 The kind-hearted kenichi finds a fitting place in this turmoil and creates strong bonds with them and Tima in particular. The chemistry between the two said characters is portrayed as strong and emotional and plays an important role near the end. It is a shame that that bond wasn't exploited more to maximize the emotional and moral impact at the end of the film.

Rating

7,5 - Futuristic thrill !

The first animation film that taught me that not all movies are for children. I still cherish this childhood memory that screened at midnight on my old TV. The dept and visuals of this film are a mixture of Osamu tezuka particular characteristics and Fritz Langs original picture. It is not the greatest movie but it still deserves some respect and attention. 

M.

• Follow me on Facebook / twitter (Subscribe! )

It's happening! I'm finally there!

As I round up my last and definitive template and design changes. I'm finally ready to make the next step and get my own domain hopefully by the end of the month!



For the few of you who regularly visit my blog (which I appreciate ) have noticed the ridiculous amount of changes since I started this. Well that's over with! Right now i'm starting to work on more reviews and a few entries on my own... they beter be done before osarunime.com launches ^^

HUBS

 You might've/might not have noticed the few banners below certain posts. I'm still working on it just so I can categories content faster as this blog grows
List (so far):

That's about it for now, make sure to comment and show your input and/or appreciation of what I've been doing so far!

Perfect Blue (1998), an anime psycho-thriller

Directed by: Satoshi Kon | Written by: Sadayuki Murai, Yoshikazu Takeuchi (novel)
Produced by: Madhouse

Awards

• Best Animation Feature; 2nd B-Movie Film Festival
• Best Asian Film; 1st Fant-Asia Film Festival
• Best Film - Animation; 17th Fantasporto

"The film is inundated with frightening and sordid imagery. I would definitely categorize it as a horror film complete with vicious stabbings, a naive female victim being stalked and hunted, and a staged rape scene that is downright chilling. Don't be fooled into taking your kids to see this one just because they like Power Rangers. This one will be rated R and deservedly so."    - ATHAN BEZAITIS, Filmcritic

Perfect Blue  (パーフェクトブルー Pāfekuto Burū), Satoshi Kon's first Film as a director which was screened in 1997 at the FantAsia International Film Festival. The exceptional and reality-twisted story is one of the first in the -by then improved- Satoshi Kon films like it's acclaimed and highly acknowledged like-minded successor madhouse marvel Paprika in 2006. The story takes you through the life of a young girl Mima (Junko Iwao) who goes from Japanese Pop-idol to become an actress as her life and reality spirals downwards shattering the common sense of reality and dragging it down with it emphasizing the events throughout the movie.



The background and animated visuals are stunning and true to the Madhouse quality in the 90's, It is clear and pleasant to the eyes while accentuating certain feelings of a scenes by clever use of lighting and reflections while maintaining an animated sense of reality.
Satoshi Kon was not afraid to remind his faithful audience that this is in fact a fantasy-thriller. The gruesome stabbings and unpleasant nudity is to be taken seriously and is a considerable change from the silent beginning of the movie, beginning with a frightening accurate websites that practically follows her every move.
Mima's state of mind deteriorates to the point of paranoia which is cleverly portrayed as her growing role in the thriller TV Show shares the presumed same symptoms as her mixing real life experiences with her acted character's persona while dealing with her imaginary Idol self" which constantly haunts her. It is mind-blowing how the line between reality and delusion becomes non-existent to the point of psychological disorientation, what might be real could easily be a dream or her acting performance. This is the mind of a person who lost herself and is clinging on to her sense of desperate reality.

Be that as it may, the film's scenario had it's flaws: considering the fact that a few important individuals where brutally slaughtered you'd think that panic and fear would be a factor, well you thought wrong. It took two murder and a bomb injury (in front of a dozen witnesses) to strike some level of awareness that Mima could be in danger especially as one of these cases is the screenplay writer of the TV show she debuted in. It didn't necessarily affect the viewing experience but it did linger in the deepest depths of my mind... the whole time.

Rating:
**** A psychotic thrill!
The transition between reality and fantasy was sublime despite the forced entry in the psychotic aspects. The limits of the human mind are exploited and re-invented by this movie as the psycho-driven fantasy are accompanied by fragments of reality and moral understanding. the A truly great start as director for the late Satoshi Kon.

• This movie is rated R due to violence and nudity, keep that in mind.

M.

• Facebook / twitter (Follow me!)

Spirited Away (2001), Re-written post

Directed & Written by: Hayao Miyazaki 

Produced by: Studio Ghibli

Awards

• Best Animated Feature; 75th Academy Award (oscars) , Critics Choice Award  - Broadcast Film  Critics Association Awards, National Board of Review, USA (NBR Award) &  Online Film Critics Society Awards
• Golden Bear (Best Film); Berlin International Film Award
• Silver Scream Award; Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival
• Annie; Annie Awards

1. Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Theatrical Feature
2. Outstanding Directing in an Animated Feature Production
3. Outstanding Music in an Animated Feature Production
4. Outstanding Writing in an Animated Feature Production

• Best Film & Best Song; Japanese Academy Prize
• Best Film; Blue Ribbon Awards, Durban International Film Festival, Mainichi Film Concours &  Nikkan Sports Film Awards
• Special Combination "For artistic contribution to the field of animation"; Boston Society Of film Critics
• Audience Award - Best Film; Cambridge Film Festival
• Cinekid Film Award; Cinekid
• Best Animated Film; Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards, Mainichi Film Concours & New York Film Critics Circle Awards
• Best Foreign-Language Film; Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards
• Best Animation; Florida Film Critics Circle Awards & Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
• Best Animation/Family; Golden Trailer Awards
• Best Asian Film; Hong Kong Film Awards
• Reader's Choice Award - Best Film; Kinema Junpo Awards
• Best Director & Best Music Score;  Mainichi Film Concours
• Best Animated Film; Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
• Best Narrative Feature (Audience Award);  San Francisco International Film Festival
• Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media; (Golden) Satellite Award
• Special Mention; Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival

*And THAT'S the last Award. Can you believe this ? I had to group some awards in certain categories to make a descent list!

The  2001 animation indulged in fantasy-adventure that can only be produced by the illustrious minds of the Japanese animation industry (just being real people...). What started as a girl moving to another home ends in a nightmare-ish situation filled with ghosts, monsters and an old hag off a witch caused by a simple detour by a father who seriously needs to get a GPS. Chichiro (voiced by Rumi Hiiragi) is forced to surpass her fear and find a way to return to the human world and save her parents.A movie that captivated me when I was young and still does when I re-watched it.

The so-called "Japanese Walt Disney".

As a movie brought to us by the man who gave us My Neighbor Totoro and the nationally praised Princess Mononoke, it was already deemed watch-worthy before it even hit theater. So when the first scene rolled and million of viewer had their eyes glued to the colorful animation full of expectation and excitement,  It was decided...A movie that lives up to its hype has a richer viewing experience. Yes Hayao Miyazaki did it again, at the age of 60 he was still able to prove us that his craftsmanship hasn't rusted. The diversity of spirit and magical creatures where not only interesting on their own but also a great asset on their own as Chichiro tries to find her way true beings she never thought existed (I think some of them actually eat humans...who knows?). But i wouldn't praise a man for the collective work of a well oiled animation team now would I?

 Bringing us to the story of this film. The story of a young innocent yet faint-hearted girl who just happened to have a father that took a turn estranged from the main road and could not control his curiosity as he ended in-front of an old building which eventually lead him to an abandoned town which was surprisingly filled with a king's meal, which he and his wife ate....let me just momentarily interrupt this review by asking you: who does that?Eating food that's just lying there? Well they shouldn't of had that's for sure. Luckily Chichiro was too gullible t do so saving her from a curse that launched this small adventure driven by curiosity to a child's nightmare driven by the bizarre and colorful.
A once weak and courage-less girl is forced to face reality and pull herself out of a bad dream with the help of a young spirit boy who supposedly met her before named Haku and a few other people she meets and sadly also an old greedy witch named Yubaba (lit Bath crone), the owner of the hot baths that has the power to keep her  and human by making her sign a work contract which changes her name from "Chichiro" to "Sen" (hence the Japanese title) a name that almost made me forgot her real name throughout the movie. A great concept by using the power of names.

That's how Yubaba controls you. By stealing your name. So hold on to that card. Keep it hidden. And while you're here, you must call yourself "Sen." 

-Haku

The metamorphosis from the faint-hearted and slightly annoying (in my opinion) Chichiro to the Strong and responsible Sen is well animated and well portrayed. Going as far to confront spirits that legitimately freaked me out earning the respect of the spirits,Customers and workers alike. Towards the end of the movie you'll realize that Chichiro wouldn't be able to do half what "Sen" was able to. The determination to free herself and her parents above all surprised me, mainly because as the story unfolded it was cast aside temporarily as she grew accustomed to her entourage willing to help her new-found friends. A kind of 'anime-cliché' tough, but I was fine with it.

Image taken from Ganool.com

Rating:

**** Spiritual enchanting!

I was blinded by the diversity in elements and thoughtful planing that went into this HAND DRAWN animation. Hayao Miyazaki emerged as my favorite animation director/Writer bringing with him all that is good in animation. I couldn't help but draw forth my inner-child (corny I know) and let him enjoy it twice as much as I did. It would be foolish to pass on this animation.Now if you'll excuse me,  Hayao Miyazaki's filmography is waiting for me.

M.

• Facebook <= click right here!/ twitter (Follow me!)

Requests/Questions? Click here

* I already wrote this,  read the original here

A Cartoon Network homage, what went wrong?

We'll miss you....

I vividly remember how I enthusiastically set myself in-front of a TV who had known better days at the early years  of the 21st century  to watch Edd Ed n' Eddy in the morning, even going as far as to copy their mischief and greedy habits. It was always sad to depart from this cartoon heaven as the last episodes of Tom & Jerry played; the classic animations of a cunning mouse and his impulsive dimwitted counterpart facing off in the most comic events that spanned a life time, I was amazed how my father (who was 50 at the time if I may ad) sat with me to watch the few memories of his childhood. Just look at the above picture, you cannot possibly deny the fact that these 80's and 90's marvels have not kept you company in deer times ?

 The ingenious comic tales that was looney tunes during lunch, the ridiculous yet entertaining stories of a dog scared of his own shadow and the wacky races at which no one knew who won the tournament. And who could forget the crazy bedrock family and it's Futuristic counterpart and it's delirious moments? Those where the days you can remember and tell the next generation in a proud voice as you reminisce the diverse cartoons spanning your childhood and decades before of animation craftsmanship and say; "My childhood shows where the best,they don't make them like that anymore". Perhaps you may even admit that your only interest in history back then was because of Time Squad... 

But... What went wrong?




The perfect mix of cartoon flavors I so admired was due to be replaced by newer and more profitable "shows". I still remember the day that they removed Looney Tunes, The authentic remnants of a great animation period for others I can't even remember anymore.  Weren't the old yet comically refreshed toons not good enough anymore? What about the like-minded children in that period that instantaneously spoke of "that one episode" they saw yesterday to their friends on the school yard every morning? It's funny how we accept change and then reject it after remembering what we had was better. I can't believe I was looking forward to those new shows at the time...

As time changes It went from "Cartoons are funny, they entertain you!" to the latest "Cartoons are cool,kids ! they can be funny in a dull way though! As long as it's new!". A seemingly normal theme that the new cartoon Network wears like a mantel of commercialized animation which goes in against everything it once stood for back in 1989. The fact is that Today's CN is a new kid on the block that still has much to learn from it's elder.

But then again years have past, I probably outgrow most of it and I certainly know now that what Dexter did in his surprisingly large Laboratory was not actual Math, or science for that matter.... But Still, I am  proud to say that  I watched all these 90's and decades of animated joy.
I thank you Old- Cartoon Network, for an awesome childhood.

M.

• Facebook <= click right here!/ twitter (Follow me!)

Requests/Questions? Click here

Why You no Facebook?

I have been working on a Facebook page for the past month now trying to find a way to widen my traffic socially...which is failing due to my poor advertising skills. So I will take the direct aproach

So I took the opportunity to inform you guys that there is a like box at the top of the page (just like the one below) just click it and maaaybe share it to people interested and that would help a lot. The page was meant for  people sharing the same interest as I to post interesting animations and films I might have missed (also there is a request page on here so fire away) and would love to watch.

•  The page is free to anyone with great interest in animation films
•  For people who want to post their ideas and favorite films on the page! 
• And people who are interested of course.

Interested?

<= One Click that's it! You know you want to : ).

M.

• Facebook / twitter (Follow me!)

Mamoru Hosoda & Satoko Okudera next great work?

The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki (2012)

"Hana is a 19 year old student who falls in a "fairy-tale like" love with a 'wolf man', over the course of the 13 year story Hana gives birth to two children - older sister Yuki, and younger brother Ame or 'Snow and Rain'. At first the family quietly lives in city trying to hide their wolf heritage, but when the 'wolf man' suddenly dies Hana makes the decision to move to a rural town, far from their previous city life."

-Via AnimeNewsNetwork 

As Mentioned In my previous post made by the same award winning director-writer duo who -to my surprise- have practically received the same core distinctions with both The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and it's successor Summer Wars which being 'Animation of the year' at the Japanese academy prize, Mainichi Film Awards and the Tokya Anime Award at the Tokyo Intenational Anime fair. I would like to specify that The Japanese Academy Award is one of the greatest national distinctions for both movies and animation films alike.

The same man who directed such works as Digiman Adventure and who was in charge of key animation for Dragon Ball Z before that and who became a great acknowledged director after joining Madhouse Studios which resulted in the first of the two - soon to be 3 - movies with the aid Satoko Okudera's , a respected screenplay writer for both live-action and animated films. The notion of the Mainichi Film Concours and the Japanese Academy Awards aren't strange to her after winning in the category of 'Best Screenplay' with"Ohikkoshi (moving)" in 1993  and "Gakkō no Kaidan"  in 1995 (Mainichi Film Concours and Japanese Academy Awards respectively) and her more recent film "Kaidan" was well received at the 29th Yokohama Film Festival and received a festival price for -yes,you might've guessed it- 'Best Screenplay'.
The result of a familiar collaboration of capable directors and writors is always astonishing as two minds are always better then one. Just like the ingenious  Takeshi Obata & Tsugumi Ohba well known for the widely acclaimed psychologic manga Death Note.




Expectation
*** 

Although I am absolutely sure that this will make a great movie for a younger demography, I still can't shake the feeling that it won't triumph it's predecessor in terms of dept and credibility. I will still watch it tough. Even though the wolf-children and the romantic concept isn't that appealing to me...

The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki ( Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki)  will be released on the 21th of July this year in Japan. 

*Did you know?

1. that Mamoru Hosoda was commissioned by Ghibli Studio in 2004 (prior to his career at Madhouse) to direct the award winning film "Howl's Moving Castle" ? Which he accepted but left during early stages of production forcing Hayao Miyazaki out of his retirement.
2. that Mamoru Hosoda Established 'Studio Chizu', a small anime studio that will co-produce along Madhouse Studios for this film?

M.

• Facebook / twitter (Follow me!)