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03 Dec 2017 00:10:10
So I've finally gotten around to watching Kiki's Delivery Service, and I have to say, what a film! Some absolutely beautiful animation, a brilliant soundtrack and a fantastically heartwarming story. I had high hopes because it was Studio Ghibli, and I have to say it didn't disappoint.
As an aside, what are people's favourite Studio Ghibli films or animated films in general?
1.) 04 Dec 2017 12:58:52
Ghibli is Japanese, right?
I read how good people rate particularly Spirited Away, but haven't watch it yet. It does look a bit scary though, the characters. I'm sure my kids won't like them.
I tried reading them the book Where The Wild Things Are, they hid the book after that.
2.) 05 Dec 2017 15:37:46
Yeah, Ghibli is Japanese.
Spirited Away is perhaps my favourite animated film of all time. I used to watch it as a kid and I can confirm that it did give me a couple of nightmares (even now I find it quite eerie). However, I would highly recommend both you and your kids watch it because of just how brilliant the film is. The animation is typically beautiful, the music is fantastic and it's quite an enchanting film. Think Alice in Wonderland meets Wizard of Oz but set in a mystical town in Japan.
To be fair though, most of the great animated films are quite scary, or have some properly terrifying elements. Classic Disney had Dumbo getting drunk, the Evil Queen in Snow White and Paradise Island in Pinocchio. Coraline (a stop-motion animation) is one of the creepiest films I've ever seen and there are some scenes that make my skin crawl. So really, Spirited Away is not that scary compared to other animated films haha.
3.) 06 Dec 2017 03:02:00
Yeah Coraline. Almost everything in it are creepy. And since it's stop motion, the movement of the characters add more towards it.
For me, the best is Ratatouille. The story was quite philosophical (I think this is the best word to describe it), which is I think quite rare in animation films.
17 Jun 2017 00:29:05
Just a bit of fun, but since 'The Last Jedi' is coming out in a few months' time, how would you rank the Star Wars movies and why? I'd go with:
1. Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Return of the Jedi
4. Rogue One
5. The Force Awakens
6. Revenge of the Sith
7. Phantom Menace
8. Attack of the Clones
Obviously, ESB needs no introduction, and is one of the greatest films ever made. It is one of the only sequels to actually surpass the original, add to the lore and be a great standalone movie at the same time (similarly brilliant sequels that come to mind are Godfather Part II and T2: Judgement Day) . I rank A New Hope above Return of the Jedi mainly because RotJ falls short on a few fronts. The battle on the moon of Endor bordered on farcical and to this day, I still see no use in the armour that the troopers wore if rocks thrown by furry little bears can be an effective weapon. Furthermore, although I, too, rooted for Vader's redemption, was there really enough of a setup? Just because Luke is his son doesn't mean he has to feel affection for him. I know he offered Luke to go to his side so they can overthrow the Emperor and rule the galaxy together, but I don't see that as any kind of evidence. Vader is supposed to be one of the most powerful Sith lords, he's worked with Sidious for years, manipulation should be second nature to him. Also, Han should have died, it would have added a lot more to the emotional impact of the film (a la Kenobi 'dying' in ANH) .
Now, to move on to the newest additions to the franchise. TFA and R1 both had multiple issues plaguing it. TFA was a rehash of ANH and has pacing problems. However, it did introduce a group of characters which I believe are interesting enough to explore. Finn is the strongest out of them all and I can't wait to see what he gets up to in TLJ. Also, who the hell is Snoke? However, not all the characters are too hot in TFA. Rey and Kylo have various issues. I personally don't consider Rey a Mary Sue, but the way she picks up on the nuances of the Force is a bit forced (no pun intended) . Kylo is even more divisive with some claiming he's a deeper and more complex Anakin, and some complaining and saying that he's a bratty, emo Anakin. I straddle the fence on this one. I'm willing to give him more time and see where it goes from here. What I believe is that Kylo has potential to be a great character, not just a villain. For anyone who's seen Nickelodeon's 'Avatar, the Last Airbender', we can all agree that Zuko's transformation made him go from a perhaps generic, albeit complex, villain into the strongest character in the series.
I was unable to split R1 and TFA because they both have good bits, but also suffer from truly horrendous problems. In R1, the pacing of the first two acts is a mess. Characters are boring and we do not care about them. What's more, their motivations were all over the place and at times, their actions made no sense in accordance with their characters. However, I've always believed that a great ending can oftentimes save or elevate a movie, and this was one of those times. In one of the best scenes in cinema history, we get to see Vader at his terrifying best. I also liked that they all died, giving some kind of pathos that the movie had so sorely lacked. Oh, and I loved the gem that R1 gave us with the line, "are you kidding me, I'm blind! "
Finally, we get to the prequels. As a whole, it is a messy, messy project, at best. Anakin goes from a whiny brat who comes out with truly awful lines that are supposed to be romantic in Lucas's view, to a violent mass murderer who enables a fascist dictator in his genocidal plans by slaughtering a group of kids. All because of some ridiculous motivation (included are a dream, and Palpatine saying "do it") . Now, I understand that there are quite a lot of Prequel apologists that have sprung up in reaction to Prequel hate. But I will say, without reservation, that the Prequels deserve the criticism. It is filled with cringeworthy dialogue, one-dimensional characters with confusing motivations and racial undertones, spunks of CGI that crowd the entire screen just because etc. Out of the three, only RotS has any real merit, although that is not saying much when compared with the two preceding movies. Although TPM gave us the god-awful Jar Jar Binks, it also gave us the most badass character since Vader and Han in Darth Maul. And Duel of the Fates is just some more Williams wizardry. The worst of the bunch has to be AotC. Apart from an excellent Christopher Lee as Dooku, McGregor growing into his role as Obi Wan and Samuel L Jackson decapitating assassins like he normally does, it boasts nothing else. I know I've banged on about how awful the dialogue is in the Prequels, but seriously, does Lucas actually think people talk like that? And to compound that, Padme, a respected Senator and former Queen of Naboo, actually falls for Anakin's beyond-creepy stalker act? It just too much of a stretch of imagination, even for a space opera about galactic politics and an ancient cult religion practised by aliens.
Wow, I didn't realise how much I wrote, so sorry about the length. Feel free to contribute and disagree with me, I'm open to reinterpretation of the films.
TLDR: I like Star Wars but there are a lot of problems with them.
1.) 17 Jun 2017 01:09:44
That was a really long post.
I'm not into space movies, but I kinda like Force Awakens, only that it was difficult for me to enjoy it entirely since I have no idea on most of the characters in it. Haven't got the chance to watch Rogue One yet, but maybe I will.
2.) 17 Jun 2017 09:56:26
Sorry about the length, I didn't realise how much I wrote until the end! Rogue One is a standalone movie, and is one of the better movies set in space in recent years. Would most definitely recommend it, especially as the 'space' element doesn't actually play too large a role. I heard the director wanted a much darker and grittier war movie, but Disney being Disney, he was forced to abandon most of that vision. Nevertheless, it is still worth a watch.
{Ed001's Note - don't worry about the length. Personally I would want to watch them all again in order to rank them properly. Rogue One would be up there in the top 3 I think though.}
3.) 17 Jun 2017 12:51:14
That's good if it is a standalone, it would be more enjoyable to those who are like me. It was Gareth Edwards', right? I love the tone in his Godzilla, maybe I will enjoy this one as well.
{Ed001's Note - it was excellent mate.}
4.) 05 Jul 2017 17:14:02
Planning in watching rogue one this week so can't comment on that buy would largely agree with your ratings. But would put force awakens above jedi and possibly new hope, and phantom menace above sith.
Ok will start with the latter. Phantom menace is terrible, as all the prequels are, however I believe menace opened up more of the universe than nearly every other star wars film. Great lead characters in Neeson and mcgregor, decent story, good cgi (for the time) and the best fight scenes from any of the films. I even find jar jar more tolerable than 'pre-vader' and his inability to act. I also think sith was propped up by mcgregors amazing performance but was still unable to make it a good film due to the lack of quality performances around him.
As for force awakens I think it is probably the most polished told story of all the films. The reason I can't push it up higher, and possibly not above new Hope, is that it is essentially a rehashing of the original 2 films. Unknown character finds out they have force powers, bad guy has family connection to main good guys, surprise death of male good guy, bad guys have powerful laser that needs to be stopped, and Han is a grey character. However it is brilliantly executed and with the addition of modern cgi the film looks 'real' and not that cut out style that was found in the remastered originals. The use of practicAl effects were brilliant and the ending, although extremely cheese, was perfect for the continuing saga.
Could say more and will later nut have to run now.
07 May 2017 12:46:20
I've been an avid follower of the football sites for years, and it is only now that I've realised there's a site for movie fans! What are people's favourite films? My top 3 would be Pulp Fiction, Casablanca and Goodfellas.
{Ed001's Note - mine are mostly martial arts movies to be honest. Enter The Dragon, Ong Bak and I can't think which would be 3rd as it changes depending on how I feel.}
1.) 08 May 2017 21:30:14
It's quite difficult for me to list my top 3. There are loads of them. I think some others as well. It can be narrowed though to maybe 3 or 5 according to genres. If we are talking about martial arts, Ong Bak is definitely one of them alongwith Who Am I. When I first watched Ong Bak, it felt so fresh. Maybe there were loads of Kung Fu films but not much on Muay Thai back then.
2.) 09 May 2017 23:18:09
Not going on best films but regarding martial arts films, enter the dragon, the raid and the raid 2. seriously the raid films are IMO best martial arts films since Bruce Lee
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27 Dec 2017 22:14:13
Not a Star Trek fan but am a Tarantino fan, so not terribly excited but I'll still definitely go see it. Feel like this is the right movie for him to go back to that Jackie Brown mature filmmaking vibe.
17 Dec 2017 03:53:45
Nah it wasn’t aimed at you Welsh, sorry for not making it clear. Just meant quite a large portion of the fan base is rather toxic and this film has once again exposed that. It’s clearly a hugely divisive film though, I see most fans rating it as either the best since Empire or the worst since Phantom Menace.
15 Dec 2017 19:52:02
Thought it was fantastic, definitely one of the best Star Wars films, it's bold and refreshing. Don't know what so many of the 'fans' are complaining about, it's like they want to dislike it just because it's different. Yes, there are flaws but the level of hate aimed at it is over-the-top and out-of-proportion (e.g. too many women fighting for the rebels? Absolutely ridiculous criticism). I was very, very young when Phantom Menace came out so I wasn't aware then, but in all honesty I'm now not surprised the child actor that played young Anakin in that film went off the rails due to the bullying he received after, the fanbase is ridiculously toxic.
{Ed001's Note - I am glad I am not the only one who enjoyed it. It was just a good film that could stand alone as a good film regardless of if it was Star Wars or not.}
05 Dec 2017 15:37:46
Yeah, Ghibli is Japanese.
Spirited Away is perhaps my favourite animated film of all time. I used to watch it as a kid and I can confirm that it did give me a couple of nightmares (even now I find it quite eerie). However, I would highly recommend both you and your kids watch it because of just how brilliant the film is. The animation is typically beautiful, the music is fantastic and it's quite an enchanting film. Think Alice in Wonderland meets Wizard of Oz but set in a mystical town in Japan.
To be fair though, most of the great animated films are quite scary, or have some properly terrifying elements. Classic Disney had Dumbo getting drunk, the Evil Queen in Snow White and Paradise Island in Pinocchio. Coraline (a stop-motion animation) is one of the creepiest films I've ever seen and there are some scenes that make my skin crawl. So really, Spirited Away is not that scary compared to other animated films haha.
19 Oct 2017 01:18:16
*Spoilers*
Just saw it and I'm surprised people don't like it here. Although it is not as good as the original, the sequel was still really great. Visuals were fantastic, characters were engrossing and it felt like a sequel which grew upon the original rather than one which retroactively messes up the continuity or plots. The actors also did a superb job. Gosling, in particular, does really well in portraying K's tragic arc. For me, the movie honestly didn't feel that long, which is surprising because I've always felt like the original Blade Runner had a really slow pace.
However, there were some flaws which irked me. Some of the plot points were not explored and it meant that it felt a bit off kilter and forced in to move the story on. The main problem was the score though. It felt too much like a typical Zimmer score with a few riffs thrown in from the original Vangelis score which is far, far superior. The original soundtrack was never bombastic, and does a really great job in elevating the atmosphere. Here, Zimmer's score is never subtle enough (apart from when K dies) and it just did not feel like a Blade Runner score.
But other than that, I really enjoyed the film. The ending, in particular, was superb, with K dying in the snow to the same music that Batty died to in the original as the highlight for me. I would rate it 8.5/10.
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