Tag Archives: Drama

No Game No Life: Zero (2017)

15 Sunday Oct 2017

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Is life not a game
Where there’s no one to blame
If the rules seem unfair
And the ends are the same?

You’re tempted to quit,
Raise your hands in forfeit,
For the game doesn’t care
Where the losers will sit.

But wait! None will mind
The misfits of mankind,
For the arrogant player
Is conveniently blind.

Who heeds the has-been
When his triumphs begin?
Those who haven’t a prayer
In the game can still win.
_____________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Although I’ve come to really enjoy anime movies over the last several years, I’d never seen an anime film in the theater. Thus, it was a special treat to see No Game No Life: Zero on the big screen, especially with it being such a visually spectacular film. After being impressed by the trailers for months before its July opening in Japan, I thought for sure I’d have to wait perhaps a year before I’d get to see an American release, so I’m grateful to Sentai Filmworks and Fathom Events for distributing the English dub so quickly.

I wouldn’t doubt that non-anime fans have no idea what No Game No Life is. It’s a series of Japanese light novels, but most in the West would know it from the anime adaptation that is surprisingly popular for having only a single twelve-episode season. It centers on the gaming prowess of eighteen-year-old Sora and his eleven-year-old stepsister Shiro, two genius-level shut-ins who are transported by the god of games Tet to a fantasy world where all conflicts are decided by wagering on games of any kind. Humanity (known as Imanity in this world) is the lowest and least powerful of all the fantasy races, so Sora and Shiro take it upon themselves to lift up the humans and conquer the world through the likes of chess, word chain, and first-person shooters. Just as WarGames fans say “Shall we play a game?”, No Game No Life fans say “Aschente,” the mutual pledge before starting a game.

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The show itself is played mainly for laughs and to marvel at the Sherlock-level strategy and foresight the siblings command even when at a disadvantage, but it boasts a broader fantasy appeal too, especially with unseen backstory about a horrific war that only ended when Tet became god and made the world game-centric. The characters and situations are quite entertaining for the most part, though No Game No Life isn’t among my favorite series for one simple reason: fan service. There’s plenty of sexual harassment, near-nudity, and risqué humor, mainly from Sora, and while much of it is funny, a lot is just uncomfortable and annoying. Plus, I’m not usually a fan of the kind of anime with silly faces and exaggerated reactions (I know that’s the majority of anime), which is why I lean more toward dramatic series or movies, which are usually easier to take seriously.

That’s why I was so eager to see No Game No Life: Zero, a film centering on an extended flashback of the pre-Tet war, a subject which lends itself to much more drama and emotion, and indeed the film is a complete contrast from the humorous tone of the series. (By the way, the Zero in the title seems to be an example of the naming convention for works that are connected yet somehow separate from an established series [e.g. Fate/Zero, Steins;Gate 0, etc.].) No Game No Life is notable, and sometimes disliked, for its hypersaturated colors, boasting more bright hues than a Crayola factory, and while the movie retains the same style, it limits its palette more to complement the darker storyline. Instead of the shiny fantasy land into which Sora and Shiro are literally dropped, this war-torn world 6000 years earlier is dominated by reddened skies and skin-burning ash, leaving no doubt as to humanity’s desperation, caught in the crossfire between the more powerful magical races. Just look at the contrast between the worlds below, the first from the show, the second from the film.

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Although there’s still a lot left unseen, the film wonderfully expands our knowledge of the war, showing us why the modern-day races still hate each other. Jibril, an immortal angel-like creature called a Flugel, was one of the best characters on the show, conceited and charming at the same time, but her appearance in the film fits the description of an “angel of death,” proving that those memories of slaughter she fondly reminisces about in the show were not exaggerated. The film also intentionally echoes the series with its “new” character designs. Riku, the leader of the remaining humans, looks a lot like Sora, just as Shuvi, an Ex Machina android intent on learning the value of the human heart, looks much like Shiro. (They’re even voiced by the same voice actors in the excellent English dub that I saw.) The main design difference may be that their hair colors are reversed, but these new characters have their own personalities and griefs that set them apart from their later incarnations, and instead of a brother and sister relationship, theirs is destined for love. I will say it takes a certain amount of disconnect from the series to accept a romance between two characters who look like the siblings we know, but the film spends a good amount of time developing their relationship, even if it starts on a very awkward note.

The trailers mainly focused on the romance angle and an epic fight between Shuvi and Jibril, but I was glad to see that the movie does explain the war’s formerly vague resolution. Instead of the explicit games of the series, the game concept, along with humanity’s struggle, becomes more of a running theme as the characters engage in a literal game of “Global Thermonuclear War.” Some have complained about the pacing of the movie’s final third, but that’s where I thought it truly found its stride and consistently impressed. I loved the way victory is snatched from apparent defeat, utilizing the fact that the Ex Machina are a lot like the Borg from Star Trek, and the sad circumstances became sublimely bittersweet by the end. It spoke to how the most important people in history often remain unsung heroes, their names sometimes only remembered by God.

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No Game No Life: Zero was a pleasure to watch in the theater, especially because it elevated the series it was based on, focusing on the fantasy with just a taste of the original’s humor and chucking the unnecessary fan service. (There’s still some stylized nudity, but it’s more forgivable here.) The animation is particularly stunning, especially during that epic battle I mentioned, and the score beautifully enhanced the emotions of each scene, with the lovely ending theme “There Is a Reason” earning entrance into my End Credits Song Hall of Fame.  By the end, as the film tied itself directly into where the series left off, I even found myself feeling surprisingly nostalgic and fond for a show I thought I only moderately liked. Many think this film is a prelude for a potential second season, and the movie will certainly strengthen that hope. No Game No Life may be a series I wouldn’t quite recommend to everyone, but, with the right background information, this movie is. (By the way, I’ve included the first teaser trailer down below to give a taste of the awesome animation and music.)

Best line: (Riku) “Yes, humans are fools, but it takes a great fool to not let that foolishness get themselves killed.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2017 S.G. Liput
516 Followers and Counting

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)

08 Sunday Oct 2017

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Some may wish five happinesses
On both traveler and friend:
The hope for wealth from their successes,
And a long life ere the end.

Third, may good health cause increase,
And virtue fortify your soul,
And lastly, may you die in peace,
Having met your every goal.

Though five would fill most purposes,
A sixth and final happiness
I wish to all, but what it is
Is up to each of us to guess.
____________________

MPAA rating: PG

Ingrid Bergman is one movie star who hasn’t been much on my classic film radar, aside from Casablanca and Gaslight (which are great). To remedy that, I decided to check out one of her later roles in the semi-epic The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, in which she plays Gladys Aylward, a real-life missionary to China who rose to fame with her humanitarian efforts during the Sino-Japanese War of the 1930s.

I call it a semi-epic because, though it doesn’t quite boast the sweeping storytelling of Ben-Hur or Doctor Zhivago, there’s enough of it in Aylward’s decades-long mission that the magnitude of her story rises above others of its day. At the beginning, Aylward displays an indomitable passion for China, feeling it is where God has called her for His purposes, and at her own expense and peril, she journeys there to join an already established missionary (Athene Seyler). There in Yang Cheng, they open an inn for travelers, whose hunger for stories they plan to meet with the Bible, but many difficulties stand in the way, from uncooperative leaders to the obvious language barrier. And even when she earns the trust and love of the people, Aylward’s commitment to China also puts her in harm’s way when the Japanese invade in the years leading up to World War II, and she takes it upon herself to lead a hundred orphans to safety.

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While The Inn of the Sixth Happiness doesn’t quite make my List, it’s the kind of film that might have if I’d seen it long ago and built it up in my head as a classic. (That is how it works sometimes.) There’s much to love about it, not least of all is Bergman’s performance as Aylward. Even if she looks and sounds nothing like the woman she’s playing (just one of the film’s many historical liberties), she certainly captures her commitment and love for the Chinese people. Like Mother Teresa, she goes to serve as both servant and example rather than force conversion on the people. She doesn’t merely go to China for a couple years to fulfill a duty; instead, she immerses herself in the land and culture, even becoming a Chinese citizen, and dedicates her entire life to her mission of love and social reform. It is this kind of Christian commitment that is most persuasive, and when she does find success and respect in the eyes of both the Chinese and her fellow missionaries, it’s immensely satisfying and touching. I’ve even heard reports that playing such a godly woman led Ingrid Bergman to become a Christian.

Strong supporting roles are filled by Curt Jurgens as a half-Chinese colonel and love interest and Robert Donat (his last film role before his death) as the local mandarin of Yang Cheng. Of course, neither actor is Chinese, leading to retroactive criticisms of the film for whitewashing, but they both are excellent still, especially Donat, and they’re not at all insulting like Mickey Rooney’s caricature in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Plus, the vast majority of the cast are still played by Chinese actors, including many children from a Chinese community in Liverpool. Especially affecting is the commitment of Aylward’s two Chinese helpers who assist her along the way, as well as an emotional scene between Aylward and one of her adopted Chinese daughters.

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It’s not without its flaws, from an overlong runtime to some loose ends that are left unresolved by the end. Plus, it’s up to each viewer how much the historical changes bother you; Aylward herself wasn’t a fan of the film’s depiction of her or Curt Jurgens’ character. Yet the mountainous setting adds a good deal of authenticity to Aylward’s travails, aided by terrific cinematography, and even if director Mark Robson was the only member of the production to earn an Oscar nomination, the quality of the performances and overall film seem deserving of far more. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness isn’t strongly evangelical, still being a Hollywood production, but the faith of its subject is unmistakable and inspiring.

Best line: (Aylward) “You have to interfere with what you feel is wrong, if you hope to make it right.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
514 Followers and Counting

 

Dunkirk (2017)

06 Friday Oct 2017

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In desperate times, the desperate strive
To conquer odds and just survive,
A second, minute, hour away
To die or live another day.

Is this success, to scrape on through,
To call retreat as foes pursue?
Is it defeat to slip away
To live and fight another day?
_____________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Dunkirk was one of my most anticipated movies this year, and Christopher Nolan delivered. And what he delivered is a war movie unlike any other, one that uses his penchant for time manipulation in order to provide a comprehensive and visceral glance at the Dunkirk evacuation, which until now wasn’t nearly as known as it should have been.

Image result for dunkirk film mark rylance

Minimally explained by a couple words on the screen, the film takes place in three different time frames: a week for the soldiers stranded on Dunkirk’s beaches as they desperately seek rescue, a day for a small civilian vessel on its way across the English Channel to help, and an hour for a lone RAF pilot (Tom Hardy) as he defends evacuees from German bombers. The movie bounces around between time frames so frequently that it’s easy to confuse the chronology of events that play out faster in one timeline than another, but it also becomes a sort of epic puzzle as the three stories converge toward the end.

Dunkirk is far from a head trip, though; it’s a non-stop adrenaline rush. From the first moments where silence is shattered by sudden gunfire, the nerves are constantly put on edge. I wouldn’t doubt that Dunkirk is a shoo-in for technical Oscars, like Sound Editing: augmented by Hans Zimmer’s escalating score, the gunshots and the blaring drone of incoming bombers are deafening (my theater had excellent speakers), lending the audience a taste of the shell shock felt by the soldiers of Dunkirk.

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It’s amazing how relentless the suspense is across all three stories. Hardy’s midair dogfights are thrillingly authentic, especially with the knowledge that real period planes were used rather than CGI re-creations, while Mark Rylance embodies civilian determination as the skipper of the small boat Moonstone, offering brave wisdom while dealing with a panicky survivor (Cillian Murphy). The most unnerving scenes go to the British young men on Dunkirk’s stark, wind-swept beaches, particularly Fionn Whitehead as our touchstone in that time frame. We barely get to know any of the soldiers, which also include Aneurin Barnard and a quite solid Harry Styles, but their desperation is palpable as they search for any boat in the storm. One scene of a torpedo attack is a whirl of watery chaos; not since Titanic has a ship sinking been so riveting.

On technical merit, the film is practically flawless, but there were a few things that held it back from total perfection, for me at least. Aside from the potential confusion of the three time frames, I suppose I prefer war movies to have a bit more character development. I never really learned any of the characters’ names or backgrounds, and the beach-bound soldiers have precious little to say to each other, although I’m sure it was likely intentional to focus more on their immediate actions rather than backstory and dialogue. A few moments also left me confused as to people’s reasoning, like when soldiers on an endangered boat insist that someone should get off or when one character seems to choose capture by the enemy over joining the evacuation. One tiny bit of improved editing might also have better shown that a waterlogged boat was actually at sea rather than just surrounded by the incoming tide. Plus, Nolan’s focus for the film was clearly the desperation of everyone involved, and while heroism has its triumphant moments, the desperation tends to overwhelm it and leave little room for any religious aspect of the story, like the day of prayer in Britain beforehand or the miraculous storm that kept the German army at bay.

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I quite agree with the consensus that Dunkirk is one of the great war movies of all time, and its beach setting makes comparisons to Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan inevitable. While I think Saving Private Ryan is a better film overall, I will say that I appreciated Dunkirk’s comparative restraint. There are no severed limbs or sprays of blood, and the intensity of the war scenes is not diminished one bit. Yet perhaps that’s due to a difference in directorial intention. I loved Nolan’s explanation he gave in an interview, stating that Saving Private Ryan showed the horror of war with scenes to make you want to turn away, while Nolan wanted to make a film of suspense that “you can’t take your eyes off.” In that, he succeeded, and even if it’s not quite perfect, even if I still consider Inception Nolan’s best work, Dunkirk is a brilliantly executed, well-acted, edge-of-your-seat piece of immersive history.

Best line: (Rylance’s Mr. Dawson) “He’s shell-shocked, George. He’s not himself. He might never be himself again.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
514 Followers and Counting

 

Genre Grandeur – The Wages of Fear (1953) / Sorcerer (1977) – Rhyme and Reason

01 Sunday Oct 2017

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Here is my contribution to MovieRob’s September Genre Grandeur of Remade Movies. I reviewed both the classic French thriller The Wages of Fear with its American counterpart Sorcerer, comparing and contrasting them as one of my Version Variations.

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For this month’s first review for Genre Grandeur – Re-Made Movies, here’s a review of The Wages of Fear (1953) / Sorcerer (1977)) by SG of Rhyme and Reason

Thanks again to Robb of Red Bezzle for choosing this month’s genre.

Next month’s Genre has been chosen by Kira of Film and TV 101 and it is Western CrossoverMovies.

Literally any film from any genre with western elements to it; comedy/drama/musical or even thrillers or horror.

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of October by sending them to westerncrosskira@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box! Great choice Kira!

Let’s see what SG thought of these movies:

_________________________________

The Wages of Fear (1953) / Sorcerer (1977)


You don’t know what fear is, son.

You’ve felt it flicker and then fade.

But none can say they’ve fully felt

The fear that makes men’s spirits melt

Until their nerves…

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The Assassin (2015)

29 Friday Sep 2017

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They say the world was slow before the Information Age,
When everything was hastened into busyness and rage.
Before the start of coal and steel and trains to move them round,
I guess that life was slower still and much less schedule-bound.

So think of how much slower life was centuries ago:
Compared with now, it might seem that the world was in slo-mo.
But once the novelty had worn, you’d want your time restored,
‘Cause when the world was slower, it was also very bored.
____________________

MPAA rating: Not Rated (should be PG-13)

I can’t remember the last movie I saw that was such a complete and excruciating waste of time. I had heard The Assassin was a slow but beautifully shot Chinese epic, but my gosh, I had no inkling as to how slow it would be. As I once described 2001: A Space Odyssey, this is the definition of artsy-fartsy: artsy because yes, there is cinematic skill on display, and fartsy because it stinks nonetheless.

The Assassin’s plot, such as it is, is about a woman named Yinniang trained from a young age as an assassin, whose mentor sends her to prove her ruthlessness by killing Yinniang’s own cousin, the military governor of an autonomous province. Even if I wanted to recount the rest of the story, I don’t know that I could because it was so inscrutable. There’s talk of backstabbing loyalists to the Emperor and someone’s wife getting pregnant and an assassination attempt other than Yinniang’s, and honestly I couldn’t keep track of the convoluted mess being barely explained in front of me. One bald guy seems to be pulling strings from the shadows but is never identified; even after some soldiers barged in and shot him with arrows, I still didn’t know who he was supposed to be.

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On top of this narrative opacity, all the plot elements I mentioned belie the fact that very little actually happens. Seriously, this 105-minute film has less dialogue than a typical half-hour TV show, and it seems to drag out its story by padding every sentence with interminably long shots of characters staring gloomily ahead, with not enough context or effort to lend their expressions any meaningful emotion. This might be forgivable if the action scenes could make up for it, since this is supposed to be a wuxia film, but Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon this is not. The martial arts are oddly placed and very brief, often with jarringly abrupt endings. At one point, Yinniang walks through the woods, trades sword slashes with a briefly glimpsed masked woman, manages to cut off a piece of the mask, and they both walk away with no words spoken. Did the filmmakers not care how many questions scenes like that would bring up? Obviously not, since they never try to explain it.

I just want to point out that I am a very patient person. I can spend hours working on a jigsaw puzzle. I’ve watched uneventful potential snoozefests like Into Great Silence, Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart, The Wall, and Metropolis and typically tried to recognize the best in them. I greatly enjoyed and admired The Red Turtle, and that didn’t have any dialogue at all! But The Assassin was a complete and utter waste of my time, a film I only finished because of my personal policy to finish any movie I start, unless it’s outright offensive, which this wasn’t.

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After preserving some hope for the first half hour, I spent the remainder just wishing it would end already. I wanted every scene toward the end to be the last because I knew it would try for some enigmatic conclusion I wouldn’t understand anyway so why did it matter where it stopped? If I had to pick something, I suppose I appreciated the cinematography, such as some of the landscapes and a carefully composed scene shot through a transparent curtain. But trust me when I say this film is not worth your time. I’ve included the trailer below because every scene of worth is in there; just watch that instead, disregard the critical praise, and do something more interesting with your 105 minutes, like maybe watching paint dry.

Best line: There were none!

 

Rank: (Very) Dishonorable Mention

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
511 Followers and Counting
 

 

 

VC Pick: The Red Violin (1998)

27 Wednesday Sep 2017

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Where was this music before it came here
To strum my emotions and tickle my ear?
Where did this instrument formerly play
Before it revived to distinguish this day?

In hand-crafted wood, in dormancy kept,
Awaiting their moment, the melodies slept
Until the right hand, the right passion and skill
Compelled euphony from its prison to spill.

What hearts has it shattered? What lives has it blessed,
As lifelong companion or transient guest?
I cannot be sure of what lies in repose
In the unwritten symphony it alone knows.
_____________________

MPAA rating: R (mainly for a couple scenes with unnecessary nudity)

My VC obviously knows what I like. I had never even heard of this Canadian drama, but the way she described it piqued my interest. Indeed, it turned out to be exactly what I’d hoped, a Meet-‘Em-and-Move-On movie, my favorite unofficial subgenre in which a character’s life or journey introduces them to a parade of acquaintances and influences that typically brings their story full circle. Forrest Gump and War Horse are good examples, but whereas those follow a person or animal, The Red Violin follows the titular instrument as it passes from owner to owner through centuries, finding new meaning in the hands of each player.

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The Red Violin is really five stories in one, and while it’s not as potentially confusing as Cloud Atlas, the narrative does jump around a bit. In a way, it begins at the end, with the violin being put up for auction, before leaping back to its creation at the hands of an Italian master (Carlo Cecchi) in 1681. From there, the violin passes on to 18th-century Austria, 19th-century England, and Communist China. I absolutely loved the editing that wove connections between stories that share little in common other than the violin. In between each new tale, we return to the 1600s, where the violin maker’s wife receives a tarot card reading, and we revisit the auction house in 1997, where every bidder has a unique reason for wanting this particular violin.

There’s a great deal of authenticity to each vignette, allowing us to grasp the time and place even without an explanatory subtitle. Each tale plays out in the language of the country—Italian, German, English, Chinese, etc.—and there aren’t many recognizable actors to call attention to themselves, Samuel L. Jackson being the only big name star. (Some may also recognize Jason Flemying, Colm Feore, and Greta Scacchi.) The music is fantastic, both the feigned violin playing itself and the compositions, both graceful and aggressive, by John Corrigliano, who won the Oscar for Best Score, and it adds even more sophistication to the elegant camerawork and production design.Image result for the red violin filmBy the end, I wasn’t positive how I felt about The Red Violin, but my admiration for it has grown with time. I especially admire how, in its journey through history, the violin becomes a symbol of everything music can stand for: a true love, a damaging obsession, an inspiring muse, a steep cost, a science to study, a cause for persecution, a treasure worth protecting. It’s imperfectly ambitious and didn’t provoke the strong emotions I usually expect from a Meet-‘Em-and-Move-On, but it was still an engaging and epic journey, punctuated by a revelation that wasn’t exactly a twist but more of a slow realization confirmed by the end. Beautiful, sad, and passionate in equal measure, The Red Violin is proof that my VC’s tastes sometimes do match my own.

 

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
511 Followers and Counting

 

Cars 3 (2017)

24 Sunday Sep 2017

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The world will see you as they choose,
No matter how they may deny.
They see exteriors so well
It takes hard work to break that shell,
To prove you’re more than meets the eye
And pay the greater dues.

The world’s opinions can infect
And sap the will to prove them wrong.
You balk on whether to begin,
But those who don’t will never win.
To everyone such doubts belong,
So prove them incorrect.
_________________

MPAA rating: G

I’m sure many, like me, approached Pixar’s third Cars movie with some hesitance, unsure if it was being made as a more fitting end for the series than Cars 2 or because Disney and Pixar were just trying to cash in on one of their most profitable (and least loved) franchises. While I still wasn’t sure through the first half of the movie, I’m glad to say it’s the former. Cars 3 is far more like the original than the over-the-top sequel, returning its sights to Lightning McQueen and the racing world and totally ignoring all the spy stuff of its immediate predecessor. Thankfully, Mater is once again a mere side character too.

Early on, we’re treated to a montage of Lightning’s time in the sun as a racing champ. After years on top, though, he’s suddenly outclassed by newcomer Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer), and much as Lightning overshadowed the King in the first film, analysts and fans are suddenly enamored with Storm’s ascent and scientifically proven training. After pushing himself too far, Lightning faces a career crisis when his contract is sold to a new owner named Sterling (Nathan Fillion, who I’m glad is still finding work), and his future in racing comes down to raw performance and perhaps a new way to train with motivational coach Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo).

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I will say this felt like one of Pixar’s more uneven films, making me wonder at times whether it was more like the first or the second Cars in terms of story quality and character interactions. There were times in the first half when things just felt “off” for a Pixar film, like when Bonnie Hunt’s Sally encourages Lightning in highly generic fashion, and some of the new characters take some time to get used to them.

Yet as the story develops, Cars 3 grows into a worthy conclusion for the series. It’s also a fitting farewell to two members of the original voice cast who have since died, Paul Newman as Doc Hudson and Tom Magliozzi of “Car Talk” fame as one of Lightning’s Rust-eze sponsors, both of whom are sort of resurrected via pre-recorded audio, which is underused but still touching. All of the other cast members (save for George Carlin) return as well, except for Michael Keaton as Chick Hicks, replaced by the very different-sounding Bob Peterson.

Lightning’s story is all about whether he’ll give up and ride on his fame or risk damaging his reputation by striving further than he is able, a strong yet subtle conflict with real-world parallels, such as tennis player Roger Federer for example. (My VC and I love him and have debated whether he should quit while he’s ahead, yet he keeps on eking out wins.) Lightning’s main goal is to be able to choose when he quits rather than being forced out of the game as Doc was. Yet by being constantly called a “legend,” he sees that everyone considers him past his prime, and Cruz makes it very clear that she considers him old as dirt.

Despite her initial presumptions, though, Cruz becomes something that Lightning has never had before, a protégé, one who has offered so much support to others through training that she’s never kept any of that confidence for herself. The fact that she is played by a Latina woman is no coincidence either, and she becomes a fine example for minority underdogs daring to be taken seriously. The dynamic between Lightning and Cruz isn’t without its bumps, but how it plays out by the end is a clever realization of both of their goals and a perfect way of bringing Lightning’s character full circle.

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As I said, except for maybe a couple racers, Cars 3 essentially ignores Cars 2 altogether, with not a single mention of the spy plot and even casting off key details. For instance, Cars 2 mentioned that the Piston Cup had been renamed in Doc’s honor, but here it’s the Piston Cup again. Plus, I noticed a scene in my recent viewing of Cars 2 where Lightning had product endorsements and plenty of merchandise, making me wonder why he is now so reluctant to “cash in” as a brand. Personally, I think Cars 2 was all a dream or one of Mater’s tall tales because Cars 3 stays as relatively grounded as the first film and thus is a far better continuation of its story. Despite a rocky start, Cars 3 turns out to be a superior sequel than the cash grab it might have been, raising Pixar’s animation quality even higher and providing a satisfying end to the trilogy. At least until they come up with a Cars 4. Please, Pixar, this franchise is one case where you should quit while you’re ahead.

Best line: (Smokey, Doc’s former crew chief) “You’ll never be the racer you once were. You can’t turn back the clock, kid. But you can wind it up again.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy (joining the first Cars)

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
511 Followers and Counting

 

Cartoon Comparison / 2017 Blindspot Pick #9: Hear Me (2009) / A Silent Voice (2016)

15 Friday Sep 2017

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Image result for a silent voice film

Whispered rumors, mocking humor,
Overhearing words of spite,
Talk of blame and guilt and shame,
Made all the worse because they’re right—
Oh, to shut such voices out,
Unkindness barely out of sight.

Those with ears, now let them hear,
But if they can’t, do words turn rude?
Is absence of respect and love
The norm when barriers are viewed?
Perhaps it’s best the deaf don’t hear
Unkindness at such amplitude.

Those who fear the scorn they hear
May hide in deafness self-imposed,
Just as those who never chose
Their handicap can feel exposed.
Yet all who rise must recognize
Life’s eyes and ears should not be closed.
______________________

MPAA rating for Hear Me: Not Rated (should be PG)
MPAA rating for A Silent Voice: Not Rated (could be PG but probably PG-13)

In honor of  September being Deaf Awareness Month, I thought it appropriate to combine my monthly Blindspot Hear Me as a Cartoon Comparison with the anime film A Silent Voice, both of which are about a relationship between a boy and a young deaf girl. I thought to combine their reviews before I’d even seen them, but now that I have, the truth is that they’ve got far more differences than similarities. Hear Me is a Taiwanese romantic comedy with the unique distinction of being mostly in sign language, while A Silent Voice is a poignant tale of a bully’s emotional journey toward forgiveness, with romance staying on the back burner. (I thought they were both Japanese until I saw Hear Me was from Taiwan.) Yet both do address issues of deaf people and how others relate to them.

I’ll start with my Blindspot pick Hear Me, which intrigued me when I heard it was mostly in sign language. That probably won’t please anyone who doesn’t enjoy subtitles, but it makes for some very unique conversations, some of them quite dramatic yet communicated with only hands and facial expression rather than voice. Eddie Peng (who just appeared this year in The Great Wall) plays Tian Kuo, a delivery boy for his parents’ restaurant, who meets a girl named Yang Yang (Ivy Chen) at the public pool while her sister trains for the Deaflympics. Since he knows sign language, he freely converses with her over time, and their relationship goes through some familiar highs and lows, with deafness as a potential complication for their future together.

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Let me just say that Hear Me has abundant charm, thanks largely to Eddie Peng, whose goofy, lovestruck antics and faces shine through even without words. There is dialogue too, in Chinese, mainly for the humorous exchanges between Tian Kuo and his bossy mother, but sign language and relative quiet are the rule rather than the exception here. The romance is also refreshingly wholesome, with the most suggestive moment just Tian Kuo seeing Yang Yang’s feet while she’s changing, which gives him a nosebleed. (It’s funny, I’ve seen that happen in anime, but this suggests that it’s something that actually happens to Asian people when they get excited.)

Hear Me actually focuses on the dual relationships of Tian Kuo and Yang Yang, as well as Yang Yang and her deaf sister Xiao Peng (Yanxi Chen). After Tian Kuo offends his crush by disrespecting her meager income, his efforts to win her back may bring to mind John Cusack’s desperation in Say Anything, just instead of holding a boom box outside of her window, he dresses as a tree and gives her a coin bank shaped like a bird. Really similar, see? The humor comes from Tian Kuo’s side, while Yang Yang and her sister face more dramatic issues, like craving independence despite being deaf. Yang Yang earns all the money, while her sister focuses on competing as a swimmer, but when her performance suffers, Xiao Peng comes to regret and resent her own dependence on her sister, climaxing in an all-hand heart-to-heart between them.

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Hear Me makes the most of its unique sign-language dialogue, which serves the story rather than being just a gimmick. I liked how a misunderstanding was cleverly prolonged, as well as the few reminders of Yang Yang’s Christianity, since her absent father is said to be a missionary to Africa. It may not be a laugh riot, but there were definitely funny moments, especially a hilariously awkward scene where Tian Kuo’s parents sing his praises to his girlfriend. The central relationship also featured several of those heartwarmingly romantic moments that made Hear Me a pleasure to watch.

Now for A Silent Voice, or as its Japanese title Koe no Katachi translates, The Shape of Voice. While it received many accolades, A Silent Voice suffered somewhat from bad timing, being released just a month after last year’s mega-hit Your Name in Japan. (Incidentally, both were nominated for Japan’s Best Animated Feature Academy Award, but neither one won. That honor went to In This Corner of the World, which I’ll get to at some point.)  Whereas Hear Me was a romantic comedy with some moments of drama, A Silent Voice is much more dramatic in its young-adult setting and is bound to make sensitive viewers reach for the tissues more than once.

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The film starts with the carefree elementary school life of Shōya Ishida, who is dumbfounded at the arrival of a new student, a girl named Shoko Nishimiya who reveals through writing in her notebook that she cannot hear. While the other students are civil enough at first, the situation quickly devolves into bullying, led by Ishida. These scenes remind you how cruel kids can be and easily make your heart break for Nishimiya, who endures it all with quiet patience, still thinking the best of her classmates. When she finally is forced to change schools, the blame for her departure quickly falls on Ishida, and he takes her place as the class scapegoat and bully target. Fast forward several years to Ishida in high school, and his marginalization has only deepened, even making him consider suicide, until he tries to seek out Nishimiya and make amends.

A Silent Voice makes the uncommon choice of first portraying its main character as a bully, the kind whose maliciousness seems normal to them but traumatic to their target. Yet the same person we dislike from the outset grows into a source of sympathy as he tries desperately to put that childish cruelty behind him. I loved the creative choice of placing X’s over the faces of his fellow classmates, marking them as people he has no chance or desire of knowing, as literal “unfriends.” These X’s become a brilliant way of visualizing Ishida’s mental state and his chances of relationships with others; when he lets his guard down, actually noticing and treating someone else as a person or vice versa, the X falls from their face and allows him a chance at a friend.

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The relationship between Ishida and Nishimiya is touching on multiple levels. They’re both broken people with agonizingly low self-esteems, Ishida because he considers his past offenses unforgivable, Nishimiya because she blames herself for any trouble around her and believes she somehow deserves it, always apologizing for everything. It’s amazing how easily she seems to accept Ishida after what he did, but it’s the mere effort of communicating with her that she values most. Also perceptive are their interactions with the friends they make and how they respond to the bullying: one girl still sees Nishimiya as insincere and worthy of her harassment, while another views herself as completely innocent, even though she watched Nishimiya’s persecution and did nothing. These bullying themes and Ishida himself meant much to me because I too have been on both sides; I was picked on by an older classmate for a time and I did the same myself, something I still regret despite it happening only once. Ishida doesn’t approach Nishimiya with any set goals of how to make it up to her, but he tries to build the relationships he once helped destroy, something any repentant bully would wish they could do as well.

Kyoto Animation has a reputation for excellence, from the popular Haruhi Suzumiya franchise to the highly anticipated Violet Evergarden, and A Silent Voice is proof of the studio’s talents. The animation is painterly with its luminous, pastel palette, and, even if some of the artsy editing makes it unclear at first what just happened in the nonlinear storyline, it looks gorgeous throughout. The abundant use of symbolism and some ambiguous scenes (like the very first and last shots) also make it a film worth analyzing and hearing others analyze. I still consider Your Name the best anime of last year, but A Silent Voice is quite simply a beautiful film that wears its emotions on its sleeve. Anytime it threatens to dip into teen melodrama, it’s revived by a sweet moment or heart-tugging conversation. I laughed out loud twice, I actually cried “No!” at one harrowing part, and the final scene gives me tearful chills every time I see it.

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Going into these two movies, I really expected them both to be List Runners-Up, as so many movies I’ve seen recently have been. On its own, Hear Me probably would be a Runner-Up, but A Silent Voice earns its way onto my List and gives me an excuse to add Hear Me as a tie. Both approach their deaf subjects with great sensitivity, stressing that they are relatable people in search of the same relationships we all crave. Hear Me had far more sign language than A Silent Voice, which didn’t really bother to translate with subtitles when it was used, but both are excellent features for Deaf Awareness Month and are well worth seeing any other month, for that matter.

Best line from Hear Me: (Tian Kuo’s father, of his mother) “She’s got a knife for a mouth and tofu for a heart.”

Best line from A Silent Voice: (Kawai, a sort-of friend) “Everyone suffers in their life. But it’s like that for everyone, right? So you have to love the bad parts of yourself too and move forward.”

 

Rank for both: List-Worthy (tie)

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
507 Followers and Counting

 

September Morning (2017)

12 Tuesday Sep 2017

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Where were you when the towers fell,
When a nation was numbed by an unforeseen hell?
What hollow activities padded the day,
As newscasters had the same horrors to play,
The same videos, the same headlines to tell?
And wasn’t “tomorrow” new cause for dismay?

Yet here we are, many years past the threat,
Still filled with the grief that once shocked and upset.
New courage since then, we’ve been forced to adopt.
We all may recall the day normal life stopped,
But let not the sadness cause us to forget
The day it began again, day for night swapped.
___________________

MPAA rating: Not Rated (should be R, for language)

The last two years, I’ve commemorated the anniversary of 9/11 by watching movie re-creations, letting United 93 and World Trade Center remind me of the tragic power of that horrific day. This year, though, I had the privilege of attending a free local screening of a small independent film called September Morning, a 9/11 film that never shows the planes or the smoking towers, instead dramatizing how average Americans far from New York, specifically a group of college students, reacted to the day that changed America.

Filmed over thirteen days and set completely in a small dorm room, September Morning takes place during the night of September 11 into September 12, after everyone was sick of the repeated news stories, sick of the fear and uncertainty, “tired of watching history being made.” The five college freshmen who spend that difficult night together include jocular Eric (Troy Doherty), promiscuous Lynz (Katherine C. Hughes), pessimistic Justin (Michael Grant), reserved Shelly (Taylor Rose), and vengeful ROTC cadet “Dish” Fisher (Patrick Cage II), who gather for pizza, beer, cigarettes, and conversation to distract from the oppressive melancholy that ruled the day. Each of those adjectives I assigned them are very general, as all of them fit those descriptions at some point, never coming off as stereotypes or anything less than genuine. The film doesn’t suffer one bit from its independent status, since every one of the actors is beyond reproach, with skillful direction to match from first-time writer-director Ryan Frost, who based the film off his own experiences as a freshman at the University of Richmond in September of 2001. Based on this film, I’d say every one of these talents is a name to watch, if only they would get the right notice.

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The banter of the newfound college friends is heartfelt and sometimes funny, though rarely in a laugh-out-loud sort of way, but the shadow of 9/11 hangs over everything. Throughout the film are discussions and even silent reminders of the events of the previous day, offering much insight into how people felt at the time. When someone suggests watching a movie, Justin objects that whatever they see will be stigmatized to remind them of this time, just as anything showing the Twin Towers bears a solemn memory. The mood changes drastically when someone mentions planes or Arabs.  Shelly voices her hesitation at having a good time with friends after seeing people jump from burning buildings. There’s a debate about how people can pray and believe in God at times like this, with two characters sticking with Jesus while Justin argues for cynicism.

In many ways, September Morning struck me as The Breakfast Club for a new generation, simply set in college rather than high school. The whole film is basically a five-way conversation about these young people’s joys, fears, insecurities, and anger, simply with 9/11 as the context and trigger of these volatile emotions. There’s even an antagonistic authority figure in Michael Liu’s resident assistant, who criticizes the group’s self-medicating attitude and is summarily resented. As with The Breakfast Club, it’s easy to relate to these characters, and everyone is bound to see themselves in one or several of them at some point.

My main problem with September Morning is the language, with a surfeit of casual F-words surpassing anything in The Breakfast Club. In addition, the sexual conversations get uncomfortably graphic at times, even if nothing is shown. The frequent obscenities sadly make it a film I wouldn’t watch often, taking away from the otherwise impressive acting and thoughtful dialogue. (“Maybe fate is just a series of events that lead people to the same place.”) The lighthearted scenes often leaned too crude, but when the serious moments came, they rang true, particularly a brilliant exchange with the pizza delivery man (Max Gail, known to older viewers as “Wojo” on Barney Miller), whose age and experience help the young people put the traumatic day in perspective.

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As with Life, Animated, I actually got to take part in a Q & A after the screening, this time with writer-director Ryan Frost, and he expressed his desire to memorialize how it felt on September 11 and 12 for the average American, especially since most college students will soon be part of a generation that doesn’t even remember 9/11. Even with the unnecessary profanity, September Morning succeeds as an encapsulation of those feelings and makes a point of contrasting the anger and despair with the kindness and encouragement that 9/12 instilled in people. As I left the theater with its flag flying at half-mast yesterday, the memory of the grief was lightened by the knowledge that, as hard and complex as it is, life does go on.

Best funny line: (Eric) “We’re all white people from the suburbs.”   (Dish, who’s black) “Excuse me?”   (Eric) “Oh, sorry, Justin’s Jewish.”

Best serious line: (delivery man Don) “When you get older, you tend to remember that time to time, the world goes crazy, but it doesn’t stop.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
506 Followers and Counting

 

Marooned (1969)

10 Sunday Sep 2017

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Although it looks down at mankind from the sky,
And we behold it every night,
The dark void of space is no friend or ally.
‘Tis death on our borders to push and defy,
An ever-black vacuum that wills us to die
If we from our atmosphere venture too high,
Which man will endeavor despite,
Despite the dread silence our fears amplify,
Despite the expanses too vast for the eye.
Despite all the dangers that could go awry,
Mankind will dare every new height.
___________________

MPAA rating: G (should be PG, for light language)

This one is a special request of my mom’s. I’ve been putting off reviewing Marooned for a long time, despite my mom’s insistence, because I remember her showing it to me as a kid, and I was bored out of my skull. Since that first viewing, I’ve always viewed it as boredom incarnate. To my mind for the last several years, it’s been “Marooned = dull.” Yet she finally convinced me to give it another chance, and I must admit it’s better than I recalled, perhaps because I’ve grown in patience over the years. (Plus, I have a new standard for boring-as-heck cinema, which I’ll review soon.)

It might seem that this story of a space shuttle mission gone wrong drew inspiration from the Apollo 13 incident, but surprisingly it came out shortly after Apollo 11, a year before the similar events of Apollo 13. Richard Crenna, Gene Hackman, and James Franciscus play the three NASA astronauts who are stranded in their capsule (called Ironman One) when main engine failure leaves them without enough fuel to return home or to their space station. Unable to do anything but conserve oxygen and wait, the astronauts rest their hopes on Mission Control, led by Gregory Peck’s flight director Charles Keith, and a daring last-ditch rescue mission.

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Marooned is still rather slow in its execution, but my mom has a special connection with any movie about NASA, this included, since my grandfather worked on the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions at Cape Canaveral and she also worked there during the Space Shuttle Program. In fact, she sees her dad in Gregory Peck’s administrator and, as a kid, imagined her father similarly calling the shots, though he actually played more of a background role. I too have that fondness to some extent, which helped me appreciate Marooned more than I was expecting this time.

One thing that I recognized with this viewing is how Marooned has influenced other stranded-in-space films. Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 is an obvious comparison, though that had a direct historical basis, while this is fictional. I could also point, though, to the rallying of support and resources for a risky rescue that was also seen in The Martian, and the emotional farewells between the astronauts and their wives were echoed in the video goodbyes of the space crew in Deep Impact. And of course, the desperate space-walking finale bears some resemblance to the whole concept of Gravity, though Gravity’s jaw-dropping effects make the Oscar-winning effects in Marooned look pitiful. (They’re decent, but at one point, I could see a string suspending a supposedly floating object.) In a way, this climax represents the problem with Marooned: it’s meant to be tense and gripping, but the now-hokey effects and lack of music (only space sounds) make it anticlimactic and far less engaging than it was meant to be, especially when we have films like Gravity that took similar ingredients and did them better.

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Yet I can’t be too hard on Marooned anymore. It does feature some excellent performances, exemplified in the tearful calls between the astronauts and their wives, and Gregory Peck is in top form. Plus, that investment in the space program that must be in my blood helped me appreciate it overall, especially Keith’s impassioned defense of space travel, regardless of regrettable losses incurred, making the scrapping of our modern space program all the more disappointing. It’s still a bit dry, procedural, and overlong for my taste, but Marooned has at least moved up in my estimation, which at least should make my mom happy.

Best line: (reporter) “Are the results you’ve gained worth the lives you’ve lost?”  (Keith) “You’re damn right they are! You want to know what they accomplished living up there in a tin can for five months? Because of men like these, we’ve taken the first step off this little planet. A trip to the moon was just a walk around the block; we’re going to the stars, to other worlds, other civilizations. Men will be killed in this effort, just as they’re killed in cars and airplanes and bars and in bed.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
506 Followers and Counting