Sunday, 28 January 2018

Oscar Anger

I love anime and I love animation. However, you may not know that I am quite into film awards such as the BAFTA's and the Oscar's. So, the nominees were announced today and I'm quite mad to put it lightly. For the second year in a row, an amazing anime film that was widely adored, and has won many animation awards has been snubbed for a nomination at the Oscars. Last year Makoto Shinkai's Your Name became the highest grossing anime film of all time, trumping Miyazaki's Spirited Away which had held the title since 2001 and is the only anime film to ever win the Oscar for best animated feature. And yet, it was completely snubbed, it landed no nominations by any academy. No Golden Globe nomination, no BAFTA nomination, and no Oscar nomination. It would seem as though no academy of film actually knows that there are other anime studios apart from Studio Ghibli that make feature-length animations, as only Studio Ghibli has ever been nominated by any of these companies.
  This year is no different it would seem, as another year has gone by and there is no nomination for A Silent Voice, Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale, Napping Princess, and Mary and the Witches Flower, which were all put in the pot for consideration among the 27 animated features in that pot. I personally am not a fan of Sword Art Online but one cannot ignore that it is a massive franchise in the anime world, that is popular worldwide. 
  Ok, so I'm clearly very annoyed about the fact that Japan is ignored by the academy and its friends. But, what really irks me is that the award is best animated feature, emphasis on ANIMATED. If we are looking at these films because they are animated then surely things like story and character etc. don't matter, and it's the animation that counts right? Which just angers me even more because Japan's animation is another world, and I'm sorry Pixar but out of the nominees Loving Vincent should win because it is outstanding in the world of animation. Even if A Silent Voice was nominated I think I would be rooting for that to win. Japan is one of the only nations to still almost entirely to animate in 2D, anime stands out because of its style alone, let alone everything else. Japan's animation is not just children's fare, yes Pokemon exists but largely it's aimed at more developed minds, so young adult onwards. It deals with themes outrightly that western animation doesn't really touch. A Silent Voice starts with the main character getting ready to commit suicide, it's heavy and touching. They play with these intense themes so delicately, with such care that it never seems out of place or not done well. To think that A Silent Voice and Coco could be in the same category is insane when thinking about the story, but in terms of animation they can fight to the death and it would be
pretty damn close because they are both beautiful in their own way. 
  Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I'm disappointed that three major awards seem to ignore the amazing animation that Japan puts out into the world unless it's Studio Ghibli. And to be honest, even then it's only really Studio Ghibli created by Miyazaki and Takahata, the founders of the studio. Anime has a worldwide reach and yet is ignored, to me that just doesn't seem right. 

Thank you very much for reading my rant, if you have anything to say on this topic please feel free to leave me a comment under this post. I also just want to put it out there that I love animation from all nations, not just Japan but they really are the most snubbed nation when it comes to animation especially when considering how much they put out into the world. Anyway, thank you and goodbye before I restart my rant by accident. 

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Wednesday, 17 January 2018

Coco (Unkrich, 2018)

  I have waited the longest freakin' time for this film and let me tell you I was not dissapointed even though I had built it up for such a long time in my head. It's giving me hope that the Incredibles 2 is going to blow my mind. Ok, so unfortunately I live in England and along with the political turmoil that we seem to constanly find ourselves in we get Disney and Pixar films at least a month after America does. Coco was released in the US on Thanksgiving weekend, the UK doesn't get it until next week but luckily for me we had previews on the weekend just gone. Which made me very happy. Ok, so backstory over with time for the review.
  Coco tells the story of a boy called Miguel who loved music more than anything. However, his family hates music more than anything because of some family issues that happened generations before Miguel was born. After a fight with his family over music and Miguel wanting to pursue it as a career, he runs away and after some antics finds himself in the land of the dead. Whilst in the land of the dead he wants to find his great great grandfather, and so the real adventure begins. He makes new friends and makes some discoveries that will change his family for the better.
  Firstly, this film is so beautiful. The animation on this is just amazing. Throughout the entire film the screen is just lit up by the brightly coloured lights that cover the world of the dead. In addition to this, the petals have this gorgeous glow to them that again just lights up the screen. The spirit guides also glow, and its beutiful. This film is just a treat for your eyes. If you aren't going to see it for any other reason, you should see it just to look at it like a piece of art becuase it is.
  Next up, the voice acting by the entire cast is superb and the songs are well done in both writing and singing. The cast was so perfectly matched with the characters and really added to the film as a whole. The story was heartbreaking, and touching, and not to kiddy for a 'kids film', not that I expected it to be. There is an overarching message of be nice to your family because they only want good things for you which is a bit, I dont know the right word but it was just a bit overdone maybe? Like it just kept coming up and I got a bit bored of them constantly saying it.
I have few complaints about this film. The constant repitition of be nice to your family got a bit boring and annoying and as much as I enjoyed the songs the amount of singing in it made it feel a bit too Disney for a PIXAR film for me. But it was still enjoyable, make that point clear, they arent bad songs, it just feels wierd in a PIXAR film.
  Honestly, this film is so cute and heartwarming. It made me cry twice, damn PIXAR. It is beautifully animated, the casting is very well done and the songs are really great. It also is making a very clear stance againt POTUS's anti-mexican ideas which is great. My only issue is that it feels very Disney for PIXAR, that's it. Other than that this film is very good and I will happily go and see it again when it is officially out in the UK.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Thank you so much for reading, sorry for the all over the place posting over the last few weeks. Hopefully will get back to more regular scheduled programming after this one as all my assignments are handed in for now so I have some time to bulk write some posts for y'all.

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Sunday, 7 January 2018

Yearly Round Up: Favourite Films of 2017

I watched a lot of new releases this year, it's been pretty good and the release line up for January looks like its going to be insane in 2018 from the very beginning. This isn't going to be a post just listing all of the films I watched in 2017 but it shall be a post talking about my favourite of the new releases of the year, as I want my first post of 2018 to be a positive one! Ok, let's get on with me picking my favourites out of the 22 new releases I watched this year (there is probably more that I watched on Netflix, amazon etc. but that's the number of cinema tickets I still have from the beginning of the year).

My first favourite of the year Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry. I thoroughly enjoyed the second film in this long running anime series. I managed to finish the series literally the day I went to see the film and it was so perfect as a place holder to keep the fans going until the release of the final season this year (wow, that feels weird to say). I really enjoy Fairy Tail as an anime series although I get why it wouldn't be to everyones taste but I love the characters and any extra time I get with them is time well spent to me. If you enjoyed the series and haven't seen the film yet, it is very good (better than the Phoenix Priestess in my opinion) and really adds to the series story as a whole. Much needed info for the non-manga readers is given here.
Next up is Blade Runner 2049. Let's face it, this film is pure cinematic beauty. After watching it again since my first watch I can confirm that I do prefer it to the original (please don't kill me). It's just so beautiful and the music is so perfect. The performances are so good and I really liked the story and how twisty the ending was. It surprised me, who's been a fan of the original for a years and my boyfriend who hadn't seen the first one before watching 2049 understood and really enjoyed it too.
Thor: Ragnarok is by far my favourite Marvel to date (sorry Joss). It is so stylised and fun to watch. It really calls back to how superheroes used to be when they were silly and graphic. I was getting bored of the doom and gloom of Marvel and had no interest in the doom and gloom of DC. I had no interest in seeing this film when it first came out but the more I saw of it the more I knew it would knock the first guardians off the top spot of (Disney distributed) Marvel films for me. It was beautiful past Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, cinematically stunning and the script was so well done.
Battle of the Sexes was one I was looking forward to for the longest time. Every time I walked down the corridor at the cinema I saw that poster and said/thought 'I really need to see that when it comes out' and I did. I saw it pretty soon after the release and I thought it was really good. I didn't think that it made the lesbian relationship overly sexualised which I was scared that it would, it was actually very romantic in a really tragic way where you weren't sure whether you wanted it to work out or not. It is very much focused on Billie Jean King, her match, her career and how much of a powerful women she is. It is very empowering for female viewers, it made me feel like I really have power and can be the change I want to see in the world. Such an awe inspiring story that will pump you up.
Almost at the end now, second to last is The Disaster Artist. I know that he probably won't, but I really want James Franco to get at least one nomination for his performance in this film. His performance was absolutely insane it made the film. This film was hilarious, more so that it was all true in its insanity. The performances past James Franco were amazing, which is certainly proved by the comparison to the room whilst the credits are rolling. This film deserves so much recognition, people need to see it. If you haven't seen the room I don't think it matters all to much because you'll sit there thinking its ridiculous and then all the facts about The Room during the credits will make you spit out that Tango Ice Blast, turn to the person next to you and say "that actually happened? This film exists?", or just google it if you're on your own, you'll probably still spit out your drink though.
Finally, who could see this coming a mile away. My final favourite new release in terms of films I saw at the cinema was............. Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This was an insanely obvious one, I came out of the midnight screening and I loved it. Then when I thought about it I wasn't sure if I got lost in the haze of excitement that comes along with a packed midnight screening. I have now seen it for a second time and I can confirm that it is a bit of a mess. It's different to the others yet has its references and similarities. I think it has put this new trilogy in a good direction for the next instalment. I hate Porgs so very much, they aren't as annoying as Minions but they are pretty damn close to the level annoyance their presence causes in me. It makes me sad that Chewy is in CG and not a guy in a fur suit but I love the evil BB-8 and my love for the rebel BB-8 has just grown even more (he is the cutest droid, sorry R2). If you like Star Wars go see it, if you don't skip it. Simple as that, it's definitely for the fans not so much for the causal sci-fi goers.

Honourable mentions go to:

  • Baby Driver
  • La La Land
  • Manchester by the Sea
  • Moonlight
  • Cars 3
  • Dunkirk
  • The Death of Stalin
  • Murder on the Orient Express
  • The Man Who Invented Christmas  
These are my top picks from the year that I have seen at this point in time. There are many films coming out in the UK in January that I plan on seeing. I'm up to like ten just from browsing the coming soon and booking now section of the Cineworld app. Very excited for the film year ahead and this year of blogging to be a good one with lots of uploads and maybe a new online venture starting soon, watch this space! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you join me again next week, I upload a blog post every Sunday at 7pm UK time. 

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