Movies. Lots of them.

[pacificpikachu]

Hello new friends from gurren_lagann friending meme! *Waves* I'm kind of boring and ramble-y, but I hope we can become good friends despite this! :D I promise not all of my entries as this long.

So much good movie viewing today, on account of the fact that I was unable to go to Zoology thanks to all the pretty snow.

Also, uh, sorry for the general repetitiveness of words in these little reviews. I'm too tired to put together something more intelligible. ;__;

First I watched the later half of Big Fish on TV. I've seen it several times already, but it's always a great movie to watch, and how can I resist when it's just on TV like that? (But then again, I'm one of those people who will watch the strangest movies, regardless of quality, when they just happen to be on TV. This is how I somehow managed to see Deep Blue Sea six times without having any conscious desire to see it ever again after the first time.) I've decided that I have a major attraction to movies or books or anime or whatever that involve stories-within-stories. I love stories-within-stories. ♥

From there, I decided to watch Pokémon 10, which was quite good. I think I've reached that sad point in my life where I've seen so many Pokémon movies that I can no longer rank which ones are my favorites, so I can't exactly say how it compares to the others, but I did like it quite a lot. I mean, it's a Pokémon movie, so obviously there's some degree of formulaic plotting involved there, but it had lovely animation (not just art! ANIMATION) and it was, of course, very enjoyable and pretty and I loved watching it. I always love watching Pokémon movies, though. This shouldn't surprise anyone.

After an outing to Safeway and Blockbuster (Ryan decided he couldn't live without renting a movie, as he's like that), I went and finally got to finish 5 Centimetres Per Second. It's only been, what, a YEAR since I saw the first part? I haven't the slightest idea why, but I was never able to find a full version of it subbed online, so I stole it from Nicole a week or so ago.

As per usual with Makoto Shinkai, the art/animation was absolutely gorgeous and nostalgic. I thought I'd be tired of his lovers-and-distance theme that's so pervasive in his works by now, but there was something about this one that had me spellbound. I think I liked it better than Place Promised in Our Early Days, which...while pretty and all that, was a little boring, I guess? I mean, I love his style so much that the prettiness alone kept me reasonably entertained, but the pacing of Place Promised in Our Early Days didn't go over too well with me. I think it was a bit more time than he knew what to do with--I felt the story could have been told much better in a shorter span of time.

I thought 5 Centimetres Per Second was better paced than that. The loneliness in the first part was almost palpable, and the warm colors and gentleness of the second one? Yeah, I was amazed at the difference in feeling between the first two parts, and they both gripped me on an emotional level. The third part I'm not so sure on, because, to be honest, for some reason I didn't totally grasp what was happening, though I loved the mix of the visuals and the music. Anyway, it was beautiful.

Then, with dad and Ryan, I watched a movie called King of California. I hadn't even heard of it and we picked it up entirely at random from Blockbuster, but it ended up being a good movie. Not lifechanging or anything, but the acting was excellent, I loved the background music, and it was a charming story. It was rather off-beat, a little goofy, but a little touching, too. It's definitely worth seeing, if anyone gets a chance. It's enjoyable. It's basically about this skeptical girl and her bipolar father, and the father becomes convinced that there's treasure under a local Costco and is determined to dig it up.

I'd better go to bed now--I have to be up at 6 AM tomorrow. I'm hoping I can get to class despite the snow, as missing an additional two classes would be unpleasant. :( Let's hope!

Comments

[lunchwagon.livejournal.com]

5 Centimeters Per Second damn near made me cry. The story is so sad and heart-breaking, and the art & animation were terrific. You could really feel how the characters were feeling, especially in the first part of the movie. I loved it. ♥

Also! There are ten Pokemon movies now? Holy crap, wow. I still thought there was only like... three of them.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Same here! I actually made the mistake of watching the first part on my birthday last year, and it just killed me emotionally. ;__; Shinkai really did an excellent job of portraying emotion in this one. ♥

Yes! They put them out every year, and it's been eleven years now since the first one came out. The eleventh movie is coming out in the summer. Hard to believe it's been so long!

[cultnirvana.livejournal.com]

I really gotta actually watch the rest of the Pokemon movies. The last one I saw was six >_____< I shouldn't let myself be so motivated by Misty leaving. I watched the first few episodes of Diamond & Pearl in Japanese and found myself falling back into it, but I'm not sure if the whole thing will end up fansubbed (I just can't watch it in English anymore now they changed the voice actors. Pokemon is one show where I absolutely adored the dub).

I liked 5 Centimetres Per Second more than Place Promised in Our Early Days as well, but I really do have to go and watch it again as it was a long time for me too between the first part and the other two.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

You should! While I've pretty much dropped the anime except on the occasions that I find it fansubbed, the movies are actually quite good. I didn't like that they took Misty out, either, but the movies have been steadily improving. I particularly recommend Lucario and the Mystery of Mew and Dialga vs Palkia vs. Darkrai. I didn't like Movie 7 all that much (the Rayquaza one), but other than that they're all very good. :D

I'm glad I'm not alone in liking it better! And, yes, you should watch it again. I should watch it again, too.

[vehemence.livejournal.com]

Guh I need to watch the end of Byokouso 5 Centimeters too. And I feel the same way about Place Promised in Our Early Days. It was a beautiful story, but very slow, and I thought it was kind of subpar compared to Voices of a Distant Star. Still one of my favs though.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Do it, do it! It's so lovely. ♥

I'm always sad to admit that Place Promised in Our Early Days bored me so much, but...well. It did. :( Not to say I didn't like it, but it just moved far too slowly and it felt kind of like Shinkai didn't care about the plot at all. And it showed.

[kirarakim.livejournal.com]

I liked 5CM more than Place Promised too which I actually didn't like very much. But I still think Voices is Shinkai's best by far.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Yes--I think overall, 5 CM was better told and better paced. I'm fairly convinced that he wasn't ready for a full-length movie when he got Place Promised, and 5 CM gave him a better format to work with considering the way he tends to tell stories.

I feel so left out--I still haven't seen Voices! It's on my list to watch, but I just haven't gotten a chance to see it yet. I need to remedy that soon.