Zotis' Film Watching Diary

Friendo.

04-13-15

Just caught up with your thread! Some good reviews and points, and some great films in between - though so many of them is ones I haven't seen but really want to!

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honeykid

MoFo Whisperer

04-13-15

I can't believe you hadn't heard of Ozu before. I know that we can't know everyone/everything, but it really does surprise me that you hadn't. I'd have thought he was right up your street, which it appears he is.

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Zotis

Otaku/Skramz

04-14-15

Yeah, I'm surprised no one told me about Ozu sooner. Although, I think it was actually just the right timing for me to find him now. A year or two ago and I might have been more bored by Tokyo Story and not appreciated it enough. I definitely feel a shift in recent months towards more serious art films.

cricket

Registered User

04-14-15

I thought Tokyo Story was great but I liked Late Spring more. It's top 5 for Sane and Bluedeed.

Zotis

Otaku/Skramz

04-15-15

I rewatched Tokyo Story and I liked it even more. There was so much more to glean, and I felt like I understood at lot more of what was going on. I still couldn't help shedding a few tears at the end. It's a very emotional movie. Every single detail is so precise. It's really flawlessly made. My appreciation has grown. I can't wait to watch more Ozu.

"Isn't life dissapointing?"

"Yes, it is."

Zotis

Otaku/Skramz

04-23-15

Taxidermia (2006)
Directed by Gy�rgy P�lfi

A really weird movie spanning three generations, each characterised by a different kind of obscene obsession. Decent in terms of quality, but not particularly enjoyable in terms of content. My friend chose it, otherwise I probably never would have bothered to watch it.

Rating:

bluedeed

Gangster Rap is Shakespeare for the Future

04-23-15

Originally Posted by cricket

I thought Tokyo Story was great but I liked Late Spring more. It's top 5 for Sane and Bluedeed.

It's my Ozu placeholder in my top 10. I fluctuate between Late Spring, Early Summer and Late Autumn as my favorite Ozu film. Choosing between Ozu films is like choosing a favorite family member or friend for me, it feels unfair and inaccurate always

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Guaporense

Animation nerd

04-24-15

Originally Posted by honeykid

I would guess that about 95% of the Japanese under the age of 50 (born a couple of years after Ozu died) never watched an Ozu film. Though I might be wrong considering Miyazaki said he watched Tarkovsky's Stalker on the Japanese open TV, so I guess they might show about anything there (especially at late night). Of course, never hearing about Ozu is very different from never watching Ozu.

First time I heard of Hitchcock was when I was 6 years old while the first time I watched a Hitchcock movie I was 20 years old. First time I heard of Miyazaki I was about 11 years old, first time I watched a Miyazaki film I was 23 years old. When I was 11 I read about Totoro and Princess Mononoke in a Brazilian animation magazine but I though "neh, this thing looks like some silly childish thing like Disney".

Guaporense

Animation nerd

04-24-15

Originally Posted by Zotis

I thought it would be an interesting idea to keep track of movies I've watched. So this thread is going to consist of reviews and tidbits about each movie I watch as I watch them from now on. I might just mention the movie and give it a rating, or I might give full reviews. It's just going to be a mixture of whatever I feel like.

December 23rd

Only Yesterday (1991)(Animation/Drama)
Directed by Isao Takahata

At first glance I thought this had Miyazaki written all over it. Guaporense recommended it to me. So that's why I watched it. At first glance of the cover I thought it looked kind of boring, but when I saw other pictures my interest got peaked because the artwork was so interesting. I noticed a lot of gestures and facial expressions that I haven't seen in any other animated movie before. Like when characters were eating food they didn't like, their mouths would make interesting shapes and their features would reveal their discomfort. There was a lot of layered movement where you would see the focal point moving in one way and things in the background and foreground moving in other ways. There were quite a few beautiful landscape shots. The composition especially stood out as being really well done. This made the movie so easy on the eyes it was just beautiful to behold. The quality of the animation was so good it felt like a 2011 movie.

The story is about a young woman who goes on vacation while fostering memories of her childhood when she was 10 years old and went on a similar vacation. It goes back and forth between the present and past telling various short stories throughout the overarching plot. I liked the parts that revolved around her 10 year old self more. One thing I noticed that was almost a drawback was that characters chuckled a lot at silly things that really weren't funny at all. I get that they were just a bit giddy, but still it was almost annoying. And the wrinkle line that would appear on each cheek as they chuckled made them look chubby until it went away. To go back to the positive side though, the ending was one of the most interesting endings I've ever seen in a movie. I mean for style alone I have never seen anyone do that before. I don't want to spoil it, but if you watch it make sure you watch through the credits. By the time the credits finished I had to wipe away a tear from each eye.

Overall it was a terrific movie that I would recommend to anyone interested in animation (not just anime).

Excellent

Just found out about this thread right now, glad you enjoyed Only Yesterday. It was one of the very few times when I cried watching a movie was watching Only Yesterday.

Anybody interested in animation should watch all Takahata films.

Zotis

Otaku/Skramz

04-24-15

I like Takahata more than Miyazaki. I plan to watch many more of his films. I have my sights set on The Tale of Princess Kaguya for the not too distant future.

Guaporense

Animation nerd

04-24-15

He only made 9 animated films and 1 live action documentary. I watched all of Takahata's films by early 2013, besides Kaguya which I watched this year.

Guaporense

Animation nerd

05-03-15

Originally Posted by Swan

I might check this out. I like rotoscoping. Very underrated animation style.

It's used several times though in animation where you might not expect it.

For instance, in these fight scenes in The End of Evangelion (1998), the kaijus are rotoscoped:

Zotis

Otaku/Skramz

05-27-15

The Face of an Angel (2014) Drama
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Starring Daniel Br�hl, Kate Beckinsale, and Cara Delevingne

I just saw this in theaters, and I was very glad I decided to go see it. It was refreshingly technically excellent with solid acting, cinematography, dialogue, and plot structure. The film itself was very realistic with characters that felt like real people in all their flaws, quirks, and intricacies. The plot followed the events of a director looking for material to write a script for a movie that he would then direct. The content of his quest for film material is a murder trial in Italy. A young college girl was brutally murdered, and two of her friends were on trial. The content of the film deals with the personal life and affairs of Daniel Br�hl's character, Thomas.

I'm not sure if I would go so far as to say it was a flaw, but there were a lot of very short shots with frequent cuts. Sometimes the cutting felt a bit awkward, and leaps in time could happen at the drop of a hat. Sometimes the courses of events were extremely fast paced with cuts all over the place. I didn't really mind it, but it did feel a bit weird. I couldn't always tell when a dream scene had started and what was real versus what was in the dream. Maybe that was intentional, but I couldn't really tell. For the most part the acting was great except for a few brief moments where extras sounded like they were reading their lines. I liked Kate Beckinsale in this. It's been a while since I've enjoyed her in a film. Daniel Br�hl was excellent as the focus point of the film, and Cara Delevingne was a vibrant personality.

Overall I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, and I would definitely recommend it. There really aren't very many interesting movies in theaters right now, so I would say it's definitely one of the more interesting ones.

Rating:

Last edited by Zotis; 05-27-15 at 05:07 AM.

Guaporense

Animation nerd

06-05-15

Originally Posted by Guaporense

It's used several times though in animation where you might not expect it.

For instance, in these fight scenes in The End of Evangelion (1998), the kaijus are rotoscoped:

Since that one was removed another good example of rotoscoping in animation only for a part of the body:

Zotis

Otaku/Skramz

06-25-15

I haven't really been keeping tabs on all the movies I've been watching lately. Here's a few.

Nightcrawler (2014)

This is the most I've enjoyed Jake Gyllenhaal since Donnie Darko. I loved how creepy and intelligent his character was. The ending was superb.

Hard Candy (2005)

Ellen Page's first big break. I believe she was 16 when she shot this. She does look young enough to play a 14-year-old though. I remember someone, I think it was Godoggo, saying that they felt really aware of the fact that they were acting. And it had been a long time since I'd seen it, and I'd only seen it once, but I never remembered feeling that way. Anyway, this time around I did feel that at the beginning and again in a scene where a neighbour comes to the door and Ellen's character has to lie. The acting in most of the movie was really good though, with some pretty intense moments. Then it occurred to me why the acting felt that way in those two parts of the movie. The characters were acting, faking their behaviour to fool each other. The girl was pretending to be innocent and the guy was pretending to be charming. I watched it again after realising that and it felt right. This movie also appeals to my niche interests spot on. I love Ellen Page in this. I'd almost call it a celebrity crush. I've become kind of fascinated with her and looking up her other movies. I've seen quite a few, and even in the bad movies (like X-Men) her characters are still interesting. She was terrific a couple of years ago in The East. But anyway, about this niche of mine. Well I'm not really sure how to describe it. I love movies about teenage girls that have some coming of age elements and really strong emotional tension. I guess it's their vulnerability or something like that. Anyway, I get goosebumps thinking about this movie. I actually watched it twice back to back in the same day.

New Rose Hotel (1998)

It's Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, and Asia Argento, and based on a William Gibson cyberpunk novel. I had high hopes for this film, but they fell flat. The cyberpunk elements were very minimal. The movie felt more like an excuse for sex than anything else. They reused footage multiple times in flashbacks. I was quite disappointed.

rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

06-25-15

Re: about Hard Candy. That explains your love for Poker House.

cricket

Registered User

06-25-15

As much of a fan as I am of Walken and Dafoe, the reason I almost watched New Rose Hotel a couple times was because of Asia Argento. I really dig that girl. Ultimately I passed because I figured it sucked.

I should watch Hard Candy again. I was very disappointed the first time as it's my kind of movie. I wish I could be more specific but I don't remember it very well.

I'm also a fan of Nightcrawler.

Zotis

Otaku/Skramz

06-27-15

Blue Valentine (2010)

Directed by Derek Cianfrance
Starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams

I think Blue Valentine is a terrible name for this movie. It makes it sound like a really lame chick flick. I guess it kind of is a chick flick, but it's anything but lame. Blue Valentine is a very realistic look at the beauty of love, and the difficulty of marriage and life in general. At times it's so beautiful in it's happiness and passion, and at other times it's really heart breaking in it's ugliness and dissapointment. Michelle Williams is an actress I'm starting to become aware of, and who I think is very talented. Ryan Gosling is a good actor who I haven't loved in some roles, but he was great in this. The director was able to get good acting out of everyone, and the story was woven between past and present. I felt the transitions were very good in the way they weaved the story of Gosling and Williams' characters' relationship. The movie was really great at bringing out a lot of emotions in me as an observer. I would highly recommend this movie. It's potent and real. Even if you don't care for romance I think the story and characters are very interesting and appealing on their own.

I give this movie a special award for the best pick-up line from a man to a woman on an all but empty bus.

"Excuse me, can I sit here? All the other seats are taken."

Zotis

Otaku/Skramz

06-29-15

Mouth to Mouth (2005)

Directed by Alison Murray
Starring Ellen Page

An extremely potent movie about life and a group of somewhat misfits, a mixture of street people, drug addicts, prostitutes, runaways, and other people of that nature. In the pursuit of a meaningful life they find help within their group to live free from addiction and the restraints of so called normal society. The story focuses on one girl, Sherry, who is a runaway and somewhat delinquent. She meets this group and falls in with them, enchanted by their profound speeches and free-spirited lifestyle. I won't talk about the plot more than that for the sake of avoiding spoilers, but that's basically how it starts out. The acting was great from everyone, not just Page. There is a lot of powerful emotion inspiring excitement and joy as well as pain and sorrow. It deals with some really interesting issues, like the bond between mother and daughter, trying to understand, trying to love, and trying to find meaning in life. I watched it because I wanted to see more of Ellen Page's work, and the trailer was enough to convince me it would be a pretty solid movie. I was overjoyed with how good it turned out. It's an amazing movie, very moving and excellently made. I rented it, but I wish that I could have bought it.

I didn't understand why it was called Mouth to Mouth until the end.

cricket