DJANGO UNCHAINED

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3 stars (out of 4)

Released 2012

This western-actioner is pretty much what one would expect from a Quentin Tarantino film.  It manages to be smart and dumb at the same time and there’s no skimping on gore.  It takes place in the American deep south a couple of years before the Civil War.  Like LINCOLN, it covers the topic of slavery, although the 2 films couldn’t be more different in terms of presentation and tone.

Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx deliver strong performances in their roles of dentist-turned-bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz and his eventual partner, slave-turned-bounty hunter Django.  Django’s ultimate goal is to rescue his wife Broomhilda from the Candieland plantation, but there’s a lot of character- and plot-development enroute.

DJANGO UNCHAINED is brutally violent, with copious amounts especially toward the end.  Fortunately, it is frequently amusing too.  Just one example: a pre-raid meeting held by the white supremacists in which they air their grievances about the headgear they are supposed to wear.

Going in, the running time of nearly 3 hours gave me pause, but ultimately, the movie didn’t end up feeling too long.

(On a side note, seeing Dr. Schultz’s cute horse made me nostalgic for another cute horse: Comet, from The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.)

Beasts of the Southern Wild

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3.25 stars (out of 4)

Released 2012

I can’t write about this movie without revealing major spoilers, so be forewarned.

This movie didn’t go where I expected it to go, and the direction it took is not entirely satisfying but did make me think.

It starts out as a survival story about a six-year-old girl, just abandoned by her alcoholic father in an isolated and impoverished community on an island outside of the levees that keep the rest of civilization dry and safe.  The film is intentionally opaque about whether this is meant to be modern times, outside of New Orleans, circa Katrina, or whether this is meant to be a post-apocalyptic time in the near future (I guessed the latter, at first).  They show how this community has developed its own culture which values toughness and celebrates what little they have, and how the little girl has internalized those lessons.

At this point, it is hinted that they would be captured and put into camps if they ever dared to venture behind the levees, so they are essentially trapped in the flooded wilderness.  It was harrowing to watch the girl try to fend for herself, and even when her father returns, they continue to suffer as another hurricane batters and floods their island.  I kept hoping for some happy ending that would see the girl finally safe and well-cared for, despite the fact that things looked like they were going from bad to worse.

Then, they are visited by rescue workers who bring them and their neighbours, against their will, to a refugee camp where they are given food, clothing, medicine, and schooling.  But they (with their neighbours) plot an escape back to their island.  Huh?

Up to this point, at particularly lonely times, the girl would heartbreakingly cry out for her mother, who abandoned her as a baby.  So, after returning to their bleak makeshift home and finding out that her father is dying of an unspecified disease, she sets out on a raft, and somewhat miraculously finds someone who seems to be her mother.  This woman even offers to let her stay with her.  But she chooses to go back the island.  Huh?

The ending was a bit of a non-ending, actually, in that the girl simply continues to struggle on, just as she did in the beginning of the movie, but now, she has chosen this path.

So basically, this movie ends up being a chronicle of one alternative lifestyle, where people choose poverty and danger when safety and resources are close at hand.  I feel that using the term “alternative” is already being generous, because what reasonable person would choose this?  Not to mention the ethics of choosing it for your child.  I could see that the filmmaker was trying to frame the ending as a celebration of embracing the life you already have.  I just wasn’t entirely convinced, and started to feel less and less sorry for these people as the movie went on.  And that’s kind of the point of the movie too:  this little girl doesn’t want your pity.

Fifty Shades of Grey

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Fifty Shades of Grey, by EL James

I have a pretty open mind when it comes to popular fiction, so I decided to check out this book.  Not really a review, I’ll just write my thoughts as I go.  I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum for anyone who hasn’t read it.  I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that this novel contains pornographic smut, though.  That’s something you should be aware of if you are thinking of picking it up. (Edit: In retrospect, it occurs to me that not everyone will agree with my interpretation of what is and what isn’t a spoiler regarding the events in this story; therefore, be warned.)

Chapters 1 to 8 – brief impression

So far, I can’t say I’m that impressed with the love interest, title character Christian Grey.  Besides his minimal personality traits of being controlling and mysterious, he’s kinda creepy, isn’t he?  Kinda reminds me of Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman character from AMERICAN PSYCHO.  Even in the early scene in the hardware store, I could tell what he was getting at with his purchases, and I thought it was creepy.  I mean, he and Anastasia hardly know each other, and here he is stalking her and vaguely suggesting that he’s thinking about her sexually.  The only thing that makes it okay is that he’s so freaking hot and she happens to be attracted to him too.  Had he not been so hot, it would have just been gross, and creepy.

As it is, she doesn’t really know much about him, other than that he’s so hot.  This being a book, I just have to literally take the author’s word for it that he’s so hot that nothing else matters, and I’m frankly not that convinced.  Actually, neither of the characters has much personality so far.  It seems like any chemistry they have is purely physical.

It isn’t all bad, though.  Aside from some overused plot devices that I see in anime twice a week, it’s been an easy read and there have certainly been some amusing parts.

Chapters 9 to 16 – brief impression

Well, I’m relieved to see that Anastasia is asserting herself a little bit now.  I also like how her subconscious sometimes calls her a “ho”.  It appears that she does have some self-awareness about her situation and she’s wondering if a physical-only relationship can really be enough.

Hmm, it looks like she’s going to accept the contract that’s going to sign her freedom and self-respect away.  I was hoping she would reject it.  Force him to play by her rules.  After all, the conceit is supposed to be that she believes (and he believes) that he’s not capable of love, and so this contract is the only way she can be with him.  But already I don’t buy it; there has been plenty of evidence to the contrary.

Chapters 17 to 24 – brief impression

In previous chapters, they touched on “creepy” and “stalker”.  Now there’s finally some mention of “love”.  Otherwise, not much development here.

Chapters 25 to 26 and final impressions

Anastasia makes her decision and it happens pretty suddenly.  Well, as anyone knows, it’s not really the end.  There are two more books, and their blurbs seem to give a lot away, actually.

Not that that matters, though, since many of the plot developments in this book were heavily foreshadowed anyway.  What I mean, is that suspense is not an important element to the story.  And while it frustrated me that some things were telegraphed so early on (and Ana was so clueless), I guess I shouldn’t take it so seriously, since the plot exists mainly to justify the porn.

Apparently, some readers have complained about the author’s limited vocabulary.  That didn’t really bother me.  I didn’t expect, or want, this kind of book to be high art.  If I have any criticism, it’s with the dialogue; some of the words/phrases that the characters spoke didn’t sound that natural to me, not American enough, maybe?  Just reading it (as opposed to hearing it) wasn’t too bad, though.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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3 stars (out of 4)

Released 2012

A coming-of-age story about an awkward high school freshman (just released from a mental hospital) who is taken under the wings of a pair of fun-loving but troubled seniors.

Realistic characters and good acting distinguish this film from other high school movies, although it does explore familiar themes.  I thought the director/writer did a tasteful job of not sensationalizing the main character’s mental illness.

Silver Linings Playbook

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2.5 stars (out of 4)

Released 2012

This is a generally competent romantic comedy/drama but lack of chemistry between the leads and a somewhat random ballroom dance subplot prevented the film from being great.

I say random, because I couldn’t see why Jennifer Lawrence’s acid-tongued character would also be obsessed with amateur ballroom dancing, other than the fact that it gave the main characters a reason to keep meeting for practice.

There were some funny moments involving Robert DeNiro as the superstitious football-fan dad, but in general I think this film is highly over-rated.

Jacquie’s 2012 Year in Review – Music

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While it seemed to me that there was a veritable dearth of good music in 2011, that certainly didn’t seem to be the case in 2012.  Maybe nothing sounded good in 2011 because I was too affected by the disbandment of D’espairsRay, and I just needed some time to open my heart to new music.  Whatever the reason, there were plenty of tunes that caught my attention in 2012 and kept me entertained.

 BEST ALBUM:

DIVISION, by the GazettE.  Despite the fact that the tracks were divided into a Rock half and a Digital half, the album played together as a very cohesive whole.  The band may have experimented with things like dubstep, auto-tune, and unusual time signatures, but they fully understood that the songs just had to sound good.

My top 3 favourite songs of 2012 were all from “DIVISION”: beautiful and painful Kagefumi, musically complex Kago no Sanagi, and sad and ominous Yoin.

BEST SINGLE (A-side & B-sides):

RADICAL HYSTERIA, with B-sides COBRA and IN CREATURE, by BORN.  There was no clear winner for this category, and I was reluctant to choose this, since it’s something of a re-release (RADICAL HYSTERIA was the B-side of COBRA in 2010.)  However, RADICAL HYSTERIA is one of the best songs that BORN has ever created, in my opinion, and it really did deserve to be released as a single.  The addition of the third track, IN CREATURE, made for a solid record overall.

Runner-up:  WE aRE, with B-side COLD CHAIN, by abingdon boys school.  This was a strong comeback single for abs, and it might have won if the band had included simple instrumental versions of both tracks.  Instead, there were multiple, useless karaoke versions of just the title track.  I took marks off for that.

Rounding out my top 20 songs, in alphabetical order by artist:

  • COLD CHAIN, by abingdon boys school (B-side of “WE aRE”)
  • Muyuu no kago, by AND
  • RADICAL HYSTERIA, by BORN.  Their “Stupid life clip” for this song was the most amusing PV I saw last year.  It deconstructed the band’s usual scary-sexy image and revealed them to be a bunch of goofs.
  • MISS TAKE –boku wa mistake-, by BUCK-TICK.  Ridiculously hooky, this is one of the best BUCK-TICK songs I’ve ever heard.
  • ATTITUDE, by the GazettE (from “DIVISION”)
  • DERANGEMENT, by the GazettE (from “DIVISION”)
  • DRIPPING INSANITY, by the GazettE (from “DIVISION”)
  • Ibitsu, by the GazettE (from “DIVISION”)  OK, I’ll stop now.
  • DARK SHAME, by GRANRODEO (OP of CODE:BREAKER)  The theme songs were the only good thing about that anime.
  • A FLARE, by lynch. (one of the lead-off singles from “INFERIORITY COMPLEX”)  I wasn’t that much into lynch.’s music before, but this song was just the kind of pretty-but-heavy that I’m a sucker for.  Because of A FLARE, I purchased the album as well as some of lynch.’s previous works and I was pleasantly surprised.
  • G.G., by MUCC (from “SHANGRI-LA”)  The first MUCC song I’ve ever liked.  Normally I can’t tolerate Tatsurou’s singing.  Not so with this song.
  • Munashiki 「Sei」 no Guui ≒ 「Shi」 no Shini, by NEGA (from “VANITAS”).  This 12-minute opus was an unlikely lead-off single for “VANITAS”.  Even songs that I consider to be good will usually lose my attention after about 3 minutes; this song didn’t bore me even after 12.  Anyway, I guess they knew what they were doing because I ended up buying the album.
  • CATALRHYTHM, by OLDCODEX (ED2 of Kuroko’s Basketball)
  • ZERO SATISFACTION, by ROOKiEZ is PUNK’D
  • S, by SID.  The first SID song I’ve ever liked.  They’re not usually this heavy.
  • 0 GAME, by SPYAIR
  • vanity, by ViViD (B-side of “message”)  ViViD’s recent singles had been so tame and generic-sounding that I almost didn’t listen to this track.

Jacquie’s 2012 Year in Review – Top 10 Anime

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My favourite anime shows of the year, selected from the titles I watched which finished airing in 2012:


#1.  Fate/Zero – This dramatic telling of the events of the 4th Holy Grail War was a far-superior prequel to the awful Fate/stay night anime. The grand storyline, epic cast of characters, and impressive action scenes made for a thrilling watch.  I found myself being very engrossed in the characters and the story, even though the final outcome was already known.  It was always an agonizing wait between episodes, tempered by the dreaded anticipation that any episode could be the last for characters that I’d come to love.


#2.  Chihayafuru – Endearing characters, great storytelling.  I really cared about Chihaya and Taichi and their team.  The anime even managed to make the old-fashioned card game of Karuta seem exciting.  Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the new season in 2013.


#3.  BEELZEBUB – Consistently funny, creative, and good-natured.  There were some duds during its 60-episode run, but they were remarkably few and far in between.  It’s a real shame that this is no longer airing.


#4.  Chouyaku Hyakunin Isshu: Uta Koi – The sort-of companion piece to Chihayafuru, UtaKoi featured the stories of the 100 poems from the Karuta game told in a way that was reverent and irreverent in equal measure.  The mature, bittersweet love stories really resonated with me.  I didn’t even mind the cart-race/talk-show episode.  Although I did find a few of the stories at the beginning of the second half to be weaker than the rest, the series came to a strong finish at the end.


#5.  Aquarion EVOL – I didn’t have any intention to watch this anime at first, due to the fact that I hadn’t seen the preceding Aquarion works and because I had seen supporting character Zessica’s fanservice-y get-up.  However, I was already watching the other 2 space operas (Moretsu Pirates and Rinne no Lagrange) to varying degrees of enjoyment, or not, respectively; and EVOL was often mentioned alongside those two.  EVOL turned out to be a blast!  Very over-the–top, with humorous fanservice and sexual innuendo (see, I don’t always hate on fanservice; I enjoy it when it’s funny) and a lot of heart.  And Zessica?  She became my favourite character.


#6.  Hakuouki Reimeiroku – I watched this because I also enjoyed the two previous Hakuouki series, of which this is a prequel.  It was a treat to revisit the Shinsengumi members and learn of the events of their early days.  The story as a whole may not have been amazing, and the new insert character was as useless as Chizuru from the original series; but the art, the recurring characters, the setting, and the way the events were based on actual history made the show really appealing to me, and I looked forward to watching it every week.


#7.  Kuroko’s Basketball – Watching this semi-fantastical sports anime reminded me of how I felt when watching the early seasons of BLEACH.  New characters were constantly being introduced as potential rivals for the main team, but they were interesting people, each with distinct personalities, and not necessarily “enemies”.  A new season was recently announced for 2013.  Looking forward to that too.


#8.  My Little Monster (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun) – Ostensibly a romance, but this show was really more about the interactions between a group of friends.  Every episode managed to be entertaining.  Although every character had definite flaws, they came across as likeable people that I wanted to root for.


#9.  Jormungand – A bloody, thought-provoking, action anime about a group led by Koko Hekmatyar, an arms dealer and visionary who dreams of world peace.  The mostly serious subject matter was balanced out by just the right amount of levity to make it an entertaining watch.


#10.  KIDS ON THE SLOPE (Sakamichi no Apollon) – If I never loved this show, I did respect it for the convincing portrayal of its 1960s setting, the jazz music, and the friendship of the lead characters.

Special Categories:

  • Best Comedy (intentional):  BEELZEBUB  (runner-up: Daily lives of high school boys (Danshi koukousei no nichijou))
  • Best Comedy (unintentional):  CODE:BREAKER  (runner-up: GUILTY CROWN)
  • Best OP or ED:  “Gekkou symphonia“, by AKINO & AIKI from bless4 (Aquarion EVOL ED1)

Notable Drops: Because I like to complain, listed below are the otherwise well-reviewed and popular anime series that were not considered for my year-end list because I couldn’t finish them.  Number of episodes watched is in brackets.

  • Rinne no Lagrange (12) – unnecessary fanservice detracted from the story; I just didn’t care about the characters enough to continue watching.
  • Tsuritama (5) – unlikeable characters; it was about fishing.
  • TARI TARI (5) – too sentimental, bad storytelling, bad music.
  • SWORD ART ONLINE (15) – so much wasted potential; wish-fulfillment pandering written with the mentality of a child.
  • Say “I Love You” (7) – irredeemably cliché-ridden; most of the characters were not the sort of people I would want to associate with; seemed to imply that sexual harassment/assault is okay, desirable even, as long as the offender is good-looking and popular.  (Maybe I’m overreacting and this is often sadly true, but I raged.)

CHRONICLE

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2.5 stars (out of 4)

Released 2012

Three teenagers stumble upon an underground cave and encounter something which mysteriously gives them the power of telekinesis.  These are regular boys, not superheroes, and they do not have any exceptional maturity or mental stability to help them handle their newfound “great power”.  We follow them as they experiment with and learn to use their abilities and eventually see the effect they have on the outside world.

There’s the added gimmick of the movie being seen through the lens of a home-video camera and it’s mostly effective and creatively-used, and doesn’t detract from the story.

Coincidentally, CHRONICLE can function as an origin story for the ongoing anime series Shin Sekai Yori (From the New World), which imagines what the world will be like hundreds of years after some of the population acquire telekinesis and become a threat to humanity.  More on that later, maybe…

 

The Hobbit

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File:The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey.jpeg

3.5 stars

(released 2012)

It’s wonderful to see another beloved Tolkien novel brought to life on the screen under the thoughtful direction of Peter Jackson.  This film is visually, aurally, and tonally continuous with the Lord of the Rings series, although the material tends to be lighter than LOTR (which is consistent with the source material).

Martin Freeman is spot-on as Bilbo Baggins – in fact it’s hard to imagine a better casting choice.  Andy Serkis’ Gollum is simply perfection and the rendering of the “Riddle game” sequence is just like the book come to life (and I mean that in the best way, not that it was just a word-for-word re-creation of the novel).

The concerns about Jackson’s decision to stretch the series out to make a trilogy appear to be unfounded, based on the pacing of this first episode.  Material added in to flesh out the dwarves’ history and to dramatize some of Gandalf’s manoeuvring are entirely appropriate.  Jackson and his writing team have consistently made good choices about adapting the books to the screen, both in terms of what to edit out and what to add in for better movie-story-telling.

A couple of relatively minor complaints:  I saw this film in 3D and 48 frames per second (the way Jackson wants it to be seen) and it definitely was a detriment to the movie-going experience, especially during the indoor scenes.  The lighting seemed artificial and I was acutely aware of camera movements.  The 3D effect made the characters who were in close-up look like they were standing in front of a flat background.  I definitely recommend seeing this in 2D and traditional 24 frames per second.

Also, I was a little disappointed that they did not introduce more new theme songs – I think they only added one new Lonely Mountain theme (which basically replaces the Fellowship theme) and recycled the Shire theme and the Rivendell theme.  I know they wanted to establish continuity with the LOTR films, but I thought hearing so much of the same music was off-putting.

Mid-Autumn 2012 Anime Ranking

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How I feel about the anime on my current watch list.  The most recent episode watched is in brackets.  The order of the first four is kind of arbitrary…


01.  Shin Sekai Yori (From the New World) (ep.11) – I’m liking the dark, dystopian future setting.  It took me a while to tell the kids apart, but now that I know them better, I’m really interested in their actions and what the consequences of those actions will be.  There’s a lot of artiness and intrigue, and it remains to be seen whether things will come together or make any sense at the end.  For now, I’m happy to be patient and see how things unfold.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)


02.  Jormungand (ep.21, or PERFECT ORDER ep.9) – Not many anime will reference quantum physics and super computers, but that’s what the current arc of Jormungand is about!  So far, the show is doing a really good job of fleshing out the members on Koko’s team.  We didn’t get to know them much during the first season, but now their backgrounds are getting some good attention.  Ep.19, about William Nelson’s past, achieved a near-perfect balance between dark, violent material and lighter, comic relief.
(streaming at Funimation)


03.  PSYCHO-PASS (ep.9) – Another brainy anime.  The storytelling is good and I’m enjoying the dark, psychological themes that are being presented.  However, the indignity-to-a-dead-body stuff makes me uncomfortable.  It is meant to be horrifying, but I just have trouble reconciling it with “entertainment”.
(streaming at Funimation)


04.  My Little Monster (ep.11) – This shoujo anime has its share of the usual tropes, but it works because the characters have believable, well-defined personalities.  Also, the textured backgrounds are some of the nicest I’ve ever seen.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

05.  Blast of Tempest (ep.10) – The characters are interesting, as are their interactions with each other.  The show works best when the characters are not quoting Shakespeare, and the music is not overwrought.  Some episodes have been overly expository.  They’re also throwing out a lot plot threads and it remains to be seen whether things will come together or make any sense at the end.  As with Shin Sekai Yori, for now, I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

06.  IXION SAGA DT (ep.10) – Deceptively stupid, but actually quite clever, this show often displays more common sense than some of the serious-themed anime that I’m watching.  So far, my favourite character is the villain, Erecpyle Dukakis (yes, ED for short).  Although, after having had his ass kicked twice already by the main character, he’s somewhat more of an underdog than a villain now.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)


07.  MAGI (ep.9) – Nice animation; the characters are likeable, complex, and genuinely strong.  Morgiana is a so-much-better female role model than Asuna from SAO, for instance, and new character Sinbad is awesome.  The current story arc is surprisingly balanced and thoughtful, especially considering that the anime seems to be aimed at a younger audience.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

08.  Muv-Luv Alternative: TOTAL ECLIPSE (ep.23) – Looks like the meat of the story is happening.  I won’t mind if there’s less attention on Yuuya’s multinational harem now.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

09.  K (ep.10) – Stylish and nicely animated, but the quality of the story is questionable.  Many of the large cast of characters are not very interesting.  Still, I’m curious to see where they’re going with this.

10.  Space Brothers (ep.36) – Good show overall, but lately it’s been dragging.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

11.  CODE:BREAKER (ep.10) – So bad, it’s good.  And make no mistake, it really is bad: sloppy storytelling and plot developments, annoying and unlikeable protagonists, overdramatic score.  And yet, at the end of the day, it’s kind of fun, even if unintentionally.
(streaming at Funimation)

12.  BTOOOM! (ep.10) – Disturbingly exploitative at times, but otherwise, the battle-royale survival theme works.  This show also has some pretty hard-to-like main characters.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

13.  Kamisama Kiss (ep.10) – Not terribly engrossing, but fine as a light distraction.  Unfortunately, I thought it was a bit more enjoyable before the romantic storyline began.
(streaming at Funimation)

14.  Chu-2 byo demo KOI ga shitai! (ep.10) – I find this show to be tedious and sometimes overly sentimental.  Maybe I’m too far away from my own eighth-grader syndrome phase to properly appreciate it.  Plus, I don’t buy the romantic sub-plot, even though I knew it was coming.  I do give the show credit, though, for being fairly straightforward about the romance instead of dragging it out unnecessarily.  Supporting character Isshiki is the best thing about this anime.  (Dekomori is the worst.)

Recently dropped:  Say “I Love You” (ep.7) – I tried to give it a chance, really I did; otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten this far in.  But I was complaining so uncontrollably after every episode, my family would probably have to take me out back and put me out of my misery if I were to watch any more of it.  Even now, when I see similar tropes used in My Little Monster, but executed so much better, I realize I’m still not done trashing this anime!  Bottom line: I don’t like Mei, I don’t like Yamato, and I’m not rooting for them to get together.
(streaming at Crunchyroll, but who cares?)