Rue Plumet

Joy and I watched “Metropolis” (1927) tonight. I do have to admit that it was a fairly strange movie, but I also enjoyed it quite a bit. The plot was pretty mind-boggling and didn’t always make logical sense, but some of the scenes were simply fantastic. As examples, I would point out the scene with Freder operating the clock machine, the scene where Rotwang the inventor transforms the robot to look like Maria (if that’s the first mad scientist depiction in film, it has since been copied countless times), the scene where the robot Maria incites the workers to destroy the machines, and the scene with the robot Maria laughing maniacally as she is burned at the stake.

It’s pretty amazing to me how a movie made almost 80 years ago so clearly captures several aspects of our modern world. One thing that stands out is the division between the rich and the poor and how neither group really understands the lives of the other group. In addition, the film highlights the fact that the rich basically make the poor invisible (by where they choose to live, travel, etc.) so that they don’t even have to think about them. The film also manages to capture the futility that many people seem to find in their work.

I’m not entirely sure what the director was going for with the religious imagery and Biblical allusions. However, despite the fact that most of the Biblical quotes come from Revelation, I think the robot Maria pretty accurately portrays how the book of Proverbs describes lady Folly, which I thought was interesting.

Tonight Joy and I watched “Broken Blossoms” (1919). Well, I watched it and Joy watched part of it (she was tired and fell asleep part way through). This is the oldest film I have in my DVD collection, and I found it very moving for a silent melodrama that’s almost a century old.

The film certainly stereotypes the Chinese character by today’s standards, but in 1919 the film was considered quite progressive and contains what may be the first portrayal on film of an interracial couple. The ending of the film is devastatingly sad, and there are numerous scenes throughout the film that convey a great deal of emotion. A scene that comes immediately to mind is Lillian Gish, locked in a closet, utterly terrified as her father breaks down the door with an axe. It is simply amazing to me that so much tension can be created in a film without sound.

A while back I ordered the out of print art book for “The Lion King”, but I neglected to write about it at the time. TLK is one of my favorite movies, so I was excited to get the book.

I didn’t know the book even existed until fairly recently. I found out about it because of the of the anime art books I’ve been buying, and it got me wondering whether any of the other non-anime movies I like had art books, and sure enough they did. So I waited around until someone on Amazon had a used copy for a reasonable price and then placed my order. While not in perfect condition, which is perhaps to be expected for a used book this old, the book is good shape, and for the price it was a very good deal.

The content of the book is great. I especially like the large multi-page fold-out sections spread throughout the book. The concept sketches are neat and I particularly liked seeing all of the test sketches for all of the various animals that appear in the film. I guess the only real problem is that the book is so oversize that it doesn’t fit on my bookshelf, but that’s hardly something to complain about.

• The Art Of The Lion King

Joy and I watched the original version of “King Kong” (1933) this evening (thank you, Joy!). I really enjoyed watching it after seeing Peter Jackson’s remake about a week ago. It’s amazing to see how far special effects have come in 72 years.

It was also interesting to see the changes that Jackson made for his version, some of which work very well (the relationship between Ann and Kong, Jack as a screenplay writer) and some that don’t work quite as much (the introduction of so many side characters that don’t get quite enough time to develop, natives launching themselves on poles to reach the ship (seriously, what in the world is up with that?), the dinosaur stampede, three tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs (was one not enough?), the spider pit). I was also struck by the drastic difference in the treatment of the natives on skull island.

Anyway, despite its age, I think this film really holds up well, largely due to a good sense of pace and action. I enjoyed watching it, and if you see the new version, you should also watch the 1933 version if you get the chance.

I didn’t get to comment on it until now, but Joy and I went to see “King Kong” (2005) on Saturday. Thanks to Joy’s mom (again!) for watching Charis so we could go out.

I thought the movie was very good, but I don’t think Joy was too crazy about it. She really doesn’t like movies with sad endings, so that pretty much means this one was not her style, but she graciously went with me anyway because I really wanted to see it. As I said, I liked the movie, particularly the relationship between Kong and Ann, which I thought was handled very well.

However, I did think the movie was overly long. There are many scenes I would have cut shorter, but the only scene I would have ditched entirely was the spider pit scene (which of course was shot but not included in the original 1933 version). It just didn’t seem to fit and kind of messed with the flow of the plot. So I really liked the movie as it is, but I think it could have been ever better with some strategic cuts.

I’m hoping that Joy will let me watch the 1933 version on DVD soon while the new remake is still fresh in my mind.

Joy and I went to see “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” (2005) tonight. Joy’s mom watched Charis so we could go out to dinner and the movie, which was a very nice treat.

I absolutely loved the Narnia books as a kid, so seeing the movie was very cool. We both really enjoyed it (even though Joy has never read the books). The CGI was a bit more noticeable that you’d want, but overall the story and presentation were great. Georgie Henley was perfectly amazing as Lucy. The sense of wonder she displayed was incredible and really drew you in. I hope they make movies for more of the books, because I will definitely go see them if they do.

I got my “My Neighbor Totoro” art book in the mail today. Amazon got it in early before the official release date and the package arrived today. Looking through the book reminded my how cool this movie is and it makes me very impatient for the DVD release in the spring.

The book is really neat with lots of concept sketches and storyboards drawn by Miyazaki himself. Some of the concept sketches of the Totoros have crazy expressions that didn’t make it into the film, so it’s fun to see those. Also, this book doesn’t have a copy of the screenplay in the back like the other more recent Miyazaki art books (Howl, Spirted Away, and Porco Rosso), so the entire book is dedicated to artwork, which I like.

Highly recommended for Miyazaki fans.

• The Art Of My Neighbor Totoro

Nausicaa.net recently announced that Turner Classic Movies will be playing nine Miyazaki movies in January 2006. TCM typically broadcasts in original aspect ratio with no commericals, so this is excellent news.

• Thursday, January 5: Spirted Away and Princess Mononoke
• Thursday, January 12: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Castle in the Sky
• Thursday, January 19: My Neighbor Totoro, Porco Rosso, and Whisper of the Heart
• Thursday, January 26: Only Yesterday and Pom Poko

I already have the DVDs for most of these (Spirited Away, Mononoke, Nausicaa, Castle, Porco, and Pom Poko), but the other three will be great to see. I will certainly buy the DVD for Totoro when it comes out next spring, but I believe the TCM broadcast will be before the DVD release, so I can see a little “preview” before the DVD comes out. As far as I am aware, Whisper of the Heart and Only Yesterday are not currently slated for DVD release in the US at all, so this might be my only chance to catch them. I can’t wait for January to get here!

My boss knows that I saw “Howl’s Moving Castle” several weeks ago and really liked it. He told me that he was in Borders the other day and saw an “Art of Howl’s Moving Castle” book, so I went to check it out. It turns out there are several Miyazaki art books as well as mangas for a few of his movies. I knew there were plenty of Japanese books out there, but I had no idea these books were available in English. All of the books are generally available online from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, or the publisher (Viz).

There are art books for “Howl’s Moving Castle”, “Spirited Away”, and “Porco Rosso”. There is also an out of print art book for “Princess Mononoke” and there will be a new one published this fall for “My Neighbor Totoro”. There are mangas for “Spirited Away” (5 books, box set available), “My Neighbor Totoro” (4 books), “Castle In The Sky” (4 books, box set available), “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” (7 books), and the set for “Howl’s Moving Castle” (4 books) is currently being published (one book each month from August through November). All of the mangas except for Nausicaa use actual color images from the movies. Nausicaa was written (at least partially) before the movie was released, so it uses black and white line drawings.

I’ve got about half of the books in hand and the other half in the mail. So far they are all very cool and I’m really glad I found them.

I’m a big Miyazaki fan. Living in a smaller city, I didn’t think there was much chance of seeing “Howl’s Moving Castle” (2005) in the theater. The North American release date came and went and no theaters in town picked up the film. After several weeks passed, I had given up hope, but then one day in the newspaper I saw that a theater about five minutes from my house was going to show it the next weekend. Oh man, was I excited.

Joy and I went to see the matinee (it worked better with Charis’s schedule than an evening show). When the Studio Ghibli logo came up the screen I knew I was in for a treat. When I first got out of the theater after seeing it, though, I thought it was only pretty good. A few days later, after having more time to process it, I changed my opionion and I would now rate it as very good to excellent. I don’t think it is quite as good as “Spirited Away” (my favorite Miyazaki film), but it was still a wonderful film. The animation and story were mesmerizing and enchanting, as is typical of Miyazaki. We saw a dubbed version and the voice work was very good, although Billy Crystal was a bit over the top at times, to the point of being a little distracting. All in all, though, this was a great film and I can’t wait for the DVD to come out so I can see it again.