Letters from Heather

HAHA, I look incredistupid in one of those pictures, it's DSCN8446. My plate was given to me by the dealership, it's freakishly got my first name's initial AND my birthday (1118, November 18th). I wasn't going to share that photo of me, but gosh, I look so drooly and dumb-founded I just have to. Can't believe I didn't upload these sooner.

Wow, I haven't updated in awhile. I think I made some lame Facebook posts recently, but I just realized I haven't done a whole lot of updating over the past couple of weeks. Michigan was so awesome I'm going back there this Friday. I got a speeding ticket driving home, ouch $$$. Going to try to not have that happen, because as it turns out according to my GPS I did not save any time by going extra fast.* Traffic will always slow you down.

*(Ok, maybe 10 minutes? For a 2.5 hour trip? Not significant.)

Isaac has promised to go see The Time Traveler's Wife ("as soon as you finish reading it" = finished the day after this announcement) with me immediately on Friday in ASAP fashion, and I have promised to indulge his super geeky needs and see District 9. There seems to be a ridiculous amount of movies I want to see out right now, I'm hoping we can find time to cram Miyazaki's adorable Ponyo into Saturday or Sunday before I have to go. There's also G.I. Joe and Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince to see, and I have a feeling I really should have taken the time to see The Proposal, which is nolonger in most theaters and some other movie that's slipped my mind (the gangsters one?). TOO MANY MOVIES!

It's a little frightening how slow it is at work this week. Suddenly I'm out of things to do and sort of floating around other people's deadlines waiting my turn. Feels like the high school lunch line. Freakish. In other news I made a ridiculous rant on DeviantArt that's not going to change anything about anyone's opinions or the overwhelming amounts of stupid behavior circulating incessantly over there. I haven't drawn in months though, so I'm not even sure why I care, or if I care--even. Oh well. Ciao.

                   

Click here to download:

LETS_MOTOR_Laser_Blue_Happines.zip (11102 KB)

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It's hard to believe this film even exists. I've been struggling to get my hands on it as much as I did when I sought out The Notebook (this was before it was aired repeatedly on television, over and over to ad nauseum). I'd seen the box for the dvd the last time I'd been to Blockbuster, but for some reason I didn't take the initiative to rent it. I am extremely glad I did, and I'll tell you now, there's little to compare to Otomo's incredible work here. I can't believe Wikipedia says the movie was in production for ten years before its release in 2004. That means it began life when I was what, just nine? That's ridiculous. This work screams to be watched, and if you see just one trailer, you're going to become more than curious.

Steamboy (スチームボーイ) begins with a mad-scientist style accident involving lot's of steam-filled pipe-work connecting to some unseen machine. The entire project literally explodes in a cloud of steam that, I imagine, killed most of the staff and heavily injures son and co-founder of the project, Edward Steam...I know, they have the best last name...No really, it's so simple it's clever and admirable as the film chugs away! His father, Lloyd Steam, is depicted as the villain of this disastrous mishap, and the entire accident causes a sort of trickle-down effect that results in the damaged Edward Steam to retake their project(s) and build something horribly destructive in place of pure scientific curiosity and pursuit in the name, of course, steam.

History then moves forwards six years to the life of their son and grandson, James Ray Steam. He's very young, probably no more than twelve, and yet he's capable of controlling and understanding the way technology works around him. He spends his days helping maintain a textile plant, which we see early on in all its 1866 English glory, and building up his own invention with his mother at their Manchester home. The story takes off when a package arrives at their door holding a small metal ball, schematics, and directions to protect the ball from anyone at the "foundation". Well, of course, two members of the O'Hara Foundation arrive to take claim to it, but Ray catches on quick and is thrust into fleeing when his grandfather lands on their doorstep at the same time and commences in fighting the visitors.

Up until this point the animation and environments are stunning, and despite all the grime and grey brought up by the steam that runs this version of our world–it is fully fleshed out by Otomo and his crew. However, it is during this chase scene and the moments that follow it that we really see the prized director of Akira shine again, as he takes on a ride...I don't even want to spoil for you. Ray finds himself entering a world he's only known through his father's work and the general science of steam. As he's taken for a ride, he'll find there is much more to his inherited steam business.

Also! Be sure to check out Wikipedia after you've watched the movie, there's a small summary of the events at the end credits that I must have been too tired to entirely comprehend. Oops, I completely forgot to mention that my favorite voice actor, Kari Wahlgren and the amazing Anna Paquin do and amazing job in their roles in the English dub.

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I'm surprised that I forgot to write any mention of the movie. I went to see it last Friday with my brother and we loved it. Personally I wasn't as hyped about it as I was at the first movie, but I didn't expect much from a sequel. Revenge of the Fallen did show some improvements, and its attempt to portray the history of the Decepticons and Autobots with Earth and the cause for their war affair. Isaac told me he doesn't think this was part of the original canon, so despite the surprisingly probable concepts surrounding "Prime" and "Fallen" they're likely fantasies stirred up by Michael Bay for his film series.

To the positive side, Bay's cinematography decisions during fight scenes showed more aerial shots and allowed the audience a better perception of exactly what was happening. This was the greatest failure of the first film, as the majority of robot throw downs were shot through Sam's (Shia LeBeouf) eyes. The Cloverfield effect is something I enjoyed, but many other viewers were displeased with the overwhelming nature of this style. I guess the shiny metal on metal was enough to satisfy me, but this film did a great job of backing up and letting you see just where the punches were landing and how the victim robots were beheaded, crushed, or de-spined.

Megan Fox showed a matured role as Mikaela, instead of being simply thrown into the movie as the "girl next-door" she was given the opportunity to support Sam and provide intel through easily capturing a small Decepticon with her mechanic-earned skills. The amount of fan service in this film didn't hit its peak until the desert dash, which probably was the only scene that annoyed me. Shia's performance is more amusing than in the first movie, but constantly poking fun at the character seemed to diminish his ability to convey the source of courage and strength needed to fulfill his role towards the end. Sam's heated relationship with Mikaela is barely scratched in this film, and despite Megan's improvement, the pair doesn't hold the chemistry we'd expect from these characters. Even their acting, though this is entirely the director's fault for being responsible for cutting scenes: is choppy. There's a few scenes where Mikaela is running left, Sam is going right, and the next clip they're holding hands and running somewhere together. These were easy errors that could have been corrected, and ones that you'd usually miss, but their frequency in the human acting of the film makes them visible.

Then there's the twin robots, that I'm only going to tell you were the most annoying and pointless part of the film. They brought down the movie with high production costs and low contributions to the plot. Their sort of, "we're stupid, oh, oops! Did I do that?" performance in the film while playing off a mixed stereotype could have been completely removed from the movie. I honestly do not know why they were created or used in the movie at all. They were nothing but offensive, and never amusing at all. I think the car maker that granted Bay licensing to use their automobiles for these idiots ought to be pissed off at the film. The cars come off as low-performance flashy, and disgusting. Not the kind of image you want to sell to your consumers.

Finally, there was Wheels, aka "Wheelie". Sure, he has one moment where the writers hit a low note and repeated the awful display of "dog on dog" humping a the beginning of the film. However, I enjoyed his presence, and it's too bad the idea of Mikaela having a Decepticon pet in the form of a transforming RC monster truck couldn't be used to a fuller extent. Perhaps the production costs from including the idiot duo removed any possibility for his role in the film–ironic, because I'm sure racing an RC truck around the set was cheaper than the two Chevrolets.

Not much else to mention that wouldn't spoil the film, so you'll have to see it yourself. It is worth the money, if only for the beautiful effects.

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If I had realized that Satoshi Kon was the same director of Paranoia Agent, I would have rented this movie much, much sooner. In fact, I regret not watching it with Isaac when we skimmed the cover ourselves in his video store a few times. I was torn between renting this and some deeply cell-color driven animation called, I think, Beautiful Mari, which I might still take a chance in seeing. I went to the store with the intention to rent Steam Boy, something I've avoided because the name sounds so silly, but the previews for it that came with The Sky Crawlers have convinced me it's something I ought to see.

Anyway, Paprika is a proactive thriller following a team of psychiatric researchers that have developed a device to allow literal dream therapy. They call it the DC Mini, which I imagine stands for "Dream Catcher Mini", and the device shows great success as the project's primary researcher Doctor Atsuko Chiba (千葉敦子博士) explores the dream therapy during the DC Mini's final stages of production under the disguise as the cover's red-head with amber eyes, Paprika. Somehow three prototypes are stolen, which lead to an array of fantastical events and in-reality near-suicides on the part of several doctors at the facility. The team tries their best to analyze recordings of the dream-terrorist's victims, and come to the assumption that they are being controlled by a missing associate named Kei Himuro. This man developed the device and entire therapy system with the overweight Doctor Kōsaku Tokita (時田浩作博士), and is feared to have taken control of the device for personal gain. With the help of the opening's "illegal" patient, Detective Detective Toshimi Konakawa ((粉川利美探偵), Dr. Chiba, and Dr. Tokita are able to get to the bottom of this dream terrorist plot and return things to normal when the DC Mini system goes beyond realms of control and meshes with reality.

The movie explores archetype concepts briefly with Detective Konakawa, and the emotional estrangement of many of its characters with few exceptions. In returning reality to its natural state, the characters all face what haunt their own dreams or identities, with the greatest change happening in Dr. Chiba. The color and effects in this film are nothing compared to the wild psychological path it takes us through. This movie's truly something to experience, and I enjoyed it far more than the last film because it granted me hope in spite of great despair and destruction. Paprika shows you that you're capable of changing your fate, even when your dreams become nightmares.

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Last week, my parents opted to buy a ten-dollar, seven-day unlimited rentals pass from Blockbuster and we were able to watch more movies than we ever rent in a week. The only catch is you can only take out one game or movie at a time, but that's a small price to pay when you live just a few blocks away from the store. When they left on Friday to drive my sister down state, my brother and I bought our own seven-day pass and watched several movies with it, including: Taken, Gran Torino, Role Models and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. When my parents came home yesterday and my brother went out, I used our unlimited rental to rent The Sky Crawlers, and though I was impressed by the beautifully subtle movements of the characters under Mamoru Oshii direction, the story itself was not so charming.

I'll admit, I did tear up once. I don't think it was during the scene after credits, but it was just before that. This movie pissed me off just as much as the last movie my parents rented (Changeling), ok, it didn't get me quite that furious–but the overwhelming swirl of uncertainty and unexplained information had me reeling. It wasn't until somewhere in the middle of the movie that the status of the children flying these planes was truly explored, and it was mentioned that these children were actually genetically modified humans called Kildren (キルドレ). These Kildren are incapable of growing up, though the commanding officer, Suito Kusanagi is keen to point out early on that it isn't a matter of being "unable" to grow up, but "unwilling." *

As it is soon revealed that the Kildren either block out a good portion of their reality, or live their lives in psychologically disturbed agony, it slowly becomes apparent that there is an even deeper element of dystopia to their endless war. The main pilot, a boy named Yūichi Kannami is actually the same pilot he has replaced–the "deceased" Jin Rho. This isn't just an endless war, but a sick soap opera where their battle "theatres" are full of invincible characters that are either revived beyond the normal point of human existence (death) or genetically cloned to reappear with ghost memories, similar to the explorations of Oshii's more famous work: Ghost in the Shell.

I apologize if I've spoiled anything with my vague summary, but the very thought that this kind of alternate reality could very probably exist in a world of genetic science and engineering is not only disturbing, but its perseverance is more than depressing...it's despair at its core. If you're going to watch this movie, be ready for something deeper than dogfights and conspiracy theories. This one's a real dystopic exploration into human suffering and struggle when one's most basic rights are stripped away that–though I pray never sees the light of day in our time–feels very present in the wars any "civilized" country of today is waging. The movie asks, is peace really possible without war? And more disturbingly: is war possible because of peace?

_{* It should be noted that this does not mean the children can change their physical fate and break free of this system by growing up into genetically correct adults, but rather that their current euphoric state of mind is driven by an inability to mentally mature and that by stepping beyond this they "age".}

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