Most recent movies watched:
Speed Racer
No Country for Old Men (EXCELLENT BUT HEART-STOPPING!)
Most recent reads:
Trigun vol 1
Kare Kano 1-4
Martin the Warrior
War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
Dune
Biting the Sun
Alrighty. This one's out of left field for me too, believe me, but I went to check out the new Speed Racer live action film directed by the Wachowski brothers, and I loved it.
Yeah. I'm in shock too.
I went in without expectations simply because I couldn't imagine what they would do with the old 60's anime, and I was very impressed with how they decided to reconstruct the story, characters, and world. There were a few moments here and there that felt a little childish (strangely offset by the use of occasional swearing, violence, and Spritle flipping the bird), but the plot was much more believable, deep, and compelling than I could have anticipated. Along with the very strong acting (I was impressed with the appropriate casting), the visual style first pissed me off, but rapidly became a lot of fun. Somehow or another the neon-bright colors and campy retro feel came off as fresh and interesting rather than tacky. Although i'm not gonna lie, there were moments I couldn't stop myself from crying, "Auugh, it hurts, I'm blind!" from the color overload. This approach to CG isn't really my thing since there were a lot of flat textures and over-saturated colors reminiscent of an older video game, but the graphics and animation were still beautiful and the costume design was right on in all the ways it needed to be. Product placement makes me quite sad, but it was sparse, so I guess I'll bite my knuckle and be grateful for the incredible Car-Fu (the physics going on in this are just mad).
In the end, this was just a great film to go watch with a group of friends, kick back, be awed by the artistry, and fawn over some hot Korean guys. Seriously, Park Joon Hyung? Can we be friends? I'll honestly award anyone who brings me a good sized image of him as the Yakuza Driver with some art. Please bring me a picture that isn't him shaving with the straight razor and i'll draw you something pretty.
In non Speed related news, i've started my first summer session and find myself rather hungry and sleep deprived. Ah, college. It was odd to be without you for a week there. I'm taking a media arts course that's kicking my a**, but I bought the adobe production premium suite, so i'm too busy swooning over my beautiful new CS3 programs to complain much. I feel like i've finally gotten a foothold in the media arts department (even if it's just a toe-hold, really). Hanging out with friends and getting to spend time with people I don't often see. It's nice.
Wish I had some food sad
PS- I'd like to say a word here for the other movie up on my list, No Country for Old Men. It's about as 180 as you can get from a flick like Speed Racer, but I think the two were comperable for intensity and action. It's apples and oranges (No Country is hyper-realistic, even in mood- almost on the pessimistic side, whereas Speed Racer was definitely hyper-fantastic), but both were effective in creating that excitement. No Country is an incredible movie, and is one of those films that's going to have it's place in cinematic history for a long time purely for being so well made. It's the first film that has ever kept me up at night contemplating it. Not good for light-hearted viewing, but damn it's a fine work of art.
PS- Dumping this tektek I did here since it's neat smile
Total Value: 624,408 Gold
[Item Information]
Item List:
Cloud Zebra Shoes
Oculus Mythica
Kachina Clown Body Paint
Goti Clips
Elven Ears (Tone E)
Drop Dead Gorgeous Skull Choker
Demonic Anklets
Burnished Black Kukui Necklace
Black Eye Stripe Tattoo
White Drome Egg
Black Skeleton Shirt
Charcoal Cat Tail
Freddy Claws
Bull Black Cowboy Chaps
Aiiro Haori
Gills
Crow's Bill
Raven Black Kachina Dancer's Wings
