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Kôdo Giasu: Hangyaku no Rurûshu (2006)
A Trashy Masterpiece
When I think back on the peak moments of Code Geass, I can't help but feel like it must be one of my favorite shows of all time. When I think back on the valley moments of Code Geass, I can't help but wonder how anyone could really put this in the top tier of media when it's so clearly inferior to truly great television shows.
Lelouch is one of my favorite protagonists ever. No doubt taking inspiration from Death Note, we meet him as a brilliant but listless high school student, drifting through life without a purpose, until he's granted a magical power by an enigmatic being named C. C. which he proceeds to use strategically to reform the world. Lelouch comes alive, immediately showcasing a megalomaniacal, grandiloquent, classical supervillain personality. However, his ends-justify-the-means philosophy is actually given credence, rather than existing as a pretense to make the villain more nuanced but ultimately as something always portrayed as clearly wrong. His absolute drive rarely wavers to the point that he really questions whether to continue, but you still see strong internal conflict in his mind. The story of the show has a lot of moments that aren't just potent climaxes, but have a unique idea and feeling to them. The theme of masks and committing to a lie with such gusto that you manifest it into reality pervades the series, especially the second half. Lelouch is a man apart from others, with only C. C. as his confidant.
However, Code Geass is a bit of a mess. Lelouch screws up and gets lucky or saved a bit much for my taste, especially given that he's supposed to be a genius. The show tries to give him a double life as a high schooler, but having other important players to the story just-so-happen to go to the same high school as him is a horse-pill contrivance. B plots that are just set at the high school feel tonally dissonant, and, really, just not all that interesting. Storylines with secondary characters often feel poorly explored, leaving me apathetic to many of those characters. And the fan "service "is quite distracting. While it's certainly not the most egregious anime in this regard, it is worse than most of the anime I've watched. (the good ones) I wouldn't care if the characters were just pretty, but in the middle of a serious battle, you can bet that a shot within a mech with a female pilot will be RIGHT up against her ass. But, curiously, never with a male character. It detracts from the overall goals of the scene, and I resent being told who to be horny for.
Overall, Code Geass is well worth a watch. While I gave it 8 stars, I think that it's 10 star stretches make it a more fulfilling experience to me than most other 8 star experiences. I feel, unfortunately, that this review has articulated its flaws better than its strengths, which I wasn't sure how to talk about generally without getting into specifics, though I'm sure I could with a little more time.
Oh, and by the way, the music slaps. (though I was never that into the intro song)
The Fantastic Four: The Menace of Magneto (1978)
An Absolute Tour-de-Force of Unintentional Comedy
I discovered this through the YouTube channel Tedfufu and will forever be grateful to him for it.
Magneto is insanely egotistical, a character type I find particularly comical. But he's not just impressed with himself- others are AMAZED by the smallest things he does, like controlling an elevator.
Nobody's ideas make sense. Need to break into a bank? Don't turn yourselves invisible, gradually turn the LONE guard invisible until he panics and runs away crying out for help. Need to defeat Magneto? Well, I don't want to spoil that BRILLIANT plan.
Was Stan Lee trying to be funny? It's hard to image someone actually believing this to be worth taking seriously.
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
The Height of Synema
Synecdoche, New York is a film about the inevitability of death and the fear that you'll reach it unfulfilled. If an ultra-neurotic philosopher writing about nihilism and suffering from depression passed out from exhaustion, this is the nightmare they would have.
Time flies and death comes sooner than you think. Caden Cotard is terrified of death, yet often doesn't see how fast time passes, months occurring in single scenes as if the days have blended together. He's always approaching the end, unable to find satisfaction in his ambitions or relationships. He wants his play to be unflinchingly honest, so he makes a replica of New York city in a warehouse, including a warehouse with a replica of the replica. But you can never encapsulate all of life, so his play balloons into something incompletable. Every relationship he has falls apart. His own neuroticism, cowardice and self absorption prevent him from achieving any meaningful connections before it's too late. The film perfectly encapsulates the fears inherent to living as a human. While things like food and survival are never a struggle in it, a search for purpose, love, and meaning are presented with brutal truth. They can be hard to achieve, and in the grand scheme of things, none of us has much time.
In the words of Roger Ebert:
"The subject of "Synecdoche, New York" is nothing less than human life and how it works. Using a neurotic theater director from upstate New York, it encompasses every life and how it copes and fails. Think about it a little and, my god, it's about you. Whoever you are."