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SimonPease
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Mai (2024)
Top of Vietnam, Bottom at International.
As a Vietnamese person, I am just speechless of how this movie can be called and even represented for Vietnam Films industry in general.
Movie wise, this is literally a 80% copy of La La Land from screenplay slap in one more of those "fancy transitions", soap opera stage acting and the on-going box office buff allegations surrounding the film.
Take a look at the reviews on other movie databases, Letterboxd & Rotten Tomatoes. Tran Thanh marketing team literally deleted the film's page just to get rid of the reviews only to re-upload them 1 week after. I do not respect this behavior from a studio that is trying to silence the honest reviews from critics!
Shin Evangelion Gekijôban (2021)
A Forever Legendary Modern Artwork in Anime History.
The whole movie was made to make Evangelion look like a massive play, characters start falling off the set, long dialogues take places on stages, they start discussing the title of the show as title cards appear behind them, key frames, weird CGI, sketches, storyboards, sound stage with equipment visible, and buildings made of cardboard are all included during the last impact. Why? Well, because Anno's use of Brechtian Verfremdungseffekt (distancing techniques) are heightened to a new level in the finale, but thats because he's willing to say goodbye to this universe in order to overcome it completely. The film is filled with voluntarily clumsy techniques to remind you that you're watching a fiction, an animated fiction. An example of this is when Shinji is looking at the blue sea and it slowly disintegrates into its purest forms of creation. The last impact is the fusion of different imaginary projections. Reality and it's representations fuse.
A giant meta meta meta circle-jerk of Anno still reminding you after 26 years that if you relate or take heart to anything in the series you're an idiot and should get help, and for filtering so many people and not caring about his own hubris, I love him even more. And seeing as 'big' Evangelion fans don't like this and typical pretentious otaku fans don't either, it makes this film even better and furthers Anno's point. 'I liked the mecha fights and music! But i felt disconnected and confused watching it, it felt hollow :(' remember when i said Brechtian? Or 'this is nothing like the 90s anime or EoE i want to live in perpetual nostalgia!!!!' yeah it's almost like one of the main points of the film is to mock these 2 types.
YOU WILL grow up
YOU WILL stop watching anime
YOU WILL go outside
YOU WILL be emotionally mature
YOU WILL find someone you love and loves you back
YOU WILL support yourself and others
YOU WILL find happiness in reality, .
YOU WILL do all of these things right? It's expected of you, that is what growing up means, and that is what Anno thinks also, and if you refuse to do so? You are rendered useless.
I could talk about the Fichtean/Hegelian philosophy of consciousness in Rei or the dialectical materialism she shows as she also expands consciousness by modifying nature/her environment through labour, but the moral of the story is that Anno hates you and you should stop watching anime and interact with people, me included. Thx. Btw EoE is still his magnum opus. Ok bye.
Suzume no Tojimari (2022)
Mid. No cap.
I'm as much of a Shinkai fan as the next guy, but I have to admit his latest work is also his weakest to date. Shinkai's writing has always been a point of criticism in his previous works, but in Suzume, even the relative strength of its visuals and music do little to rescue its struggling storyline.
Shinkai makes no attempt to push the boundaries in Suzume, and viewers will find that the story follows pretty much the same formula as his previous two works. Unfortunately, there's just a bit too much crammed into its 2 hour long runtime for anything to be resolved in a satisfying manner. There's that slightly forced, slightly awkward romance subplot; there's a coming-of-age/self-discovery segment; not to mention some familial angst and trauma thrown into the mix. None of these threads are given enough time to develop and it all ends up feeling like a bit of a cop out with little to no emotional payoff. Side characters come and go, serving as little more than checkpoints in the main characters' journey, doing little to influence their development and final destination. Our main guy might look cute, but he has less emotional depth than the chair he turned into. Overall, not great, even by Shinkai's standards.
The visuals are, as usual, the star of the show. Suzume departs from the more grounded, realistic atmostphere of past films, instead opting for a more ethereal, supernatural vibe. Viewers will once again be treated to stunning panoramas and wallpaper-worthy backdrops. Although, the film is sorely missing the small, human aspects that were so effective in creating that extra bit of immersion in Your Name and Tenki no Ko. In my opinion, Suzume doesn't quite reach the high bar set by Tenki no Ko in terms of atmosphere and visuals.
To no one's surprise, sound design and SFX were once again impeccable, and lent quite a bit to the realism of the film. Our friends in Japan may (or may not) appreciate the attention to detail in earthquake-related scenes in particular.
In the music department, Radwimps reprise their role in the soundtrack, delivering a great soundtrack. Unfortunately, while the sougs were fine, the timing felt a little "off". There was a noticeable reuse of some tracks, and it never quite felt like there were many emotional notes hit. There was no moment like when "Sparkle" or "Grand Escape" started playing in Your Name or Tenki no Ko; no moment that made you go "damn, this is it". Perhaps this is more the fault of the plot than the music. That said, relegating one of the only vocal Radwimps tracks to the end credits was a... questionable decision, to say the least.
Viewers going into this for the visuals (and other things Shinkai has traditionally done well) should prepare to be whelmed, or maybe underwhelmed. Viewers hoping for an improvement in the story writing department shouldn't bother. While I will still eagerly await Shinkai's next project, I only hope that he brings something new to the table next time. Even the best formulas get stale after a while.