#162- Princess Mononoke

Quick recap: After Ashitaka is attacked by a demon, he goes in search of a cure. While on his journey, he becomes involved with a war between the animals of the forest and a mining town.

Is it too much to ask for a two hour movie with just these guys?

Fun (?) fact: This is probably common knowledge, but Neil Gaiman was the one to adapt the dialogue so that English speakers could better understand what was going on. Is there anything that guy can’t do?

‘I know Neil Gaiman needs to be an animal, but how white can we portray him?’
‘SO white. As white as you can possibly get.’

My thoughts: I had no idea what to expect going into this since my knowledge of anime is about as stereotypically American as you can get (translation- I’ve seen Cowboy Bebop and parts of Inuyasha thanks to late night Adult Swim). That’s not to say I have anything against the genre. There is just so much to choose from that I wouldn’t know where to begin. I’m not sure Princess Mononoke was a good starting point but that’s not because it was a bad movie.

First, let me admit that as much as I tried, I kept being reminded of FernGully, even though the two aren’t that similar. I guess it was the battle between nature versus industry that led me down that path, although-side note- FernGully doesn’t hold up after all these years. I watched it a couple of years ago and it brought back some great nostalgia but that’s about it. Princess Mononoke is leaps and bounds much more complex than that movie and I would venture to say more complex than most animated films. I was really impressed with how much the film required me to concentrate and didn’t just tell me how I was supposed to feel. My thoughts toward the characters changed with each scene and even at the end, I wasn’t sure how I felt. I won’t give away the ending but I will say that if you are looking for a feel good film for the entire family, this ain’t it.

also not kid appropriate because of this scene. Pictured is a big fat NOPE.

My one complaint, and I’m not even sure it is one, is that I felt like some of the movie was lost in translation. I understand that there are words in the Japanese language that are almost impossible to translate but the dialogue just seemed so simple compared to the plot I tried to follow. Is there a version I could watch with subtitles? I’m not even sure that would fix anything. The American voices also threw me off more than I expected (Billy Bob Thornton? Really?) and they didn’t seem to fit at all with the characters. I guess I was hoping for something a little more authentic to the original and not so Disneyfied.

Final review: 4/5. The animation alone is worth the score and is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen but the theme also impressed me. I feel like I would need to watch it again to really understand what was going on.

Up next: Kandahar

#161- Top Gun

Quick recap: Maverick may be one of the best Naval pilots, but he still has a lot to learn when it comes to teamwork, love, and riding into the Danger Zone.

Fun (?) fact: Lots to choose from, but my favorite is that Val Kilmer didn’t want to make this movie at all but was bound by contractual obligations. Val Kilmer just seems like the kind of person that talks about himself in the third person which makes this tidbit much funnier than it probably is.

‘Val Kilmer will only do this project if he can play a game of volleyball with his shirt off.’
‘ok, Mr. Kilmer but I don’t know what that has to do with Top Gun’
‘Val Kilmer doesn’t care. Bring Val Kilmer a sandwich.’

My thoughts: No, I have never seen Top Gun until I watched it a few nights ago. There are many reasons for this, the main one being that anything mechanical (trains, planes, automobiles) or technical bores me. So it was quite unexpected that I found myself really enjoying the film and imagining that if I were made to watch it again someday, I wouldn’t mind. I don’t think you could get a better endorsement from me, honestly.

What’s interesting about this is how much I enjoyed the movie when there were so many things wrong with it. The acting is one of its biggest flaws. So help me, if I see Tom Cruise flexing his jaw muscles ONE MORE TIME I might just lose it. His performance was 15% boasting, 2% honest feelings and 83% jaw flexing. And of course Val Kilmer’s character Iceman didn’t fare any better. I never really understood why he chose to engage Maverick (Tom Cruise) so much when he was clearly a superior pilot. Maybe it was to show that there was some depth to the character but it just made him come off as a jerk, even in the sincere scenes.

And yet, I’m still drawn to him.

And then we come to the love story, which, even though it was a big part of the movie, never seemed to really belong there. First of all, there was no chemistry between Charlie and Maverick and second, the timeline of him coming over to her house and the next day falling in love was ridiculous. Also, Maverick was a jerk the entire time. Charlie was an astrophysicist and was treated like she didn’t know the first thing about planes. At no point did he apologize and in fact, she saw it as charming. Gross.

The plot itself was flimsy at best, but I still got into it. I think what draws me to Top Gun is how unabashedly American it is. It’s no wonder recruitment into the Navy skyrocketed after this film was sent to theaters. The ending where Maverick regains his confidence and saves the world wasn’t a surprise by any stretch of the imagination, and I loved how comforting it all felt, like a big warm hug from the 1980s.

Final review: Screw it, let’s go for a 4/5. Also, this is one of the ultimate ‘bromance’ movies. It’s like Terms of Endearment for guys.

Up next: Princess Mononoke

#160- Sullivan’s Travels

Quick recap: John Sullivan is a popular director of comedy films who wants to make a socially conscious film. Upon realizing that he is a rich white guy, Sullivan sets out to ‘find trouble’ in order to better understand the plight of the poor.

Fun fact: The Coen brothers chose the name to their film O Brother, Where Art Thou? as an homage to director Preston Sturges. The title comes from the book Sullivan writes about his experience.

My thoughts: Paul Blart Mall Cop is one of the greatest movies ever made and you should feel like a jerk if you didn’t love it. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Schindler’s List is worthless and you are a pretentious jerk for appreciating it because that is not what society needs. Stop being a jerk! This is basically what I learned from watching Sullivan’s Travels, although the point was a little more subtle than what I said. I’m sorry I called you a jerk, by the way. I didn’t mean it.

Comedy. Gold.

Sullivan’s Travels is a comedy about how important comedies are. In 1941, America was still going through the Depression and things sucked, for the most part. It was no secret that people were suffering, especially the people living it. The last thing they wanted was a ‘socially conscious’ film about their plight because, really, what would that do? This is what Sullivan learns in his travels, as he becomes a homeless man and then later comes into some real trouble when he is sent to a labor camp for almost killing a railroad conductor. It’s quite a complex plot which I don’t have the energy to hash out right now but I will say that its complicated nature pleasantly surprised me when I watched it.

So, is Sullivan’s Travels a ‘good’ movie? I guess that’s not really my place to make a judgement. I didn’t love it or really even like it because physical comedy doesn’t do much for me, but that’s not to say that it wasn’t worthwhile to someone at some point. The plot, as I stated before, was much more complex than I expected and I never got bored. The most profound part of the movie was when Sullivan completed his first attempt to live like someone in poverty and decided to give money away to show his appreciation. Spoiler alert- it didn’t work out too well for him. It wasn’t until he actually became someone without anything that he understood that money doesn’t solve everything, and that what people really need is a temporary vacation from their troubles.

Final review: 4/5. I wanted to give this a lower rating because the physical comedy didn’t do much for me but considering the amount of time I have spent trying to sort my thoughts, I guess it deserves my respect.

Up next: Top Gun

1 Comment

#159- Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Quick recap: The Terminator is back! But this time he is here to protect instead of, well, terminate. Along the way he learns what it means to be human and how to love. Awww.

Beeee……..Goooood, E.T phone home.

Fun (?) fact: Linda Hamilton, who played Sarah Connor, has an identical twin sister who helped out in scenes where two Sarahs were needed. Identical twins seems kind of a cop out special effect when James Cameron could have just Parent Trapped it. That’s totally a thing now, by the way, Parent Trapping.

My thoughts: Reflecting on my previous Terminator post, I seem a bit underwhelmed by the whole thing. It felt like mindless entertainment, maybe a notch above other action movies, but nothing spectacular. Therefore, it pleased me greatly to see that Terminator 2 is a much better film than its original, a feat very hard to pull off. According to IMDb, Terminator 2 is the only sequel in history to win Academy awards when the previous film hadn’t even been nominated.

To start off with, the special effects, which impressed me last time, did so even more this time around. The constant explosions and walls of fire didn’t do much for me, but I loved the liquid metal structure of the T-1000. I kept expecting him to turn into Alex Mack at some point, but still very cool. The nuclear sequence was realistic enough to get a thumbs up from nuclear testing facilities, something we all strive to obtain some day. There weren’t very many ‘scary’ scenes, but that one stuck with me for awhile.

another creepy scene

Edward Furlong, who played John Connor annoyed me the entire time he was on screen, and not just because of his voice. He was like the real life version of Bart Simpson but without any funny lines. His relationship with the Terminator also weirded me out a little and reminded me of that kid in Shane, especially the ending when he pleads for him not to go. I’ll cut him some slack though because it is pretty awesome to have your own pet Terminator to love and care for, who follows you around, protects you and does whatever you want. Replace Arnold Schwarzenegger with a Golden Retriever and you’d have the top heartwarming family movie of the year. It was really hard to see how this brat turned into the leader of the revolution but that was sort of the point, I think. Sending the Terminator back to protect John Connor set in motion all of the experiences he needed to become the hero later on in life. Having not watched any other movie in this series I don’t know if the war still happened but I’m guess it did. That makes everything even more remarkable, all the things these characters went through and yet failed to stop the future.

Final review: 4/5. Definitely an improvement from the pervious film, but I wouldn’t call it a favorite.

Up next: Sullivan’s Travels

1001 Movie Nights

Category Archives: Movies

#162- Princess Mononoke

#161- Top Gun

#160- Sullivan’s Travels

#159- Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: