Updates, Oddities, Etc

Hey guys, sorry I've been out of action for a while. I'm trying to make these a weekly thing, but it's kind of hard to juggle them. The Spirited Away review is coming up very soon. I'm writing it with a totally different style and I want to make sure I get it perfect before posting it. I have two more reviews to write after that. I'm working as hard as I can, but I've got schoolwork to do too.

In the meantime, I'm going to leave this little image with you:

The other day I got high, decided to eat a banana, and had one of the weirdest experiences of my life. As soon as I began to peel it, I broke out laughing. I couldn't help but imagine that I was unzipping a zipper. I made little zipping sounds while my friends watched. The texture of the inner banana is perfect. I mush it around in my mouth. Sure, it doesn't taste the best, but it's a lot of fun to eat. Try it out next time, and tell me what you think.

Twilight (Quickie)

Ok, I promise not all of my live-action movies are going to be quickies. Last time, the movie was a bust; in this case however, the movie was actually fun to watch high. To be honest, I was actually so high that I can barely remember what happened. I can only read a handful of my notes (and believe me, I would upload a picture of them if I could), so I only have a small amount of things to absolutely say about it.

First things first. The cinematography of this movie played with my mind. The scene seems glossy, and everything within it appeared to be melting into itself. I began to wonder if Forks, Washington really looked like that. The movie's minimal lighting sets a morbid atmosphere.

Speaking of fear, the Cullens came off as a lot more frightening this time. I'm not sure if it was the make-up or what, but I was literally afraid every time the vampires popped into the scene. And as if to drive their point home, the director filmed a lot of close-ups. Every so often, Edward's giant face would fill up the screen and I even screamed at one point.

I didn't pay attention to the music until the baseball scene, when "Supermassive Black Hole" played in the background. This gave me a jolt, as I was suddenly really into the music.

Final summary: For the optimal experience, hot box a Honda Civic and watch this scene.

The Secret of NIMH

The Secret of NIMH, in my opinion, is one of the greatest animated films ever made. Don Bluth, its director, is a talented animator and writer; in fact, it wasn't until he started copying Disney formulas that his movies began to suck. In the eighties, he created such classics as The Land Before Time and An American Tail. Bluth's dark but ultimately sentimental style was considered controversial at the time. Most of his movies dealt with the loss of parents or other unfortunate aspects of society. And that leads me to this quick tangent.



The picture above is of the poster used for the theatrical release of the movie. In short, it accurately depicts the imagery and style used in the movie: dark, forboding, and powerful. Meanwhile, I'm stoned and browsing through my DVD collection to find something to watch. This is the cover I see:



Quite a difference, isn't it? I mean, this doesn't prepare a child at all for a story about rats that get tested on and are implied to become smarter than humans. I hear certain editions of the DVD aren't like this, but I got it out of the Wal-Mart five dollar bin, so this is what I was left with.





Anyway, the review.




The animation is very sound, but the colors are its strongest point. The title card is illuminated with this brilliant orange that immediately overwhelms my senses. This shade of orange reoccurs throughout the film and to be honest it was very pleasing. The rest of the colors blend in very nicely, making the film fluid and interesting.

Unlike 9, however, the visuals don't distract me from the overall film itself. Excluding a few instances, I'm not overwhelmed enough to forget about the characters.



It might just be me, but the concept of talking rats and mice just seemed so...surreal. Seriously, it was odd. I couldn't help but obsess over the idea of them forming a new rat society and what that would be like. And with that came the thought of evolution...it was a scientific mind bender.

The music in this film is god awful. The score completely harshed my mellow and didn't help me relax during the scenes with songs. When Jeremy the crow is flying around, it should be a peaceful moment, but they ruin it with that "Flying Love" song. The same goes for the voice acting. Aside from Nicodemus, none of these creatures had interesting voices. But then again, I'm very specific about what I want to hear when I'm high.

If you're going to watch this high, watch it with friends. There are plenty of fun laughs over certain lines, and if you can sit through the terrible soundtrack, then you'll be rewarded by the smooth animation.

HIGHPOINTS

(When Mrs. Brisby brings up Timmy's fever) The older mouse asks her how high his fever is. I laugh my ass off when I hear "How high"
(When the Shrew enters the house) I tell my roommates that I swear she sounds like the maid from 101 Dalmations
(During the Tractor scene) The animation begins to freak me out. It's very intense!
(When the Owl finally shows up) "I am the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz!"
(During the flashback to the experiments) Apparently, the inner workings of rats are intense!
(When the house is sinking into the mud) Martin asks "What's all this black stuff?" and I burst out laughing