I thought it would be an interesting idea to keep track of movies I've watched. So this thread is going to consist of reviews and tidbits about each movie I watch as I watch them from now on. I might just mention the movie and give it a rating, or I might give full reviews. It's just going to be a mixture of whatever I feel like.
Only Yesterday (1991)(Animation/Drama)
Directed by Isao Takahata
At first glance I thought this had Miyazaki written all over it. Guaporense recommended it to me. So that's why I watched it. At first glance of the cover I thought it looked kind of boring, but when I saw other pictures my interest got peaked because the artwork was so interesting. I noticed a lot of gestures and facial expressions that I haven't seen in any other animated movie before. Like when characters were eating food they didn't like, their mouths would make interesting shapes and their features would reveal their discomfort. There was a lot of layered movement where you would see the focal point moving in one way and things in the background and foreground moving in other ways. There were quite a few beautiful landscape shots. The composition especially stood out as being really well done. This made the movie so easy on the eyes it was just beautiful to behold. The quality of the animation was so good it felt like a 2011 movie.
The story is about a young woman who goes on vacation while fostering memories of her childhood when she was 10 years old and went on a similar vacation. It goes back and forth between the present and past telling various short stories throughout the overarching plot. I liked the parts that revolved around her 10 year old self more. One thing I noticed that was almost a drawback was that characters chuckled a lot at silly things that really weren't funny at all. I get that they were just a bit giddy, but still it was almost annoying. And the wrinkle line that would appear on each cheek as they chuckled made them look chubby until it went away. To go back to the positive side though, the ending was one of the most interesting endings I've ever seen in a movie. I mean for style alone I have never seen anyone do that before. I don't want to spoil it, but if you watch it make sure you watch through the credits. By the time the credits finished I had to wipe away a tear from each eye.
Overall it was a terrific movie that I would recommend to anyone interested in animation (not just anime).
Excellent
December 23rd
Only Yesterday (1991)(Animation/Drama)
Directed by Isao Takahata
At first glance I thought this had Miyazaki written all over it. Guaporense recommended it to me. So that's why I watched it. At first glance of the cover I thought it looked kind of boring, but when I saw other pictures my interest got peaked because the artwork was so interesting. I noticed a lot of gestures and facial expressions that I haven't seen in any other animated movie before. Like when characters were eating food they didn't like, their mouths would make interesting shapes and their features would reveal their discomfort. There was a lot of layered movement where you would see the focal point moving in one way and things in the background and foreground moving in other ways. There were quite a few beautiful landscape shots. The composition especially stood out as being really well done. This made the movie so easy on the eyes it was just beautiful to behold. The quality of the animation was so good it felt like a 2011 movie.
The story is about a young woman who goes on vacation while fostering memories of her childhood when she was 10 years old and went on a similar vacation. It goes back and forth between the present and past telling various short stories throughout the overarching plot. I liked the parts that revolved around her 10 year old self more. One thing I noticed that was almost a drawback was that characters chuckled a lot at silly things that really weren't funny at all. I get that they were just a bit giddy, but still it was almost annoying. And the wrinkle line that would appear on each cheek as they chuckled made them look chubby until it went away. To go back to the positive side though, the ending was one of the most interesting endings I've ever seen in a movie. I mean for style alone I have never seen anyone do that before. I don't want to spoil it, but if you watch it make sure you watch through the credits. By the time the credits finished I had to wipe away a tear from each eye.
Overall it was a terrific movie that I would recommend to anyone interested in animation (not just anime).
Excellent
Last edited by Zotis; 12-27-14 at 12:03 AM.