Run an informal poll asking otaku to list today’s greatest anime director and two names will immediately appear at the top of the list: Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii. But what is odd is that they’d be at that position for different reasons: the two directors and their cinematic visions could not be more opposite. […]
I’ve never been reticent when it comes to voicing my adoration for the films of Wong Kar-Wai. Admittedly, I haven’t seen all of them, but the ones that I have seen affect me like few other films. Wong’s trademark themes of alienation and loneliness, his lovelorn characters, and his inimitable style (voiceovers, meandering plots, intriguing […]
Among gypsy diversity, one common thread – aside from an art that gives voice to the very Life Force – is a deep well of suffering: gypsies know well the troubles that chase all inassimilable Others down a neverending road, but they also share more universal pains.
Fernando Eimbcke’s Lake Tahoe examines a young man’s quest to repair his wrecked car and broken heart.
I’ll freely admit that the first time I watched Ping Pong, I was pretty disappointed and underwhelmed. But in hindsight, I had gone in with completely wrong expectations. Based on the trailers I’d seen and some of the more effusive praise I’d read on the Web, I went in expecting an over-the-top, CGI-fueled live-action cartoon […]
It’s an undeniable fact that CGI has changed the face of animation. Whether you’re talking about the style and aesthetic, the production methods, or simply the time and effort involved, the impact of computer animation has been huge. In fact, I daresay that it’s becoming difficult for some folks to think of animation as anything […]
In the face of imminent disclosure, a mocking irony is often the shield of choice to defend one’s fragile sense of self-worth. That’s what makes SPECIAL so special (might as well get that out of the way): the filmmakers absolutely refuse to treat their hero (that, too) as an object for the viewer to feel superior to.
Even if you haven’t had the opportunity to watch anything by Jordan, the article is worth reading.
It is silent cinema with a hyper-realized Bazinian sense of wonder. Or a Ricoeur rubik’s cube that can be emplotted across a variety of planes.