Ponyo and GI Joe: Off the Cuff

Had me a wonderful day in the city! I did something I don't do very often anymore...I did a double feature day. You know, that's when you see two movies in one day. I don't do it very often anymore because, damn, dude, movies are expensive now! When I was frequently doing double feature days around 10 years ago, I'd go to half-price matinees, and it'd pretty much work out to be 2 for 1. But now...it's just too expensive! But still, it's fun to do every one in a while.

First up was one I've been blogging about for quite some time now, the latest from world renowned Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo.



Miyazaki's films truly work in transporting you to another world. You just accept this world where a goldfish with a human face can become a little girl. The traditional, hand-drawn animation is wonderous to look at. And that music! Composer Joe Hisashi kicks all kinds of ass. This is definitly lighter fare than what Miyazaki's been putting out recently (ie Spirited Away). This really feels a lot like My Neighbor Totoro. And there ain't nothing wrong with that!

If I have one complaint...it'd have to be with Lisa, the character of Sosuke's mother. Now, Miyazaki is renowned for putting strong female characters in his films. And Lisa looks to be about the same...except for one scene.

SPOILER WARNING!

So, Sosuke's father/Lisa's husband is a ship captain. He decides to take another job and thus be away from home for longer than expected. Naturally, Lisa is upset. But Miyazaki has her throw a very childish tantrum and then sulk like a 7 year old. Seemed kind of out of place.

END SPOILERS!

Other than that, it truly is a magical film so go see it! 3.5 nibs.

And then, we went across the theatre to see G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.



Wow, what a world we live in! Two live action Transformers films, a live-action G.I. Joe...bring on He-Man!

What can I say about The Rise of Corbra? It definitly draws more from the classic cartoons than the classic comic books...there's a stronger focus on the action than the character development.

It's formulaic as hell, they made some deviations from the source material, but you know what? Enough of what I enjoyed as a kids was retained, and that made me happy...kind of like the first Transformers.

3 nibs!

Now let's hope they learned from Transformers example and don't fuck up the sequel.