Sunday, December 30, 2012
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Princess Mononoke
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
Long gone were the days where Godzilla and his rampage of utter destruction acted as an allegory for the hazards and repercussions of nuclear warfare. As Toho’s series became more and more popular, the King of Monster slowly found himself becoming tamer, even heroic, so as to appeal to a wider audience – specifically children. This is evidently the case in Toho’s fifth installment in the Godzilla series: Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.
Battle Royale
Based off of a novel written by Koushun Takami in 1996 (and published in ’99), both the film and it’s source material, Battle Royale, were met with controversy and critical acclaim due to its portrayal of teenagers massacring one another (in quite gruesome and gratuitous ways). Despite this, the praise overwhelmed the criticism, and in 2000 the book was adapted and directed by Kinji Fukasaku, who was inspired to do so due to his own personal experiences.
Les Misérables
Les Misérables was promoted to be a game changer in the musical genre of film. For the first time ever, the actors portraying the characters would be both acting and singing simultaneously, truly imitating the stage musical from which the film is adapted (not to be confused with the original Victor Hugo novel). I was instantly enticed by this, as well as by the other promotional material, and I disregarded any potential flaws with this method, however obvious they may have been. I dreamed a dream, but alas I was in for a rude awakening.
Spirited Away
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)