Furshit general

Gilthwixt · March 5, 2016 06:59 AM

So the Boy & the Beast was pretty to look at & fun to watch but had weird plot/pacing issues. Summer Wars was the same way in that it wasn't really clear to me where they wanted to take the story, with the simple, male-bonding first third being the best part of the movie. Then they decide out of nowhere that on second thought, this isn't a straightforward coming of age/training for greatness story and decide to throw ~~Shouta~~ ~~Cute-A~~ Kyuuta back into the real world so that he can...read Moby Dick and study for college entrance exams. And meet his pretty irrelevant absentee father. And get involved with a bland romantic interest that felt shoehorned into the plot.

I was entertained but I wish the story had better focus. The visuals were good and the use of CG wasn't intrusive. Unfortunately the concept of Shudo kept creeping into my mind given some of the homoerotic undertones of the first half of the film, which I'm sure has the internet already hard at work turning into furry shouta yaoi.

Bamyasi · March 5, 2016 12:07 PM

Thank you for the heads up. A lot of Asian films seem to have meandering storylines, but it definitely works for some better than others, and Summer Wars wasn't one of those. It could have been great if it wasn't a remake of Digimon: Children's War Game except not as good and with more Nintendo product placement.

At least TGWLTT and Wolf Children were both gut-punch devastating in their own little ways, even though I really didn't like the protag in the former.

Gilthwixt · March 5, 2016 07:27 PM

I haven't really given it much thought until now but what is it about the films that actually make meandering plots work? I normally think of it as bad/lazy writing but then I remembered that Forrest Gump was the same way and yet it remains one of my favorite films of all time. Maybe it's that the main character remains consistent and sympathetic throughout, or that even as the plot wanders it does so in a way that makes logical sense from one step to the next. For Boy & the Beast I just didn't feel like that was there; it went from training montages in beast world to text books in tokyo libraries in the span of a couple minutes, with no reason other than that the director wanted to, or because it's a loose adaptation of The Jungle Book.

Bamyasi · March 5, 2016 08:27 PM

I think what I like about the sort of situational storytelling that's common in anime and Asian cinema is that it feels more like you're just observing the day to day events of someone's life, with the story comprising of the overarching character development rather than a linear plot. Plus due to how narrative structures differ over there, they tend to end their stories very quickly which, as stated, is like an emotional gut punch.

There are very few American films I think achieve this very well, but I've never seen Forrest Gump. What about it do you like?

Gilthwixt · March 6, 2016 02:31 AM

I just found it funny and charming, but then again I was very young when I first saw it in theaters so I may just have been impressionable. There's just something about the way Gump, a mentally handicapped man, stumbles through famous events in history that was fun to watch. Unlike a normal person he hardly has a care in the world, and remains firmly grounded throughout the film as all sorts of craziness goes on around him. Apart from stuff involving his childhood love interest he has no ego, is always content with the simplest of pleasures, and treats everyone with genuine respect and kindness. It's endearing.

Bamyasi · March 6, 2016 09:01 AM

In that case I'll check it out. It sounds kind of like Big Fish and I love Big Fish.

I got back from Bakemono no ko a little while ago and I have this to say: it was definitely more like his first two original films (Summer Wars especially) in that it was far better in theory than execution. I liked the idea of the entire conflict being a [spoiler]metaphor[/spoiler] but wish this had been stressed further. Flashebacks to the protagonist's childhood would have assisted greatly in this regard. As it stands, it's basically Third Act Problems: The Movie, so I can't exactly endorse it. I'm sure furries would enjoy it because they discriminate consumer media based largely on whether or not it caters to their fetish, but for everyone else I'd say wait for the BD rip. Overall I'd call this Hosoda's least enjoyable film, which is disappointing as I'd considered Ame to Yuki to be a major career maturation. Watch that instead if you haven't.

Bamyasi · March 7, 2016 06:32 AM

I was pretty drunk last night and feel much more forgiving 24 hours later.

Forgot to mention this trailer played before TBATB and I really want to see the movie now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH1HTm51lts

China and surrounding countries have the rest of the world hopelessly outclassed in cinema right now. It probably helps they still shoot on film stock, but it makes all our shit look like complete and utter film school garbage in comparison. Truly pathetic the art of lighting a scene is so lost on western consumers.

crackers · March 7, 2016 12:30 PM

Quote from: Bamyasi on March 7, 2016 06:32 AM
I was pretty drunk last night and feel much more forgiving 24 hours later.

Forgot to mention this trailer played before TBATB and I really want to see the movie now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH1HTm51lts

China and surrounding countries have the rest of the world hopelessly outclassed in cinema right now. It probably helps they still shoot on film stock, but it makes all our shit look like complete and utter film school garbage in comparison. Truly pathetic the art of lighting a scene is so lost on western consumers.

LOL

Bamyasi · March 7, 2016 02:42 PM

Yes it does look amusing doesn't it?

rtil · March 7, 2016 09:39 PM

so i saw boy and the beast last night and i agree with most of what everyone has said here. the movie has huge pacing problems that start to compound on eachother when [spoiler]Kyuta leaves the beast world when he's 17 and meets the girl[/spoiler]. then it suffers from the same problem as pretty much every other Mamoru Hosoda film - there's just not enough time to tell the epic story he wanted to and the ending is stunted and weird as a result.

i really liked the dynamic between Kyuta and Kumatetsu. I could watch a whole movie just about them growing up and training together with extra banter provided by monkpigman and sarcastic monkey. unfortunately, most of that was timeskipped right when it started to get good, and then the story got pulled around in way too many directions. they didn't even show all the places they were going to travel to meet the different masters with the tickets the rabbit soon-to-be-god gave them. why was that even in the movie if they cut it short? hell, you could have made a movie just about that, too.

i liked the art direction when it was 2d. the 3d crowd scenes were fine, but Hosoda really went overboard with the 3d camera 1st person panning shots and the CGI whale at the end.

the narrative tried way too hard to push the "poetry" of the overarching metaphor surrounding the movie. a lot of the dialogue was really hamfisted. but overall it wasn't too cheesy, just too much telling instead of showing. every time something significant was happening a character had to say out-loud what it was. even if it wasn't significant. "hey, the fireworks are starting!" before a firework was even launched. was that really necessary? was any of the expository dialogue necessary? i didn't think so.

oh and the plot twist of [spoiler]Hiko being a human[/spoiler] was obvious from the moment he appeared on screen. i guess that was the point because of the terrible disguise? if so everyone in the beast world is blind and stupid.

i think Hosoda's films work better on a smaller scale. Wolf Children was simple and more effective, seemed more suited to his style of filmmaking. this one tried too hard to be "epic" and fell a little flat.

it wasn't bad, but it wasn't that good, either.

great 2d fight animation, though.

also wtf was the point of that furry thing that lived inside of Kyuta's hair? no one ever acknowledged it once except Kaede.

Bamyasi · March 8, 2016 07:21 AM

Quote from: rtil on March 7, 2016 09:39 PM
every time something significant was happening a character had to say out-loud what it was. even if it wasn't significant. "hey, the fireworks are starting!" before a firework was even launched. was that really necessary? was any of the expository dialogue necessary? i didn't think so.

This is the smoking gun for bad writing if you ask me.

I agree with everything you said especially this:

Quote from: rtil on March 7, 2016 09:39 PM
i think Hosoda's films work better on a smaller scale. Wolf Children was simple and more effective, seemed more suited to his style of filmmaking. this one tried too hard to be "epic" and fell a little flat.

With a great producer I think Hosoda could have directed some of the finest works of this and last decade. From what I've read about Miyazaki, he collaborated a lot with Suzuki, Hara and Takahata and wasn't afraid to listen to them or admit when he had writer's block. I'm not sure what went on at Madhouse or Chizu during the production of these movies but clearly Hosoda should surround himself with more people like that.

rtil · March 8, 2016 11:24 AM

Quote from: Bamyasi on March 8, 2016 07:21 AM
Quote from: rtil on March 7, 2016 09:39 PM
i think Hosoda's films work better on a smaller scale. Wolf Children was simple and more effective, seemed more suited to his style of filmmaking. this one tried too hard to be "epic" and fell a little flat.
With a great producer I think Hosoda could have directed some of the finest works of this and last decade. From what I've read about Miyazaki, he collaborated a lot with Suzuki, Hara and Takahata and wasn't afraid to listen to them or admit when he had writer's block. I'm not sure what went on at Madhouse or Chizu during the production of these movies but clearly Hosoda should surround himself with more people like that.

ironically - and you might already know this - Hosoda used to work with Miyazaki but was kicked off Howl's Moving Castle during production. i'm sure it was creative differences between Miyazaki and Hosoda , they are probably both equally stubborn. but it's pretty clear Hosoda is heavily inspired by Miyazaki and many other directors, but he comes off as a cheap imitation instead of a fresh take.

Gilthwixt · March 8, 2016 03:14 PM

Quote from: rtil on March 7, 2016 09:39 PM
i really liked the dynamic between Kyuta and Kumatetsu. I could watch a whole movie just about them growing up and training together with extra banter provided by monkpigman and sarcastic monkey. unfortunately, most of that was timeskipped right when it started to get good, and then the story got pulled around in way too many directions. they didn't even show all the places they were going to travel to meet the different masters with the tickets the rabbit soon-to-be-god gave them. why was that even in the movie if they cut it short? hell, you could have made a movie just about that, too.

Seriously. This would have worked so much better if the whole film was an expansion of the first act.

Quote
also wtf was the point of that furry thing that lived inside of Kyuta's hair? no one ever acknowledged it once except Kaede.

Well, I'm pretty sure that [spoiler]it was a reincarnation of his mom. Reincarnation being a major plot point of the movie, the fact that it appeared days after his mom died, the way her "spirit" would appear at random times when he was down and the white thing comforted him, and especially the end scene where it was eating seeds in front of her portrait.[/spoiler]

rtil · March 21, 2016 07:00 AM

Quote from: Gilthwixt on March 8, 2016 03:14 PM
Well, I'm pretty sure that [spoiler]it was a reincarnation of his mom. Reincarnation being a major plot point of the movie, the fact that it appeared days after his mom died, the way her "spirit" would appear at random times when he was down and the white thing comforted him, and especially the end scene where it was eating seeds in front of her portrait.[/spoiler]

pretty clever if true. i hadn't thought of that

Bamyasi · March 27, 2016 02:58 AM

Saw Zootopia today.

It was okay.

Did not sprout cat ears or a tail while watching though so that's disappointing.

I will say it was far less vulgar in both form and content than most works featuring bipedal anthropomorphs.

It also had this weirdly disingenuous "you can do/be anything" message, which I guess is the latest nonsense Gisney is trying to indoctrinate the youths with after giving up on romance and true love. Would be interesting to compare that with the biological fatalism in Disney/Toei/Sanrio movies of yore.

crackers · March 27, 2016 03:58 AM

i had a dangerous wank next to a family of four (or family of fur! nyah;)) but omg they couldn't tell! i spraffed ALL OVER the child in front and they thought it was ice cream! haha! i love this film!

Bamyasi · March 27, 2016 04:10 AM

That's

Paw · March 29, 2016 10:12 PM

Zootopia -- Good watch worth a download anyway, The fandom just loves to jump up and down when there's anything with an anthropomorphic animal. Although the Rule35 is quite hilarious.

Bamyasi · March 30, 2016 02:57 AM

Yes quite. If something is overhyped, check for furries.

Here's looking at you Underwhelm (Undertale not Unless, she isn't a furry she told me so).