Summer Wars Review

Think back to the first movie that made you sit on the edge of your seat. That moment in any great film when the situation suddenly turns dire and the actions of the individuals involved determine the outcome that is to take place in the next few nail-biting minutes. Next, think back to the first movie that presented you with your first taste of "eye-candy". A film with amazing art design and an overwhelming since of creativity. Then, think of the first movie that made you cry. It could have been a movie rich in emotional turmoil from a devastating scenario or the moment of true honor and human spirit displayed as the character finally stands up to face the threat head on. Now, Imagine all of those elements in one movie in which each of those elements are expressed multiple times with, dare I say, perfection. That is Summer Wars in a nutshell.

I can remember when I first saw the trailer for Summer Wars. It starts off with Kenji Koiso, a math wiz who works as tech maintenance for the social-business program known as Oz, The online service used by everyone for games,work, and government procedures. One day  Natsuki Shinohara , a popular school girl and friend of Kenji, rushes to him asking if he'd like to work a job for her helping at her grandmothers birthday celebration. Without question he accepts the offer. But when he gets there, Natsuki throws a curve-ball by introducing Kenji as her fiancé. So as the trailer started I was hooked but only so much. I though to myself "oh, so this will be a pretty good comedy, romance type of film. I can get into that." But then the trailer brought up another scenario that peaked my interest even more. As Kenji is visiting, a program that goes by the name Love Machine has hacked into OZ despite having a highly complex security encryption code. All the computer screens suddenly display the world clocks and change them to a count-down clock starting at 2 hours. Then a character utters the phrase "What happens at Zero?". I knew then that this was a movie I had to see.

Now that you have the "basic plot" presented to you, let me share with you what I got out watching this movie. Hard as it is for me to believe, I was pleasantly surprised by a film I already thought I was going to like. You see, the movie's director had made a previous film called The Girl Who Lept through Time. It was a nice film with great artwork and a decent plot. It wasn't the greatest thing ever but I enjoyed it none the less. Summer Wars  blew that movie away.

I think this movie has the three points in film making that are crucial to a good movie; Character, Spirit, and Heart. Character,as the word implies, is expressed from the cast of individuals in the film. Every thing is important from the way they talk, the way they act, and the way they re-act to what happens around them. What made the most impact for me from these characters is every individual adds at least a small piece to the overall story arch. And I can't really say any moment or scene is wasted with any of these characters. I ,as a viewer, grew into each one and felt as if I was included in this story so much that I shared every emotion each person displayed. The Spirit of this film comes from the inspirational spirit that the characters in this film displayed at each conflict that was presented. When the communications of OZ were suffering at the hands of Love Machince, Natsuki's grandmother got on the phone with several of her family members and friends working in the rescue efforts and sent a wave of motivation helping them to make it through the struggle. And when one character, who seemed to have nothing but bitterness and hatred to everyone else, got world of tragic news he displayed complete shock and emotional impact that showed as his  true nature was revealed.  The last and most important part of this film was the Heart. The movie has several emotions running through it; Sadness, Despair, Hope, Cheerfulness, Excitement, and Pride. And with good characters with tremendous spirit, you tend to feel each emotion that they feel. And boy did I do that. I cried several times and I cheered in victory just as much. That's how much I grew to care for the characters in this film.

KOI KOI!

The last thing I wanted to point out was the "icing on the cake", the visuals. The Girl Who Lept Through Time was a wonderfully drawn movie and Summer Wars is just as much as a masterpiece. But what sets this movie apart is that it consist of another designed world, the visual representation of Oz. The characters, when interacting with Oz, are shown as their Avatars. Each one is uniquely designed and beautifully vivid as is the world of OZ itself.  And when the characters must battle the threat of Love Machine, it is represented just as so in the world of OZ; A dynamic battle of epic proportions that make your heart skip a beat.

Avatars of Oz

And that's all I can say about this film without giving too much away. I'm not sure what my favorite anime was before but I can say for sure that Summer Wars is now my pick for the best anime movie I've ever seen. I'm hard pressed NOT to call this the greatest movie I've ever seen all of film itself. Maybe that's a little eccentric to say but that's how I feel. So if you see this movie on the self of your local store, I suggest you buy it no matter what the price is. Whatever you pay for it, it will be worth every cent.

Tron Legacy (another underated film)

My family and I went to see Tron Legacy on the  weekend that it opened in theaters. When the movie was over the first comment I made to my sister was " I want that soundtrack!". We all loved the film and had a blast. Well, my dad had a real hard time understanding some details; even stuff that was clearly spelled out in the movie. He also found the first few minutes to be dull, which I don't get how a guy sneaking into a building and sky dying to his escape could be boring to anybody. But despite that he still liked it.

I really don't understand the negative reaction this film is getting from critics. I mean I understand that this film follows the same cliche that every long overdue sequel uses (like the son and father reconciling their distant or non-existent relationship), but for what its worth this movie uses this idea better that others. And it seems most people complain about the storyline being too simple or lacking depth. Well forgive me if a guy getting stuck in a computer for several years while his carbon copy program of himself takes over gaining some sort of king-like power to create an army to take over the real world - all while the creators son gets caught up in this strange world and having to deal with the lost time with his father and the choices he has to make in order to do what is right - is boring to you.

Quorra, played by Olivia Wilde, was one of my favorite characters but not for the reason most may think. Yeah she was a typical tough fighter who looked sexy but for me the sexiness was played subtly. And there is more to her character than that. \ I can't really explain it without giving away anything but I will tell you this, for the type of character she is playing she performs the character in a way that makes sense. Also I give props to the movie that Quorra and Sam didn't have a romantic kiss like most would expect. I am unsure if it was intended for them to look like the were in love or anything but if it was, the way they did it in the end was done well.

I found Tron Legacy to be fantastic with few flaws and the first film that I didn't mind paying the expensive 3D ticket price.

The Big Lots $5 Anime DVD Review Blog #1 (part 1)

Angel Tales

#1 Sweet Transmigration

from Bandai Entertainment

(Notice: This blog was originally made for thatguywiththeglasses.com and it has a few inside jokes only fans of the site might get.)
Welcome to the first Big Lots $5 anime DVD review blog. Every so often in the mountains of movies sold in this "closeout prices" store; you'll find a few anime DVDs. You'll be shocked at some of the famous anime titles you can find in this store. Most of these DVDs aren't the first disc in the series but every so often you'll find disc 1. And when I do, and It looks interesting enough, I grab it. Today's topic is the harem/magical girl anime called Tenshi NoShippo Chu, or as it is known in America: Angel Tales. Ah, harem anime. What lonely, teenage boy doesn't love this genre? I don't know the answer to that but I certainly fell in love with one show; Tenchi Muyo. Now I don't know what show started this genre, but Tenchi Muyo one probably the one show that made it well known in America. Even though I loved the show, I'm very aware of how pathetic one guy can look if all he watches is harem anime. Personally, I have only have two harem anime shows in my very small anime collection. Today I will be discussing one of the Big Lots dvds that was given to me as a gift rather than a purchase of my own.

Episode 1
We start off with a narrative from some unknown female about remembering the past. This segment reminds me of those mysterious spots in Clannad; the ones with the girl living in a world by herself who builds a robot that comes to life. It has a grainy-film effect and has a haunting aura about it. This however isn't as surreal as the Clannad spots. We then officially start of this show with a young man stuck in the rain without an umbrella while looking gloomy. Why does a catchphrase from Film Brain suddenly come to mind? Anyway, as he sits there, a fortune teller suddenly appears right by him telling him of all his troubles and failures. In this exchange we basically get our summary on this main character. It's a cheap way to do it mind you, but it saves us the trouble of waiting one whole episode to just get the exposition out of the way.  In this scene we learn that our main character, named Goro Mutsumi, is unemployed and never had a girlfriend. Wow, a brown haired guy with glasses that is out of work and never found love. It's like they based this character off of my.....um....never mind. The fortune teller then tells Goro not to worry for luck will come to him.

Later he returns to his apartment from...walking around in a business suit. Seriously they don't explain why he was walking around earlier in it. Yes, he did mention expecting a job opportunity but I don't think he was heading for it. Okay, Okay I'm nit picking here. After stepping out of the shower, he is then greeted by three women; Ran,Tsubasa, and Kirumi. They explain that they are guardian angels sent by "TheGoddess".  Before Goro can start to ask any more questions we get a sailor moon segment. And what do these girls transform into? Why housemaids of course. Wow, I don't see how anyone can find this offensive.

Kirumi, Ron, and Tsubasa

The next day Goro heads out to a job interview and the angels follow him. During this bit we learn that the angels were pets in their past-life's and have fears based on how they died. Tsubasa was a parakeet who died from trying to fly with a broken wing so she is afraid of heights, Kirumi was a hamster who died from getting lost and not eating so she's afraid of being hungry, and Ran was a goldfish who's tank filter went out and died so now she is afraid of the water. Yes, you heard right. A girl who was a goldfish is afraid of water. While following Goro they accidentally cost him his new job.
Later in the day, Goro plays his harmonica saddened by the lost job. The three angels suddenly recognized the tune and realized that he was their master. He doesn't believe them until they hum the song and images of the past start coming back. Goro then says "Just promise me this. That you'll never disappear again without telling me." I'll admit, even as I write this blog, that scene still makes me tear up.

Episode 2
This is the first episode that we see the opening theme. And boy is it terrible. I could probably put this up there as one of the worst anime openings ever. We start with the Goddess in the spirit world talking with the angels about Goro and how his angels haven't been getting the job done. The young angel Tamani is picked as the next angel to send and aid the others. The Goddess then decides to show Tamani a glimpse of Goro interacting with the other angels. "Look at this" she says and we see Goro getting stripped by the angels in an attempt to help him change. This extremely awkward situation was not played up for laughs. I'm guessing not because Tamani still has that excited and happy look on her face. I guess she's just so happy to get back to her master. In the next scene we get more hi-jinks of the angels smothering Goro with attention; Oh Boy! It's here I learn that Kirumi has a catchphrase or favorite word if you will. She constantly ends her sentences with "Nano" (mind you I watched the English dub).I've tried my best but couldn't find out what it means exactly. I will tell you this: it is nowhere near as cute as "Maho". Goro then gets a call about yet another job interview. On his way, a mysterious man tries to run him over with a truck. In that instance, Goro's cellphone falls out and Tamani suddenly appears. Yeah, apparently the angels work like the ghost from Pulse. Where is the red tape when you need it? For some odd reason this causes the truck driver to swerve and miss both of them. Tamani then passes out. Goro somehow immediately recognizes Tamani. Maybe it's because of the obvious cat-ear like bumps in her hair. Another theme in this show is that each angel has a hairstyle that matches what animal they were in their previous lives. Tamani previously having been a cat in her past life is unsettling to the other angels since they were all natural prey for a cat.

Tamani

I find it odd that Ran,Tsubasa, and Kirumi are jealous of the attention Tamani is getting from Goro. She is only Ten years old. I doubt she really could be any competition. After Goro leaves Tamani to do more job searching, the angels follow Tamani in an attempt to find out what her fear is. Tsubasa suggest that since they all have fears based on their past lives, then Tamani must have one too. Oddly enough they give up on this when Tamani decides to take a cat nap. I didn't make that pun. The show did. So don't hit me for it. Later Goro returns back to his apartment to find the Tamani hasn't returned with the other angels. He immediately returns to the door, getting his shoes back on in a hurry. When Tsubasa ask why he is so worry about an "agile cat", he simply says,"Tamani died in a car wreck," and rushes out the door. As the angels sit in Goro's apartment, they realized Tamani made a courageous move in stepping out in front of the truck to protect Goro regardless of her fear of vehicles. The next very short scene shows Tamani standing on the sidewalk wanting to cross but scared of every car that passes by.

The three angels then go out and try to find Tamani. They find her at the waterfront and after a while they convince her to go with them. Going with the same ending as last episode, it ends with Goro playing his harmonica and the angels hearing it; remembering there past lives with their maser, Goro. It isn't as impactful as the last episode but it is sweet. Of course Kirumi ruins the moment by mentioning how hungry she is. If you thought the "I'm hungry" joke is funny, don't worry.You'll get tired of it soon.

(Part 2 coming......eventually)