Thursday, July 18, 2024
Grave of the Fireflies
- Commentary: Under construction.
I've known about this movie and have wanted to see it since relatively soon after it came out. It was not available to English-speaking audiences, though, until 1998, and then very hard to find and very expensive to procure. It's still a bit pricey, but much more easily available, and quite a bit cheaper than it was "back then".
Roger Ebert christened it one of his Great Movies in 2000. In 2018 a fellow movie critic from Roger's site published a tribute to the film's creator, Isao Takahata upon his death that year.
Isao Takahata was a stunning animator and story teller. You've probably seen several of his productions listed in the tribute linked above. I am really looking forward to absorbing this movie of his.
More later.
I will, by the way, be adding an Actor/Role Table later. The movie has been released in at least three English dubbed/and-or subtitled versions and thus requires a bit of tweaking to my usual list, so, give me "a moment", please, to figure out the presentation and to determine which iteration I was able to procure. I won't definitely know which one I've got until I receive the movie, and it won't make it to me until August 5th.
Update 072924: The movie arrived today @ 1:45 p.m. via FedEx. Very securely packaged. I'm impressed, and I haven't yet played it. I'll be adding the Actor/Role table, in English, later today. Thank you, Amazon.co.jp!
MOVIE CHARACTERS Seita Yokokawa Setsuko Yokokawa Seita and Setsuko's Mother Relative's Aunt Aunt's Daughter Doctor JAPANESE ACTORS Tsutomu Tatsumi Ayano Shiraishi Yoshiko Shinohara Akemi Yamaguchi Kazumi Nozaki Hiroshi Kawaguchi ENGLISH ACTORS 1998 J. Robert Spencer Corinne Orr Veronica Taylor Amy Jones Shannon Conley Dan Green
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1998
Directed by Isao Takahata.
Labels: animated, survival, war3
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
She Will
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Alice Krige Veronica Ghent Layla Burns Young Veronica Kota Eberhardt Desi Hatoum Malcolm McDowell Hathbourne John McCrea Ansel Rupert Everett Tirador Amy Manson Lois Jonathan Aris Podrick Lochran Jack Greenlees Owen Daniel Lapaine Keith Olwen Fouéré Jean Joanna Bacon Audrey
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2021
Directed by Charlotte Colbert.
Labels: alice-krige, horror3, malcolm-mcdowell, psychological3, reflective, survival
Monday, June 26, 2023
Sunshine
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Cillian Murphy Robert Capa Chris Evans James Mace Rose Byrne Cassie Michelle Yeoh Corazon Cliff Curtis Searle Troy Garity Harvey Hiroyuki Sanada Kaneda Benedict Wong Trey Chipo Chung Voice of Icarus Mark Strong Pinbacker Paloma Baeza Capa's Sister Kevin Hudson Crew - Icarus I
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2007
Directed by Danny Boyle.
Labels: adventure4, nuclear, science-fiction2, space-opera, survival
Aniara
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Emelie Garbers Mimarobe Bianca Cruzeiro Isagel Arvin Kananian Captain Chefone Anneli Martini The Astronomer
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2018
Directed by Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja.
Labels: science-fiction2, space-opera, survival
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
The Fall
- Commentary: This movie is the most visually arresting movie I've ever seen. There are set pieces in this film that have stayed with me since my first viewing. It is also one of the most spiritually (that's right, I used "the word") unusual films I've ever seen.
The film was released for general viewing the year my mother died. I didn't see it that year. By the time it arrived in theaters my mother had expressed her desire to never watch a movie in a theater again. Thus, I'm not sure when I saw the movie, although I know I saw it on some cable movie service. I also remember that, once I'd finished my first viewing, I immediately watched it again. I remember, too, that I was sorry that my Mom hadn't been around to see it. She may or may not have followed the story, but she would have been as enthralled by the imagery as I was and we would have had a satisfying movie watching afternoon, replete with home made popcorn (always a requirement when my Mom watched movies) and cup after cup of coffee. If nothing else, she would have considered it an elaborate, endearing and motivating travelogue (Mom was always up for travel).
For me, it is simply a movie in which to luxuriate, especially visually, although the story is intriguing, as well. It's an undercurrent story about the confluence of images, adventure, imagination and desire and I can't help but wonder, at the end of every watching, what Alexandria is doing now. It's almost as though I consider that she might have become Wonder Woman, figuratively and literally.
This is probably one of the most expensive single movies I've ever bought. It's been sitting on my Possibility Shelf forever, more than a decade, now. Today, I was notified it had dropped in price by $10. Suddenly, my hunger for the movie singed my mind, yet again, so, despite its still high sale price, I decided to snatch it up. It's been awhile since it's been available at my local library. They have only one copy in the system and it's been "in repair" for what seems like ages. Time to purchase it, no matter what the cost. As Roger Ebert said in his review of this movie (attached to the title of this post above), "There will never be another like it." I agree.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Lee Pace Roy Walker/Black Bandit Catinca Untaru Alexandria/Bandit's daughter Justine Waddell Nurse/Sister Evelyn Daniel Caltagirone Sinclair/Governor Odious Marcus Wesley Ice deliverer/Otta Benga Robin Smith One-legged Actor/Luigi Jeetu Verma Orange picker/Indian Kim Uylenbroek Doctor/Alexander the Great Leo Bill Orderly/Charles Darwin Emil Hoștină Alexandria's father/Blue Bandit Julian Bleach Mystic/Orange picker Ronald France Otto/Old Man
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2006
Directed by Tarsem Singh.
Labels: adventure4, fantasy4, spiritual2, survival
Monday, April 17, 2023
The Revenant
- Commentary: Under construction.
Leonardo DiCaprio won what is considered by the industry to be a long overdue Best Actor Oscar for his performance in this film. The film, in fact, garnered more than a few Oscars.
Because of its Oscar wins, the film was written up at Roger Ebert, in full three times and in part by being mentioned in a few other wordy articles covering the 2015 Oscar wins.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Leonardo DiCaprio Hugh Glass Tom Hardy John Fitzgerald Domhnall Gleeson Andrew Henry Will Poulter Jim Bridger Forrest Goodluck Hawk Paul Anderson Anderson Kristoffer Joner Murphy Duane Howard Elk Dog Melaw Nakehk'o Powaqa Arthur Redcloud Hikuc Lukas Haas Jones Grace Dove Hugh Glass's Wife
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2015
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
Labels: historical5, leonardo-dicaprio, period7, survival
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Thief
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role James Caan Frank Tuesday Weld Jessie Willie Nelson David "Okla" James Belushi Barry Robert Prosky Leo Tom Signorelli Attaglia Dennis Farina Carl Nick Nickeas Nick
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1981
Directed by Michael Mann.
Labels: Criterion6, gang-movie, survival, tuesday-weld, violence5
Thursday, October 27, 2022
Planet of the Humans
- Commentary: Under construction.
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2019
Directed by Jeff Gibbs.
Labels: documentary2, goflexB, michael-moore, survival
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Cast Away
- Commentary: Yes, I have seen this movie. In fact, I've seen it more than once and at least one of those viewings was with my mother, who was as transfixed as was I. I've had a touchy relationship with this movie, though, because my youngest sister noticed, when she was visiting after our mother died, that I had a copy of this movie sitting next to the dvd player and disparaged me for this choice, "You're watching that movie? Why?!?" Normally, I'm not intimidated by anyone questioning my life, my choices, or my life choices, but, you know, when the disparager is a sibling, well, sometimes the surprise and disappointment stab deep and personal, beyond a sibling's opinion of one of your specific choices. Thus, I put off obtaining this movie for a long, long time.
I don't know, though, I guess the intimidation just finally wore away. I can't tell you what recently reminded me of this film, but it's been on my mind for maybe about a week. Today, I finally searched it out, found a spectacularly cheap price on it, checked internally for still existing nubs of intimidation, found none, and decided, this is it. It's time.
It will arrive in a couple of days. That's when I'll rewatch it and finish writing it up, so, until then, this post is still under construction.
Oh. And BTW. Along with Roger Ebert's review of this movie, which is linked to the title of this post, his site contains a thoughtful, provocative meditation by another site reviewer, Omer M. Mozaffar. Without giving away any of the surprises in his reaction, I'm telling you, if you enjoy this movie, you should read his article.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Tom Hanks Chuck Noland Helen Hunt Kelly Frears Lovett Nick Searcy Stan Chris Noth Jerry Lovett Lari White Bettina Peterson Vince Martin Pilot Albert Miller Frederick W. Smith Self/Founder of FedEx Nan Martin Kelly's Mother
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2000
Directed by Robert Zemeckis.
Labels: dramaF, philosophical, psychological2, survival, tom-hanks








