Wyvern Posted April 6, 2003 Report Posted April 6, 2003 They were showing "Cowboy Bebop the Movie" this weekend in one theatre in D.C, and though I hadn't been to the movies in ages I decided to go check it out. I had seen large segments of the film via bootleg previously, but hadn't had a chance to view the whole thing from start to finish 'til today. Anyway, it was a very entertaining film, though I'm not sure if non-Bebop fans would like it. Bebop fans should pretty much know what to expect: lots of emphasis on eccentric details, plenty of fist fights, the mandatory flight chase scene, some damn good music, moments of pure comedy, high drama complete with operatic vocals in the background, overwhelming amounts of damage to public property, etc, etc... I saw the dubbed version of the film, and was actually pleasantly surprised by the English dubbing, which was quite good in my opinion (with the exception of the voice of Vincent and the voice of Spike sounding almost identical). My favorite scene of the film was the brilliantly executed train scene, where Spike first confronts Vincent. I really wish they would have left out the last words that come on after the credits! The phrase "Do you really live in this world?" comes off as super-trite philosophical jargon. Also, what was up with all the male characters in the film drooling over Elektra and asking her for dates while practically ignoring Faye?! I mean, let's face it... Faye is about 100 times hotter than Elektra when all's said and done. Plus, Faye has got the spunk that Elektra lacks so badly... In that sense, perhaps Vincent was the most sane character in the film. After all, at least he took note of Faye and asked her to join him! I totally couldn't believe it when Faye tried to seduce the computer-nerd hacker while he was playing the arcade game... he didn't even turn his head towards her! --- Continuing on the subject of films: I saw "8 Mile" on video for the first time this weekend. As an avid hip hop fan, I have mixed feelings about the movie. I feel they could have dropped a few scenes from it and focussed more on the M.C battling elements, which I thought were definitely the highlights of the film. What's interesting is that, although Eminem does come up with some good punchlines in the battles depicted in the film, they pale in comparison to Eminem's actual recorded, live freestyle battles. This goes hand in hand with my opinion of Eminem as a hip hop artist in general: I think he can come off as amazing in freestyle battles, but his recorded/rehearsed material is never anywhere near as good. Another problem with the film is that it might be considered "historically innacurate," as when Eminem enterred Skribble Jam (the largest and most prestigious freestyle battling tournament hosted) and made a name for himself as a battler, he actually lost in the final round against J.U.I.C.E (who remains one of the greatest freestyle battlers today). Ah well... maybe in "8 Mile 2"...? ;p I thought that "8 Mile" was an average film, overall. --- Feel free to add your thoughts or comments on recent film viewings in this thread!
Zadown Posted April 6, 2003 Report Posted April 6, 2003 "28 days later"! Of course, 99% of the people here are never going to see it because it is an european film ... so I'm not sure if I can gather my energy to rant about the virtues of this excellent movie. It was a modern zombie movie, with tribute to the ones that started it all (Night of the Living Dead -series), but it did not slavishly copy them. Beautiful, eerie, frightening, intense, hopeful and hopeless - having a set of main characters that were sympathetic make you really feel the emotions, knowning it is not a yet-another-Hollywood-film makes you know anything could (and does) happen. Heck, it'd be worth it to only see the start of the movie where you can see empty London...
Degenero Angelus Posted April 6, 2003 Report Posted April 6, 2003 On the subject of 8 Mile... I was on 8 Mile Rd. a few days ago. I love how movies can be so completely innacurate it's sick. 8 Mile Rd. is an Upscale suburb outside of Detroit Michigan. There's no trailer park, there're no battles going on, there're hardly any people who aren't middle class white Americans. Just thought I'd throw that in.
Elwen Posted April 12, 2003 Report Posted April 12, 2003 Well, the last movie I saw was the Two Towers, and I'm not really going to say anything...but last weekend, I finally finished watching the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series. (Haven't seen either Death and Rebirth or the End of Evangelion yet...) Here is what I have to say: ep. 24 is my favorite, Kaworu/Kaoru (however the heck you want to spell his name!) is now my favorite character, *cries* and I don't understand the last two episodes! Argh! Can anyone who has seen Evangelion explain them to me, if they understand eps. 25 &26?
The Big Pointy One Posted April 12, 2003 Report Posted April 12, 2003 From what I hear, *no one* can explain Evangelion, at least right around the end there. I haven't seen it yet, but that's what I hear. Heh.
Archaneus Posted April 12, 2003 Report Posted April 12, 2003 I have this theory about Evangelion... you can't explain it! I believe it to be a mental impossibility to understand it. Lol.
Salinye Posted April 12, 2003 Report Posted April 12, 2003 Ummm, K....I hope I don't regret this.... WHO or WHAT is Cowboy Bebop? ~Sali
Zadown Posted April 13, 2003 Report Posted April 13, 2003 Easiest way to get an answer to a question like that (WHO or WHAT is Cowboy Bebop?) is to go to www.google.com and to do a search on topic.
Wyvern Posted April 13, 2003 Author Report Posted April 13, 2003 Just to clarify for you, Salinye, both "Cowboy Bebop" and "Neon Genesis Evangelion" are highly reclaimed (and rightfully so!) anime series that have recieved a good amount of exposure in the U.S. Though "Evangelion" is a dark futuristic drama and "Cowboy Bebop" is a more lighthearted sci-fi action piece, they're both superb and highly recommended. It's interesting that people should bring up the ending of "Evangelion," since it's something I've contemplated before as well. "Neon Genesis Evangelion" is my favorite anime series, and though I don't know if I completely understood the ending of the series, I did appreciate the fact that Gainax decided to do something abstract and different. Though I haven't seen any of the "Evangelion" movies, I've heard that they were made simply because fans were pissed by the ending of the series and demanded that Gainax did something more simple... Supposedly, the movies are even more depressing than some of the final episodes of the series, and end in an equally abstract yet more depressing manner. Personally, when all's said and done, I think they ended the T.V series well... my only complaint would be that the final two episodes were not too flashy on the animation side of things, since there were lots of still frames. My personal favorite episode of "Evangelion" was the episode with the shadow angel that engulfs Shinji... when Misato slapped Ritsuki for mentioning the importance of the Evas over Shinji's life, I practically gave a standing ovation... ;p
Tasslehoff Posted April 13, 2003 Report Posted April 13, 2003 Im probably gonna get shot for this, but I am not exposed to much Anime cause its not the thing up were I live, but I like Gundam, especially, Endless Waltz and Dragon Ball series.. Yea yea. I know DB/DBZ/DBGT. I find it simple and entertaining to watch. I dont know.. Its just kinda something thats got me hooked
Archaneus Posted April 13, 2003 Report Posted April 13, 2003 I absolutely LOVE Gundam. I think my favorites have to be Gundam Wing (Yes, I am including Enless Waltz in that) and 8th MS Team. I've always kind of liked DB for teh smae reason Tass stated, it's simply addicting.
Orlan Posted April 14, 2003 Report Posted April 14, 2003 Guys who wrote Eva got busted for growing thier of pot in thier backyard. Explains a bit
Kokuryuu Flameshifter Posted April 19, 2003 Report Posted April 19, 2003 I've always wanted to see that, I've no way to get my hands on it though... Oh well. I don't know if this was mentioned or not, but has anyone else seen Spirited Away? Or Princess Mononoke? :dragon4:
Wyvern Posted April 19, 2003 Author Report Posted April 19, 2003 I haven't had a chance to see "Spirited Away" yet, but am eager to see it as I really enjoyed "Princess Mononoke." I was actually hoping to see "Spirited Away" this evening, but my family wasn't interested and we ended up watching the film "Legally Blond" instead... "Legally Blond" is an O.K film, though totally unmemorable. I personally cannot envision Rhese Witherspoon acting out any role other than that of a dumb blond... ;p
Tamaranis Posted April 19, 2003 Report Posted April 19, 2003 I saw a bit of Princess Monoke once... People get decapitated with arrows in that movie, it's nuts! Other than that I'd kinda like to see the whole thing, because there was some storyline happening there, but other than some mad archery, I couldn't really figure out what was going on.
Tasslehoff Posted April 19, 2003 Report Posted April 19, 2003 Wyvern, this is not an attack against you at all, but I cant stand that movie and I cant believe they are making a second.. -sigh-
Ayshela Posted April 19, 2003 Report Posted April 19, 2003 isn't it a good thing that we don't all have to like the same things? (and wouldn't it be boring if we did?)
Rhapsody Posted April 20, 2003 Report Posted April 20, 2003 A very late reply, but I'm looking forward to seeing the Cowboy Bebop movie. Fortunately it is coming to Dallas but I haven't heard much about it. Other than its good "for an anime film".
Elwen Posted April 22, 2003 Report Posted April 22, 2003 Question, Orlan-where did you hear that? But it does explain a lot. I wondered what they were smoking...
Orlan Posted April 22, 2003 Report Posted April 22, 2003 Came across it from the anime sites I frequent a while ago. It was from some newspaper's website. I'd go looking for it but it was many months ago and I think I cleared my cashe long ago
Wyvern Posted May 23, 2003 Author Report Posted May 23, 2003 I decided to see both Evangelion "Death & Rebirth" and "The End of Evangelion" recently, since I'm a diehard fan and couldn't not pick them up when I saw them on the video shelves. ;p I was expecting to be let down since I heard bad things about them, but here are my thoughts on the two of them: Evangelion "Death & Rebirth" unfortunatly confirmed my prediction, as it was a big let down. The first part, "Death," retold all the episodes of the series in a needlessly confusing manner while the second part, "Rebirth," was strangely the first half an hour or so of "The End of Evangelion," which was unecessary since the entire thing was on the other DVD. What's more, the first 30 minutes of "End of Evangelion" were nothing special... Overall, not worth the few bucks it took to rent it. The soundtrack, composed mainly of classical pieces by Bach and Kanon, was undeniably great though... After watching "Death & Rebirth," I was expecting the worst from "The End of Evangelion..." but must say that overall, I liked it. It was definitely very over-the-top and probably had more symbolic biblical allusions and philosophical discussions then the original final two episodes, but was never the less very entertaining. Having said that, there were some very twisted emotional moments and it was far more graphic than the rest of the series. I'm interested... does anyone know if these episodes were aired on television or were they shown in the theatre? I honestly cannot see them broadcasting this stuff over national T.V... definitely not for children. It must have been at this point in their career that Gainax started smoking pot, since there was certainly a lot of psychadelic, drug-induced imagery throughout... Another thing I found interesting (spoiler alert for those that haven't seen it!) is that everybody always talks about how Shinji strangles Asuka in the end, but that's not quite an accurate interpretation. The way I saw it, Shinji tried to strangle Asuka, but when she put her hand up to his cheek he couldn't go through with it. She does turn her eyes to him and says "That's disgusting" at the very end, after all...
Orlan Posted May 24, 2003 Report Posted May 24, 2003 http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=3608 Think Eva was strange.....this gives chills.
Sorciere Posted May 25, 2003 Report Posted May 25, 2003 To go way back here to Zadown's post, I have to agree about 28 days later. Just had the chance to see it and wow, very creepy seeing London like that. Had a good mix of intensity and action and not too many 'quiet' spots. Loved it!
Recommended Posts