... of Movies

In an hour, I may be leaving home with my oldest daughter to go see Steamboy. It's an anime set in Victorian England by Japanese director, Katsuhiro Ôtomo. For those that don't know, don't remember, or could care less, Katsuhiro Ôtomo is of Akira fame. For those who don't know, don't remember, or could care less, Akira is a cult classic that redefined the Anime genre with a hard hitting story set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo -- the film that is credited with bringing Anime to a wider western and adult audience. Katsuhiro Ôtomo hasn't directed an animated feature since Akira was released in 1988. While Steamboy is sure to be a hit with audience with refined tastes, expectations are already low for the North American release. In Toronto for instance, the movie is playing only at Carlton -- a theatre that specializes in foreign and art films. North Americans, unfortunately, still haven't come to grips with animation as a medium for telling stories -- they still see it as cartoons, and still view anime as only being able to produce films like Pokémon. A review of Steamboy's Japanese release can be found at the Japan Times site.

Last week Friday, my daughter and I also went out for a movie. We saw Constantine -- based on the Hellblazer comic book by Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis -- amongst many others. Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz were bad in the movie -- they did a good enough job to create believable characters -- and I saw an interview with Reeves, who said he was sensitive to the fact that the character already had a loyal following -- and didn't want to alienate those fans who already knew the character. That was a good thing, because he didn't make the mistake so many other actors make by trying to bring his interpretation to the character. The story was well written, flowed well, and the action was just the right amount. This wasn't a scary horror movie -- it was more of a cerebral horror movie. If you've read the comic, or any Vertigo comics for that matter, you'll understand what I mean by that.

A movie that I'm looking forward to is Sin City. I've enjoyed this Frank Miller comic since the first issue came out from Dark Horse. The movie is directed by Robert Rodriguez, who convinced Frank Miller that it could be brought to the screen, and gave Frank Miller co-director credit -- for more on this tale, check the latest issue of Wired magazine. What is remarkable, is that Rodriguez managed to get the look and feel of the comic down on film -- digital film that is. The effects are superb, from what I've seen via the trailers. For more, check out my previous post on this topic.