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Saw a new film by the man who created Akira last night - An Adventure of Steamboy (don't know the Japanese title).
He's evidently ben trying to get support to make this as well as producing it for the last 8 years. It was pretty interesting (it was only in Japanese, so I had to mostly intuit the plot, not that hard). Takes place in the mid-late 19th century, in sort of a history that never quite was. Industrial capabilities are somewhat exaggerated, Story revolves around some infinite steam power source distilled from some special cave water or something. Boy who is a third generation steam engineer finds him caught up in a political and military confrontation over this power source. Movie was a little long, and story-wise not that engrossing (don't think understanding the dialog will make that much difference), but I enjoyed it a fair bit.
While the animation was not quite as detailed and ambitious as the Ghost in the Shell sequel, Innocence, nor quite as beautiful as the stuff from Ghibli Studios like Spirited Away, it was nonetheless very good stylistically, and the blending of the handdrawn characters with the large amounts of CG scenery and backgrounds and effects was done very very well. This is something Disney still needs to wrok on, IMO, or at least they did before they decided not to do traditional animation. Speaking of which, judging by this and other movies I am seeing advertised over here, 2d traditional animation is not at all a dying art, it is alive and well in Japan.
Also saw a preview for Ghibli/Miyazaki's next effort. Looks good as well, although I can tell you neither the title nor the subject, A witch reminiscent of Yubaba of Spirited Away lives in some giant walking robot house thing, Wasn't a long preview.
Don't know if Steamboy will come to U.S. theaters, certainly not in wide distribution, but look for it on DVD in a year or so.
Also, saw a quick trailer for the LAST ever Godzilla movie Final Wars. Hope to be in Japan again for that one.
BB
He's evidently ben trying to get support to make this as well as producing it for the last 8 years. It was pretty interesting (it was only in Japanese, so I had to mostly intuit the plot, not that hard). Takes place in the mid-late 19th century, in sort of a history that never quite was. Industrial capabilities are somewhat exaggerated, Story revolves around some infinite steam power source distilled from some special cave water or something. Boy who is a third generation steam engineer finds him caught up in a political and military confrontation over this power source. Movie was a little long, and story-wise not that engrossing (don't think understanding the dialog will make that much difference), but I enjoyed it a fair bit.
While the animation was not quite as detailed and ambitious as the Ghost in the Shell sequel, Innocence, nor quite as beautiful as the stuff from Ghibli Studios like Spirited Away, it was nonetheless very good stylistically, and the blending of the handdrawn characters with the large amounts of CG scenery and backgrounds and effects was done very very well. This is something Disney still needs to wrok on, IMO, or at least they did before they decided not to do traditional animation. Speaking of which, judging by this and other movies I am seeing advertised over here, 2d traditional animation is not at all a dying art, it is alive and well in Japan.
Also saw a preview for Ghibli/Miyazaki's next effort. Looks good as well, although I can tell you neither the title nor the subject, A witch reminiscent of Yubaba of Spirited Away lives in some giant walking robot house thing, Wasn't a long preview.
Don't know if Steamboy will come to U.S. theaters, certainly not in wide distribution, but look for it on DVD in a year or so.
Also, saw a quick trailer for the LAST ever Godzilla movie Final Wars. Hope to be in Japan again for that one.
BB
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