sábado, 14 de março de 2015

Knights Of Sidonia (A long time no see mature approach on sci-fi anime)

Forget all those classic main characters from mainstream japanese animations who made anime so famous and infamous around the world; forget all those hours spent on meanless chapters that neither develop a thing nor push the story forward. Embrace a simple and elegant space Mecha Anime full of mystery (Yet to be clarified, I couldn't spoiled even if I wanted, I still get some episodes to go) and more mature characters, with a more realistic design and a pretty good looking cinematography, CGI works pretty well here. As the old saying claims, a picture worths a thousand words, so welcome to a new section in my blog where I recommend some good stuff I think you should give a try:





Gravity comes to mind on episode 5. Great visual, realistic characters, immersive space atmosphere.


The Mechas look good in cell shading CGI. Humans do photosynthesis, U la la.

One could say it's Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titans) meets G-Gundam. It's much more than that though. Think of good characters as in Cowboy Bebop or Ghost in the Shell and you'll have a frame for Knights of Sidonia characters.  














Higgs Particles, humans do photosynthesis thanks to bioengineering, earth's gone and Mechas in the space fighting monsters (Evangelion like).  What else do you need? 

Stay tuned for more. I will up date the news whenever I finish the show.
















quarta-feira, 4 de fevereiro de 2015

Birdman or A metalinguistic metaphor of Michael Keaton's life and career. (Movie Review)







Hello folks, long time no see you... Ok, Who am I fooling? I've never seen any one around. Maybe I should write more often instead of once a year when I feel like...


Anyways, let's go straight to the point here. Michael Keaton, the hero of my childhood and one of the two reasons that brought me to the movies tonight, was casted as the main protagonist since more than 2 decades in the fridge (Like we use to say here in Brazil). Actually one can claim he just took a role in the fairly recent Robocop reboot (Nice movie btw) and played some comedies from the 90's through the 2000's, and even made some dubs for disney animations. But let's be honest, the guy was strayed by Hollywood for a good time. Since Batman Returns nothing that matched his talent was given to him. In a matter of fact when watching Birdman and knowing Michael Keaton's' career you come to think he wrote the whole thing, when actually he was just casted this time. Birdman, though, is a clear reference to the old hero movies from the 90's which comes down to Tim Burton's Batman due to the lack of technology and creativity back then.

So why do I think Michael Keaton is so perfect for the role? Well let's spoil a little of the movie synopses. Riggan is a former hollywood actor who has played the super hero Birdman in the blockbuster homonymous super hero hit from the 90's just as Keaton did in Batman. Now, more than 20 years later, he is working on a Broadway play as the writer, director and main character. He wants to make something relevant before ending his career and, more than that, he wants to be recognized. Just as his character in the play, that just wants to be loved by his wife. The Broadway play is like a disturbed version of the already messed up life of Riggan, a forgotten actor that wants to make it up for all those years in the oblivion and also for only be remembered as a superhero in a 90's blockbuster. Even though I'm not familiar with Keaton's private life and I'm not really feeling like researching it, the coincidences are interesting. I also didn't read any review so far to let my review as more authentic as possible. The bottom line is,  the movie itself feels like a redemption attempt from Keaton for all those years in the oblivion and for just being remembered as Batman just as the play Riggan is producing and playing is for the character.

Riggan also has a marriage that didn't work out and a problematic daughter (Emma Stone aka Gwen Stacy, The second reason that brought me to this film in case you wondered) and a bunch of cliches that comes out from it. The film is not an easy one to understand.  You have to be a little familiar with the fucked up behind the scene life of celebrities to grasp some of the madness and the end is open but it gives a anti climax effect that is not good for the piece. In any case I'm not an specialist and I'm open for comments. I would give this piece a 7 out of 10. What do you guys think?