May 7, 2017

Your Name. 2016
★★★★★ Watched 01 May, 2017

Published at Aesthetics of the Mind:
bit.ly/2pUDT2v

Your Name is a heartfelt, modern love story with an intricately layered narrative spanning philosophy, mythology, romance, and teenage fantasy within a science fiction melodrama. It is a brilliant feature anime, and the best I have seen since Takahata’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013). With Your Name, Shinkai certainly joins the ranks of anime masters Miyazaki and Takahata, though his film seems to gesture towards a new wave of anime, one which combines the fantasy and mythology of tradition with a modern sense of change and self-realization. This transition may be seen in Miyazaki’s final effort, the Wind Rises (2013), but it appears to be further demonstrated as a movement with Your Name. Perhaps instead of mythological films which attract children and adults, we will find ourselves with contemporary films which attract the full demographic including teenagers and young adults. This is to be seen.

Now, If you check out my latest post, you will see that I recently watched the critically acclaimed film Wings of Desire (Wenders, 1987) and could not buy the premise. The key problem of the film is that it conveys elements of fantasy not through metaphor but through liturgy and statement. The ideas inherent in Wings of Desire are magnificent, but their presentation is lacking. These ideas include for example the beauty of two people becoming one with each other, to fall in love and to become indistinct from one another. It also involves the idea that spirits are amongst us inspiring hope for us to continue through life during times of grief.

These ideas find themselves poetically manifest in Your Name—without all the Christian worship, without the liturgy, without self-serving statements which occlude all other considerations. Your Name is a fantasy-fiction film which, first of all, accepts that it is fantasy. Reality inferred in its viewing comes by way of metaphor, because the fantasy speaks poetically about the natural world. The idea of two people becoming one is not just stated here, as it is in Wings of Desire, it literally happens. Taki and Mitsuhi become one by actually living some of the days of each other’s lives.

It feels like a dream because life itself feels like a dream.

This occurs due to a comet, a freak incident, but what happens has more to do with the energy which surrounds them, with the power of their own human spirit and its entanglement with the spiritual energy of the natural world around them. The power of the spirits and energy compelled this to happen, much like how the angels in Wings of Desire surround the living, but in this case it is not so plain and simple or obvious as an anthropomorphic angel walking amongst us. Your Name thus conveys the power of love, the human spirit, phenomena of the natural world, and the beauty of unknown aspects of life by genuine, albeit ambiguous, means. It displays unknown phenomena in the world rather than telling us about it, and It does this by speaking metaphorically through the beautiful narrative which develops before us.

Essentially, Your Name uses poetry and fantasy to tackle the most significant philosophical questions of our lives, and it does this underneath what appears to be a mere fantasy-fiction romance story. With such depth, this fun-to-watch anime is far denser that first appears, but because of Shinkai’s subtlety it can be viewed in number of differing manners. From the pleasure seeking fantasy to the romance drama to the philosophical inquiry of life itself, Your Name is a brilliant example of multi-layered cinematic poetry.

94/100 – Masterful.

5 Stars

No likes

 

May 8, 2017

@Vahn @Pinhead

For Mann fans, Mann's director's cut of Blackhat is going to play on FX tomorrow.

http://theplaylist.net/directors-cu...t-premiere-week-teases-changes-heat-20170508/

Also, there's this...

 

May 8, 2017

Ryan gonna give Denis his first good film

 

May 8, 2017

New cut of Heat coming and Ali rework already out? Wtf

Hope this Blackhat pops up online somewhere

You liked Sicario

 

May 8, 2017

Yeah I enjoyed em all but just forgot about them within a week

 

May 8, 2017

Canada's #1

 

May 8, 2017

Dolan & Cronenberg

 

May 8, 2017

Canada's #2, forgot about David

Only seen Mommy and End of the World for Dolan, can't rank him up there yet

 

May 11, 2017

• 
  Logan 2017
  ★★★★½ Watched 10 May, 2017
  
  Published at Aesthetics of the Mind:
  bit.ly/2qYVM1m
  
  Logan: A Tale of Tragedy
  
  Certainly one of the best ‘superhero’ films of all time, Logan separates from the pack through character depth and development akin to a Greek tragedy–perhaps of the neo-mythological kind.
  
  Logan’s arc, what a multitude of previous franchise installments have presented but never mounted, becomes apparent in this road film—the epilogue to an Odysseian journey. An old man, he grieves for fallen friends, those he cared about who died because of him, because of what he is. Suffering from traumatic memories and living in an ageless body incapable of surrender, he chooses—perhaps in guilt, perhaps in nobility, perhaps in cowardice–to allow his one vulnerability, the techonology which once built him, slowly put him to rest.
  
  As one who heals and survives, the well of guilt built from seeing others die has taken its toll. Self isolated and alienated in spite of living throughout many a generation, why should he deserve to live when there are better people in the world dying because of him? This is what he thinks: he is the cause of suffering, so he must suffer as penance for what he has caused.
  
  Old man Logan realizes this towards the end of his Odyssey, and so he chooses to reject the world, to no longer interact, to become invisible. His guilt has engendered what might be considered a noble act; as a vagabond, others will no longer die as a result of his actions. And so he withholds from helping others. It is not that he’s a prick who is unwilling to help, but that he is aware that his presence will only draw violence.
  
  After the nurse is killed, he apprehensively aids the girl, only at the behest of Charles—Logan’s father figure whom he cannot refuse. But once he develops a bond with the girl and Charles is no longer with them, he quickly searches for a way out.
  
  At this time, Logan is not motivated by virtue but by cowardice. He quickly rejects the doctor who offers to find and remove the poison, because he is afraid of continuing to live. To quickly remove himself by way of an adamantium bullet would be the ultimate coward’s way out, but Logan is a complex character and, with this film, Mangold endeavors to truly mount the study of a complicated soul’s uncommon journey through life—one of biblical, mythological, and spiritual proportions.
  
  As the film nears its end, the greatest of tragedies is borne. There is no tragedy in death or in eternal suffering. Tragedy involves catharsis and sorrow. Beyond the mere internal conflict of a Greek tragedy, wherein Logan’s inability to cope with his vices begets personal suffering, we have a reversal of circumstances, a provocation, catharsis, and sorrow.
  
  During its brief length, Logan’s death scene—and even Charles’ death scene though I won’t get into this here—presents all of the above. A man with an inclination to suffer and die realizes only at death his need to live, if only to protect his daughter. In distress, he experiences a two-fold catharsis:
  
  “So this is what it’s like”, he states in wonder. At once he realizes two things: this is what death is like; this is what having a daughter to love and protect is like. This two-fold catharsis relieves Logan’s repressed feelings towards life and love, respectively. For once, the man dies for someone he cares for, instead of watching those he cares for die because of him. Tragically, this revelation of life and love come only upon him at his death, at the point wherein life and love can no longer be healed.
  
  87/100 – Excellent.
  
  No likes
  
  
• 
  The Edge of Seventeen 2016
  ★★★ Watched 10 May, 2017
  
  A little more clever and entertaining than the average, but ultimately it's just another quirky indie with a predictable arc and superficial resolution.
  
  71/100 - Good.
  

 

May 13, 2017

Dark Night is incredible, top 2 of the year.

@Pinhead I see you with that Kaili Blues

 

May 13, 2017

That long take

 

May 13, 2017

Couldn't breathe during that shot, usually super long takes can come off as gimmicky but that s--- felt so natural and necessary. Everything about the film is masterful tbh, such a confident debut. His use of reflections and shot composition is serious.

Bi Gan is the new goat, he's taking the torch from Tsai for Taiwan

Did you see that bae from Blackhat is gonna be in his next film?

 

May 13, 2017

Even when they're gimmicky, long takes like that have such an effective way of entrancing you. The few Bi used in the car reminded me of that highway shot in Solaris, so good at establishing geography and taking you to a different time-frame that was only fragmented beforehand.

Yeah, right when I found out Kaili was a debut was hoping that I had a few more classics to catch up on

 

May 13, 2017

His short is also pretty great http://vumoo.li/videos/play/watch-diamond-sutra-92472

 

May 14, 2017

"Singing film this summer."

timbre.
August 2nd ​

 

May 16, 2017

Pattinson looks pretty great here

 

May 16, 2017

Went through and found the top movies I've seen so far this year. Still feel like I haven't seen s---.

5 Stars

Spoiler

4 Stars

Spoiler

 

May 18, 2017

I also like Intolerable Cruelty. Not a 4 stars to me but its nice

 

May 18, 2017

I only rate whole stars so maybe it would've been a 7/10, but I'm not given that leeway so my scores are kind of polarized that way. I suppose I understand why it's considered lesser Coen Brothers, as its foundation is really that of a mundane romcom, but it's so weird and frantic that I can't help but love it.

 

May 18, 2017

Whats your user name on letterboxd?