Goth

A couple of edgy teenagers find each other and begin following the trail of a serial killer...I don't know if it's because it reminds me a bit of my own youth, but it's kind of cute.

The whole movie has kind of a dreamlike vibe. I really liked the sets and atmosphere, and there were some cool camera angles here and there.

The sets, the main characters’ chuuni dialogue being played completely straight—it feels like a bit of a love letter to black-eyeliner-wearing-teens across the world. In a way, I think it’s the fulfillment of a very common wish, especially among “alt kids”—finding someone who’s into the same things as you are. Being understood. Being seen.

I don’t know how to describe it, but this movie feels like something you either think it’s stupid, or end up falling in love with. I’m in the latter group, of course ;p

Goodbye, Dragon Inn

Throughout my life, movie theaters were always a "has-been": my town's one and only movie theater, within walking distance from my house, closed down sometime before I was born, and has sat an empty building up for rent for most of my life. While shopping in the neighbouring city, I'd pass through an empty building between stores; my mom would then tell about the movie theater that used to be there: how she went on a date there with my father, how she slept through most of it because she was late in her pregnancy, how she saw a rat in there once.

As I watched this movie, I wondered if that's what the last day of those movie theaters was like.

The movie is mostly silent. No one tries to stop the movie theater from closing; the last movie is aired to an audience in the single digits— it's a very quiet farewell.

Eko Eko Azarak: Wizard of Darkness

I watched this movie in may but as it's halloween month I figured I'd write an entry for it. Eko Eko Azarak is not what I'd consider a "good" movie, but I went in expecting silly fun and silly fun is what I got. There's also lesbians, thought it ends up being homophobic since they're the traitorous villains of the story. Oh well.

I never got very far into the manga it's based on, but definitely check it out if you're into wizards and occult stuff.

The Little Girl Who Conquered Time

I watched Obayashi's 1983 adaptation of A Girl Who Leapt Through Time a couple weeks ago(and also read the novel it's based on). It's very, very different from the 2006 Mamoru Hosoda version, which was surprising for me.

The movie starts out in black and white, on a snowy peak, and color gradually fills the screen as the characters go downhill into spring—one of my favorite parts.

Overall, it's a sweet little movie—I quite liked the ways it drifted from the novel. Now I'm due for a rewatch of the 2006 version, and maybe I'll check out the more recent live action version, too.

Casting Blossoms to the Sky

I just watched Casting Blossoms to the Sky! It's a very good movie, and it didn't feel as long as it was. It's about the effects/scars of WWII in a village, the efforts to not let the younger people forget about the horrors of war and repeat history, and the need to heal and move on.The visuals were unusual, but they set up the atmosphere in a very creative way. It also made me cry a lot! It's part of an "anti war series", so I'm looking forward to checking out the rest of the movies.