When the movie first started, and I heard the music playing during the opening credits, I said: “This reminds me of Grave of the Fireflies.” The music seemed very similar–sad, but beautiful.

Then, when the girls first went to the abandoned house out in the field, I was again reminded of Grave of the Fireflies, when brother and sister lived in an abandoned bomb shelter. Both structures had the same remoteness, the same shelteringness, and the same two black, adjacent entrances.

Both movies also had a scene–otherwise disconnected from the plot in general–where the siblings are simply happy. In Spirit of the Beehive we see the two girls playing with their fathers shaving set. In Grave of the Fireflies the siblings are sharing a bath. Both scenes served to offset the otherwise somber nature of the films.

At the end of the movie–it reminded me of Grave of the Fireflies. In the one film the girl dies, but dies with happiness and innocence, oblivious to the tragedy of her surroundings. In “Spirit of the Beehive,” the girl lives, but is traumatized.

Both of the older siblings are blessed with a greater understanding of reality, while both of the younger siblings live in their own realities.

Fernando Fernán Gómez, who played the father of Ana and Isabel, described the film as “poetic cinema”–a truly fitting summary.

So we got free movie tickets (courtesy of HP and Fandango), and this was at least something that I’d heard of. I found Casino Royale to be very.. stressful. Running around on the top of cranes, people always jumping out from nowhere, constant fights.. I just didn’t find the entire package all that enjoyable. It was too stressful. Someone must have just gotten their first cellphone, as they seemed to play as prominent a role in Casino Royale as the Mini Cooper did in The Italian Job… except text messages just aren’t really that cool.

It’s easier to fall behind than to keep up..

Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind :: Hayao Miyazaki :: 2006-06-15 :: 9
Mad Hot Ballroom :: Marilyn Agrelo :: 2006-06-08 :: 5
Howl’s Moving Castle :: Hayao Miyazaki :: 2005-08-11 :: 7
When Worlds Collide :: Rudolph Mat :: 2005-07-01 :: 6
Whale Rider :: Niki Caro :: 2005-06-30 :: 6
The Best Years Of Our Lives :: William Wyler :: 2005-05-02 :: 7
To Catch A Thief :: Alfred Hitchcock :: 2005-05-01 :: 6

As much as I have enjoyed anime by Hayao Miyazaki, I can’t really say I enjoyed Millennium Actress.

The story jumped around quite a bit, not only through space but also time. I found the complete disregard for space and time continuity throughout much of the film difficult to figure out, and distracting at best.

Admittedly, I don’t know much about Japanese film history, which I guess Millennium Actress was something of a tribute to. Perhaps this added to my confusion.

This movie put me in a very contemplative mood. That’s a good thing–it’s something I enjoy. I can’t really put my finger on just what makes me feel this way, or even describe too well the feeling itself. It comes from considering questions of life and death, right and wrong, love and all that other stuff. You know, the little things. It’s a mood where things like traffic and dishes suddenly become unimportant. But about the movie…

The movie presents you with a situation; you observe it, try and understand it, and inevitably come to a number of conclusions about it. We judge the actions and the characters involved. But then you are presented with a new situation, which forces you to reevaluate your previous conclusions. This happens a number of times throughout the film as it weaves together quite a variety of personalities and walks of life.

The parallels between events unfolding at the same time in different locations–such as one eye closing while another eye opens–was pretty neat, if sometimes a bit forced.

And of course there was a moral–and a good moral at that. “You don’t have to die for your own sins. I think someone else has already done that.” Well done. The moral was, if not seamlessly, at least skillfully woven through the lives of the different characters and into the fabric of twenty-first century Santa Monica.

There was so much unfolding of the story (with quite a few surprises) that I would like to see this movie again, knowing now what’s going to happen, to watch more for the parallels, the meanings, and the implications of the events. And there are quite a few–you know, life and death, right and…

Typical Hollywood Money

This is your typical Hollywood big money action movie. I was looking forward to seeing the Fantastic Four in action, but alas, this is relegated to just the last 10 minutes of the film. I thought the film was slow to get started; it felt like they took a long time setting up the accident, and another long time discovering what each of their symptoms were. I was disappointed with the amount of bickering between the members of the Fantastic Four–about half the film was devoted to the petty quarrels amongst the Four. Neither was I pleased by the way Ben was so broken up about the rejection of his wife, but by the end of the movie is partying with his arm around the first girl who’ll give him the time of day. To the films credit, the special effects were nice.

Pretty pointless. The entire premise of the film is based on lies, deceit and abuse of friendship, all just to get a night with a girl. Much of what was apparently supposed to be funny just wasn’t. I wouldn’t recommend this film to anyone.