Finally finished Radiant Historia yesterday! I don't think I completed every pertinent sidequest, so I'm pretty sure I didn't get the super ultra deluxe true ending, but what the hell. Final battle wasn't too bad; it's really easy to abuse the battle system and basically beat the hell out of everything in the game, haha. I'll probably post about it more in depth at some later date. Today, I'll finally be starting Mass Effect! Pretty excited, I've heard a lot of great things about the series.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009): Really solid thriller that I'd say earns its two-and-a-half hour running time. There's always something engaging happening in the movie, but it also doesn't feel as if the movie is moving too swiftly because it's trying to cram everything from the book into the plot (ala the Harry Potter movies). Even the leaps the main characters make as they rummage through the murky mystery aren't that difficult to follow even though much of it deals with cryptic bullshit, haha. Definitely going to watch the other movies in the series.
Steamboy (2004): This is almost infamously known as the movie that took Katsuhiro Otomo a decade to make. It definitely shows in the visuals -- this movie is flat out gorgeous and mixes hand-drawn animation and CG better than just about anything I've ever seen. Honestly, I'd say it's worth watching for anyone who legitimately admires great animation. I just wish the story had seen that much care. It's pretty basic stuff, and not really that new or anything.
Little Norse Prince Valiant (1968): The first animated feature directed by Isao Takahata (he of Grave of the Fireflies and Only Yesterday fame). There are some problems with it, mainly that Toei Animation was kind of a dick to Takahata and limited his budget, so a couple of scenes that were meant to be huge action sequences end up being still montages. Really sucks, because the action sequences that are animated actually hold up shockingly well. The story is solid, too, and there's surprising depth to the characterization of a couple of characters. Even though this ended up flopping upon initial release, it's easy to see why Takahata became such a giant in the world of Japanese animation directors.
Redline (2009): This has been making a huge buzz in the anime community recently because it's likely the last anime film that will be made entirely with hand-drawn cels. There was a ton of work put into this -- I think it was seven years in the making. Definitely a labor of love by Madhouse, and it shows: Redline is the best-looking anime of the decade, bar none. It has a unique style, and the animation is out of this world good. I thought my eyes would explode while watching it, haha. This is actually something I would be tempted to show folks who have zero interest in anime -- I hope the movie is released on Blu-Ray here, because I bet my cousin would love it.
Beat the Devil (1953): Hailed as the first "camp" movie, and I'd bet that it is the first straight-up film noir parody, too. The movie follows a group of fast-talking weirdos who try to swindle and murder each other out of uranium deposits in Kenya. The behind-the-scenes stories are almost as entertaining as the movie itself: Humphrey Bogart thought it would be a serious picture, and he loathed it more as it went on. The director, John Huston, brought in Truman Capote to punch up the dialogue from day to day and give it more of a bizarre feel. Even some of the cast members like Peter Lorre were allowed to improvise their dialogue. It was a pretty wild time on set, and it birthed a chaotic movie. For me, the best character is the unassuming wife played by Jennifer Jones; she's a compulsive liar, which sets up all sorts of hilarious situations throughout the movie.
Casablanca (1942): Come on. It's friggin' Casablanca. You know you want to watch it.
On the queue for this week: Easy Rider (1969)
Total Movies: 127 (Blazing Saddles, The Descent, Gundam 00 the Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer, Village of the Damned, Children of the Damned, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, The Night of the Hunter, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st, Dawn of the Dead, Black Swan, Clue, Scarface, Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned, True Grit, Perfect Blue, The Quick and the Dead, High Sierra, Shutter Island, A Serious Man, Kite, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Broken Blade 3, Kite Liberator, Machete, The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Heathers, The Prince of Tennis: The Two Samurai, The First Game, Notes on a Scandal, The American, King of Thorn), The Expendables, Sword of the Stranger, The Hangover, Welcome to the Space Show, Broken Blade 4, The Social Network, End of Evangelion, Neo Tokyo, Red, Dreamcatcher, Jason X, Wag the Dog, The Naked Gun, Dirty Work, 8mm, The Wicker Man (2006), Blood: The Last Vampire, Winter's Bone, The Road, Heartcatch Precure! Hana no To de Fashion Show ... Desu ka?!, Broadcast News, Bulletproof, Dead Leaves, Dirty Dancing, Hot Tub Time Machine, Eureka Seven: Pocketful of Rainbows, Cloverfield, Best in Show, Play Misty for Me, Paprika, The Cat Returns, Welcome to the Dollhouse, 12 Monkeys, The Killer, Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, The Third Man, The King's Speech, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, The Abyss, The Fighter, Mega Piranha, Dumb and Dumber, The Rebirth of Buddha, 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right, The Town, Willow, Akira, Morning Glory, The Verdict, I Love You Phillip Morris, Phantasm II, American Splendor, Broken Blade 5, Tangled, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, The Rock, Wanted, Green Zone, Despicable Me, Waiting for Guffman, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, X-Men: First Class, X-Men, Hereafter, X2, Zatoichi, All About Eve, The Thing, Odin: Photon Space Sailer Starlight, City of God, Das Boot, Some Like it Hot, Downfall, X-Men: The Last Stand, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Winnie the Pooh, Bullitt, Hard Eight, Memories of Matsuko, Double Indemnity, Freaks, Break Blade 6, Key Largo, The Grand Illusion, The Seven Year Itch, Hermes: Winds of Love, To Catch a Thief, An American in Paris, Ninotchka, Interstella 5555, Hobo with a Shotgun, Dog Day Afternoon, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steamboy, Little Norse Prince Valiant, Redline, Beat the Devil, Casablanca)
