Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-8)

The greatest children's show, maybe the greatest TV show period, recently came to Netflix, and it holds up really well fifteen years later. As a kid, watching the animated bending was really cool. But as an adult watching again, I appreciate how complex and beautiful the plot and character development are: Zuko has a highly satisfying redemption arc. Drawing heavily on Asian (and Inuit) philosophy, martial arts and design, the creators put genuine thought into world building at a level we wouldn't see again until Game of Thrones. Ba Sing Se is a clear reference to Beijing, complete with the secret police and oppression.

The Avatar is the bridge between the physical world and the spirit world, and it is the Avatar's responsibility to maintain/restore balance in the world. The Avatar has the ability to bend all four elements: Earth, water, fire and air. And the Avatar is a spirit reincarnated in a different bender based on a cycle. Over the last hundred years, while the Avatar Aang has been frozen in an iceberg, the Fire Nation has embarked on an imperial war of world domination, committing genocide in the process. Yes, that's war crimes, refugees, and totalitarianism in a children's show at the height of America's war in Iraq. It is profound.

Even the Art of War is explored in the show. Omashu surrenders to fight another day. Earth benders are masters of "neutral jing", waiting for the right moment to strike. I'm not sure how I feel about the ending watching it back. The penultimate episode sees our hero struggling with having to kill the Fire Lord. It is a serious and deep introspective exploration that looks like he is about to come to peace with his fate. The show acknowledges the idea of just violence in which it is necessary to be violent to stop further violence (a just war). And Aang must selflessly put aside his own reservations for the greater good of the world to fulfill his duty as Avatar. That is a profound message for a kid, but the show ultimately goes in another direction. Aang unlocks a new superpower and saves the day in a non-fatal way.  It is visually awesome but I think not in line with the serious themes that the show explored throughout.

The music is beautiful. The writing is smart and funny and poignant. The animation cleverly combines both Japanese and Western elements. All the characters have fully realized arcs that develop over a tight three seasons. Even having a series-long episodic plot was pretty unique for a TV show in 2005, let alone a children's show. I can't wait for the live action remake of the series; hopefully M. Night Shyamalan stays far away. I think we'll give Legend of Korra another try now.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)

There are two really striking parts of this movie. First are the visuals. Never have I seen such real-looking animated clouds, grass, ocean, and sand. It is stunning. We get to appreciate the scenery with lots of wide shots with small swarms of dragons in a corner. The soundtrack is also fantastic. It is at once reminiscent of Mussorgsky and Debussy and Bernstein. In my head I could hear the music from West Side Story when Tony and Maria spot each other from across the gym. It would have been perfect for the courtship of Toothless and the Light Fury. I was sort of indifferent about the story. In fact, I kind of got some mixed messaging. I remember a message of tolerance. They lived in a world where the Vikings killed dragons. Hiccup taught them to live with the dragons in harmony. And in this movie, we are taught that you can't change peoples. They ultimately have to run from their problem. And in the end, they can't live together in harmony. The dragons must go off on their own. There is a message about letting go in there but in the wider context of the trilogy, it seems a little inconsistent.

The Lego Movie 2: The Secon Part (2019)

It's not as original or clever or novel as the first Lego Movie. It's passable. It's a typical kids movie, but nowadays good kids movies are much deeper and more imaginative. Especially following Lord and Miller's recent Spiderman, this comes up short.

Isle of Dogs (2018)

I love Wes Anderson's quirky style and evidently so do a lot of big name Hollywood actors, as he has attracted a star-studded voice cast for his second stop-motion feature. The visuals are stunning. Anderson's attention to detail in his fully controlled animated world far surpasses what he is able to do in a live-action environment. The oddity of this world is charmingly hilarious. And Anderson's witty humor is just brilliant. It's not for everyone, but I can't help but smile at how fun this is. The music by Alexandre Desplat is exciting and beautifully features taiko drums.

The big directorial choice Anderson made was to linguistically divide the dogs from the humans. The humans speak Japanese and are not subtitled. We, like the dogs, do not understand them. We rely on interpreters to give translation sometimes. Sometimes, we are just left in the dark. The dogs speak English, or rather their barks are voice-translated in real-time. There is a language disclaimer right in the beginning. I understand the separation he tries to make, putting the audience firmly in the dog world. That being said, I was not crazy about the bilingual foreign exchange student saving the day. A student movement rightfully has its place in the movie, but it doesn't have to be led by a white student. She serves as a convenient means of translation, but Anderson is clever enough to have figured that out. They could've diagrammed their plans, for example.

Loving Vincent (2017)

Loving Vincent is lovingly painted by over 100 artists in the style of Vincent Van Gogh in painstaking detail. You know how difficult that must've been? It is a mesmerizing movie. The rain and smoke are so beautifully rendered on the paintings with discernibly caked on brush strokes. The plot is a Rashomon-style piecing together of Van Gogh's final days before his suicide. But is it everyone's different version of the truth we're getting? Or is it actually just village gossip designed to throw us off? It's all speculative of course, but it's inspired by a the life and death of a troubled genius. In loving admiration.

Coco (2017)

Coco is the latest Pixar film, its first non-sequel since Inside Out. Pixar is excellent as usual when running with original ideas. This one has gotten comparisons with The Book of Life (similar theme of Day of the Dead) and Spirited Away (similar plot points). I haven't seen The Book of Life, but Coco is something special. First of all, it's beautiful. The world of the dead is stunningly complex and vibrant and colorful. The animation is just amazing to look at. The first scene with the paper cuts is brilliant. It's beautiful on another level too. Pixar is historically white on the diversity front. They've only featured two three characters of color before: Frozone in The Incredibles, Russell in Up, and Mindy Kaling's Disgust in Inside Out. All of the characters in Coco are Mexican, and the Mexican traditions and culture are conveyed with the utmost respect--they clearly did their research.  The characters' commitment to keeping these traditions and preserving their heritage is beautiful.  Why is this necessary? Because minorities contend with more than just feelings, and family, and parenthood, and obesity...heritage is crucial to our lives and it's important that kids be able to see themselves on screen in our popular culture.

We know Pixar is full of masterful storytellers, but the little things are really clever too.  The interpretation of the process of how the dead return to the world of the living is really brilliantly imaginative, and in line with tradition. Names are really important.The movie is named for the great grandmother Coco. Ask why that is. Ask why the Xoloitzcuintli is named Dante. Yeah, like Dante's Divine Comedy in which Dante tours the afterlife.

My biggest gripe is the Disney-fication of Pixar. There was no Pixar short preceding the film. Instead, we got a 20 minute Frozen "short" that was completely unnecessary. It was very clearly made for TV. And it had no business preceding this Pixar work of art. 

The Lego Batman Movie (2017)

The Lego Batman movie is not quite as good as its predecessor. It's still punny. Its humor is of the fast and ridiculous type. And of course, it is knowingly ridiculous. I really enjoyed the first Lego movie, but I wasn't crazy about this one. I think what I really liked was the Will Ferrell twist. In this film, there are tons of references to previous Batman movies and other cultural references galore but they didn't always land for me. Maybe it was just trying to do too much but I didn't find it as enjoyable. Will Arnett is playing a character that is funny but super annoying in my opinion. And I understand that that's just the character, and it plays with kids, but he was getting on my nerves.Whereas Chris Pratt was a fun and playful character that really fit the personality of Lego. 

Moana (2016)

In Lin-Manuel Miranda's first post-Hamilton project, he pens some catchy songs that, for me, are the stars of the show. They are unmistakably his, with the unique cadence and clever wordy melodies. Even the Rock can sing, who knew? The animation is beautiful, including a very impressively realistic ocean. Just look at how far animation has come since Finding Nemo. Maui's body tattoos provided comedy but were themselves beautiful. They probably could've sustained their own short film. And let's not forget how important that the protagonist is a woman of color. She takes her destiny in her own hands and becomes a hero. She has real problems that do not revolve around a love interest. She is her own character, fully developed, likable and complex. She's not your typical Disney princess and here's to more characters like Moana.

Your Name. (Kimi no Na wa) (2016)

Your Name is strangely brilliant. What makes it brilliant is the trippy plot. Everyone knows it's a body-swapping movie, but it surprisingly becomes much more than that. It throws in a welcome twist that I did not see coming. It becomes more than just Freaky Friday, but a time-travel disaster movie. It is also brilliant because of its beautiful animation. It is cinematic. I know it's all drawn, but the "camera" pans, it zooms, it moves. How incredible is that? The animators take painstaking care to create a real world. There are real locations that I recognized, like the pedestrian bridge outside the Toshin building in Shinjuku. Firstly, I was shocked that I recognized it. But secondly, I was shocked that it merited being in the movie.

It's kind of cheesy in the way that anime is (like the title?). I think Western audiences are just not very used to it but what is mainstream in anime comes off as cheesy--the shrieking voices, the dramatic poetic narration. But what stands out the most are the musical interludes. It's very strange, sort of recapping and interpreting the movie for us. We have become accustomed to Studio Ghibli's anime, but the animation style is actually totally different. But I think Your Name is a good introduction for Western audiences to a more traditional style of anime. Makoto Shinkai is supposedly the "new Hayao Miyazaki." What is yet to be seen is if he'll have the same crossover appeal.

Have a Nice Day (Hao ji le) (2017)

This animated, dark Chinese comedy is very strange. First, it is in a uniquely low-tech 2D animation style. The shots are almost stills. There is very little movement within shots. That is to say though it is in animation style, they are not very animated. I suppose that's just what movies are, still pictures put one after another. But they don't depict movement. It sits on the one still shot and the talking goes in the background. Now maybe it's just me, but I have a hard time discerning emotion in Chinese. It all seemed rather monotone to me, especially without being able to see real people or movement.

That's not where the strangeness ends. There are some strong communist undertones in the movie. And yet, they're comedic, very knowing. There is a totally out of place music video full of karaoke images of triumphant workers singing about going Shangri-La. It is supremely bizarre. The movie is quite self-aware in its un-seriousness. We hear a clip of Donald Trump on the radio. They talk about Brexit, and The Godfather. They never let us forget that though it may look animated, this takes place in our world. No matter how ridiculous the things we see on screen. 

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

This has been an excellent year for animation, and in an off-year for Pixar at that (Finding Dory was good but uninspiring). And amid all these excellent animations, this one is surely the most beautifully done. This stop motion has some very impressive visuals, and it is rightly on the shortlist for the Oscar for Best Visual Effects It plays on the theme of origami and you could only imagine how difficult it must be to do stop motion in origami. There is a seamless combination with computer generation that you legitimately cannot even tell the difference.

On top of that, I love the music. Kubo plays his two-stringed instrument with magic powers. The Italian translation incorrectly titles the film Kubo and the Magic Sword, but it's not about the sword at all. What makes it so special is that his weapon is a beautiful cultural instrument. This film embraces Japanese culture and puts it on display in a beautiful homage.

The imaginative story is wonderfully complex, and unexpectedly sad and powerful. The range of emotion is Pixar-level, bombarding these kids with more than might understand. Maybe Laika will pick up the torch of creativity where Pixar left it and become the new cornerstone for the medium.

Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions (2016)

Let me preface this with...Actually this is going to take a lot of prefacing. I did not think that I would watch the Yu-Gi-Oh movie in Japan. In fact, Yu-Gi-Oh has not crossed my mind in many years. I did not think that I would watch any Japanese movie ever without English subtitles. I don't feel like I really have the right to give it a rating seeing that I didn't understand the movie. It's one thing to not understand the language, but I also wasn't up to date on the backstory. I used to watch Yu-Gi-Oh when I was younger as a casual Saturday morning thing. I didn't really follow it closely for story. I do remember going to see the movie in theaters years ago and getting a pack of souvenir cards. I can confirm that today I also got a souvenir card, in Japanese of course.

As expected, the movie had no substance, or I just missed it. But the computer graphics were pretty good. A big step up from the TV show. The duel scenes almost make a mockery of the TV show, which I believe used to have more of an emphasis on the mechanics of the duels. The duels in the movie are so fast, you can't even keep up. It is a product of the action movie period we live in. Not that it really mattered, cause again, no substance.

But none of that matters because I wasn't there for the movie, but the experience. I am very glad that Gabrielle and Amy convinced me to join them. Because this was a hell of an experience, by far the most Japanese thing I've done so far.

We went to buy tickets first earlier in the day. Being a Wednesday, ladies got discounted tickets for "Ladie's Service Day" whatever that means (do they have to service something or is the theater doing them a service?). I got a less discounted price as a student and had to show my student ID. Curiously, the women did not have to show ID to prove gender.

I had a large popcorn, which was like an American medium. It comes in the usual bucket, but then they put the bucket in a plastic tray so you can hold the tray which has a spot for popcorn and a drink. And then at the end of the movie, there are people to collect your tray and trash. It is very clean and efficient.

Back in May, I attended the Cannes Film Festival. And we all said that movie theaters were ruined for us now because we were spoiled by Cannes. At Cannes, you have audiences who enjoy and respect movies. They laugh when they're supposed to and clap at the right place and cry when appropriate. It is the reason watching movies in a group is different than watching a movie alone. Well, this experience was totally the opposite.

First, the audience for these anime movies at "Road Show" screenings cosplay. That means they dress up in costume and they're really good costumes too. They spend some real money on these. And it's not just one or two people. I'd say half the audience is in costume. And they all have glow sticks. Now, I don't know where they got these glow sticks, but they all knew exactly what to do without instructions. They have different color settings, and somehow they all know that the different colors correspond to different characters. I don't think the sticks are specifically made for this purpose, but they have all the necessary colors and everyone has them. And they hold them up and shake them to the beat of the background music to cheer for the characters...Not just their favorite characters, but all of them. Turning back in my seat, I would see a whole sea of glow sticks beating an imaginary drum in unison. It is hilarious. They get so into it. They being the audience, which was predominantly female, probably in their twenties.

Before the movie even started, they were screaming at the top of their lungs at the trailers. And they are so loud. This would not be acceptable in an American theater, but this was like an interactive movie experience. Sometimes one person would call and then everyone would respond. And they all know exactly what to say at the right time. Clearly these people are coming back for second and third viewings. They would yell "kawaii" when there was a cute kid on screen or "ohayou" when someone on screen woke up or simply yell the name of the character on screen like a fan girl. It was like being at a Justin Beiber concert but the screaming was totally unexpected. Most of the time I had no idea what they were saying, but it was always hilarious. They are so into it.

I don't think I'll ever have a movie experience like that again. But it was unforgettable.

The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) (2015)

This is a gorgeous little movie that mixes traditional computer animation with creative stop motion animation. The animation is brilliant. That is by far the best part. I admit I didn't read The Little Prince. So I don't have the same connection to this story that other people have. But it is a touching story with an uplifting moral. There is this strange balance between English and French in this movie. The dialogue is in English but the text is in French. The production is French, but was supposed to be accessible to a wider audience. And yet it has had a difficult time breaking into the American market. I had to see it on an international flight. But I would highly recommend it to all kids.

Finding Dory (2016)

This is Pixar's long promised sequel to the classic Finding Nemo. The film is actually very similar to its predecessor; similar but not a copy like the new Star Wars. This movie makes much more use of flashbacks. This is partially due to the nature of Dory's short term memory loss, but it also capitalizes on cute baby Dory whose eyes make up more than half of the entire fish. The story is familiar but very well executed by once again moving from the open ocean to the an aquatic environment in a human context. Ellen is fantastic as a forgetful fish. But Ed O'Neill steals the show, essentially playing his usual curmudgeon character as an octopus. And there's a great cameo by Sigourney Weaver's voice.

What is so incredible about this movie is the advances in animation made over at Pixar. The octopus is such an intricate character to animate. Movement and camouflage involve several moving tentacles and a body that moves like nothing else does. Further, the under water scenes better reflect the lighting of the ocean. The sea floor is dark and scary and murky and the effect that you would normally get with a camera comes through in the animation.

As with all Pixar movies, it preys on emotion. There is always that moment about three-fourths in to the movie that is supposed to make you cry. But I felt like that moment, in comparison to other Pixar movies, is a little too predictable and a bit too cutesy to be as powerful. It relies on you feeling bad for baby Dory, rather than stemming from pure emotion.

The short film preceding Finding Dory was Piper. The animation is incredible, it looks absolutely real. The birds and the sand and the beach and the water are so lifelike. The story is simple and sweet. It makes you smile. And what more can you ask for from a short film than to evoke genuine emotion.

Zootopia (2016)

On the surface, it is an animated buddy cop comedy (helmed by a strong, dominant female lead), but there is so much more to it. Zootopia is a brilliant allegory that is funny, relevant, and witty. Predators and prey live together in harmony, or so they believe. But stereotyping and discrimination run abound. It is not a perfect analogy to the real world. Nor can it be expected to capture all of the complexities and intricacies of our society. But Disney creates its own world with its own imperfections, a utopia that cannot reach the high bar it sets for itself. It is very thoughtful and thought provoking. It preaches a message of tolerance that falls upon American ears that need to hear it. But the message is never too blatant--it is balanced well with genuinely funny jokes (including references to The Godfather and Breaking Bad) and modern animation. 

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Hayao Miyazaki's classic tale of childhood in rural Japan is still good upon a second viewing. The two young girls are very realistic as they yell and scream and play.  Miyazaki typically has strong young female protagonists in his movies By now, Totoro and the cat bus are iconic characters, making cameos in Disney movies and appearing on all sorts of merchandise. Sitting in a French cafe in Cannes, I heard and recognized Joe Hisaishi's soundtrack. It caught everyone's attention as they wondered what the hauntingly beautiful music was. I knew. And then the cutesy main theme played and everyone figured it out cause they say "Totoro." I'm not sure what the instrumentation is though. It sounds metallic, perhaps an organ of some sort. The story tugs at your heart. At its core, it's about family relationships between siblings and between parents and children.  

The Red Turtle (Le Tortue Rouge) (2016)

Studio Ghibli is back! And in fine form. After closing shop, Studio Ghibli co-produced this film by Michael Dudok de Wit. De Wit, an Academy Award winning short filmmaker, first caught the eye of the Japanese master Miyazaki with a short film. And presented the chance at a collaboration, he made his first feature length film. It is complete devoid of dialogue, save for a few screams, universal in any language. The music is hauntingly magical, even though not composed by Ghibli regular Joe Hisaishi. It is extraordinarily high pitched, ethereal, other worldly. And the animation does transport you to another world. It is a necessarily simple story without dialogue, straight out of Castaway.  It is actually an extraordinarily lovely story once the eponymous Red Turtle is introduced. What it can show us without telling us is very impressive. It is beautifully if simply rendered. And continuing the theme of animals as the manifestation of God (see Two Lovers and a Bear), there is the Red Turtle.

My Life as a Courgette (Ma Vie de Courgette) (2016)

I had no expectations going into this film. In fact, I was going to attend a different screening at Debussy, but Gillian and Renee convinced me to accompany them to Courgette and I'm glad I did. It is a stop motion animation. The figures have enormous heads in proportion to their bodies. There is a sculpture of Courgette outside one of the hotels we've been passing by and now I know what it is. It is sort of the in the style of Coraline. It is a story of an orphaned boy finding his way. It has heart and the screenplay is touching. It makes lots of appropriate vegetable jokes because the boy's nickname Courgette means zucchini. And the ending made me cry. It is really sweet and funny and heartwarming.

What is interesting is that it doesn't have to be animated. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a good stop motion film. A lot of the animations we see in the United States have screenplays that wouldn't work in live action, whether they're talking fish or monsters or superheroes or fantastical beings. But this is a simple story that could have been told with real people. The director simply chose to use the medium of animation to convey this story. What does the animation add to the story that real people couldn't tell? Maybe it just adds to the sweetness factor though I'm sure they could've found cute kids to empathize with. 

Anomalisa (2015)

This is a highly unusual stop-motion animation. The content is funny and then a little strange. The figures were 3D printed. The range of emotions is vast. I think it is hilarious that there is no effort to hide the lines where the face detaches from the head. Especially around the eyes, it sometimes looks like glasses. The figures walk pretty naturally, if a little bit slow. We aren't used to such realistic animation. They actually look like humans, not cartoons. It is actually a little disturbing, in my opinion.

I love the title: in reference to Lisa, who is an anomaly. She is an anomaly because she has a unique voice. Tom Noonan voices all of the non-main characters, male and female. At first, it is slightly confusing. This is an adaptation from a play, in which there are only three actors and this effect was able to be recreated in animation. That would not have been believable in a live-action movie.

The Good Dinosaur (2015)

This is a solid family film, but as far as Pixar films go, this movie pales in comparison to Inside Out earlier this year.  The reason is that the movie lacks heart.  Pixar is known for drawing out emotions from its viewers but The Good Dinosaur was a little tame. The story is kind of typical for the genre and a little simple and shallow for Pixar's standards. It seems to hearken back to other classic animated films.  It is very much like Lion King, in which the father dinosaur dies tragically early on (very typical Disney).  Then there are three pterodactyls that try to make a meal of Arlo, like the hyenas from Lion King.

The premise of the film is interesting. What if the dinosaurs never went extinct? Then they would have evolved... to learn to domesticate agriculture and livestock, like humans did.  There is some charm and some genuine laughs. The movie is visually stunning, animating different species of dinosaurs in a friendly way that looks a lot better than The Land Before Time.  Those lightning bugs and the actual lightning and thunder that storm up trouble for the protagonist.  The animation is actually quite different. The computer images are not evocative of the same visuals we're used to from Pixar, but this was the kind of animation that this movie needed.