Friendship and Anime

I love Friends. There I said it.















(jeeeeaaaannnsss)

I’ve recently been making my way back through the enormous catalogue of the David Crane/Marta Kauffman show (10 seasons, 236 episodes!) and one thing has struck me while re-watching. These characters are really good friends. Obviously, but I mean they’re close in ways virtually no real life friend groups are. However, the group is by no means utopian. Each member has a notable flaw. Ross is overly emotional. Monica is a control freak. Rachel is vain. Chandler is snarky and has commitment issues. Joey's kind of dumb. And Phoebe is just plain weird. But that’s how they function. The group accepts each other’s flaws and moves through life and its many hardships as a unit. I don’t think “friends” is even the best word to describe them. Yeah, there is friendship, but there is also romance, betrayal, awkwardness, laughter, tears, love, hate etc. Friends is a freaking microcosm for humanity as a whole.

Anyway, the friendship depicted in Friends reminds me of a concept popularized in Japanese Anime and Manga, the concept of nakama. The direct translation is colleague, friend, or comrade. This idea of nakama is an extremely common trope in which a band of people who, either voluntarily or not, join together in whatever adventures and challenges lie before them. Most popular anime follow this structure. The term is famously relevant to One Piece. Luffy’s crew is a kind of ragtag group of friends who become like family; they are willing to die for each other. That’s nakama. I think “comrade” is the most fitting translation of nakama because it connotes a certain collective goal or cause. We’re all in this together. That sort of thing.

TV Tropes says, “This sort of group dynamic appeals to younger audiences who are unfamiliar with romance, and appeals to older audiences who live in a world of complex relationships…who are feeling nostalgic about the times when friendship meant a lifelong bond”. This is interesting because the majority of manga and anime is marketed toward the “shonen” age group (elementary through high school). While it’s a child’s trope basically, nakama is the same idea found in Friends, an adult show. Although, Friends has the sex dynamic at its core thats missing from most anime. Nakama has this sweeping relatability which explains it’s popularity. It’s a universal and idealistic concept, that you find this group of friends who become closer than family. Another good example is Naruto. Naruto is initially an outcast but eventually gains the friendship and admiration of the entire village. Although the first series (pre time skip) is mainly about Naruto and his squad (the nakama group), the show evolves into something a lot bigger in Naruto Shippuden. A kind of legacy called the Will of Fire becomes important which basically teaches that the “most important thing in life is being willing to risk your neck for someone else”. Anime like Cowboy Bebop have a big nakama group dynamic. They also make a friendship pact in Yu-Gi-Oh. The list is endless.



If you were to boil all popular manga and anime down to a single concept, it would have to be that idea of nakama. So my final message is: don’t take your friends for granted. Love each other.

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Mad Max: Fury Road and the MTV Aesthetic

It’s summer and blockbuster season is upon us, so I decided to christen the season with Mad Max: Fury Road. 

Let me set the scene for you: it’s a sweltering day, one of the hottest of the summer so far. I trek to the theater alone for a 1 PM showing of Mad Max in IMAX 3-D. So I’m sweating before the movie’s even started. I forgot to mention it’s a Tuesday. I know Tuesday afternoon isn’t prime movie watching time but there’s a discount on Tuesday which brought the ticket price down from an ungodly $19 to just an unreasonable $13. I could have seen the movie in just plain old boring 3-D but I thought this is a big movie so I might as well go for the biggest screen. IMAX it is.

I knew little to nothing about this movie going in, save for the amazing trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEJnMQG9ev8). All I wanted was a cool blockbuster.

When you hear the word blockbuster, you immediately think of explosions. And believe me Mad Max had explosions. It would even be fair to say Mad Max had more explosions than your average explosion-centric film. But more important than explosions, Mad Max had style.

I want to talk about the visual style of Mad Max, specifically in the context of what scholars would call MTV aesthetics.

MTV made its debut on American screens in 1981, the same year as Road Warrior (the second Mad Max film) came out. Coincidence? Probably. But there was a style developing, a certain sensibility in the air that would shape the media of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. After the advent of the blockbuster with Jaws in 1975, we saw the editing style and pace of films quicken. This is in direct relation to the rising popularity of MTV who marketed their programming toward young adults who liked fast cars and rock music.

When I watched Fury Road I couldn’t help but see the influence of all the various subcultures represented by MTV, or at the least MTV when it was still Music Television. I have no idea what the fuck they are now (see: Teen Mom, Teen Mom 2 etc.). Before I get into the mise-en-scene, I want to talk about the breakneck pace of the film. I know that crazy driving is a big part of the Mad Max films, but in Fury Road director George Miller really applies that idea to the editing style. In addition to lightning fast cutting, Miller actually under-cranks many of the sequences to give them a frantic sped up quality. Miller speeds up the shots of the antagonist Immortan Joe to give him a menacing god-like presence. Speed is an essential element of the MTV aesthetic and youth culture in general.

A lot of imagery in Fury Road bears similarity to extreme sports. Events like the X-Games are linked to MTV’s culture of speed. One of the bands of mercenaries that Max and Furiosa (Mmm Charlize Theron) run into rides motorcycles that look suspiciously like BMX bikes. They even go off conveniently placed jumps and do backflips on said bikes. Immortan Joe’s gang of baddies also has huge vehicles that look and function a lot like monster trucks. Another element is the "chrome" that the members of the citadel spray on their faces like war paint. For some reason this was reminiscent of chrome rims and bling, very important to hip-hop culture as well as the MTV show Pimp My Ride. See how this is all coming together?

There’s more. Maybe the most important legacy of MTV is the music, specifically rock music. This relates to perhaps the most memorable visual creation that George Miller graced us with on Fury Road. One of Joe’s caravan is a enormous truck with men pounding drums on the back and some dude shredding the most ridiculous guitar that spews flames, chained to a wall of amps. Now if that isn’t pure rock and roll I don’t know what is. The guitar guy even looks like insane drummer Brian Chippendale from noise rock band Lightning Bolt (see for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NZGbD236fw). Another connection to rock music was at the beginning when Immortan Joe stood in front of his worshippers who begged for water. In retrospect, it felt like a concert with fans worshipping some rock idol. In these ways, Miller updates tribal customs with modern MTV aesthetics.

It’s really interesting that this post-apocalyptic world George Miller created has so many connections to MTV imagery. Is Miller saying that MTV is going to bring about the apocalypse or that MTV will be the only thing to survive the apocalypse? Both propositions are equally terrifying.

Recommendations: If you liked Mad Max, you’d probably like some of George Miller’s other masterpieces like Happy Feet or Babe: Pig in the City.

Have a nice week!

The 14 Best Films of 2014

Hi friends, I made this blog so that I could have a place to ramble about movies and such.

Anyway, 2014 was an amazing year for movies. Lots of unexpected gems. For the most part I made the list to recommend some movies that you might have missed from the last year. You should definitely go back and watch if you haven't. Ya dig?? Ok, let's get started with the honorable mentions.

Three Action Movies 

Edge of Tomorrow (Alternatively: Live. Die. Repeat.)

I did not have high expectations going into this one, but I ended up really liking it. Best Tom Cruise performance in a while. Edge of Tomorrow is, for my money, the best representation of a video game in film form. It's been described as Groundhog day meets a sic-fi alien movie. Surprisingly funny and well paced. Unfortunately, it kind of bombed in the box office considering its budget was 180 million (a lot of fuckin' money). But hopefully we'll see a lot more creative action movies like this one.  

Guardians of the Galaxy

Chris Pratt! Who knew Andy from Parks and Rec could hold his own in space? I'm not at all a Marvel fanboy, but this movie impressed me in a way few other Marvel titles have. It's not perfect by any means. I have some big problems with the plot, specifically the ending which seemed to be copy and pasted from Star Trek Into Darkness. I hope Marvel can continue making movies with this much heart.

Snowpiercer

Korean director Bong Joon Ho serves up his first American effort, a fast-paced dystopian thrill ride in which the last remnants of humanity live aboard a train rocketing around the earth. The frenetic pace combined with the linearity of the space and the literal forward motion of the plot make for a truly intense experience. The film also contains a standout performance by the magnetic Song Kang-Ho.  

Here's a good essay on the film is you want to read more: http://badassdigest.com/2014/06/29/snowpiercer-movie-review-an-incendiary-masterpiece/

The List 

Here we go...14) Blue Ruin

  

Welcome to Delaware! I'm starting off my best of list with a cinematic underdog story of sorts. Made on a shoestring budget, self financed and self promoted by second time director Jeremy Saulnier (read the whole story here), picked up on the festival circuit, Blue Ruin is a triumph. This neat little revenge thriller packs a wallop, satisfying both genre and art house fans. Blue Ruin is named after the blue pontiac owned by the film's protagonist Dwight, in which he lives. Dwight is forced into homelessness, devastated by the murder of his parents. When their murderer is released from jail, old wounds are opened up and Dwight engages in a family feud to avenge his parents death. I'm honestly afraid to go to Delaware now… 

13) Calvary

"I first tasted semen when I was seven years old." That's the first line of Calvary (the second film of Irish director John Michael McDonagh). I'm serious. The protagonist Father James hears this in a confessional from a troubled soul who causes the Father to reflect on his own morality and faith. This drama really has some weight but doesn't feel heavy-handed. There's just so much to like about this movie: the dark humor, the clever biblical allusions, and a phenomenal performance from fellow Irishman Brendan Gleeson. The fact that Calvary came in at #13 on my list is a testament to how damn good 2014 was for movies. 

12) Black Coal, Thin Ice (Bai Ri Yan Huo)

This one came by recommendation alone, and I found it online because it's not playing anywhere in North America. Black Coal, Thin Ice has barely been shown outside of its homeland and it's a crime. This Chinese neo-noir crime drama written and directed by Yi'nan Diao is bone chilling. And I mean that literally. The film's bleak aesthetic creates a mood of iciness that permeates the world of the film as well as its principal characters. Must see if you like realistic detective drama etc. I admit that I haven't seen much Chinese cinema but this film totally piqued my interest.  

11) Whiplash

We all have experience with assholes. We've had them as teachers, coworkers, and even members of our own family. However, few reach the insane heights of Fletcher, portrayed brilliantly by character actor JK Simmons. Simmons has surfaced in films sporadically (J. Jonah Jameson in Spiderman and the dad in Juno) but I think he's just now coming into his own. The intensity and intimidation he brings to the role is enough reason to see Whiplash. I guarantee this movie will have you clenching your teeth and shutting your eyes at certain moments. Whiplash just gets under your skin.

10) Under The Skin

Speaking of skin, 10th on my list is Under the Skin, an eerie sci-fi trip by British director Jonathan Glazer (of Sexy Beast and Birth). This movie has been making some serious waves in indie film circles this year and I've seen in at the top of many Best-of lists. And for good reason. Under the Skin is weird in a way few sci-fi movies are. There are hints of Lynch here and there but honestly its a pretty unique experience. The protagonist is "The Female" (according to IMDB), an alien who looks a hell of a lot like Scarlett Johansson. I don't even want to say anything else about Under the Skin, just watch it. 

9) Ida

Ida is such a tight movie on all cylinders, character, plot, and aesthetics, that I had to include it in my list. The film follows Anna, a Polish girl who is about to be initiated as a nun. As Anna comes to this threshold, she is hit with the news that, Whoops!, she's Jewish and her parents were killed in WWII. She commences a journey of self-discovery with her aunt Wanda, a Stalinist from back in the day (an amazingly human performance by Agata Kulesza). To top all of that off the film is shot in beautiful black and white with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Maybe the best foreign film of the year. 

8) Jodorowsky's Dune

You may have heard of the seminal sci-fi novel Dune by Frank Herbert. You also may have heard of the David Lynch's 1984 film Dune, which he calls his "biggest failure". However, you might not know of the original Dune film that never was, brainchild of Spanish director and eccentric Alejandro Jodorowsky. Frank Pavich's documentary tells the heartbreaking story of what may have been the absurdist director's masterpiece. Mick Jagger, Salvador Dali, Orson Welles. These are just a few of the names which were attached to Dune. You can still see the regret in Jodorowsky's eyes that his most important project never came to fruition. I'm sad that this is the only documentary on my list, (obviously didn't watch enough this year) but it's such a great one.   

7) Inherent Vice

Ok this one might take some explaining. The first film adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel, Inherent Vice is not interested at all with normality. The movie is more of a trip than a movie at all. Modern cinema giant Paul Thomas Anderson adapted Inherent Vice in the only way he could: by capturing the feeling of paranoia so viscerally present in the novel. The hippie era is coming to a close and everything's a little bit wrong. LA is lost in a haze of pot smoke and bad intentions. Joaquin Phoenix delivers a killer performance as Doc Sportello, a dopey private investigator trying to find his missing ex-girlfriend who he might still have feelings for. There are certainly weaker parts of the film, but I liked it a whole lot. I advise not to try to "get" the movie, but let it wash over you. Yeah.

6) We are the best

Oh boy! Oh boy! I love this movie. You know, sometimes you just watch a movie and your grinning the whole time. That's what this movie was like. Bobo, Klara, and Hedvig are teenage girls living in Stockholm in the 80s who form a punk band, despite not knowing anything about music. Swedish director Lukas Moodysson delivers the best feel good movie of the year.

5) Listen Up Phillip

Man, I really wish I made this movie. Cursed by a limited release, Alex Ross Perry's third feature Listen Up Phillip barely got any mainstream recognition. But it's probably my favorite screenplay of the year. AND it stars actors from two of my favorite films: Jason Schwartzmann (Rushmore) and Jonathan Price (Brazil). Schwatrzmann plays cocky (but talented?) writer Phillip Lewis Friedman who, through a series of misguided attempts at love, tries to figure out what kind of artist and person he wants to be. The screenplay advice I always hear is: show don't tell. But Perry uses omniscient narration to give the whole film the likeness of one Phillip's novels.

4) The Grand Budapest Hotel

I like Wes Anderson. There I said it. I don't know why Wes in particular is such divisive figure in film. You either like his style or you don't. Rushmore is one of my favorite movies ever. That being said, he has a couple pretty mediocre entries in his filmography. The Grand Budepst Hotel, however, is totally a return to form, if he ever lapsed into mediocrity. The screwball comedy, starring veteran Ralph Fiennes and newcomer Tom Revolori as well as a whole procession of Anderson regulars, is sublime. The colors, the storybook form, the Andersonian clipped pace. It's a confident film by a confident director. Tons of fun too. 

3) Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)

And the bronze goes to…..Birdman, American debut of acclaimed mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu. This film is a cinematic achievement as well as a rousing comeback for star Michael Keaton, who basically plays himself (Modern Sunset Boulevard?). He proudly shares the spotlight with Edward Norton who delivers an equally stunning performance as Mike, an actor who is realer on the stage than off. Birdman is a film about the film industry itself and its intersections with the world of theater. It puts into question film criticism and its purpose or lack there of. I think Birdman will have serious staying power for years to come.

2) Manakamana

This one I'm pretty sure none of you have seen. I only happened to catch it of rate few days it was at my local theater (Shout out to the Brattle, my fav independent rep. theater in Boston). Manakamana is a totally unique film experience and it's this high up on my list for a reason. The film consists of about a dozen shots, each over ten minutes long, of various pilgrims making the journey on chairlift to a shrine on the top of a mountain in Nepal. Each shot depicts a different group of people (or animals. One shot is a group of goats on their way up the mountain to be sacrificed). You definitely have to be patient for this one, but once you get the rhythm of the film, you become totally mesmerized. You pick up the passengers little mannerisms and sparse conversations. Some of the trips are completely silent. Some are funny. Some are somber. The ride is worth it.  

1) Boyhood

What can I say about Boyhood that hasn't already been said? Richard Linklater's magnum opus of sorts. We watch Linklater's troupe (including his own daughter Lorelei) age over a decade in 2 1/2 hours. Boyhood protagonist Mason portrayed by Ellar Coltrane is about my age. So the film is, in a lot of ways, a nostalgia trip back through my own life. It goes year by year, touching milestones in Mason's life and the relationships that grow and dwindle around him. Ethan Hawke is killer as Mason's father, Mason Sr. Patricia Arquette plays one of the best young mothers I've seen in film. Linklater really cements himself as an all-time great with this one. Man, it just works on every level. 10/10 would watch again.

Ok folks, if you stuck it out this long, kudos to you. We'll see what 2015 brings for movies. Although I doubt it will top last year. Thanks for reading. Like, comment, subscribe. Happy New Year. Sweet dreams. Peace.